You could do a full body workout, some cardio, stretching, yoga, and so on, in one workout for 2 hours and you'll probably feel perfectly fine, assuming you're getting good sleep, rest, etc..however, you're not going to optimize muscle growth with that workout, which is what this thread is about. There are no "side effects" due to working out longer than an hour, but again, to build muscle, you want to lift as much as you can, you can't keep up the required energy level by spreading your energy over 3 hours, which is why its counterproductive.
Dude, why the hell aren't you working legs? I mean, you'd be at least 10lbs heavier all around if you put as much work into your wheels as you did your upper body. Legs are the biggest muscle group in the entire body and regulate the amount of testosterone available for growth which impacts every other muscle group. Come on dawg.
Wow thanks a bunch RV6, you seem very well informed on this fitness stuff. I wish i could rep you but i don't know how.Usually people that are more serious about working out tend to spend more than an hour at the gym. Id say an hour is for the average joe thats not really trying to add significant muscle but is instead just trying to stay in shape. Recently I've been taking an hour and 30 minutes to finish my weightlifting and use the remaining time to finish up with abs and however much cardio i feel like doing on that day, but i have had problems with overtraining in the past, and i tend to overdo my training without the intention of doing it. You just have to manage your time right i guess and some workouts might have to be left out. Right now id say I'm borderline overtraining. Your right about it being counterproductive.You should work out whatever amount of muscle groups in a time range that allows you to hit each muscle within a time frame that is conductive to training at your maximum intensity. When you overdo things you start to feel sluggish and your results will hamper. Plus Im actually lucky to not have injured myself yet with the way i manage my training sometimes. Whenever i realize I'm in a cycle of overtraining i just take a whole week off and the next time i workout i feel recharged and i feel like i can do more weight than usual. Thanks again for the info you've been posting here. ill definitely keep it in mind.
Haha I know, I know LOL:grin:will definitely start up legs sooner rather than later. Im just not too excited about the fact that my legs are gonna feel like crap the next day since I've never done anything even remotely close to a leg exercise.
You can sustain a linear progression up to a considerable amount of weight working out an hour every other day.
My experience agrees with RV. If you have trouble keeping it around 1 hour, then maybe you are not keeping track of how much time you socialize or you don't know EXACTLY what you are going to do before walking throug the doors. I remember last year I couldn't understand why I was taking so long, only to realize I was spacing out with the music I was listening to and sometimes taking 4-5 minute breaks between sets. If you know exactly what you want to do before you walk in, and you don't take excessive rest, then should be easy to accomplish. For people who are just now entering the weight-lifting "culture" I can see how it can extend to a couple of hours on some days. But generally speaking, once you memorize your program and are over the initial weeks of feeling like your muscles are stiff, then it gets easy. Also important is that after lifting for one hour, your body starts needing some protein especially if your diet isn't excellent. Spend another 2 hours in the gym and you are missing what is a very important window for consuming protein.
It actually doesn't matter when you take you take your protein wether it be before, during, or after a workout. Im not saying the timing is irrelevant because it is but hitting your macro totals for the day is far more important. I see some people at the gym that bring their protein shakers with them so that works well if u prefer to have an immediate supply of protein.
