Are there any fitness people here? gots some questions about lifting

[Anonymous]

Kay. so I've heard a few times I'm just some muscle away from being very attractive, and that's what I Want.

First of all, if I really worked at it how long would it take to get some definition? I'm currently in the 140lb range and am about 14% body fat.

Another thing, I always hear lifting free weights is always so great, not knocking it at all but what I wanna know is if it really is a great way to improve physique, why do these p90x and insanity workouts (or the ones that encourage using body weights) claim to yield great results in a short time? I know its TV and may be fabricated but still. Do these workouts create "useless" muscle and mainly is just for definition?

If I'm already pretty weak atm (I could curl 25lb dumbbells 10 times fairly easily but 2nd set was difficult) what would be the best way to go about it?

Also, are weight added pushups an effective workout? When I was doing them regularly I could do 20~ or so with 50lbs added easily. Didn't try much passed that though because I only have a backpack and the weights started to hurt my back.

Updates

+1 y

Also I'm 5'7

Updates

+1 y

I had my weight wrong, I'm 150 lbs roughly 15.5% BF

[NotJustAnotherGuy]

If you're working out purely for aesthetics, no, weighted pushups aren't effective. You'll want to get a creatine supplement to speed up your gains-- 15 grams a day for a few days then 5 grams a day thereafter. A protein supplement. And a high protein, high calorie diet.

Next, and this is the hardest part, you have to work out everyday for 1-2 hours. There's no other way about it. If you're not committing at least 6 hours to lifting a week, you are not going to see much progress.

Go with a 3 day split.

Push

Pull

Legs

E.g.

DAY one (all with heaviest weight possible to complete 3 sets of 10-- keep a log so you're not guessing everyday)

Bench press 3x10

Butterflies 3x10

Arnold press 3x10

Tricep kick backs 3x10

Overhead extensions 3x10

Lateral extensions 3x10

DAY 2

Barbell Rows 3x10

Weighted Chin-ups 3x10

Dumbbell Rows 3x10

Bicep curls 3x10

Hammer curls 3x10

Concentrated curls 3x10

Shrugs 5x10

DAY 3

Squats 4x10

Stiff-legged deadlifts 4x10

Calf raises 4x10

How this split looks on a calender--- Monday/Push, Tuesday/Pull, Wednesday/Legs, Thursday/Push, Friday/Pull, Saturday/Legs, Sunday/Rest. Monday/Push... etc..

P90x will only give you moderate gains, and insanity is cardio. People have a lot of success with these, because it's easy to wake up, eat, pop the cd in and do your workout for the day. Whereas, going to the gym (even an at home gym) requires more motivation and overall effort. People who do ALL their lifts everyday for 90 days consecutively are going to have better hypertrophy results than anyone in P90x.

If you're looking to make an at-home gym, all the aforementioned exercises (and many many more) can be done with spinlock dumbbells, a bench press, a squat rack and spotter stands.

[Asker]

question bout creatine

I've read what it does, gives you more energy so you can put out an extra rep or two or add a few more pounds

but, like how does this work? Will it heighten pain tollerence so the last few reps don't hurt? Does it like give you more endurance in a sense that the would be last one (had you not taken a supplament), it makes it so it doesn't feel like the muscle will give out, allowing you another?

or, is it just like I read online, an energy boost?

[NotJustAnotherGuy]

Creatine makes your body store water around major muscle groups for quicker recovery. It will maximize your gains by helping your body transport nutrients more efficiently. This means more energy during and after work outs, as well as better muscle recovery. It's found in most meats. 5-10g of it is all that is needed and it's really cheap and doesn't require a large amount of powder/water. Bodybuilding.com has their own brand which is unflavored, $10 for 3 months worth. I highly recommend it.

[NotJustAnotherGuy]

You'll jump up 10lbs fairly quickly while taking creatine. A good portion of that will be water weight, but that will go away as soon as you stop taking it. It is well worth the increase in gains, despite the temporary water retention (not to mention the water retention is not aesthetically bad on a small guy anyways).

