Weight training

[Gary Steuer]

You're right Jeff, kettlebells are a great supplement for training and they help to tie in muscle groups that are usually missed. The only problem is the person training should have a good weight training foundation before just picking up a kettlebell and start swinging. The shape of the old kettlebells made them harder to use for certain exercises. Again, great for pressing movements and for leverage workouts.

[steeve]

Gary

What do you thing of this workout

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ack2rdbiHEE

Steeve

[mic]

I'm not Gary but... the guy starts with biceps instead of triceps besides... Can you see yourself with big arms like that, Steeve? You could not scratch your back and would look like Popeye!
:-)

[Gary Steuer]

That is a good workout for someone who wants to tone their body and doesn't have access to a gym or to more weights.. You won't add strength, it is strictly for a light workout to supplement anything else...............

[braz24]

I thought the video was interesting.

When you're in a pinch for time, then I think those combo-routines might not be bad. I think as you progress, gain more strict form, and add heavier weights that you can build up some mass....to a point. That's like any other exercise in that respect. You can bench press Volkswagens all you want, but eventually, your body get used to the load and stress you place on it and your gains (strength, some cardio, and mass) will "plateau." Then you'll have to come up with other creative ways to get the blood into whatever muscle group(s) you're working to develope even further.

Most of the time, its a good idea to go do your heaviest lifting first and then work to the "lighter" exercise...Its just a good way manage your energy levels and keep your workouts intense for the entire period of time you lift.

Personally, I lift six days a week....Mondays and Thursdays are most of the time (but not always) chest, shoulders, triceps and abs. Tuesdays and Fridays are traps, back, biceps, and abs, and Wednesdays and Saturdays are legs and abs. Sunday is recovery from the last 6 days. FYI, martial arts is everyday, most of the time seven days a week.

I listed my lift sessions but if you could (depending on your goals, amount of time available, etc.) could lift 2, 3, or even 4 times a week and make great gains (toward whatever your goals are). I used to do upper body on one day and then legs the next, take a day off, rinse and repeat.

The real issue for lifting becomes maintaining interest in lifting and high intesity workouts. Let's face it...Lifting weights is not the most mentally stimulating thing a person can do. Eventually (prior to true burn-out both mentally and physically) you get bored and have to resort to playing "mind games" with yourself...essentially tricking you and you r body into working out when you don't "feel" like it. For me, it's the pump that keeps me coming back. so all I have to do is get a "new" pump into the muscles and then my mind gets back inot it and mentally boredom goes out the window. That may be something as easy as adding in a new exercise that you don't normally do, rearranging the order (sequence) that you do your routine in (like doing the first exercise last and vice versa). Lately, I am constantly rearranging and changing EACH workout. This keeps me mentally interested in the workouts, keeps my muscles from plateauing.

One thing I used to do (but need to return to) is a routine I call my "fun day". I spend that day doing muscle groups I want to or need addtional work in. One thing I do then is combine bicep and tricep rotuines into the same day. It seems like if the biceps are pumped and then I hit the tricep RIGHT after that, I get a GREAT tricep workout and the pump (obviously) feels different than usual...of course that keeps my mind interested then and in the long term.

Oh yes. Let's not forget the kettlebell routines....the youtube video link shows routines that kettlebells can do just as well...if not better. The point is, variety keeps it fun and interesting and keeps you on track for your personal goals. You don't stagnate physically or mentally.

Once again, I've gone off the deep-end but I thought someone out there would find this interesting.

Jeff

[mark]

Hi Jeff,
It's O.K. to go off the deep end ;D. Good info .

Mark

[steeve]

Jeff

Ur a Bodybuilder.....ur goal is to be big ....Masss....?

Steeve

[steeve]

next question

Genetically we are ectomorph ,endomorph or mesomorph .....

each type have his own way to train.......

If a person have the dertermination to train 5 or 6 day a week ...

Whats about steroid stuff?.....

Steeve

[braz24]

Steroids? Avoid at all costs!!!! The risks of the side-effects of steroids far outweigh any benefits. Steroids normally are used for some medical applications. To use steroids in bodybuilding/weightlifting requires you use over 10 times the mdeical dosage and that is BAD ju-ju. Whatever problems you incur through the use of steroids is permanent! It will never go away!

