I've always been something of a skinny bastard. Weighed 135 til I took weights 2nd semester my senior year lol. Then I gained 40 pounds (surely helped by working at taco bell and eating it daily) and my dad was also a skinny bastard. I ran cross country and distance in hs all 3 years. Otherwise idk. I've always had decent strength, like my 1RM for squat at age 17 was 315 (when I weighed 175). Just haven't really gained weight since and fluctuated between 160 and 170 since HS, due to not lifting til about May 2011. Finally getting back into it with SS and I'm already bigger then 2 weeks ago lol. Can't wait to see how high I can jump now
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Fitness |OT3| BroScience, Protein Dysentery, XXL Calf Implants, and Squat Rack Hogs
- Thread starter Anton Sugar
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I've always been something of a skinny bastard. Weighed 135 til I took weights 2nd semester my senior year lol. Then I gained 40 pounds (surely helped by working at taco bell and eating it daily) and my dad was also a skinny bastard. I ran cross country and distance in hs all 3 years. Otherwise idk. I've always had decent strength, like my 1RM for squat at age 17 was 315 (when I weighed 175). Just haven't really gained weight since and fluctuated between 160 and 170 since HS, due to not lifting til about May 2011. Finally getting back into it with SS and I'm already bigger then 2 weeks ago lol. Can't wait to see how high I can jump now
You are definitely overtraining your biceps, but if you say so.
He's right, it definitely sounds like you're going overboard on the biceps.
Do you follow a plan made by someone else, MJ?
Short answer, no.
Long answer, I have 5/3/1 days for barbell squats and deadlifts. I do reverse pyramid training on two other days for dips and pull-ups. My assistance work is split 30/70 between barbell movements and bodyweight movements. My only structured conditioning is weekly hill sprints. I do enough hiking, walking and jogging in the meantime to fill that void. I also have a daily active stretching routine and I always begin my morning with a set of pull-ups or front tuck levers.
I did hesitate to answer since I don't consider myself advanced. You'll also note that I'm still following expert advice, albeit piecemeal in separate areas of my training, depending on my preferences. Last year my training was split between Starting Strength and 5/3/1 for the majority of the year (and 5/3/1 for a portion of the year before that). It was a valuable learning experience.
Long answer, I have 5/3/1 days for barbell squats and deadlifts. I do reverse pyramid training on two other days for dips and pull-ups. My assistance work is split 30/70 between barbell movements and bodyweight movements. My only structured conditioning is weekly hill sprints. I do enough hiking, walking and jogging in the meantime to fill that void. I also have a daily active stretching routine and I always begin my morning with a set of pull-ups or front tuck levers.
I did hesitate to answer since I don't consider myself advanced. You'll also note that I'm still following expert advice, albeit piecemeal in separate areas of my training, depending on my preferences. Last year my training was split between Starting Strength and 5/3/1 for the majority of the year (and 5/3/1 for a portion of the year before that). It was a valuable learning experience.
CherryWoodFuton
Member
Any training shoes that you guys can recommend? My POS Nike trainers are currently fucked
Not everyone is the same, my wingspan is half a foot more than my height, it is very hard for me to add mass to my arms. I've been lifting heavy for almost 2 years now, compound lifts and pull-ups with some slight isolation work has had very little effect on the size of my biceps. I've worked out most body parts twice a week with the exception being my biceps because I listened to people say they will get hit in other ways, and that hasn't worked for me.
I'll have results in 2-3 months and I'll post them.
Price Dalton
Member
Good. Stick with it. After all, you know your body better than others do.
Lasthope106
Member
I think I've reached the point where many people quit working out. You have worked hard for a few months and the results aren't visible enough to justify the amount of commitment you have put in.
Fear not, I'm not giving up. It's just that achieving the results I expect is going to take possibly years. One day at a time right amrite guys?
Fear not, I'm not giving up. It's just that achieving the results I expect is going to take possibly years. One day at a time right amrite guys?
Echoes of Pink
Member
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VLRVSC/?tag=neogaf0e-20
It's not that expensive and functions admirably. The only two issues with it are that the paint chips easily on the places where the bar rests and the holes are in 3 inch spacing, so it will be close but most likely never perfect in terms of height. Overall, it's a great starter cage.
