Gym And Supplement Discussion

[Birds]

lol agree with these guys. The ridiculous mentality is as if muscle growth happens overnight. I rationalise to them that every part of a body builder's body is intentional...that muscles grow so slowly, you can basically tailor your workout program as you go to craft the body shape you want. That's what I did, over about 7-8 years and I'm still not done. Plenty of time to pickup where you're going wrong and what parts need improvement / what parts you should back off on.

[Trozzle]

There's this one girl that goes to my gym, she often comes in and runs the treadmill for a half hour, then hits the weights. Her body, while looking a bit defined for a girl, is stunning. She isn't lifting large weights so much, but god damn she's doing well. Perfect form for everything, and she really gives it all she's got.

And she still has f**king AWESOME boobs.

Have seen her outside the gym once at the nearby mall, absolutely gorgeous. Such a pretty girl when she's not in gym clothes.

If women with the closed-minded views could look at this girl and what exercises she does, I'm certain they'd reconsider.

[Dani Boi]

^^ pics

Im trying to gain weight again after almost two years since I last tried. Using supplements this time and seem to be putting on about 1kg a week on a 3000cal diet with workout 3 times a week. Only doing upper body exercises atm and will probably get into some cardio and lean out when I can get to my optimal weight which is about 68kg, currently only 62kg

Edited April 11, 2011 by Dani Boi

[Birds]

1kg a week sounds like a fair bit of it will be fat mate, be careful of that, unless that's what you want. That's about the rate I was gaining weight at using supplements, and by the end of it I realised half the gain was fat!!! You just won't notice it looking at your body because it tends to start on the inside

[adznight]

Agreed, pics or ban

[NickR33]

you want to put on weight... squats and deadlifts dude... your thighs are the biggest muscles in your body, train them!

The worst are people with 'bad backs'*... when I tell them they have bad backs because they're lacking muscle to hold correct posture etc and need to do some resistance training they look at me like I'm on crack... then they go out and buy a $5000 mattress and a special chair for the office... yep that'll fix it

* this is obviously excluding those that have had serious back injuries etc

[Dani Boi]

Oh ok, I haven't really noticed much fat gain as of yet but I'm sure there will be some there when I start to pack on a bit more weight, but I am ok with that as long as there isnt too much fat. At the moment I'm primarily focusing on getting 'bigger'. Been skinny all my life (~60kg, 174cm) and I'm just wanting to put on healthy weight as well as build muscle...faster the better. I will try and lean out when I've reached my optimal weight as I said before. Am I going about this the right way?

Currently taking Max's weight gain, creatine and glutamine supplements and diet is around 3000cal per day. Workout 3 times a week at home with free weights doing upper body exercises only for about 45min-1hr. It's only been two weeks but I am definately seeing improvements

So do you think I should add deadlifts into my routine?

Open to suggestions

[Birds]

I've been in your position before, except I was 187cm and 63kg...so I know how it feels to be skinny and all you want is to put on weight, whether fat or muscle...to fill out so to speak. But trust me, do it by putting on lean muscle...it will happen eventually if you stick with the gym...that's what I did and I got to about 81kg with a very low fat percentage. Then I wanted to gain more so I stupidly resorted to stuffing my face and cutting the cardio to gain more weight - you will regret it hard if you put on weight like this, using fat, because it is difficult to lose...and lean muscle looks much better than muscles built around fat IMO.

Yes add plenty of compound exercises to your routine, they are good for putting on weight. You could probably step yourself up to 4 times a week in the gym if you're no longer new to exercising. A little bit of HIIT cardio won't go astray to keep off the fat too.

[Nee-san]

so .... sore Lol.

[Birds]

LOL did you do my workout plan today?

[Hanaldo]

Oh ok, I haven't really noticed much fat gain as of yet but I'm sure there will be some there when I start to pack on a bit more weight, but I am ok with that as long as there isnt too much fat. At the moment I'm primarily focusing on getting 'bigger'. Been skinny all my life (~60kg, 174cm) and I'm just wanting to put on healthy weight as well as build muscle...faster the better. I will try and lean out when I've reached my optimal weight as I said before. Am I going about this the right way?

Currently taking Max's weight gain, creatine and glutamine supplements and diet is around 3000cal per day. Workout 3 times a week at home with free weights doing upper body exercises only for about 45min-1hr. It's only been two weeks but I am definately seeing improvements

So do you think I should add deadlifts into my routine?

Open to suggestions

Dude, highly recommend you check out www.triedandtruefitness.com. Matt Marshall is the author, his programs are amazing. If you read his background story you will find he was in a very similar situation to you now when he first started.

I tailor his routines and diets to suit my needs, given I don't want to stack on heaps of muscle because I play a lot of sport and want to keep my speed.

