Question regarding weight training & muscle growth

[Danwar]

Hello everyone,

background info:
29 yr old male. 5'11''. weighed 232 lbs 10 weeks ago.

For the last 10 weeks i have been on a low calorie diet while doing a bit of cardio & weight and body weight exercise training (increase strenght and to mantain muscle mass).

right now im roughly 40lbs lighter (193 lbs ) with very little muscle mass lost i believe, and gained quite a bit of strenght ( started by being able to only 10 pushups a day and today i can do 3 to 5 sets of 15 pushups a day ).

im about to stop dieting since i lost quite a bit already and are looking into losing the last bit of belly fat via exercise (still eating healthy though) and are also thinking of doing quite a bit more of weight training.

My question is:

I want to increase the amount of weight training i do, but i want to understand weight training better first... should i do low weight & many reps , or high weight & few reps & many sets? whats the difference between the different routines?

My goal (although still far off) is to eventually gain a 'some' muscle mass but be very toned. , and i want to avoid by all costs looking like a body builder (all buff and swollen), dont know how else to explain it.

what kind of routine should i follow if im shooting for looking like swinsuit model / martial artist / kickboxer type of body ? and not like an arnold swarchzenegger type of body builder dude?

is this all due to the type of training? or is it more of a diet thing (ive seen body builders drink high calorie shakes to gain a lot of mass) ?

i read the sticky but its more about weight loss than muscle gain and tone.

 

[Pantlegz]

Originally posted by: Danwar

or is it more of a diet thing (ive seen body builders drink high calorie shakes to gain a lot of mass) ?

That is dead on, basically bodybuilders take in huge amount of calories and lift a ton to get so big. While different programs give different results, without taking in about 3500+ calories a day and spending 5 hours a day in the gym you're not going to turn into a bloated body builder dude.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

The sticky is the exact same as muscle gain. Muscle gain is done in a state of caloric excess. Fat loss is done in a state of caloric deficit. The lifting program you'll need is the same as the ones stated there since they are for beginners who want to gain strength and muscle. You won't look like a bodybuilder if you don't eat like one. If you maintain a slight caloric deficit, you will continue to cut fat and will lower your body fat % (which you call tone).

Diet is very important in body composition - probably the most important. Also, bodybuilders don't get big by drinking protein shakes. Everybody should eat or drink some protein right after a lifting session since it inhibits muscle loss. Bodybuilders get big by eating a ton of food throughout the day. If you don't do that, you won't get huge. It's as simple as that.

 

[Deeko]

Tone is the state of having muscle without having fat. So if you want to be toned, that's what you need to do. A few things....

-You probably need to lose more fat to reach the goal you want, so your dieting may not be over
-To avoid looking "swollen like a bodybuilder", don't eat like a bodybuilder. If you aren't taking in the calories to support that kind of mass gain, it won't happen
-If you want to start building muscle you need to start doing more than just body weight exercises. You need to start doing things like squats, deadlifts, and bench. You want to keep the weight high and the reps on the low side (between 4-8). Less than that will result in strength gain but not a ton of muscle gain. Above that you start getting more into endurance. 4-8 is the "sweet spot" for muscle growth.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Pantlegz1

Originally posted by: Danwar

or is it more of a diet thing (ive seen body builders drink high calorie shakes to gain a lot of mass) ?

That is dead on, basically bodybuilders take in huge amount of calories and lift a ton to get so big. While different programs give different results, without taking in about 3500+ calories a day and spending 5 hours a day in the gym you're not going to turn into a bloated body builder dude.

Not to seem like I'm just fighting a technicality, but there's no way you need to be in the gym 5 hours a day to get a bodybuilder body. 1.5h a day is all it takes for any real workout plan.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: Pantlegz1

Originally posted by: Danwar

or is it more of a diet thing (ive seen body builders drink high calorie shakes to gain a lot of mass) ?

That is dead on, basically bodybuilders take in huge amount of calories and lift a ton to get so big. While different programs give different results, without taking in about 3500+ calories a day and spending 5 hours a day in the gym you're not going to turn into a bloated body builder dude.

Not to seem like I'm just fighting a technicality, but there's no way you need to be in the gym 5 hours a day to get a bodybuilder body. 1.5h a day is all it takes for any real workout plan.

Well, define "bodybuilder body". Elite bodybuilders spend hours in the gym every day. I only go to the gym 3x a week, but I'm there for 3 hours or so on my training program. Different programs take different time.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: Pantlegz1

Originally posted by: Danwar

or is it more of a diet thing (ive seen body builders drink high calorie shakes to gain a lot of mass) ?

That is dead on, basically bodybuilders take in huge amount of calories and lift a ton to get so big. While different programs give different results, without taking in about 3500+ calories a day and spending 5 hours a day in the gym you're not going to turn into a bloated body builder dude.