Mecha_Infantry
Banned
Congrats to Branch Warren winning the Arnold Classic, hope he takes the MR O off Phil Heath this year, he deserves that shit
Your arms will get hit "adequately" from compound lifts such as the ones you mentioned but if you're trying to get big arms, you need to do direct arm work. No question there.
The issue that I assume people have with what your bicep work is now is that it seems there is no plan. Doing 50 reps of 6 pound concentration curls .. or sets of 10 with a 25 pound weight for as many sets as possible until you fail and can't do another set -- that's not a plan. That's a recipe for stagnation. Nobody does that, and nobody would recommend that.
I don't know what your gym equipment situation is but I am assuming you work out at home since you said you curl during NBA games. If so, you CAN progress perfectly with limited number of weights.
1. Keep things simple.
If I did read you correctly, doing 50 reps with 6 pounds for concentration curls is basically jacking off -- so you could drop that. If it's 50 pounds for 6 reps, correct me ..
Pick 1-2 exercises and run from there. For biceps, standard dumbbell curls should be all you'd need for direct arm work.
2. Plan out a progression map for curls.
I am going to assume again you only have a 25 pound dumbbell. Here's an example of a solution to how you can progress for many months without adding a single pound to your curls:
Week 1 = 3 sets of 8 reps @ 25 pounds
Week 2 = 3 sets of 10 reps
Week 3 = 3 sets of 12 reps
Week 4 = 3 sets of 15 reps
Week 5 = 4 sets of 8 reps
Week 6 = 4 sets of 10 reps
Week 7 = 4 sets of 12 reps
Week 8 = 4 sets of 15 reps
Even at the same weight, you WILL be stronger and provided you are eating enough to fuel growth, your arms will likely get bigger at the end of 8 weeks. The issue is if 25 pounds is enough for your starting point. If you can curl 25 pounds 30 times then this program wouldn't be that effective. If you can curl 25 pounds 12 times then this would be much better.
Ideally, you would add 10 pounds at the end of the 8 weeks and then start again.
Progression is progression. As long as you have a plan for progression, you're fine.
I appreciate the post however, I was using a 50lb dumbbell and doing 6 reps, then I would pick up a 25lb dumbbell and do 10 reps.
I go to the gym about 5 days a week, and was doing the Layne Norton Power/Hypertrophy routine for about 6 or 7 months, and just recently switched to something else. Me doing bicep work yesterday was a case of me sitting around and feeling like I should be doing something with the time I had instead of just watching TV.
The compound lifts have had almost no effect on the size of my biceps, I do pull-ups and mix in some negative reps as well and still nothing. I was eating around 4000 calories a day for a year, very little difference no matter what I did. So the rational idea is to hit them harder than I was before. With Layne Norton's program I'd do some isolation work, but it was split between tricep and bicep, now I'm just giving them their own day to focus more on them, and having the same Tricep/bicep day as well.
Thank you though, I appreciate the advice, it's just that I've tried doing certain things and it didn't work before. I can't continue to do the same thing if there are no results.
I dunno man, one day you might finish a set and BAM, now you're huge and bulky.
Go_Ly_Dow
Member
So I just joined the gym. My goal is to increase overall body size. The fitness people set me up with a routine so I'm all set on that.
Just some basic questions:
1. What fluids would you guys recommend when working out? Water, or some sort of hydrating energy drink (lucozade)?
2. Roughly how long pre-workout and post-workout should I take my shakes?
3. How many days per week and what about rest days?
Thanks
Just some basic questions:
1. What fluids would you guys recommend when working out? Water, or some sort of hydrating energy drink (lucozade)?
2. Roughly how long pre-workout and post-workout should I take my shakes?
3. How many days per week and what about rest days?
Thanks
You keep talking like having long arms means you for some reason should be doing 112+ reps when training your biceps. You shouldn't.
nothing about that means that over 100 reps is beneficial.
I did 9 sets total, if you consider that overtraining then I don't know what to tell you. You can't just say someone shouldn't do something based on reps either, is German Volume training a routine people should avoid? The rep ranges can fall between 100-120 or more, and yet people have great results with it.
