Pumping Iron

[Fryderyk Chopin]

Doing the basic compound lifts will go a long way for a newbie.

Squats, deadlifts, pull-up/downs, rows, bench and overhead presses are pretty much all a newbie needs to milk out some good newbie muscle gains and are worth keeping throughout one's strength training life. Add other stuff in when you get enough progress and see lagging places you wish to bring up. When you do add the accessory stuff, it's a good idea to start thinking about training splits then.

You can do whatever number of working sets you see fit, but reps are a different story. Remember that if you mainly want strength, 4-6 reps is the range to go while 6-12 is more about hypertrophy/muscle growth. Any more than that is training endurance and frankly you get enough of that in cardio already.

(By the way, I know there are fast twitch and slow twitch muscle fibers and that they affect what rep ranges are best for hypertrophy, but I don't think non-bodybuilders/aesthetic types need to be too concerned about that stuff. Lift heavy and lift consistently and the muscles will grow.)

[AryuLost]

Eat a lot, sleep a lot, and do compound lifts and you will succeed.

[siskataya]

Sunday's workout was called "5000 Pounds Overhead" in which (I kid you not) I lifted a total of 5000 lbs over my head in overhead lifts. You heard me, 5000 lbs. That is like, the equivalent of a blue whale calf at birth.

The challenge to this workout is that before you start, you have to pick a weight and stick with it for the whole 5000 lbs. I was torn between picking a heavier weight and doing less reps or a lighter weight and doing more reps. I opted for the lighter weight of 50 pounds and 100 reps and I'm glad I did because heavier weight would have collapsed me by the mid-way point. Darn baby whale!

5,000 pounds...who ever would have thought this was possible a few short years ago? Certainly not me.

Keep on lifting like you mean it everyone! biggrin
-Sisky

[Roger Waters]

That sounds like one hell of a workout! Especially for overhead lifts, good job!

I'm currently on break from lifting since I got a tattoo done just a day ago, so it'll be about 1-2 weeks until I can drag my a** back into the gym. It's really hard to resist the urge, but I'll just have to be patient.

For those interested:

[siskataya]

Roger Waters

That sounds like one hell of a workout! Especially for overhead lifts, good job!

I'm currently on break from lifting since I got a tattoo done just a day ago, so it'll be about 1-2 weeks until I can drag my a** back into the gym. It's really hard to resist the urge, but I'll just have to be patient.

For those interested:

Thanks! And nice tattoo - you definitely should rest up and recover. Don't want unnecessary injury while your skin heals.

Today I did a move called "Curtis P" - it's tough but good for you! Basically it's a hang squat clean + lunge + lunge+ push press. You can see the move here: http://youtu.be/S0pO8jOahNM

Take care!
Sisky

[Dyl-PickIes]

Personally I like the lean look. Its why I stick to body weight exercises like pull ups (my favourite!), pushups, squats, pike pushups, dips, and etc. I cant stand running which is why I keep my workouts an hour long at a high intensity cause I like to keep the rest period between 30-45 seconds. First year of working out I did tons of Cross fit workouts so I didnt gain any weight and got a little stronger but had amazing endurance (helped me with soccer and track then football later on) Now I do mostly strength training I didnt realize strength training and bulking up were different. I didnt know this till I trained with My cousin who plays football for the university which is all strength training, and I got my max bench press from 185 to 255. Although now I really wanna bulk up (atleast to 150lbs) I dislike how tiny my shoulders and chest are so Im trying to bulk them up so my question is, does anyone know a good workout routine to put on mass in this area? (my strength training program ends this week I always like to switch it up after 3-4 weeks so Im ready to try something new)

My Transformation
Bottom Right: Me at 16 and a year before I started hitting the gym 5'6 105lbs. Bottom Left: Me now at 19 5'6 143lbs 7% body fat -_-

[keiiii]

New deadlift PR today..... 135lbs. Yay for big 45lbs plates! When I can do 5x5 sets of 135lbs, I will no longer feel like a lifting newbie. Looking forward to making that happen.

