Working Out Constantly

[madgame]

Im gonna try and make this short. In my opinion one of the most important things to getting big is eating properly. However, working out itself is also crucial. I know a lot of guys who dont have a routine (whether it be a split routine or not). They go to the gym like 3 times a week or so and then they're like wow I worked out hard this week Ill probably get bigger. Next week they do the same thing. Then a week later they're like..I have to study for college, I have to do this have to do that..got no time to work out this week...Next week they dont have much time either so they just work out once. In the following week they work out hard like 3 or 4 times again and think wow this must have gotten me bigger. I hope u get the idea?

If u wanna bulk up effectively you gotta get a ROUTINE. Try to lift the current weights that you're lifting as often as possible; lift it as often as possible and always try to increase your reps (of course you wont be able to lift a weight once more each work out session, but u get what I mean right?).

So the key ideas would be:

- get a STEADY workout routine, cause if you feel kinda tired or busy for a few days chances r u wont go to the gym and think its ok but if ure not goin to the gym for a little less than a week thats just a loss of time. If u stay away from the gym even over a week chances are you're losing strength and ull have to gain it back (and after u gained back..who knows maybe ull be busy again...stop making excuses and get a steady routine!)

- Always try to up your reps (and lift the weights as often as possible). If your reps go up your muscle growth will have to follow. If that wasnt the way it works out, there could be real skinny guys who could bench more than Arnold Schwarzenegger, right?

I know this is nothing revolutionary, but I hope it helps some fellas get a steady work out routine..I know so many guys who make those mistakes.

 

[Mikelo2k]

Well....

Well, personally I work out on a tight schedule 5 days a week w/2 for rest.

But then theres the 'scientifically proven' fact that working out too often is not going to make you any bigger than if you worked out 3 days a week just as hard.

Personally I dont believe that, even if it's scientifically proven, but it is very true that your muscles build\grow while your REST not while you WORK OUT.

For your muscles to grow, you need proper diet (most importantly lots of protein) w/good water intake.

If you want to get big, MAKE SURE you push yourself to FAILURE (last rep impossible\barely doable) every set. I read that if you dont push to FAILURE in a set then you've just wasted the entire set. Your goal is to tear as many muscle fibres as possible, so your body can rebuild those areas bigger and stronger.


So yeah, summarized:
- Prepare and follow a workout plan
- Get yourself on a bodybuilder's diet
- Drink lots of water
- Push to FAILURE every set
- Give muscles adequate rest

I also suggest making a WHEY protein shake post-workout (along with your diet of course, else its pretty useless) to give your body quickly digesting protein for use.

And remember, every time you miss a workout or slack off during your workout, you are losing valuable time. Its good to have a GOAL set, "this is how I will look in -x- amount of time", and maybe a role model (mine is www.tomvenuto.com ) to look at and say to yourself "I will work hard and achive my goals"

And believe me, once u achieve your goal, all the hard work and time spent will all have payed off!

Hope that helps!


Mikelo2k

 

[madgame]

But then theres the 'scientifically proven' fact that working out too often is not going to make you any bigger than if you worked out 3 days a week just as hard.

Nope man u cant say it like that. Like u said your muscle do grow while you rest, but I think there are no studies saying that working out 5 days a week wont get u bigger than working out 3 days a week. If you`re on a split program, working out 5 days of the week and resting on the other 2 days of the week is pretty perfect, cause each muscle gets enough rest.
If you work out each muscle group during each workout session, you shouldnt work out more often than 3 times a week though, cause if you work out 4 times each muscle gets less than 48 hours to recover (in other words: less than 1 day of rest after each workout).

I read that if you dont push to FAILURE in a set then you've just wasted the entire set.

Thats not exactly true. If u lift a weight u could lift like 6 or 7 times but only lift it 5 times that doesnt mean its a waste of time, cause its not like u hit a point where muscle starts to grow only if a set is executed to failure. Some (former?) german state champion for example doesnt lift till failure (for whatever reason..) but was still able to bench like 200kilograms or so (440lbs). However u'd probably have to do more sets if u work out that way. So y not lift till failure (I also like doing that, because I always see how many reps I was able to lift a certain wieght and then can work on adding another rep with the same weight next time..or at least a couple of times later)

 

[California Love]

Mikelo2k is correct in saying that working out too often will not result in optimal gains.

Working out often is called powerlifting and olympic lifting.

Working out for maximum muscle gain (hypertrophy) is called bodybuilding. There is a difference and a fine although discreet line between the two.

Also, you want to stay between 6-8 reps. More is definitely not always better.


However, you are correct, Madgame, on the steady routine.