Lets assume that you are doing steroids (which BTW, I NEVER have used, for the record) without any side effects(bad assumption), steroids will cause you to be able to lift much heavier weights in much less time than doing things the natural way. If things go well, you may gain 50 pounds of solid weight (depending on your lifting intensity) in your first year of lifting and MAYBE 10-15 (MAYBE) every year after that for a while...the thing is, you will have to lift HEAVY to continue to make large gains in mass (and eat REALLY healthy too) and after a point in time, you will eventually exceed the weight your body can tolerate and lift safely and then begin to deteriorate your joints and tendons etc. Given enough of this abuse, this leads to osteo-arthritis and maybe even joint replacement surgery. It's not worth the pain, agony and medical costs just to look big and inflate your ego.

Now suppose you lift with steroids for years and decide to quit the steroids and even continue to lift without them. You will lose all that mass the steroids "gave" you like a slow leak in a tire. You will lose loads of strength too. I had heard after two weeks off of steroids, one guy couldn't lift even 125 pounds lighter on his max bench press.

So why use steroids to begin with. With steroids, you do have to put in ALL the work to gain mass anyway but get to lose it when you come to your senses and quit roiding out. Nevermind the effects of ruining the health and chemistry of your body FOREVER! It's not worth and I would imfatically say, DON'T DO IT!!!

Also, don't use andro either. Some say andro is not a steroid. I beg to differ. I spoke with a former Mr. Missouri years ago and he said that andro has parts A and C in it. Once you ingest it, your body already has part B...Parts A, B, and C combine in your body to form a type or variation of a steroid. You can mess with your body chemistry in a bad way with andro. Do not use andro.

If you lift with a lot of instensity and lift hard and heavy and want mass, stick to lots of protein. If you do all I just listed, a good rule of thumb is to try for 1 gram of protein for every pound of weight you now weigh. If you don't lift as hard as that then you won't require anything near that much protein.

I don't consider myself a bodybuilder at all. I simply lift weights. I gear all my lifting to the activities that I do...martial arts, mountaineering, hockey (when I can do a pick up game, etc.) and more. Even though my days in competition with MMA are long over, I still lift as though I had to fight using the old weight rules. I weigh over 200 pounds which used to mean that I had to fight guys anywhere from 201- infinity in weight. I had to be able to put some really big boys in their place . Therefore, I lifted heavier but still kept a decent amount of cardio and endurance into my routines...Some muscle groups I hit with more than the mass building number of 6-10 reps per set. Just good rules of thumb for me. You have to find what works for you and your goals.

Jeff

[braz24]

All those three body types that you listed (Steeve) require (more or less) the same type of regimen for lifting....workouts need to be reasonably intense, you need to eat right meaning ditch the fats and sugars, lower how much sodium you ingest, and focus on lots of good protein, and take in some decent, good complex carbs...stay away from processed foods like white flour...it just goes in to the body, converts to sugars and goes into fat...You need to learn how to eat right and eat good portions. Get loads of rest (that is one big shortcoming I have ). If you want to put on solid weight you have to get good, quality rest....rest is as important to you as your weight routine is.

Some guys eat every supplement known to man...to each his or her own. I don't. You should be able to get all the daily nutrients your body needs from the foods you eat everyday. If you eat the wrong foods, then you won't be able to do that. If you eat junk foood alot, then what goes in is what you get out of that food... junk in equals junk out...simple.

I take a multivitamin once a day and drink 1-2 protein shakes with only 100% whey (no other additives) mixed with skim milk...you can use water but I don't. That's it. Then the rest of what I eat is geared for simple good overall health...lots of fiber, complex carbs, leaner meats, poultry and somtimes fish. I still enjoy my life (in fact when I use fresh veggies and what not when I cook I feel much more satisfied with what I eat anyway)...I still go out and eat from time to time but not often at all.

I enjoy my life and am not what many might say is a "gym rat." I workout hard, and very often...when I say workout, I include my martial art workouts and lifting and any cardio too.

One thing too, especially if you lift to gain mass....remember, nature will not turn you into a "Hulk Hogan" or Schwarzaneggar over night. It takes time and you have to be stubborn and stick with it. It is a change in lifestyle and not simply a 3 to 6 month fad. You'll see small changes in a short time but the big changes take lots of time. I always say that the results of today's workout is "in the mail" and will come soon....maybe I should say the results will come in media mail

Assume you will be changing the way you workout and eat for the rest of your life and enjoy the ride and not focus so much on the goal....The ride is really the best part...before you know it, you'll be at your goals and simply be "stoked" and keep going.