Not to seem like I'm just fighting a technicality, but there's no way you need to be in the gym 5 hours a day to get a bodybuilder body. 1.5h a day is all it takes for any real workout plan.

Well, define "bodybuilder body". Elite bodybuilders spend hours in the gym every day. I only go to the gym 3x a week, but I'm there for 3 hours or so on my training program. Different programs take different time.

I meant more like, you don't have to be there for 5 hours to look like a bodybuilder. I didn't especially mean the "elite" bodybuilders, but rather the fairly large, very-into-it look. I agree that it depends on your program, but a program that has you there for 3 hours probably isn't the most efficient. If you like it, then hey that's alright; but there is a different, less time consuming way to go about it.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

keep the clean diet and you will be fine. Don't fall into the trap that now you reached a good weight your "diet" is over. Your clean diet should be for life.

 

[conorvansmack]

Keep in mind that bodybuilders go through bulking and cutting cycles according to shows/photo shoots. It's probably redundant to point out that regular people will not end up swollen like a bodybuilder unless they visit the same "pharmacy" that bodybuilders do in addition to keeping the diet like Deeko mentioned.

Regular people will not wander into a gym, trip over a barbell, and wander out looking like Arnold. The term "toned" is just another term for low body fat with visible muscles. It comes down to More Muscle vs. Less Muscle. Toned can happen at any body weight/muscle mass, it just depends on % body fat.

 

[StageLeft]

Nobody in the world has to worry about being buff and swollen like a bodybuilder anymore than I have to worry about jumping as high as I can and accidentally hitting a flying plane. It takes a ton of directed effort and time and is absolutely not anything you'll stumble into by mistake.

No magical different in muscle, they simply have more of it, so once you've achieved your adonis build, just go for maintenance. Frankly, and I speak from experience, you'll be hard pressed to worry about overdoing it with the weights. Bodybuilders are that way from endless weight training and the pros you're thinking about are there also from endless chemicals.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

I meant more like, you don't have to be there for 5 hours to look like a bodybuilder. I didn't especially mean the "elite" bodybuilders, but rather the fairly large, very-into-it look. I agree that it depends on your program, but a program that has you there for 3 hours probably isn't the most efficient. If you like it, then hey that's alright; but there is a different, less time consuming way to go about it.

Not really. Keep in mind I do powerlifting training, not bodybuilding training. You could call it "inefficient" because yes - there's a lot of downtime while I'm at the gym. But when you're doing 5 sets of 1-3 reps...you rest longer between sets.

As I said - different programs take different times. You can't lay a blanket number down and say "this is how long you should be at the gym."

 

[Danwar]

i didn't expect so many replies so soon with this much valuable information in them, thank you guys! 😀

good to know that as long as i keep my eating habits on the healthy side ill be on the right track to reach my goals 🙂 .

 

[mchammer187]

Also remember that look does not come over night. It takes alot of effort to get that look which is why I laugh when I see women say "I don't want to get big" when weight training is suggested to them.

 

[RKS]

Congrats on the weight loss and lifestyle change but isn't 4 lbs/week too much?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: RKS
Congrats on the weight loss and lifestyle change but isn't 4 lbs/week too much?

Yep, about 2.5-3 pounds/week too much. He's inevitably losing muscle because of that.

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: Pantlegz1

Originally posted by: Danwar

or is it more of a diet thing (ive seen body builders drink high calorie shakes to gain a lot of mass) ?

That is dead on, basically bodybuilders take in huge amount of calories and lift a ton to get so big. While different programs give different results, without taking in about 3500+ calories a day and spending 5 hours a day in the gym you're not going to turn into a bloated body builder dude.

Your forgetting minus the steriods and the genetics...most people would not look anywhere near a bodybuilder even with the steriods and the amount of training. Not everyone is built to look like the Hulk.

You don't need to be spending 5hrs in the gym anyway.

Koing

 

[Danwar]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: RKS
Congrats on the weight loss and lifestyle change but isn't 4 lbs/week too much?

Yep, about 2.5-3 pounds/week too much. He's inevitably losing muscle because of that.

I'd be in denial if i said that i didn't muscle , but i do feel that weight training has helped a bit in preventing losing too much as compared to the fat i've lost.

I figured any muscle i've lost i can always get back gradually as my calorie intake slowly increases back to an ideal amount as long as i keep on working on weight training. and i do feel that it was a price worth paying to lose all the fat i have lost from my my waist area, (beer tummy is gone , lost over 8 inches worth of bellysize and my man tits are slowly fading away ).

It may not be the healthiest way to do it , losing that much that fast, but honestly i don't really know if i could have remained motivated and endured it throughout if i hadnt seen results that fast.

i do miss beer though :'( , not a sip in all this time.