Thanks, RV6! I am going to look into the foam roller. I have weak hip flexors so I need to work on that! I am always aware of my core when I work out i.e keeping my abs sucked in and chest back. What I mean by a hour is that I leave the gym after a hour. Ex. we get to the gym at 5:30am and we are out by 6:30-6:45am. -5 minutes of warm up on treadmill or ellipitcal machine -40-50 minutes of lifting (5-6 sets per body part (two parts unless its the leg or shoulder workout day) -5 minutes in the sauna (i do my stretching in there)
My 5 day split Monday-off day Tuesday-Chest day: Bench press: first set i warm up with light weight 10 reps next three sets i try to do at least 8 reps each set. if I'm not able to i lower the poundage. 1-2 minute break between sets. Incline bench press first 3 sets 8-10 rep range.4th set half the weight or where i can do at least 20 reps only pushing the bar halfway up. i get 5 last normal reps in before locking out. Dumbbell bench press -4 sets. 1st and 3rd set i do 5 reps with very heavy weight. 2nd and last sets i do very light weight 15 reps. Incline bench press-4 sets -3 sets 12 rep range. decline dumbbell bench press-3 sets 12 rep range If i don't feel too burned out ill trow in two sets of decline flies the last chest workout i do is a circuit set with the pulley machine. It consists of two exercises. First one i do is a cable crossover. what i do is i lower the pulleys to between the middle and the lowest level. Keep my chest out and bent over slightly with my arms close to my body. when i crossover i like to keep my thumbs extended and facing each other when I'm pulling together. i do a weight where i can do at least 15 reps. no rest in between.The next one I'm not sure what its called. what i do is i lower the pulleys to the lowest level. the starting position is arms extended straightly downward palms facing up with arms close to your body. i pull upward to shoulder height while keeping my arms completely straight throughout the whole motion. 15 rep range. these two exercises make up one set. i repeat this 3 times. This workout is meant to target your lower chest and really help you get a defined look. Very last thing i do is abs since it requires the least amount of energy. Im actually always changing my ab routine. Helps confuse your ab muscles. working out abs gets boring. But i usually follow the ab workout by planking. If you already have visible abs you only need to workout abs for about 5 minutes honestly. If you have a flat stomach and your abs are beginning to show id say 15 minute is ok. But if your stomach sticks out then don't worry about workouts yet but instead concentrate on losing the layers of fat through dieting and cardio. Wednesday-shoulders, triceps and biceps: For arms exercises its really easy to do them wrong so i make sure i keep the correct form especially when I'm isolating my deltoid heads. Seated dumbbell press-1st set i do as much weight as i can stand where i can do at least 8 reps. next 2 sets are slightly lower weight 10 reps.since this a shoulder workout and this day focuses mainly focuses on my delta i try to train other muscle groups in between shoulder sets because the deltoid muscles are very easily fatigued. concentration curls-3 sets 10 reps no rest in between one arm side laterals-3 sets 8-10 rep range seated barbell curls- 3 sets 10-12 reps next i do a tricep workout on the pulley machine. i put the pulley on the third to last level. For my form i have my parallel and very close to my body. i pull down with my palm facing down while only moving my forearm. you shouldn't move your elbows to the side.you have to isolate your triceps i pull down until until my arm is extended completely downward. then i elevate my forearm halfway up to where your arms are at a 90 degree angle. (this would be the starting position.) 3 sets 12-15 reps reverse flyes on bench-2 sets 10-12 reps seated bent over rear delt raise-2 sets 10-12 reps front dumbell raises-3 sets 8-10 reps hammer curls-2 sets 10-12 reps abs, cardio Thursday-same as monday Friday off day Saturday-back day: i use three machines but i don't know what there called. But they work out traps, lats, middle back, and a little bit on your rear delts. sorry i don't really know how to explain this day Sunday-same as wednesday This routine is probably best suited for me though since I'm trying to gain in the shoulder and chest muscles. This high volume shoulder approach is how i broadened my shoulders from 2-D to 3-D. I try to workout whatever muscle group I'm trying to gain in first before other ones, and if i feel both muscles are equal in importance than ill just switch between training delts or my other muscle group first. i rarely keep the order of my workout for a day the same. I also like to switch the way i split my days every once in a while. It helps keep things fresh and also confuses your muscles which helps your gains. You don't want your muscles to get used to the same routine for too long.id say this routine is probably intermediate to advanced, and might actually border on overtraining. I'm planning on changing my whole routine any day now anyway since i want to incorporate a leg day. Sorry about the messiness of my post and if its confusing, but its really hard to remember and explain my whole routine.
You're welcome. As a warm up, i would opt for something more workout specific, rather than forward running/jogging. Some running is fine, since the hips are part of the core and you use hips/legs for balance during exercise, but also focus on movements that will mimic your exercises. This way, you're warming up the actual muscles you'll be using. For chest, for example, you could do a quick circuit of chest exercises, but use very low weight. Also, for the running part of the warm up, i'd get off the treadmill and do some running in different directions. Forwards, backwards, side to side, criss cross, and so on. You'll "wake up" more muscles, compared to just running foward. I'd just away from the treadmill completely, since it forces you to use more of your quads and less glutes/hams. Did you mean 5-6 exercises per body part? Because thats low for the large muscle groups. Probably half of what you need to really shock the muscle into growing. I'd shoot for 10-12. For smaller groups, like biceps and triceps, 5-6 will work.