Thank you balddemon, exactly what I mean.
Anton Sugar
Member
Isn't German Volume Training meant to be done with compound exercises, not stuff like curls?
I get what you're saying--I'm not tall but my biceps just don't grow at all without hard, direct work. What everyone else here is saying is that just because your biceps are stubborn doesn't mean you necessarily need to do ~10 sets of curls. There are other, safer ways/methods.
OG Kush said:
Taken with a grain of salt you are sure to find some worthwhile information in that book, but by and large I wasn't impressed. It's a case study, more or less, of one person's fitness and health that largely can't be duplicated. The author's 33 pounds in 28 days claim is obviously marred with muscle memory or other subtle chicanery, especially considering he did so with 4 hours of training. His sections of improving sex life reek of backpage beat-off mag material. Claiming he increased his vertical three inches from his first test of his lifetime to his second test of his lifetime was silly at best. Using a series of world record deadlift time-lapse photos with a lot of upper back English is misleading given it's placement in a deadlift tutorial section. I could go on, but since the whole book is a collection of barely related material that wildly varies in content, I can only assure you that there's a few worthwhile tidbits in there.
Where did you ever get this idea?
Unless you're body sculpting for Mr. Universe, the energy used for isolation exercises is better put to use doing an extra set of compound lifts. If you're doing small sets of them, it's not going to impede much, but at the same time it's not going to do much either.
Anton Sugar
Member
The main reason behind this is that, if you're a beginner doing SS, you really don't need to put the time and effort into specialized/isolation exercise, as your main problem from the onset is just being too small and too weak. As a beginner, doing rows/pullups will do enough for your biceps while building overall power/mass.
It's better to "impede" biceps growth/progress by focusing on rows/pullups (and overall back development) than it is to impede rows/pullups progress because you did too many curls.
Your cousin sounds like a dumbass.
If it hurts -- rest. Go for walks, do some mobility work, stretch, etc.
Once you've ignored mild warning signs like that and then ended up with a significant injury you don't take them for granted anymore.
I can't even comprehend spending that much money on CrossFit. That's a car payment.
Alright, thanks X-Frame. I always feel like I'm being lazy when I miss a day. Psychological thing.
I always felt bad when I had to miss a couple of weeks about a year ago or so when I messed up my lower back, but it ended up fully healing up and feeling great.
MrToughPants
Brian Burke punched my mom
You keep talking like you have 20" arms.
Doing two or three bicep exercises for 80-120 reps (8 x 10-15) isn't a big deal.
1. Water
2. Doesn't matter, most people try to take it within an hour but I think that's probably broscience. As long as you're getting enough protein your body doesn't really give a shit if it's 45.3 seconds after benching or 3 hours later.
You have a routine set up that you won't deviate from, but you don't know how many days to perform that routine? Do Starting Strength. 3 days a week. Eat clean, eat a lot, rest a lot, lift heavy. You will grow.
No it isn't a "big deal", but it isn't going to get him the size he wants. And that's the point.
Especially with the lack of any real plan.
Squat up to 235 - might be about to stall. Luckily I got a shit ton of free protein powder from my grandma over the weekend so I can start drinking some shakes again.
OHP up to 95 - got every rep this time. Looking forward to getting 100 on friday.
Power cleans at 135 - first time actually doing these, so I just did 135. Still made me sweat, and definitely one of the toughest exercises. Gonna have to watch some YT videos to work on my form tho.
Good workout today for sure. I love SS cuz the workouts are so short. I can get off work at 230, drive to the gym by 240, and be done by 320 to pick my mom up at 330. Pretty nice.
He should post the routine before we tell him to switch to SS. But they might have given him some exercises grouped together without telling him when to do them.
EDIT: quick question, on Wednesday I have a basketball game to play in at night. That's also my next workout day. I'm planning on going a bit lighter on the weights, or just not increasing the weight. Any better suggestions? As mentioned above, no one knows my boedy better then I do, and I know if I squat 245, bench 165, and deadlift 300, I'll be beat and unable to perform at my highest level during the game. What about moving Wednesday's workout to Thursday and then Fridays to Saturday?
