Working out

[exilera]

Originally posted by: SagaLore
Do some aerobics for about 15 minutes prior to weight lifting - got to get your blood flowing.

Short intense workouts - more weight, less reps. Make sure you work all the muscle fibers using various angles. Take two days of rest after each workout.

Don't take a protein supplement - but taking an amino acid complex pill every day will help. Make sure you drink plenty of water.

Too bad I don't practice what I preach.

I don't agree with this. You don't need cardio if you're just looking to put on mass. Cardio will hinder the mass gain. You don't need to run for 15 minutes to warm up, just do a light set of weights.

Also, protein shakes are a great idea. Your muscles need protein to grow, no protein no growth.

Bad advice here imo.

 

[733SHiFTY]

I've been lifting for a while, and I havent gained too much muscle mass, but personally I like it that way.

heres why:

ridiculously huge guys get stereotyped

I like being able to life close to 150% my body weight

people underestimate your strength when youre skinny

most chicks think that medium/skinny build but in shape is more attractive than a huge/ripped/jacked build

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: exilera

Originally posted by: SagaLore
Do some aerobics for about 15 minutes prior to weight lifting - got to get your blood flowing.

Short intense workouts - more weight, less reps. Make sure you work all the muscle fibers using various angles. Take two days of rest after each workout.

Don't take a protein supplement - but taking an amino acid complex pill every day will help. Make sure you drink plenty of water.

Too bad I don't practice what I preach.

I don't agree with this. You don't need cardio if you're just looking to put on mass. Cardio will hinder the mass gain. You don't need to run for 15 minutes to warm up, just do a light set of weights.

Also, protein shakes are a great idea. Your muscles need protein to grow, no protein no growth.

Bad advice here imo.

Everyone's body is different and some people take longer "to get warmed up". I'm one of them. My body takes forever to get going, but once it does, I'm good to go much longer than other people. I'm like this in pretty much every activity. Running. Golf. Basketball. Lifting. Biking. Ect.

A set of light reps or 5 minutes on a treadmill isn't enough to get things loosened up for me. I need closer to 20 minutes get me stretched out, primed, and ready to lift.

It just depends on body types. If I don't do enough warm up before lifting I wind up injured.

 

[SludgeFactory]

Originally posted by: iamme
oh, i understand that. i'm just wondering if i should focus on weight lifting and building muscle before shedding the extra fat. from a post earlier, it seemed that doing hardcore cardio and weight lifting wasn't the most beneficial way of doing things.

yeah the idea that you can't bulk and cut at the same time is correct. It's mostly a diet choice as to which one of those you accomplish.

As to what you should do first, it depends on how fat you are. All-out bulking at 15%+ BF is a mistake. Get lean first. Hormonally, being fat sucks, fat actually converts testosterone into estrogen, along with some other negative physiological stuff. When you overfeed and weight train, the fat guy's weight gain tends to be a higher percentage of fat than the lean guy's.

And psychologically you've dug a huge hole for yourself if you start out pudgy, go on a bulking phase, and end up staring at 20-25% BF with a ton of fat to lose over the next several months.

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: SludgeFactory

Originally posted by: iamme
oh, i understand that. i'm just wondering if i should focus on weight lifting and building muscle before shedding the extra fat. from a post earlier, it seemed that doing hardcore cardio and weight lifting wasn't the most beneficial way of doing things.

yeah the idea that you can't bulk and cut at the same time is correct. It's mostly a diet choice as to which one of those you accomplish.

As to what you should do first, it depends on how fat you are. All-out bulking at 15%+ BF is a mistake. Get lean first. Hormonally, being fat sucks, fat actually converts testosterone into estrogen, along with some other negative physiological stuff. When you overfeed and weight train, the fat guy's weight gain tends to be a higher percentage of fat than the lean guy's.

And psychologically you've dug a huge hole for yourself if you start out pudgy, go on a bulking phase, and end up staring at 20-25% BF with a ton of fat to lose over the next several months.

well, i'm 5'9" and about 168 lbs. my frame is on the skinny side. all of the fat i want to get rid of is on my midsection. you can see my upper abs, but i've got residual fat on my gut and love handles from when i was a lazy pile and got up to almost 180lbs.

i think my ideal weight is about 160-165 lbs with lower body fat%.

would you recommend bulking up before getting rid of those extra 5-10 lbs of fat?

 

[SludgeFactory]

Originally posted by: iamme
well, i'm 5'9" and about 168 lbs. my frame is on the skinny side. all of the fat i want to get rid of is on my midsection. you can see my upper abs, but i've got residual fat on my gut and love handles from when i was a lazy pile and got up to almost 180lbs.

i think my ideal weight is about 160-165 lbs with lower body fat%.

would you recommend bulking up before getting rid of those extra 5-10 lbs of fat?

I personally would try to lose the 5-10 pounds first before trying to bulk. I think it would make the muscle gain during bulking more successful. If you have a pretty good idea of what your bodyfat is, it would help. Bulking from a starting BF of 10-15% is generally good. If you start higher, you run into the problems I suggested before. If you diet down below 10%, most people are going to start running into diminishing returns and be losing too much lean mass.

The most important thing though is to be clear on what you're trying to do, and focus your diet on losing weight (fat) or gaining it (muscle). You won't really do both at the same time unless you're a total weight-training n00b or a drug-user.

 

[0roo0roo]

isn't there a limit on tuna intake cuz of mercury?

and yea just work out and eat a decent amount. unless ur going for insane size with the required insane workoutsi doubt u'll need that much protien

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: SludgeFactory

Originally posted by: iamme
well, i'm 5'9" and about 168 lbs. my frame is on the skinny side. all of the fat i want to get rid of is on my midsection. you can see my upper abs, but i've got residual fat on my gut and love handles from when i was a lazy pile and got up to almost 180lbs.

i think my ideal weight is about 160-165 lbs with lower body fat%.

would you recommend bulking up before getting rid of those extra 5-10 lbs of fat?

I personally would try to lose the 5-10 pounds first before trying to bulk. I think it would make the muscle gain during bulking more successful. If you have a pretty good idea of what your bodyfat is, it would help. Bulking from a starting BF of 10-15% is generally good. If you start higher, you run into the problems I suggested before. If you diet down below 10%, most people are going to start running into diminishing returns and be losing too much lean mass.

The most important thing though is to be clear on what you're trying to do, and focus your diet on losing weight (fat) or gaining it (muscle). You won't really do both at the same time unless you're a total weight-training n00b or a drug-user.

cool, thanks.