workout regime... trying to get buff

[gltyrian]

hey guys..

a friend and i started working out lately in hopes of getting buff.. in HS and juss some ppl in general tell us bout working out every other day to give ur muscles a chance to recover and rebuild and all that stuff... someone even told us about a "3 and 1" system...work out every other day for three times and then skip once and then do it again...

for soem reason..it doesnt feel intense enough or something.. am i juss not having enough patience or should i be pushing harder too... and i came up with a semi novel idea that i wanna get u all's input on... whether it would be better to juss keep that every other day system.. or to work out everyday, but focus on different parts of the muscles every other day...

say.. for example.. mon wed fri... we'd do pecks, biceps, and triceps... while ttues and thurs we focus on shoulder and back... something like that? what do u guys think? been working out for a couple weeks and i wanna hit osmething a lil more intense and semi quicker..

my agenda is to gain weight..so imma start taking mass gainer in addition to upping my diet to 4 meals a day... think creatine be something is hould consider too?

thanks dudes

siao

 

[Fausto]

There are plenty of different regimens you can use when setting up a lifting schedule, but basically you want to really work a given area and then give it a couple days to recover and rebuild. So you could do upper body one day, lower body the next, take a day off, repeat. Or: chest/back, shoulders/arms, legs, day off, repeat. Grab a copy of Muscle and Fitness and flip through it...they usually have regimens detailed that you can pare down and change to suit you. Just don't forget to take a day off regularly and not work a given muscle group more than once every few days....recovery is where you get stronger.

Also, if you're not feeling like you've gotten in enough of a workout, you're not doing enough in the gym. 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps to failure (spotter should have to help you with the last two reps or so) for each muscle group should pretty much destroy you.

I wouldn't go clean out GNC or anything either....just eat good stuff at home and save your money. Remember to get in some protein and carbs immediately after your workout as it will help greatly with your recovery so you'll be on top of things at the gym the next day. A couple scoops of protein powder in milk is pretty handy for this, but that's about the only supplement I'd say is worth bothering with. Creatine is probably not really worth your money.

Fausto

 

[TheBDB]

You should definately give yourself 48 hours between working out a muscle group. This gives the muscle time to repair itself and bulk up in preparation for the next workout. I know a lot of people who alternate upper body, lower body every day. It seems to be the way to go instead of working the whole body in one day. You don't get as tired and you do some exercise every day. Keep in mind you shouldn't see any results until probly 4 weeks of continuous exercise.

 

[amnesiac]

Also, you could do a search for any of the other dozen existing threads on the subject. There's already tons of advice in this forum if you care to use the search feature.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
Also, you could do a search for any of the other dozen existing threads on the subject. There's already tons of advice in this forum if you care to use the search feature.

I tried to create The One Fitness Thread (sorry JRR) but no one seemed too interested in keeping it bumped after the first couple days.

 

[Codewiz]

My regime is simply to work my upper body on mon,wed,fri and to work out my lower body on tues, thurs.

On tues and thurs I also do bike riding or running. I personally think it is just as important to get an aerobic workout as much as lifting.

 

[darkshadow1]

Working out every other day can be perfectly fine for a workout plan as long as there is intensity. For example, it's possible to work out all the major muscle groups with a 1-1.5 hour workout 3X a week and get very good gains with it. The key is that you do only 1-3 sets per muscle groups but you do them until you reach momentary muscular failure. If you do this, you should be able to get an intense workout such that you'll need to crawl out of the gym. Each workout, you also need to either increase your reps or weight by a small amount. It's very effective for gaining muscle mass and strength...all this is summed up on a faq on the web...just search for 'High Intensity Training' or 'HIT' on google.

 

[xyion]

I have not had great gains with only 1 day rest in between muscle groups. Now that is just me, you might get excellent results. That said, if I rest for 2 days between each time i work a muscle I get great gains. This summer I started out dumbell bench pressing 45 pounds, and now I can do 70 easily. There is no specific way to get buff. Other than the basics (eat right, work out often, sleep well) you are the only person who can determine the right workout for you. My good friend and I started out on the same lifting routine (6x a week, 2 muscle groups per day repeated 2x a week) and it works great for him. Wasnt doing anything for me. So i switched up my schedule and am getting good results. Just dont expect an immidiate change (i say this in just about every single fitness thread i post in).

 

[smartcap]

My schedule is like this:

I do my torso Mon, Wed, & Fri
I work on my extremities (Tue, Thurs, & Sat)
On Sun..I do my cardio..