 

[CLOONEY]

Mikelo2k, that dude is sick. He is WAY too big.

What would you want to be that big for? For sports, or just to look tough? or what?

 

[madgame]

Mikelo2k is correct in saying that working out too often will not result in optimal gains.

Yes he is correct in saying that working out too often will not result in optimal gains. I just said that its possible to work out 5 times a week and get optimal results if you're on a split routine.
If you work out all body parts in each session though, working out more than 3 times a week will probably not lead to optimal results.

Also, you want to stay between 6-8 reps.

True. I remember I hit a plateau once and was wondering why I hardly saw any results anymore till I figured out it might have been a mistake that I had went from 6 or 7 reps or so to like 12 13 or even 14 instead of just lifting heavier weights and staying in the 6-8 rep range. Then I got back into that 6-8 rep range and started seeing results again.

Mikelo2k, that dude is sick. He is WAY too big.

What would you want to be that big for? For sports, or just to look tough? or what?

What the hell is that all about?lol

 

[Rico S]

Re: Well....

Originally posted by Mikelo2k

If you want to get big, MAKE SURE you push yourself to FAILURE (last rep impossible\barely doable) every set. I read that if you dont push to FAILURE in a set then you've just wasted the entire set. Your goal is to tear as many muscle fibres as possible, so your body can rebuild those areas bigger and stronger.


So yeah, summarized:
- Push to FAILURE every set

Where did you read this nonsense at? Flex or Muscle and Fiction? Training to failure drains the CNS if you do it to often. This kills your strength gains.

You always want to have a least a rep in the hole.

 

[Rico S]

Originally posted by California Love
Working out for maximum muscle gain (hypertrophy) is called bodybuilding. There is a difference and a fine although discreet line between the two.

The biggest difference between powerlifting and bodybuilding is diet.

 

[Mikelo2k]

Follow up

Mikelo2k, that dude is sick. He is WAY too big.

What would you want to be that big for? For sports, or just to look tough? or what?

(In case someone was wondering, he is referring to Tom Venuto -> www.tomvenuto.com)

Dude, I understand that you may think that is disgusting, but it is the result of hard work and IMO personally it looks AWESOME! I wont rest until I have a body that looks like that. To me, he has achieved the 'perfect build'.

Where did you read this nonsense at? Flex or Muscle and Fiction? Training to failure drains the CNS if you do it to often. This kills your strength gains.

You always want to have a least a rep in the hole.

I believe I read it in several articles on Bodybuilding.com ... sorry, I dont remember which articles they were.

Anyways, I always push to max every set, it makes me feel like I have worked the best that I could and I actually do believe that that last rep is significant in tearing several extra muscle fibres.

For those of you that dont know, lifting heavy weights == tearing lots of muscle fibres. The body then repairs, rebuilds and strengthens these fibres using protein (which is broken down into amino acids). So then, it makes sense from my perspective to maximize muscle firbre tearage (o_0) by going to the max in every set. That is how you gain mass.

My 'general rule' is: stay within 6-10 reps on curling\bench press\dummbell flys\etc... and various higher rep counts for exercises such as squats, calf raises, and abdominal work (among others). If you are going for TONING\CUTTING then more reps with a lower weight is generally the way to go.

Whatever route you choose, train hard and dont give up! Stay on a healthy diet and dont miss any workouts


Good luck to all!

Mikelo2k

 

[madgame]

If you are going for TONING\CUTTING then more reps with a lower weight is generally the way to go.

NO! If u`re going for toning/cutting work out just the way u did before, all u have to do is diet differently! You wont get better definition or anything by doing more reps. If u cut down your main purpose is to loose fat. Besides of that all u wanna do is keep your muscle.

(Its not like Diesel is God to me or something, but he said that in his cutting guide too)

Where did you read this nonsense at? Flex or Muscle and Fiction? Training to failure drains the CNS if you do it to often. This kills your strength gains.

I always lift till failure too and a lot of (if not almost all??) bodybuilders do/have done so too. So I dont think it can be that wrong. However I dont think that a set which isnt executed to failure is a complete waste of time.

 

[California Love]

Originally posted by Rico S
The biggest difference between powerlifting and bodybuilding is diet.

This definitely aint true.

 

[victor von doom]

Originally posted by madgame

I always lift till failure too and a lot of (if not almost all??) bodybuilders do/have done so too. So I dont think it can be that wrong. However I dont think that a set which isnt executed to failure is a complete waste of time.

You are have to make the distinction between what kind of "failure" you are talking about.