The martial arts, lifting, eating right (and more) and all this is a lifestyle that I love and get a big kick (no pun intended) out of. It's fun, it's the right thing for me to do and I feel great and am in great shape for whatever I want to do in my life. B)

Sorry. There's a lot more than that but some rules of thumbs will help guide you in your thinking to get you where ever you want to "go."

Jeff

[steeve]

Thank Jeff for the info....I have a lot of questions

Ok if Im Ectomorph...I build in a small cat frame ....Hight metabolism.....I eat but im not a big eater ....I mean I coud not eat for 8 hours and dont feel hungry ...a lot of hight metabolism are like that .....but when he want to eat ....he could eat without ending ...its like one week you feel hungry you eat 6 or time a week and the other week you could eat just 2 time a week....

thats not a eating disorder .....but each person Ectomorph with high metabolism are like that.....i do my research...

the fat boy mesomorph(if its this one) just eat ...they live for that Eat ,Eat ;D and the other type are born like a god of war

So Why a weight training program for gain weight or mass need to used Low repetition and heavy load....Why light weight and hight repetition would not be good ?

Heavy load and low reps = mass and weight gain
Light weight and hight reps= muscle cut and lose weight

thats maybe a old theory.....now with some training like hight intensity training ,super sets,and so on

I mean if you do curl with heavy load in a pyramid sets(4 sets of 10,8,6.4)maybe doing it with the dont remember the name of the exercise....you curl half way (forearm parralel to the flloor) stop for wait 3 or 5 second during the ascension ...complete the curl and go down the same way...... more light weight more reps ....but men thats shock the muscle

About all this supplemental....weight gain ,protein,creatine ,Amino Acid tablets,glutamine and so on
just for do $$$$$

About the training 6 day a week .....or split program ...its more for burn fat ......for bulid maass just 3 time a week will be ok time for recuperation ....I mean for me

Steeve

[braz24]

Hi Steeve,

Regardless of which body type you are, you need more protein when you work out (whether to gain mass or shred yourself), some complex carbs, cut back on simple carbs and really watch your intake of fats and sugars.

Before I started lifting weights, I was 120 pounds and most definitely and ectomorph...skinny with a GREAT metabolism. Really, changing your metabolism is what will help you reach your goals...gain wait or tone up. To change your metabolism requires a long, sustained period of time where you "train" your body to get used to the level of intensity of your workouts, eating right, etc. It takes time for your body to change over to the new routines.

I have heard many guys who were ectomorphs say they couldn't gain any solid weight. I say they did some things wrong...they didn't get enough protein, they didn't lift long enough to gain and muscle mass, or they didn't do the exercises right to begin with. Some guys did all those things wrong and more. I made loads of mistakes myself.

One thing I did wrong was work out TOO MUCH to gain any mass. At one time, (while serving in the USMC), I was required to workout before breakfast (loads of calesthenics, long runs) do long wind sprints to the training pool, do distance swinging, drown-proofing, and sprint back to camp FOR lunch, and then get in a lift after the training day ended. Then, if you were in the field on patrol, you don't eat right to begin with, you don't get much sleep, and you burn LOTS of calories, day and night. Everything I mentioned that you should do, I wasn't doing. Breaking all the rules...I lost size and was pretty chisled up...I was really strong and could run triathalons though! LOL! ;-)

I think its a smidge easier to tone up than it is to gain mass. When you tone up, as long as you workout alot and really restrict fats and carbs, you'll get buff. When you lift for size, there is a fine line in the number of muscle fibers/cells that you "tear down" on a daily basis versus the number of muscle fiber/cells that you repair. If you tear down more than you repair, you will not gain solid weight. If you repair the same or more cells/fibers than you tore down, you grow. So, toning up all you need to do is make sure you work out high reps, loads of cardio and then watch the fats and carbs and you'll be doing great! I keep saying you should watch your salt/sodium intake too. If you do too much sodium per day, the sodium will retain excess water...one gram of salt can retain UP TO 50 grams of water. If you're trying to shredd yourself into an anatomical chart, the excess water stored in your body due to excess sodium will reduce or remove some or all your hard gained tone or cuts.