Originally posted by: gltyrian
hey guys..

a friend and i started working out lately in hopes of getting buff.. in HS and juss some ppl in general tell us bout working out every other day to give ur muscles a chance to recover and rebuild and all that stuff... someone even told us about a "3 and 1" system...work out every other day for three times and then skip once and then do it again...

for soem reason..it doesnt feel intense enough or something.. am i juss not having enough patience or should i be pushing harder too... and i came up with a semi novel idea that i wanna get u all's input on... whether it would be better to juss keep that every other day system.. or to work out everyday, but focus on different parts of the muscles every other day...

say.. for example.. mon wed fri... we'd do pecks, biceps, and triceps... while ttues and thurs we focus on shoulder and back... something like that? what do u guys think? been working out for a couple weeks and i wanna hit osmething a lil more intense and semi quicker..

my agenda is to gain weight..so imma start taking mass gainer in addition to upping my diet to 4 meals a day... think creatine be something is hould consider too?

thanks dudes

siao

 

[Fausto]

I do my torso Mon, Wed, & Fri
I work on my extremities (Tue, Thurs, & Sat)
On Sun..I do my cardio..

You might as well not bother doing cardio if you're only going to do it once per week. 3-4 sessions per week is the bare minimum for increased aerobic fitness even if each session is only 30 min or so.

Fausto

 

[XZeroII]

You will never be as buff as I am. To be more buff than me would be illegal. You see, I once thought like you before my master took me under his wing and taught me of the joys of soy and origami. Concentration begins in the mind and spreads to all the extremedies of the body. You must use the language of the body, not the tounge, and the language of the body begins with raw uncooked organic vegetables. Just look at me! I could tear a phone book in half with my bear toes!

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: XZeroII
You will never be as buff as I am. To be more buff than me would be illegal. You see, I once thought like you before my master took me under his wing and taught me of the joys of soy and origami. Concentration begins in the mind and spreads to all the extremedies of the body. You must use the language of the body, not the tounge, and the language of the body begins with raw uncooked organic vegetables. Just look at me! I could tear a phone book in half with my bear toes!

Bear toes? Are you sure you didn't just forget to take your slippers off?

 

[Koing]

I can not stress this enough.

If you want to get buff you have to do squats. It will add the biggest gains in muscle mass and help to give overal body thickness and size.

 

[gltyrian]

regarding squats..what would be a good weight to start with... in proportions to..say how much u can bench.. i can bench about my own weight right now...

 

[smp]

Sounds like you're in highschool .. that's good, to start early and everything .. I don't recommend the "gain wieght fast" regimen .. you'll get big eventually if you work out and if you turn it into a lifestyle, rather than a means to an end.

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: gltyrian
regarding squats..what would be a good weight to start with... in proportions to..say how much u can bench.. i can bench about my own weight right now...

Sorry mate bench pressing and squating have no bearing on each other at all really. May help in that you get a firmer back and mid section a bit in bench pressing and squating but thats it.

It depends on how strong your legs are and have you done much training with them.

I would start with the empty bar (20kg ~ 44lbs), this is only correct if its an Olympic bar bell. I would recommend you to do squats free and not use a machine if your knees aren't totally knackered out.

Do a few sets at 20kg to get the movement correct and the balance. Some people have great difficulty squating due to balance and supplness in the knees.

I would do 10 reps to start with.

Increase weights so you get 6 reps and 6 sets. That will get you strong in no time.

You have to see what you can squat. I recommend going to at least parallel and when squattind down go 'slowly' down and as fast as you can up. Do not crash to your point then go back up, its bad on your joints.

Form
Stand with your feet a bit further then shoulder width apart
Feet slightly angled outwards about 15* ish (your knees do bend straight they bend outwards slightly)
Chest up and back straight
Bar with weights resting on the back across your trapezius muscles
Breath in before going down
Hold breath all the way down
When you come out breah out slowly
Keep back as straight as possible and try to minise leaning forward too much
Take breath again at top and repeat

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Koing
I can not stress this enough.

If you want to get buff you have to do squats. It will add the biggest gains in muscle mass and help to give overal body thickness and size.

As an addendum to this I'll add that any multi-joint lift (like squats, bench, etc) is going to overall be more effective than trying to isolate. This is also why free weights are generally better than machines: since you have to support and balance the weight as well as actually lift it you end up recruiting more muscle fibers and get stronger faster.

Fausto

 

[nightowl]

I usually just follow a 3 day schedule. On the first day I will do back, chest, and shoulders. On the second day, arms. On the third day, cardio, legs, and abs/lower back. I just follow this rotation throughout the week. I gives me enough time between workouts for my muscles to recover and I usually life 4-5 times per week. And if I skip a day it does not mess up my schedule. I just follow my rotation.