50 Push-ups and 50 Sit-ups a night

[Duddy]

I'm trying a very basic workout.

I weigh 140lbs and am 6' tall. So I'm on the skinny, muscle-less part of the chart.

I have a great frame, when I flex I can see a real body builder underneath. And I'm tired of not caring about my physical health. I want muscle mass and I want it by July!

So since I do not have a gym membership, I decided to do the work out in the title.



So since I'm new at this "exercising" thing, I'm asking if it's a good workout or should I also be doing something else?

PS: I know that I have to eat more and drink more water. (I have been drinking 5 cans of Coke a day for 6 years now )

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Bodybuilders do sets of compound lifts in the range of 5-7 reps per set. They lift weights heavy enough that they cannot do an 8th rep in their sets. That's the kind of exercise that builds muscle.

You want to do lifts like:
Squat.
Bench Press.
Deadlift.
Military Press.
Bent Over Row.
Cable Pull-Downs or Chin-ups
(Weighted) Dips.

 

[Duddy]

Originally posted by: Cerpin Taxt
Bodybuilders do sets of compound lifts in the range of 5-7 reps per set. They lift weights heavy enough that they cannot do an 8th rep in their sets. That's the kind of exercise that builds muscle.

You want to do lifts like:
Squat.
Bench Press.
Deadlift.
Military Press.
Bent Over Row.
Cable Pull-Downs or Chin-ups
(Weighted) Dips.

No gym access. And what's a rep and a set?

 

[SWScorch]

a rep is one instance of the particular exercise you are doing. 5-7 reps of pushups, say, would be 5-7 actual pushups themselves. A set is a group of reps, so 3 sets of 10 reps would be 10 pushups, a rest, then 10 more, rest, etc until you've done that 3 times. Since you don't have access to a gym, I think that buying a set of dumbbells is probably your best bet (you can get them for fairly cheap at wal-mart) and doing some basic exercises with those. Maybe get a pull-up bar too. others may so otherwise, but I actually think that pushups and situps are great exercises, although I would do way more crunches/situps and have more variation. My typical ab routine looks like this:

50 crunches
25 crunches with one leg up to that side, opposite shoulder to opposite knee
25 crunches to each side lying on side, bring shoulder towards hip
50 leg lifts
50 situps, twisting one ach one so it works your outer ab muscles
50 bicycles
2x 25 decline crunches (on a bench with the head lower than the legs)
2x 25 crunches on an exercise stability ball thingy

You do that, start doing lunges/squats/preacher curls/etc with some dumbbells and you'll be pretty fit in a few months. Obviously not the best solution (that would be a gym with all the equipment) but you can improve a lot by doing that.

 

[MegaVovaN]

About a month ago I was in the same boat as you, but 6 lb heavier. And not so high on coke (not so high count of cans).

First, take several pictures of you being skinny and weak and ugly right now. Several months later you will look at it and think, "man, what a wuss I was back then! But that's OK, I look much better now "

What I have is a bench (made it myself), adjustable dumbbells (they SUCK, try to buy a set of nonadjustable ones), and power tower to do pull ups. You can get cheap equipment on Craigslist (assuming you are in a large city, or near a large city). If you buy bench, preferably buy one that can be inclined. (and maybe declined?)


DO compound lifts and eat a ton of healthy food. There are resources on food. Perhaps do at least some cardio - maybe 2-3 times a week.

All lifts above (except last 2) can be done with DBs.

Dips can be done even with 2 chairs.

 

[paulxcook]

After a certain point pushups are just for endurance, you won't put on muscle like you would with some sort of chest press. Same for abs, they're muscles that you should work out just like any other.

If this is something you really want you'll need to either get a gym membership or spend some money on some freeweights. If you just want to be healthier and stronger than you currently are without spending money, what you're doing is ok. Just don't expect to look like a bodybuilder. I know Bo Jackson claimed to have gotten as big and strong as he was with just pushups and situps, but #1, I don't believe that, and #2, Bo Jackson was physically gifted in a way that 99.9% of people are not.

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: paulxcook
After a certain point pushups are just for endurance, you won't put on muscle like you would with some sort of chest press. Same for abs, they're muscles that you should work out just like any other.

If this is something you really want you'll need to either get a gym membership or spend some money on some freeweights. If you just want to be healthier and stronger than you currently are without spending money, what you're doing is ok. Just don't expect to look like a bodybuilder. I know Bo Jackson claimed to have gotten as big and strong as he was with just pushups and situps, but #1, I don't believe that, and #2, Bo Jackson was physically gifted in a way that 99.9% of people are not.

but Bo knows pushups man!! I have to doubt that too... big exaggeration at best, especially a world class athlete who has access to top trainers and facilities.

I have to state though that so many factors are involved which people do not take into consideration a lot. My pushups are often very slow and methodical, often with feet elevated. I may be able to push out reps of 8-10 per rep. This is a huge contrast to BS pushups I see a lot of people do and claim they can do 50+. I can do 50+ super quick, halfway down, elevated butt, pushups too... Doesn't mean it's better nor does it mean I am in good shape (which I am not but I can still do those wimpy pushups).

I don't know a lot about work out techniques but I often try to incorporate slow movement with wide range of motion and multimuscular efforts (often incorporating balancing) stressing endurance. I do this because I want non isolated muscle targeting strength and flexibility for sports (mostly being tennis these days), not bulking up or appearance. Still, I have gotten to pretty decent physical build up without using any gym equipment (like thin athletic build, not bodybuilder type of course, think bruce lee not arnold). Not that it's the best way, but it's possible.

Even though I have gym access, I like those resistance bands. That is the type of "balancing" multimuscle training I mean. Again I don't know how good or efficient it technically is but it seems to work well for me and my focus. When I did a lot of gym machine workouts without proper variances, I got too tight and muscle bound. It was ok when I was playing football and hockey, now that I play tennis I need a different focus.

 

[Sentinel]

Couple of useful sites.

Rosstraining
T-Nation

I am not affiliated with either site, but that being said I have gleaned a lot of useful information (not to mention rewritten my workout plan) so it might be helpful.

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: Sentinel
Couple of useful sites.

Rosstraining

I was expecting to see Rossman lifting servers or something.

 

[Duddy]

OK, so I got a gym membership based on Cerpin Taxt's advice.

I'll try that workout.

 

[gramboh]

Duddy, congrats and good luck, I recommend this plan:

http://stronglifts.com/strongl...ngth-training-program/

 

[gramboh]

Double post, can't remember how to delete on AT forums.

 

[MegaVovaN]

Originally posted by: gramboh
Double post, can't remember how to delete on AT forums.

can't delete unless a mod