What about the elliptical machine that have the handles? I actually do a warm up set before doing my workouts using lighter weights. Yeah ex. chest press, chest fly, incline chest press, incline chest fly, decline chest press, and decline chest fly for chest. that is 6 exercises. triceps pushdown, kickbacks, dips, skullcrushers, and two more exercises for triceps. and so on for the muscle groups. do you mean 10-12 exercises for larger muscle groups? 6-8 or 10-12 reps for 3 sets? ex. Legs - Lunges Squats Hamstring curls leg press donkey kicks deadlifts and 6 more exercises? That seems a lot. Maybe I am misunderstanding what you actually mean!
I haven't read up on ellipticals specifically, but any fixed line you have to adapt your body to is probably going to hold you back. Your body has to "settle" for that range of motion. Its like the argument of whats better, lifting with machines or using free weights? Free weights literally free you up to use your natural mechanics, which means more work, but it also means more muscles are recruited. So, yeah, i'd stay away from ellipticals also, unless you have an injury or joint problems. I think so.....There's really a lot of different ways to manipulate the number of exercises, sets, reps, weight....but i think most professionals would generally recommend these ranges: Per large muscles group: exercises ~ 4-6 sets (workout total) ~ 8-12 reps (per set) ~ 6-10 For smaller muscle groups, exercises ~ 3-4 sets (workout total) ~6-8 reps (per set) ~ 6-10 this is a general chest workout, just to give you an idea: 1. Push ups X weight : reps x reps x reps (3 sets) 2. Bench Press X weight : reps x reps x reps (3 sets) 3. Incline press X weight : reps x reps (2 sets) 4. Decline Press X weight reps x reps (2 sets) 5. Standing Flyes X weight reps x reps x reps (2 sets) So that's a total of 12 sets, 5 exercises, 2-3 sets per exercise. (I understood you only did 5-6 sets total and i recommended 10-12) For a smaller muscle group, like triceps: 1. Dips X weight : reps x reps (2 sets) 2. overhead extension X weight : reps x reps (2 sets) 3. pushdowns X weight : reps x reps (2 sets) So, that's 3 exercises for a total of 6 sets, 2 sets per exercise. EDIT --sorry, i see where i confused you: I should have been more specific and written: "Did you mean 5-6 exercises per body part? Because if you meant total sets, then that would be low for a large muscle group. Probably half of what you need to really shock the muscle into growing. I'd shoot for 10-12 sets. For smaller groups, like biceps and triceps, 5-6 sets will work."
RV6, thanks for all of the advice! :grin: I am not sure why there are not enough ladies in the weight room. I see most of them upstairs on the cardio machines or in classes. I am usually one of 2-3 ladies in the weight room during the workout. Hubby has gotten used to guys checking me out on the sly. I am sure he checks out the other ladies. That's fine. I also check out the meatheads! Weight lifting is so much fun.
Chest 1. Decline dumbbell presses. 2. Dips 3. Incline dumbbell presses 4. Flat bench press. 5. Chest flys in incline, flat, and decline bench. Back 1. Back row 2. Lat pulldown behind neck. Shoulder 1. Military press 2. Lateral raises. Bi's 1. Incline bench dumbbell curls Triceps 1. Skull crushers. Core Decline bench with weights for abs Side bends on incline bench with weights Total time around 1hour 10 mins, if the gay black guy is not following me around. 3x10 sets reps. Don't do that heavy **** no more 5x5 rippetoe. Too hard on my joints. its not about the weight, it's all about form and burn.
Since I started bulking a couple of months ago I have gained about 10 lbs since back in July. Up to 150 lbs and around 10% body fat. Working on strength atm. Feels good man. How's everyone else doing?
If this is your first bulk phase you might want to be very careful. I got addicted with just adding mass and became a fat ass, I couldn't control it no more my diet). It was a pain in the butt to burn it off.