[kheserthorpe]

P90x is more a conditioning program then muscle building. Will some people build muscle? Sure. The issue is p90x is a different type of program depending on your current strength because it tends to vary the reps rather then the resistance as you get better.

It is possible to gain a lot of muscle with body weight techniques but to do so optimally you need to constantly vary the exercise variant as you get stronger to keep yourself in an optimal rep range for mass gains.

For that reason I'd say free weights are easier - once you learn to do the core lifts you just keep adding weight.

Mass gains are maximized using enough resistance that you can do 8-12 repetitions per set, and no more. You'd likely want to aim for something like 60 total repetitions per body part. So for something like chest, you might want to use two chest exercises and do 3 sets of 20 of each, each time you work chest, which might be 2-3 times per week.

Total volume of work needs to be scaled based on your recovery ability.

[Asker]

Is it good to do multiple workouts, on the same day, that work the same muscle?

also is it a good idea to lower the weight to do the same amount of reps in my set count? Example: normally do x excercise at 30 lbs/8 reps on first set, but 2nd set I can't get out 8. WOuld ie be a good idea to drop the weight on the 3rd so I can get 8 out?

[kheserthorpe]

Multiple workouts same say- not if your goal is mass gains. Some other goals yes. Mass gains NO.

Declining weight by set - yes. The rep range should be set by goals. Declining sets are okay but fight to decline as little as possible.

[OpinionatedGuy]

For real definition, you need to do two things: first, cut body fat; second, develop muscle.

There are many ways to go about cutting fat. I recommend diet and cardio. For diet, cut out bread and sweets. Sweets, obviously, contribute nothing to your overall health. Some people will say that you can have bread, but it's hard to get really cut with it. So replace your bread carbs with fruit, eat lots of salad and meat, and drink water and milk (preferably skim) only.

Cardio can be many things. Running, swimming, cycling, Tabata training with various calisthenics; the primary goal is to burn lots and lots of calories. Start out with short distances / times and build up until it becomes challenging, because it takes longer to recover from an injury than it does to build up gradually.

After 12-16 weeks of cardio training, get into the gym.

crossfit.com -> Exercises and Demos.

CrossFit is a 3 day on, one day off cycle that you can do in any gym that has free weights. Study the demo videos carefully, watch your form, and use light weights to start with: like I said earlier, it takes longer to recover from an injury than it does to develop gradually.

At this point I recommend adding protein shakes to your diet, because it can be difficult to get all the protein you need from just eating. I've used many, many different kinds, and my favorite is Optimum Nutrition Gold. It's a solid compromise between quality and not breaking the bank.

I can go into more detail if you want, but I've got to go for now.

[Asker]

After doing it for bout a week now in class and at home once on the weekend I'm noticing some changes. I got a question bout whatya said though. I've been reading online as well and a lot of the sites recommend bulking and then cutting but you have it in reverse here. Any reason why?

[OpinionatedGuy]

Bulking first is easier, but when you do that, it has two negative effects. First, it makes you accustomed to the bulking diet, thus making the switch to a cutting diet more difficult than it already is. Second, a significant proportion of the mass gained is fat and water, which you will then have to turn around and lose when you cut.

[MyNameIsJonas]

Curling dumbells has nothing to do with real strength so don't base yourself off that...

I'd consider myself a fitness freak... I run, swim, lift, whatever. The bottom line of your question: Are free weights more effective then body weight ? Both are effective. People who can do both get the best of both worlds. There is no real big secret on gaining strength and changing your physique. It takes work and exercise that stimulate muscles. You want to stimulate your muscles to a point were they are broken down and rebuild bigger and stronger. You can go into more detail pertaining to what you want to do. Power lift, move faster, be flexible, or just look leaner.

Are weighted push ups effective ? Yes I do them and many other variations. I recommend doing them in 4 sets of 20 reps with effective weight. Take about 2 minutes rest between your sets.

Hope that answers what you have asked..