For example, you can do 20 reps and reach "failure"

Just as you can go for a 1-rep max and reach "failure"

However, neither method is terribly efficient for the purposes of adding mass, yet conform to your "taking a set to failure" recommendation.

The key is taking a set to failure at a weight/rep range that OVERLOADS THE MUSCLE ENOUGH TO ACTIVATE THE FAST-TWITCH FIBERS TO FAILURE. This is usually accomplished in the 4-8 rep range, and usually closer to 4-6. And, therefore, this is the kind of "training to failure" most bodybuilders concerned with strength gains and hypertrophy should be training at.

 

[Rico S]

Originally posted by California Love
This definitely aint true.

My point is that you can work out like a powerlifter and acheive the bodybuilder look by manipulating your diet. If you don't agree then you haven't tried it.

 

[California Love]

Originally posted by Rico S
My point is that you can work out like a powerlifter and acheive the bodybuilder look by manipulating your diet. If you don't agree then you haven't tried it.

theres more to it than diet. A bber's is usually more strict, but both require higher amts of all macronutrients.


Routine and training style is quite different.

 

[elvis aint dead yet]

While lifting to "failure" will make you feel like it was a grea workout, you keep lifting to "failure" every time you lift and you'll soon find yourself not lifting anymore because of injury.

If you are truely lifting until you can't move your arms or legs anymore, then that is really to failure.

I've worked out before where when I was finished I almost had to be carried to my car(leg workout.) I've worked out before where afterwords I couldn't even bring my arms up to wash my own hands. that is to total failure.

While once in a while it's good to feel the burn, if you are really working out to failure every single workout, you are not going to be working out for very long.

 

[madgame]

I've worked out before where when I was finished I almost had to be carried to my car(leg workout.) I've worked out before where afterwords I couldn't even bring my arms up to wash my own hands. that is to total failure.

While once in a while it's good to feel the burn, if you are really working out to failure every single workout, you are not going to be working out for very long.

Are you talking about super-sets or combined exercises or something like that? cause I always lift "to failure" (without supersets or anything like that though), but as in I lift a weight 7 times, try to lift it once more notice I just cant get it up anymore and thus end the set. Thats how I do every set and Im usually never able to lift the weight once more. Ive never been that sore that I couldnt bring my hands up to wash my face or that I had to be carried to my car or anything...........

 

[victor von doom]

Originally posted by elvis aint dead yet
While lifting to "failure" will make you feel like it was a grea workout, you keep lifting to "failure" every time you lift and you'll soon find yourself not lifting anymore because of injury.

If you are truely lifting until you can't move your arms or legs anymore, then that is really to failure.

I've worked out before where when I was finished I almost had to be carried to my car(leg workout.) I've worked out before where afterwords I couldn't even bring my arms up to wash my own hands. that is to total failure.

While once in a while it's good to feel the burn, if you are really working out to failure every single workout, you are not going to be working out for very long.

Please re-read my definition of "going to failure" nowhere does it imply what you have said, which I am quoting here.

What you are describing is "overtraining to injury" which is nothing but bullshyt, pseudo-macho masochism.

 

[Rico S]

Originally posted by California Love
theres more to it than diet. A bber's is usually more strict, but both require higher amts of all macronutrients.


Routine and training style is quite different.

I know bodybuilders that work out like powerlifters and it doesn't hurt them one bit. I've gotten bigger off powerlifting than any bodybuilding 'routine' took me. There are also several powerlifters that have the bodybuilder look by keeping thier bodyfat low. Take a look at Jeff McVicar, Marius Pudzianowski (strongman).

This guy also squatted 1000+ pounds in the IPF. His first name is Kirk, last name evades me at the moment.

You bet your ass he wasn't a bodybuilder.

Diet, diet, diet.

 

[elvis aint dead yet]

"What you are describing is "overtraining to injury" which is nothing but bullshyt, pseudo-macho masochism."



No it's not overtraining if you do it to shock your system once in a while.

Many people I've trained with have trained like this every once in a while, some in fact, do this more often then I think is good for them.

I know this one guy who does leg workouts where when he finished his squats, he's almost puking.

To me, I don't like doing that, but for him, hey he's around 280 pounds of pure muscle. SO who am i to say otherwise.

Training to absolute failure once in a while is actually good for your muscles. Problem is, some people overdo it and do get injured.

Truely training till Failure is what this is. You train so hard that your body can not lift no more.

Yes, if you do this all the time, you will get injured.

But once in a while, it is good to shock your system.

What you describe as "failure" is just normal everday bodybuilding.

why would you even bother lifting if your going to do 10 reps of 2 sets and not struggle to get that last rep.