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Weightlifting question (1 Viewer)

Mike__D

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 27, 2000
Messages
617
It's disrespectful and sheer folly of me to debate something your own experience proved to be fact, Mike. I do concur with what Reid said, however. The change you introduced moved the stress to a different part of the bicep, hence the growth spurt. Perhaps the comfort the EZ bar extends to you changed the way you approached your bicep workouts.
Eh, you can debate it, that's what public forums are for ;)

Back in high school, when I first started to lift weights, using the ez-curl bar was my main bicep exercise. I had pretty big arms by the time I got to college. After a long absence of lifting, I started again in Nov. Used a straight bar, but my arms didn't feel pumped, and my wrists would hurt. Switched to the ez-curl, arms pumped, wrists no longer hurt. For the heck of it, I measured my arms... 17 3/4 inches, not bad. I should have done a before though to get an accurate assessment.

While certain generalizations about weightlifting will be made, and should be followed, you have to recognize what works best, since we are all different :)

Mike D.
 

Jeremiah

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 22, 2001
Messages
1,578
Oh in addition, my assumption that I am not overtraining the biceps comes from the fact that I only work them twice a week.
Mark, IMO that is too much. I have read(musclemag.com) that the biceps are actually one of the easiest muscles to overtrain and hitting them twice a week is not needed. I have been working out for almost 10 years now and have come to the conclusion that once a week for any body part if done right is all a person needs. It is a mental obstical but I have had better results like this than when I was training my muscles twice a week, or even a muscle twice a week every fourth week.

Since you hit your bicep on the same day as you do back b/c your bicep is the secondary muscle that is used for most back exercises. If you than hit it hard after your back workout and than like that later in the week it is just too much for muscle.

I do arms on it's own day and I only do 8-9 total sets for my biceps, some even say that is too many but I can't get over that mental obstical. Afetr I do 2 light warm-up sets I just do 3 sets of 4-6 reps with the straight bar, 2-3 sets of 4-6 reps alternatating bicep curls, and 2-3 sets of 4-6 with the preacher curl. I have found this to be the best routine I have ever had. Heavy weight and low reps will do wonders if done with good form. I also do that with my other muscle groups.

That's my 2 cents.
 

Mark Fitzsimmons

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 18, 2001
Messages
539
Kinda off topic, but still along the lines of weight lifting.

What are peoples opinions on protein supplements and the like. I've been lifting every other day for the past three weeks and I'm taking mega whey from GNC. Its your basic whey protein but has other stuff in it like glutamine. I've been making improvements in my lifts, I can feel myself getting stronger and I'm getting bigger. I'm just not sure if its the protein stuff that is doing this to me or if these are the same results I'd be getting if I were lifting without it. Is it a good idea to take stuff like this? Is it healthy?
 

Mark Schermerhorn

Second Unit
Joined
Sep 24, 2000
Messages
354
Jeremiah:

Someone said in an earlier post that biceps are the quickest muscle to recover. So I don't know the answer. All I can really do is experiment.

Mark:

I view protein supplements as just a really convenient way to get as much protein as I want. Just mix and drink, instead of having to cook up and eat chicken, for example.
 

JoshF

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 21, 2000
Messages
884
Protein supplements are fine. Don't, however, think of them as replacements for macro-nutritional sources of protein. Get both.

Whey protein is great post-workout because it gets absorbed very quickly. Cassein protein (like that found in cottage cheese) is great as your last meal before bedtime as it gets absorbed slowly.

If you're taking a LOT of whey protein, you might want to consider supplementing with some O3 fats like Flax Seed Oil to balance out.

Balance is key.
 

Jeremiah

Screenwriter
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Jun 22, 2001
Messages
1,578
Protein supps are awesome and an a way, a must, but that is dependant on what you want to get out of lifting. If it becomes your way of life than I would definantly get them; and when I talk about way of life I don't mean Arnold way of life, just that it is something you do on a consistant basis.

It is just too hard to get the amount of protein you need from regular daily foods like chicken, steak, fish, and turkey. I nice whey protein for right after(within 30 minutes) is very good, but if you can add a more complex protein for brunch and linner would be even better. They whey proteins are great b/c your body will easily absorb them soon afetr your workout and it will help them grow and recouperate faster. I use Prolab whey protein.

Oops, I see I am repeating what josh has said.
 