[LTHLRB]

Thought id HIGHLY recommend UPS Protein supplements. All their range is great and is locally made. http://ultimateperformance.net.au/ Check it out

[Portia]

Nice one Adzmax, great job and looking good! lol '@ risk of looking like la bomba' ha ha

Can I ask a question. I have been reading the links cs sutdent posted up about needing to do 3 weights session and 2 hard cardio session per week to lose weight (1/2kg a week). If I was to do kickboxing, would that be both ducks, one shot? (whatever the saying is). Because it builds muscle, but is cardio too? I don't want to join up a gym just to lift weights, but do see the logic in what the newsletter says.

[some_cs_student]

<cut>

Can I ask a question. I have been reading the links cs sutdent posted up about needing to do 3 weights session and 2 hard cardio session per week to lose weight (1/2kg a week). If I was to do kickboxing, would that be both ducks, one shot? (whatever the saying is). Because it builds muscle, but is cardio too? I don't want to join up a gym just to lift weights, but do see the logic in what the newsletter says.

If you also read carefully, he advises diet is much, much more important that any choice of exercise. You cannot out-train a bad diet, I've seen a few people try it.

Kickboxing I'd count as closer to cardio.

When Markos says "cardio" he often means something like this or a variety of exercises involving moving light to medium weights around for a lot of repetition.

That does build muscle & cardio at the same time. If anyone doesn't believe me, try it and you'll find out for yourself

I've done heavy training 3 times a week and lost weight, and also gained weight with similar training. The only difference was my diet during the week.

1/2kg a week is a good aim. Losing kg/s week is good, but doesn't last long and when you drop too low you start losing strength/muscle and your resting metabolic rate so it doesn't work out well longer term.

Also, for anyone still doing "just upper body", you can't get that big isolating one section of your body. Your body grows as a whole. Squatting is considered the king of all exercises for a reason.

My upper body got a lot bigger when I started training full-body 3 times a week.

If your looking for a workout routine try the skinny guy routine, it doesn't just apply to skinny guys

[Nanogrip]

Now starting with the 2nd week of working out, my body is responding well and not sore as much as the 1st week, but still doing baby workouts. Taking flax seed only for now, I've cut the aspirin because I am not sore anymore. The shops here don't have the stuff I need, or the stuff are way too overpriced. Anybody recommend a good website for supplements? I am often use www.bodybuilding.com but other options would be nice.

[Nee-san]

LOL did you do my workout plan today?

Yeah man, yesterday round two today.

feel a bit sore, but its actually good

[Birds]

Good to hear! Just yell if you have any questions, and make sure you do the exercises nice and strictly...keep back straight etc. Technique for each exercise needs to be had downpat before you stack on the kilos.

It might take a while to get used to in terms of muscle soreness, because it is a bit of a muscle destroying session, but props for giving it a try. Wed, Sat and Sun are your rest and relaxation days lol. Just hang in there and give it a good chance to do it's thing - I've had a few people build themselves up with that workout and then they drop out of the gym after 3 months because they can't be bothered keeping it up, which is a massive shame because they achieved some pretty good results within a short time frame.

Let me know how you go with overlap too, i.e. whether there's anything on this second day that you find difficult/sore to do because of yesterday's workout.

[Trozzle]

lol yeah coz I'm sure it's not suss at all grabbing my phone in the middle of the gym to take pics of some chick. I don't doubt that all the aggressive testosterone meatheads will promptly rectify the situation. lol.

[Nee-san]

Good to hear! Just yell if you have any questions, and make sure you do the exercises nice and strictly...keep back straight etc. Technique for each exercise needs to be had downpat before you stack on the kilos.

It might take a while to get used to in terms of muscle soreness, because it is a bit of a muscle destroying session, but props for giving it a try. Wed, Sat and Sun are your rest and relaxation days lol. Just hang in there and give it a good chance to do it's thing - I've had a few people build themselves up with that workout and then they drop out of the gym after 3 months because they can't be bothered keeping it up, which is a massive shame because they achieved some pretty good results within a short time frame.

Let me know how you go with overlap too, i.e. whether there's anything on this second day that you find difficult/sore to do because of yesterday's workout.

biggest thing is it's crazy how far I've had to drop the weight from maximum lift to finish enough sets haha.

[NickR33]

some good vids on squatting and bench press technique... this is from a strength/powerlifting perspective but still applies

Squat videos aren't all on the same page

http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/training-articles/articles/powerlifting-articles/so-you-think-you-can-squat-part-1-and-2/

http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/training-articles/articles/powerlifting-articles/so-you-think-you-can-squat-part-3/

http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/training-articles/elitefts-com-so-you-think-you-can-squat-part-4/

http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/training-articles/the-final-so-you-think-you-can-squat/

Bench Press

http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/features/so-you-think-you-can-bench-get-the-whole-series-here/