Many people also want a six pack or toned up core. You can do lots of ab exercises...You don't need to do 100s of reps...How well you see your six pack is directly related to how much your exercise and what you eat...Not how many reps of say sit-ups you do. Also, too much fat in your diet will lead to a layer of fat between your abs and your skin=no six pack.

Another point is when I say what your goals are, then you have to decide if you're bulking up or trying to tone up. You're right, low reps + heavy weights = bulk. High reps + low weights = tone. Regardless of which of these goals you pursue, you still need to eat right, get lots of rest, and do this for months...change your lifestyle.

A note on "heavy" weights here...Do not worry about how much you think you should be lifting...leave your ego at the door when you workout. It doesn't matter so much how much you lift...it does matter how you lift whatever weight you lift. I've seen guys with way too much weight on a barbell cheating really badly on EVERY rep bragging about how much they could lift and not having any bulk and wondering why. In my opinion forget about slapping on a ton of weight and only doing 1 rep for your max...what good does that do you but to inflate your ego?...Big hairy deal! It is more important to lift a certain amount of weight correctly for at least 6 (I really say 8) reps or more. I NEVER do 1 rep max weights...It's a waste of time unless you're a competitive power lifter, then maybve... :-) The way you can figure out how much you should be lifting (lets say for bulking up in this example) isn't too hard. Lets use barbell curls in this example too. You should be able to lift (curl) the weight with strict form up to rep number 4 or 5 and THEN you should have a hard time doing rep 6, 7, 8 up to 10. The last rep should be darn near impossible (remember, no cheating). If it is too hard, then take some weight off the bar. If it is too heavy and you can't keep strict form then take weight off. If it is just too easy, then add a little weight. That is a good rule of thumb.

Low reps for me equals 6 to 10 reps per set...8 is really a good target number. High reps is 12 or higher...For calf raises I do 15 reps per set...Calves are stubborn and really have dense muscle fibers in them. I have to really sock it too them to get them to respond...Besides, with mountaineering, you're always climbing up (and down too), have long approaches (hikes) to the get to the really climbing to get to the summit...high reps keep my calves strong, keep them from reaching muscle failure on the climb, and still they amange to slowly gain size too. High reps also keep me on my toes for sparring or when I used to fight in matches. I try to blend all my weight lifting routines to match the activities that are important to me.

Another book...sorry...not trying to hog the thread.. ;-)

Jeff

[braz24]

Another training trick I do that works for me is mega rep sets...If I need endurance I will go and do extreme sets with light weights. For example, I might so sets of 50 for barbell curls to really set my arms on fire...I get a different pump than normal which promotes growth and keeps my mind interested in the workouts longer too. I do that with witrh light weight and I don't so that for months on end either. For legs, I would do 250-500 straight reps of squats or hindu squats BEFORE I do my leg workout, which I lovingly call, "the dreaded leg workout." ;-) It takes a lot of energy and I have to lift HEAVY to do my leg workout. A had heard that doing more than 250 squats in a row is bad for the knee joints so I rarely do the 500 these days...I avoid sharp knee pains like the plague. If you workout and your body deteriorates then you're thinking and doing things all wrong. The point of lifting, exercising and martial arts is to promote health and longevity.

Jeff

[Gary Steuer]

Lots of good material and advice. I got my start training with weights while I was still a teenager. It added the strength I needed for pulling and pushing while I studied judo. In high school I loved throwing the shotput and competed on the track team as a junior and a senior. Had a PB toss of 53 '4 at a bodyweight of 215. Worked out at a gym in New York where there were serious lifters, pro wrestlers and bodybuilders and met Joe Abbenda ( Mr. america '62 , and Freddy Ortiz, and Kenny Maddigan, etc..) Got talked into entering a contest in Ohio and placed 20 th in the Mr.America in '62.
I was in the Marine Corps also and was sent TAD to Washington DC for Fitness Instructor school. Had teachers like Larry Scott and Bill Pearl who were recruited by Major George Ottot who was a fitness buff. Ran the base gym in Georgia until I got orders for Vn...
Anyway Jeff, I was a 0351 , went overseas with 2/4 , went to 1/9 and then to a CAC outfit for the rest of the 2 tours... Came home a Sgt E-5 .. And am now dealing with affects of Agent Orange...

[Gary Steuer]

A photo taken about 40 years ago.