[keiiii]

lliDill

My Transformation
Bottom Right: Me at 16 and a year before I started hitting the gym 5'6 105lbs. Bottom Left: Me now at 19 5'6 143lbs 7% body fat -_-

Looking great! JOOC what strength program are you doing right now?

[Lance_Shredden]

lliDill

Personally I like the lean look. Its why I stick to body weight exercises like pull ups (my favourite!), pushups, squats, pike pushups, dips, and etc. I cant stand running which is why I keep my workouts an hour long at a high intensity cause I like to keep the rest period between 30-45 seconds. First year of working out I did tons of Cross fit workouts so I didnt gain any weight and got a little stronger but had amazing endurance (helped me with soccer and track then football later on) Now I do mostly strength training I didnt realize strength training and bulking up were different. I didnt know this till I trained with My cousin who plays football for the university which is all strength training, and I got my max bench press from 185 to 255. Although now I really wanna bulk up (atleast to 150lbs) I dislike how tiny my shoulders and chest are so Im trying to bulk them up so my question is, does anyone know a good workout routine to put on mass in this area? (my strength training program ends this week I always like to switch it up after 3-4 weeks so Im ready to try something new)

My Transformation
Bottom Right: Me at 16 and a year before I started hitting the gym 5'6 105lbs. Bottom Left: Me now at 19 5'6 143lbs 7% body fat -_-

That's not 7% bodyfat

[Roger Waters]

Great to see new faces post!

I've finally started hitting the gym again, and managed a DL on 140 kg yesterday.

[Dyl-PickIes]

keiiii

lliDill

My Transformation
Bottom Right: Me at 16 and a year before I started hitting the gym 5'6 105lbs. Bottom Left: Me now at 19 5'6 143lbs 7% body fat -_-

Looking great! JOOC what strength program are you doing right now?

Thanks!

My Program:
Monday upper body (30sec-1min rest inbetween sets)
Bench Press 8 sets of 3 with 60% of your max weight ( my max was 205lb when i started so I used 125) each rep I would count 3 seconds down then quickly lift up as if I was trying to throw the weight through the roof. After that same thing but 3 sets of 1 rep except I increased the weight each set then after those 3, I did a failure set with 85% of my max so as many reps as I can until I cant do another. (eg. Now 8 sets of 3 the I do 1 rep of 205 then 1 of 225 then 235 then I do 205 as many times as I can after I usually get 6-8 reps)
5 sets of 10 for triceps, shoulders, back, and biceps (pick any excercise you want for them but use free weights no machines)

Tuesday legs
Same concept as monday just leg exercises except its squats for the 8 sets of 3 part

Wednesday Rest day (or yoga or running/sprints if you want haha :p)

Thursday Upper
Bench press 1 set of 5, 1 set of 3, 1 set of 1, 1 set of 5 1 set of 3, the failure set. Increasing weight each set except failure set ( eg. I do 145, 175, 205, 215, 225, then 205 for failure)
same 5 sets of 10 for other body parts

Friday legs
same as thursday but with power cleans or deadlifts at first

Weekend rest! after 3 weeks of that the weight increases each week and it goes from 5 sets of 10 to 5 of 7. Week after, 4 of 7 then 3 of 7

[Dyl-PickIes]

Zyzz_Brah

That's not 7% bodyfat

Just telling you what the doctors and personal trainers at the gym told me. They said 7%

[CapitalizedZombie]

Your muscles are that big and you only lift 242 bench? Weak sauce.

[Lost RoyaIty]

I see that everyone here is very friendly on helping each other with tips to be more active and more masculine... I just wonder what motivates you to work out everyday?

I actually would like to know what keeps you going, because for me. Working out is a pain.
The only time I do it is if someone makes me. Please give me tips, and thank you for your time to read this!

[Roger Waters]

Time to update me thinks.. smile )

Had some photos taken about a month ago, and they were featured in an article regarding gym comfort.



Also upgraded to a new gym locale, an athletic club with tons of more weight and room! Lifts have gone up, but I've just documented pretty much everything on my tumblr.