Mark Fitzsimmons

Supporting Actor
Joined
Aug 18, 2001
Messages
539
Cool. The only problem is that the protein drink tastes horrible! lol.

I try to eat other proteins throughout the day as well. I'm averageing about 1 can of tuna daily as well. The potential problem there is I usually eat the tuna in sandwich form, and at two sandwiches a day thats four pieces of bread which is alot of carbs. Which, I can expect may get in the way of me achieving the lean, muscular look I am searching for. What do you think?
 

Steve_Tk

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2002
Messages
2,833
I'd agree that one of the hardest parts of working out is staying away from over training. Everyone tends to think you get in there non-stop doing hitting the muscle every 48 hours. At least that's what one trainer used to say at the gym where I worked out.

I actually had bigger gains when I stopped working out so much. The hard part was mentally telling myself that I was not slacking off. At first I always felt like taking a days rest was a waste of time.
 

Jeremiah

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 22, 2001
Messages
1,578
Yeah, if you want to get lean(real lean) little carbs is the way to go(not sure what amount though). When I was at my leanest I was 5'8 150 with about 10% body fat, I was eating something like 250g of carbs and like 300g of protein, my fat was at 50-75g per day. Than I tried to cut my carbs down even more and that was just too much for me. Now my diet is crap but I still lift and take my protein, I still look pretty good, good enough to not have a strict diet.:)

I like ProLabs whey protein with the chocolate flavor and it taste pretty good too me; I won't be making me a glass to drink with breakfast good or anything like that but it is far from plug your nose and gulp it down bad. It is fairly cheap at about 30 bucks(I think) for 5 lbs and I will usually use 1.5 servings at a time. There are a few others that a good but I can't remember what they are though.
 

Zane Charron

Second Unit
Joined
Jul 19, 2000
Messages
458
Well, if you feel that 2 days a week on the same muscle (group) is too much and once a week is too little (it can be) than why not spilt the difference like I do and work a muscle group 3 times every 2 weeks? As in, Mon/Fri/Wed. 4 days is enough time to fully recover but not too long that you start to atrophy.

As far as protein goes, just as everyone has different muscle bulding capabilities, everybody has different amounts of protein/carbs needed to achieve what they want. I don't eat TOO much protein, probably about 90-100 grams a day. I don't think you need 200-300 grams/day unless you're quite big, like competition big.

Mark, I don't think 4 slices of bread per day is too much, provided they aren't huge pieces and they aren't plain white bread. Try a good whole grain/nut bread. More protein, less carbs and good for you (and taste great). Processed white flour = evil.

I like the Myoplex protein shakes. They taste pretty good to me, though they aren't cheap. These kinds of supplements never are.
 

Jeremiah

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 22, 2001
Messages
1,578
No, I don't feel once a week is not enough, I think it is just right if you do it right.

Zane, if you are working out on a consistent basis(a full routine a week) your body needs at least 1 gram of protein per lb of weight, 1.5-2g per one lb of weight is ideal.
 

Mark Schermerhorn

Second Unit
Joined
Sep 24, 2000
Messages
354
Quick update:

I did push exercises Monday, pull on Teusday.

Changed a few things. One, I'm now doing my lifting first, cardio second, since I'm going to focus on building muscle instead of losing fat. I did have more energy for weighlifting, although I wasn't warmed up as usual. Second, I added a few sets to some of my exercises, dropping weight and doing reps to fail after I do my normal 2 sets. I also moved tricep extension and bicep curl to the end of my routine, after the compound exercises.

I'm certainly sore today, mainly in the pecs and shoulders. I think that's a good thing, the soreness tells me I challenged my muscles at a new level. I was getting close to plateauing on several exercises, this should help.

I'll add an update in a few weeks to let you know if I'm making progress.
 

Matt_Marlow

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 9, 2001
Messages
91
.

If you're not happy with your progression take a look at these questions and answers from Stuart McRobert: http://www.hardgainer.com/stuart/archive.html It's total heresy compared to what almost everyone does in the gym these days, and it's also a helluva lot more effective for a lot of us.

Specifically for building big arms: http://hardgainer.com/articles/09-53.html (Btw, the term "hardgainer" should actually be called "normal gainer" as it refers to 85 to 90% of the population. )

Also, maybe take a look at amazon for reviews of Beyond Brawn by Stuart McRobert.
 

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