Bodybuilding Forum - DiscussBodybuilding.com

Hello, and a few questions...

Users viewing this topic: none

Logged in as: Guest

Printable Version

All Forums >> [Welcome to DB :DiscussBodybuilding] >> Beginners Start Here >> Hello, and a few questions...

Page: [1]

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

Hello, and a few questions... - 11/25/2004 10:57:44 AM

plastictoast

Posts: 25
Joined: 11/18/2004
From: UK
Status: offline

First of all a quick introduction...

I'm a 31 year old married new dad living in the UK, and I've only just started working out. I'm 5'10 and my weight has slowly risen from 135 to 154lbs over the last 10 years, for no apparent reason. My body fat has always been around 8-9% judging by the level of definition, despite me eating about 2500 calories a day and doing little CV exercise. I guess I'm an ectomorph.

Well, just over a month ago I started trying to gain weight, eating 5 times a day, loads of calories (>3000) and protein (>150g) and limiting saturated fat where possible. I also started using a weight gain shake, initially once, now twice a day. At the same time I started working out at home 3 days a week - light weights for 4 weeks, and then last week starting on a higher intensity 'program' which I've cobbled together from reading a few different sources (including this forum). Anyway, things are going really well so far - I now weigh 164lbs with maybe a 1-2% increase in BF and my muscles are noticeably bigger and harder. I also feel great.

Routine wise, I'm using a 3-day split that looks like this:

-Mon-
Flat bench: 3x4-6
Incline bench: 3x4-6
Dips: 3x4-6
Shoulder press: 3x4-6

-Wed-
Squat: 2x20
Stiff-legged deadlift: 2x15
Calves: 2x15

-Fri-
Lat pulldowns: 3x4-6
Bent-over rows: 3x4-6
Upright rows: 3x4-6
Palm-up pulldowns: 3x4-6

Right, so here are my questions:

1) I'm resting about 2-3 minutes between sets as per Max-OT. How long should I rest between exercises? I've never seen much reference to this - is it unimportant? I've been leaving about 5 minutes so far.

2) After 2 sets of squats I can feel a muscular ache in my lower back on the first deadlift, and I'm sure it compromises the weight I can lift. Would I be better off doing leg curls for my hamstrings, or will my lower back strengthen to allow these 2 exercises to be performed in the same workout? I'm trying to do compound moves only...

3) Is it OK to do flat bench, followed by incline? Again, the second exercise feels compromised. I could drop the incline, or move it, but I have seen these back-to-back in quite a few other routines. Might this be overworking the chest?

4) How long can I expect to keep gaining from this initial burst? I'm gaining about 2lbs a week at the moment - very little of which is fat. Will this be very short-lived?

5) I've just got hold of a measuring tape - can someone tell me where and how I should be measuring to track progress? Flexed or not flexed? Breathing in or out? Arms straight or bent? Help!

Well, I think I've got plenty more questions, but this post is long enough already Smile

Thanks in advance,

PT

Post #: 1

RE: Hello, and a few questions... - 11/25/2004 11:46:56 AM

cpl

Posts: 5667
Joined: 5/26/2003
From: New York City
Status: offline

Welcome to DB!
To answer a couple of your questions- Check your form on the squats. If your lower back is coming into play too much, you might be doing them wrong- However, your lower back should get a nice workout from these, so it would be somewhat normal to feel it when you got to do the stiff leg deads- Maybe it's something your body just has to get used to.
Same sort of deal for the bench presses- Doing incline after flat is totally normal, and it's also totally normal for your first chest lift to be your strongest. It's a great idea to switch up the order for all exercises once in a while just to make sure you get great performance out of each exercise- When you decide to do incline presses first, naturally your flat bench might not be as strong- But that's just the way it works.
As for how long you can expect those sort of gains- It varies from person to person, but beginner gains as they're called always slow down eventually. Your body's not only growing new muscle, it's also learning how to use muscle it already had. Eventually, your body will have learned how to use everything it has, and then it becomes a fight to make it grow.
Hope this helps!

(in reply to plastictoast)

Post #: 2