Do not lift weights working on the same muscle groups two days in a row. Concentrate on doing say, the upper body, one day, and the lower body the next day. When you life weights what you are actually doing is tearing miniscule rips in the muscle tissue that heals while creating more mass. These tears need time to recover effectively. See this web page for more info.
Plan on starting easy, and working your way up to longer and more rigorous workouts over a period of several weeks. Always do muscle warmup and stretching exercises before moving to heavier weights, or you can tear a muscle and put yourself out of commission for a couple of months. Once you get used to a routine and are making progress, push yourself every workout; you'll make good progress and feel good about yourself. There are many, many books available on exercise techniques. Weightlifting is not only a great way to get into shape, but making progress will give you a wonderful feeling of well being and confidence in yourself! Runners get a "high" from running, and you can get a mental high from your workouts too! You may also, if you are able, include some endurance type exercises , such as jogging, fast walking, aerobics, or an exercise bike. A bike is a good choice for indoor use. They are inexpensive if you look for them at yard sales and auctions. Good luck !
There are many tips and suggestions that I can give you.
I would assume that you already know that diet goes along with the training. Depending on the training (in this case mass building) you will have to eat the right stuff.
Proteins are at the top of the list. Muscle mass requires protein.
Carbohydrates come next, Carbohydrates are converted into sugars which are released into the blood stream slowly. Sugars are the bodies source of energy. You can have all the available protein but if you do not have the energy you will go nowhere fast.
I recommend eating a snack high in carbohydrates 20 minutes before any exercise routine, this affords your body the time it needs to start dumping sugars into your blood stream and will provide you with a steady supply of energy through the work out.
Protein should be high priority, there are many supplements out there, follow their directions fully. Whey protein is perhaps better than Soy since it comes from animal products.
Break your meals into six smaller meals through the day, providing your body with a steady supply of building blocks.
Drink lots of water, the more water the better.
Remember that the workout only shreds the muscle fibers, it is the rest period between work outs that does the actual muscle building. How long should you rest each muscle group between routines? At least two days, recent research suggests that three days is better.
No Pain No Gain: A lie. Pain is the body’s way of telling you something is wrong and to make you stop doing what you are doing. Granted, there will be some soreness and stiffness after a workout and after the body cools off. If you are finding that during the workout there is pain STOP the work out.
To reduce the soreness and the stiffness WARM UP before exercises and STRETCH those muscles and body parts.
After your workouts COOL OFF slowly. This can be more stretching and weight free motions that mimic the routines you have gone through.
Set reasonable Goals, and keep an accurate log book of what exercises you did on what day, how many reps, how many sets, how much weight. Things to add to that log book would include your supplements that you used, how you felt in general, how you felt during the routine and after the routine. Keep track of the days of soreness. If you find that you are still sore and stiff the next time you are scheduled to do your routine, skip the routine and add that to your log book.
To stay fresh switch the exercises you do. Instead of doing flat bench presses week after week, month after month, plan to switch to other similar exercises such as incline press, switching from bar bell to dumbbells, doing fly's instead of the bench press. I strongly recommend switching your entire routine of exercises every three months.
Rest. Get plenty of rest. A good thing to do is take a week or two weeks vacation every 3 months. This allows your body a chance to play catch up, and it also prevents stagnation sand hitting platues. If you didn’t get a full nights sleep the night before, skip the routine or understand that you will be unable to meet your goals.
Rest is the most important aspect of building muscle, it is during the times of rest that the muscle fibers are repaired and thicken and increase in density. The work out only shreds and tears the muscle fiber causing the body to start the repair mode which leads to increased muscle mass.
Start easy and work your way into more challenging routines.
A simple and effective workout to start with is this:
For the first couple of weeks you will perform one set of reps, you will max out your reps to failure. This means that you will continue lifting the weight until you can no longer lift it again. This will provide you with the chance to find your optimum weight for each exercise. You want to be able to lift that weight 8 - 12 times before reaching failure. It takes a few work outs to find your optimum weight.
After you have found your optimum weight, you will perform 2 sets of your max reps (8-12) and the last set until failure (which should be less than 8) Between each set you will take a two minute break. During that break you will slowly repeat the movement of the exercise with out weight. Keeping your muscles moving will prevent them from getting cold and will keep the blood flowing giving your muscle the oxygen it needs to recover so you can perform your next set.
You will perform the exercises in the order that I have written them, you will be starting with your largest muscle group (Thighs, buttocks and back) fatiguing them first, working to the next group (Pecs, Shoulders and upper back) working to the next group (upper back and shoulders) working on shoulders, then the biceps/triceps then the calves ending with abdominals.
Each time you perform the routine you will push your third set out until you reach 8 to 12 reps, then you will up the weight the next time you perform the routine, aiming to max your each set before adding more weight.
Add 5 lbs each time you do add for the large muscle groups, 1 to 2 pounds for smaller muscle groups.