OHP up to 95 - got every rep this time. Looking forward to getting 100 on friday.
Power cleans at 135 - first time actually doing these, so I just did 135. Still made me sweat, and definitely one of the toughest exercises. Gonna have to watch some YT videos to work on my form tho.
Good workout today for sure. I love SS cuz the workouts are so short. I can get off work at 230, drive to the gym by 240, and be done by 320 to pick my mom up at 330. Pretty nice.
kylej said:
He should post the routine before we tell him to switch to SS. But they might have given him some exercises grouped together without telling him when to do them.
EDIT: quick question, on Wednesday I have a basketball game to play in at night. That's also my next workout day. I'm planning on going a bit lighter on the weights, or just not increasing the weight. Any better suggestions? As mentioned above, no one knows my boedy better then I do, and I know if I squat 245, bench 165, and deadlift 300, I'll be beat and unable to perform at my highest level during the game. What about moving Wednesday's workout to Thursday and then Fridays to Saturday?
Because of my wrist I think I'm gonna start doing power cleans instead of rows, unless the doctor tells me that I can't once I go to the clinic. How do you do them with low weight (without 45 plates I guess)?. Since the height of the bar is too low should it be done like hang cleans or are you supposed to start like a dead-lift without having the bar on the floor?
HarryHengst
Member
It is pretty dumb though. But bro´s wanna be bro´s so got to do those curls i guess.
Anton Sugar
Member
Firstly, if you're having wrist issues, I'd be very careful with power cleans. I guess it depends on the nature of your injury, but in general, cleans will be a lot more stressful on your wrists that rows.
If you don't have any full-sized lighter weights (like bumpers), the best thing is to prop the smaller plates up on boxes or other stacked weights. Failing that, you can try them as hang cleans. Cleaning lower from the floor with smaller plates certainly isn't HORRIBLE, but your back will naturally curl more, which isn't a good way to learn how to clean.
Thanks. I won't do them before checking with a doc that's for sure. But my wrist problem is only noticeable when I do rows. I can do dead lifts just fine.
You mean BB row, right? That's odd that it hurts for that, but not for dead lifts.
Either way, it's good that you're waiting till you see a doctor.
Yeah pendlay rows. Anything else I'm fine. Deadlifts, pull ups etc.
Bearded Dudebro
Member
Hey guys, recovering anorexic here. Looking to GAF for a little help. So lemme tell a little story.
I grew up in a house where all the unhealthy foods were the norm, so of course I was a fat guy. I decided to do something about it.
I cold turkey'd everything bad. I began going to the gym every other day, doing 45 minutes of cardio. Shortly after that I had a few personal trainer sessions who showed me a few exercises. It was just a few exercises he chose based off what I said I wanted. You know, cut abs, big arms, etc. Definetly not a weight training plan. Regardless, I was well on my way to hitting my target weight.
Somehow down the line, it became all about seeing that number go down. It got to the point where I was severely limiting my calories. I did cardio only, for longer than I should have, every day of the week. To the point of a 2000 cal deficit daily. I even got to the point where I was severley limiting my water intake.
The thing is, I knew what I was doing wasn't healthy. Luckily I've not had any health complications. I know I need to stop it before I do. I've decided to change it before I do.
So I've gotten a physical and full workup (blood, urine) at the doctor. I'm healthy. I've also gotten my bodyfat hydrostatically tested. Which is where my question begins. I weigh 152 lbs. For a guy that's 6'3", that's too low. My Lean Body Mass to Total Body Weight % is a little higher than norm. Obviously because I've burned off alot of muscle.
So needless to say, I'm fairly weak and my Lean Body Mass as well as Total Body Weight are too low, and my Bodyfat % is slightly high. I need to increase Lean and Total Weight, but at a rate where I'm gaining more Lean than total, so that my Bodyfat % goes down. I know the only way to do this is to eat right, and do resistance training.
I've resumed normal water consumption of 64oz daily. I know how to eat properly, what to eat. I was just eating too little of it. I've figured out my Macronutrient requirements and gone back to eating the proper amount. So I feel I'm good on the nutrition front.