[Asker]

I have another question. How am I supposed to feel a few hours after the workout/the next day? Sometimes I'm done and I'm sore, other times I'm done and I feel really weak afterward. Like not physically drained or tired or anything, like I have a much looser grip and feel if I were to try to lift something heavy my arms would give in easily. How am I supposed to feel afterward? I've read sore isn't always a good thing because you may have tweeked something, but is it bad if I'm not in pain?

[MyNameIsJonas]

Sore is good. That means you got a good workout. Pain however is not good. The difference is pain in a joint pain in a specific area rather then general muscle soreness... This may mean you were working out with improper form and may have tweaked something...

Eating right and stretching after workout can greatly bring soreness down. You should not be so sore that you cannot move a body part. That is overdoing it.

[Asker]

Is there a way to tell if its joint pain or just muscle pain? Like the other day I did an arm and shoulder workout, and did a few sets of tricep pushups. I ended up sore on my inner arm, opposite of the elbow and a little towards the bicep. I don't think it's my elbow that's hurting, but with it so close I can't tell. No swelling. Also, when I have soreness in my pectoral area, its usually like in my armpit area, not in it but very close, more towards my chest

[MyNameIsJonas]

That doesn't sound like muscle soreness because it is a direct area rather then the entire muscle... You need to give it a rest and stretch a bit. Stretch before workouts as well... It matters man. Be flexible. Joints and tendons become overextended in exercises they are not prepared for.

[TheGoodTheBadTheHOT]

These 'magic' workouts only work because they stick you to a routine. You can get the same results using a routine of your own. Many of the 'success' stories are just down to stripping weight from a subject with existing muscle beneath the fat. One thing to support this is the sheer fact there is no "useless" muscle.

A really good (free) source for weightlifting information is this guy here link hundreds of videos and articles detailing lots of aspects of bodybuilding and fitness.

Best method as far as reps and sets goes depends on your aims in terms of strength or mass but a nice middle ground is 3 sets, aiming for 10 reps each time and hitting 8 on the 3rd set.

By the way, id advise you to always avidly stretch your back and shoulders before any workout. One injury can set you back months.

[Asker]

I've actually been subscribed to scooby on YouTube for years now for if I ever decided to work at it. I had a feeling that's who it was before clicking it.

Atm I have a weights class that's less than an hr 3 days a week. What should I do the days between, if anything?

[TheGoodTheBadTheHOT]

I f***ing love scooby. Man speaks so much sense and gets so much respect from me for it.

Ultimately, as scooby would probably say: do what's right for your body. I personally split my workouts into 4, a day for each; arms, back, chest and legs. I decided to do that just after trial and error and preferring the deeper burn I could get by concentrating on one more specific area as opposed to the typical chest and tri's, back and bi's (etc) split.

It still all depends on your goals

[TheGoodTheBadTheHOT]

Like if you want to lose a bit of fat, throw a cardio day in there or if you feel a specific muscle group isunderdeveloped, throw a day targeting that in there and so on.

[Asker]

Mainly I want a sexy upper body. I was like 180lbs in hs (didn't look it though) so I think my legs are fine, may need to work on calves but mainly what I want is to look good without a shirt.

[TheGoodTheBadTheHOT]

Then throw in a cardio day or two, try and get that bodyfat down to 10-12%.

A good technique for calves is something called donkey raises or something simmilar I think (basically going on your tip toes, squeezing the calf then releasing. Heavy weight with 15-20 reps to get a good burn. Try and have your heels over some kind of ledge to get a fuller range of motion)

[TheGoodTheBadTheHOT]

Just checked, its similar to dokey raises, I suppose theyre really just calf extentions as I do them in an upright position.

[Asker]

Yeah they have that kind of machine In the class. I haven't tried it yet. I feel a little self conscious on some of the workouts because of my low numbers and I think they'd be way below average.

[TheGoodTheBadTheHOT]

Everyone has to start somewhere. As long as you keep it up and don't slack then people won't look down on you.