You will do this work out twice a week only. That would be Monday and Thursday or similar days that give you a similar number of days between work outs.
Easing into the routines will make it possible for you to stick with the program. Too many would be bodybuilders lose interest in the first three months due to the work out being too much.
Do not expect to have a massive body in a short time. Arnold and Lou took years to reach their peaks. you can expect to feel results in two weeks. You can expect to see results in your gains of how much weight you are lifting almost immediately.
You can expect to see bodily changes begin to take place in 6 weeks to two months time.
Cheers
David
Posts: 4081 | Location: Neither here nor there | Registered: 06-03-02
hey, thx everyone, but I have one question. Should I do one set of the first exercise, then do one set of another one then another. Or should I do one set of an exercise and wait, then do the same one before moving on the another?
quote:Originally posted by Wrecked: hey, thx everyone, but I have one question. Should I do one set of the first exercise, then do one set of another one then another. Or should I do one set of an exercise and wait, then do the same one before moving on the another?
Between exercises wait two minutes, repeating the previous exercise movement to keep the blood flowing, or better, stretching and warming up the next set of muscles to be worked.
Cheers
Posts: 4081 | Location: Neither here nor there | Registered: 06-03-02
quote:Originally posted by Wrecked: O yea, and also, is milk a good source of protein and carbs? if not, common/easy to get product is?
Protein is naturally found in meat, fowl and fish. Soy beans and other dry beans possess protein, but require a modifier like rice (carbohydrate)
Milk does containe protien, but not as much as say a lean chicken breast.
Carbohydrates come to us through the grains, wheat, rice, pastas, breads, etc are high carbohydrate foods.
I would first find out if you are going to stick with the routine by doing it for a month, if you find that you have met the first month, then purchase a whey protien and follow the directions.
Protien shakes are the only real way that you can eat all the protien you will need for building muscle mass to a great extent.
Cheers
Posts: 4081 | Location: Neither here nor there | Registered: 06-03-02
quote:Originally posted by Wrecked: heh, i need to get fat before I get tone
False:
You will be building muscle mass which wil burn any fat calories you have. The myth that you have to but on fat weight to gain muscle weight is based on old school thinking.
More recent discoveries have found that a person can put on more muscle mass if they are thin and eat larger amounts of protiens and follow a mass building routine (Less than 1% but still more) Further, being thin means that you will see results much faster than a person who is losing fat weight while adding muscle mass.
Cheers
David
Posts: 4081 | Location: Neither here nor there | Registered: 06-03-02
quote:Originally posted by DvdGStwrt: [QUOTE]Originally posted by Wrecked: hey, thx everyone, but I have one question. Should I do one set of the first exercise, then do one set of another one then another. Or should I do one set of an exercise and wait, then do the same one before moving on the another?
Between exercises wait two minutes, repeating the previous exercise movement to keep the blood flowing, or better, stretching and warming up the next set of muscles to be worked.
Cheers[/QUOTE]
but could you tell me if I should continue on to the next exercise or do I do all the sets of the current one first?
Another crash course on the Weightlifting thing is in order.
First of all, what works best for me may not work best for you - in fact, if you followed what I did exactly you may find that you are losing muscle mass instead of gaining.
All body builders know that there are some basic applies-to-all rules; such as lift a weight, you work a muscle. But there are many more which are individual based.
For instance, I know a guy who has the best work outs at 2:00 that is 2:00 am - I am a 10:00 am man myself. It took my experimenting to find when is the best time for me to work out.
This meant keeping an extensive log book.
It is a science discovering what does and doesn't work for you. This means accurate record keeping.
For me, I have found that I get better results from doing a set of squats, and while the weight is on my shoulders follow with a set of calf raises - This works best for me. It may not work for you.
When it comes to arms, I have found that doing my max sets of say curls before moving on to tricep extensions works best.
I have found that I can do a set of back kicks followed directly by a set of wrist curls.
I didn't just do these things, I experimented, looking for what feels right for me, in which order and how I did these things was I able to push out the most reps and the most sets with the optimal weight.
There are guys who advocate lining up a list of exercises and them do one set of each, right on down the list - then start again for the second sets - that may work for them, that doesn't mean it will work for you.
Then there are others who will tell you that you have to do one exercise at a time, finish that one before moving on to the next - it works for them - but you may be able to do better.
Listening to your body is key in all of this - this comes from practise and learning what a good rep feels like compared to a bad rep. Knowing how you feel when energized and how you feel when you are low on energy.
Keep an extensive personal log book - not only covering the exercises, reps sets, weight, but how you felt before, during and after - what modifications you tried, how it felt - how you felt during your days off is just as important -if you wake up the next day unable to move with out gritting your teeth then you know something is off.
Hopes this helps.
Be a mad scientist, discover the science of your body.
Cheers
David
Posts: 4081 | Location: Neither here nor there | Registered: 06-03-02