Course I'm getting Psych help for the anorexic part.
I'm looking for Fitness GAF's advise on where to begin with resistance training. Say something like Starting Strength?
I grew up in a house where all the unhealthy foods were the norm, so of course I was a fat guy. I decided to do something about it.
I cold turkey'd everything bad. I began going to the gym every other day, doing 45 minutes of cardio. Shortly after that I had a few personal trainer sessions who showed me a few exercises. It was just a few exercises he chose based off what I said I wanted. You know, cut abs, big arms, etc. Definetly not a weight training plan. Regardless, I was well on my way to hitting my target weight.
Somehow down the line, it became all about seeing that number go down. It got to the point where I was severely limiting my calories. I did cardio only, for longer than I should have, every day of the week. To the point of a 2000 cal deficit daily. I even got to the point where I was severley limiting my water intake.
The thing is, I knew what I was doing wasn't healthy. Luckily I've not had any health complications. I know I need to stop it before I do. I've decided to change it before I do.
So I've gotten a physical and full workup (blood, urine) at the doctor. I'm healthy. I've also gotten my bodyfat hydrostatically tested. Which is where my question begins. I weigh 152 lbs. For a guy that's 6'3", that's too low. My Lean Body Mass to Total Body Weight % is a little higher than norm. Obviously because I've burned off alot of muscle.
So needless to say, I'm fairly weak and my Lean Body Mass as well as Total Body Weight are too low, and my Bodyfat % is slightly high. I need to increase Lean and Total Weight, but at a rate where I'm gaining more Lean than total, so that my Bodyfat % goes down. I know the only way to do this is to eat right, and do resistance training.
I've resumed normal water consumption of 64oz daily. I know how to eat properly, what to eat. I was just eating too little of it. I've figured out my Macronutrient requirements and gone back to eating the proper amount. So I feel I'm good on the nutrition front.
Course I'm getting Psych help for the anorexic part.
I'm looking for Fitness GAF's advise on where to begin with resistance training. Say something like Starting Strength?
Starting Strength definitely sounds good for you man. With a proper diet and exercise regimen, you will do amazing things.
Remember, if you need any specific advice, FitGaf is at your disposal my friend.
Good luck!
Id def redommend SS, but also make sure you realize that SS requires a lot of calories to work properly, and that you will likely put on some fat as well during your time on the program. This is not a bad thing.
I did squats again while eating pizza beforehand and didn't get sick. This time I was edit: wasn't hydrated though, so I think last time me getting sick from squats was simply hydration.
I've successfully been adding weight to all my exercises every workout and getting all my reps in plus some, but what happens. But what happens if I get to lets say the 2nd set of an excercise and only get 4 reps instead of 5 because of increased weight? Meaning on my last set I'm probably only gonna get 2 or 3 instead of 5. Should I stick with the same weight for the 3rd set, and just hope I can do all the reps next workout, or should I drop weight on the last set, knowing I won't be able to do the full amount of reps?
Also, I don't think I like the method of benchpressing where you arch your back a bunch and decrease range of motion in favor of larger weight.
I've successfully been adding weight to all my exercises every workout and getting all my reps in plus some, but what happens. But what happens if I get to lets say the 2nd set of an excercise and only get 4 reps instead of 5 because of increased weight? Meaning on my last set I'm probably only gonna get 2 or 3 instead of 5. Should I stick with the same weight for the 3rd set, and just hope I can do all the reps next workout, or should I drop weight on the last set, knowing I won't be able to do the full amount of reps?
Also, I don't think I like the method of benchpressing where you arch your back a bunch and decrease range of motion in favor of larger weight.
Bearded Dudebro
Member
Would Fitness GAF be interested in watching someone's transformation? I'd be willing to put up photos, post my progress.
What Starting Strength book should I get?
What Starting Strength book should I get?
jts
...hate me...
It's not that expensive but I think that even for that price I could build a kick-ass homemade and throw in a bench, maybe some weights.
I don't know. Just something to think about. I still have a gym membership for 2 more months so a home gym could be nice DIY project to have ready by May.
Lasthope106
Member
If you have a kindle, get the kindle version.
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