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:: Needing Any Help Possible :: - 7/23/2006 1:14:42 AM

Ken

Posts: 57
Joined: 6/30/2006
Status: offline

Basically, I'm 17, 230 lbs., 6'1", my upper arms are 16 in. and my forearms are 14 in., I read as much as I can to have a general knowledge of what I'm doing and how to optimize my workouts as much as possible but I dont seem to be making any 'noticeable' gains in size... however, in the last month my max bench went up 10 lbs. every 2 weeks, then 2 weeks after that my max bench went up 10 lbs. each week, then yesterday my absolute max bench was 250 lbs. and today I benched 260 lbs.... I dont get how my max bench is going up so fast, if it's permanent or luck or something and... I'd like to get sum simple advice about my workout and how to better it, and please keep in mind... all I have to workout with is:

* A crappy bench that doesn't raise or lower with up to 280 lbs. on it
* An EZ curl bar
* Dumbells: a (x1) 25 lb., (x2) 15 lbs., (x2) 10 lbs, and (x2) 2.5 lbs.
and
* (x2) Wrist/Ankle weights 10 lbs. each

also... I used to take Creatine from Six Star but that was a month ago and IF I can afford it, and I'm also taking protein from Weider, I usually take 2 scoops of protein as opposed to the 1 scoop recommended on the back and I drink 1 glass before my workouts and 1 after, my workouts consist of being 1 1/2 hours long if I'm just focusing on my benching and getting a little curling in between rests from benching or I'd do my full workout and spend 1 hour on each routine with no set number of reps or sets, I alwayz just stop once I reached complete failure, take a 2 min rest while workin on something else, then repeating the process, and I stay well hydrated and alwayz eat LOTS of meats like Tuna, Beef, Chicken... and for lunches I eat sandwiches made of wheat bread, sliced pickles, cheese, ham, and light mayo, and my breakfast is usually just a bowl of cereal... My workout is this...
* Concentrated Curls
* Flat Benching
* Wrist Curls
* Squats
* Calf Raises

SO IF ANYONE HAS ANY POISITIVE ADVICE THEY CAN GIVE ME TO HELP ME OUT IN ANY WAY, PLEASE DO, I'ma beginner at all this and I'm taking in any advice I possibly can, my main goal is overall strength and size and no real focus on getting ripped,just bigger... thanx, peace...

_____________________________

(<= Untapped and Uncontrolled =>)

Height: 6'1"
Weight: 225 lbs
Arms: 16 in.
Forearms: 13 in.
Waist: 39 in.
Stomach: 41 in. (inflated)
Thighs: 24 1/2 in.
Calves: 16 1/2 in.
Max 1 Arm Curl: N/A
Max Bench: N/A

C.C.

Post #: 1

RE: :: Needing Any Help Possible :: - 7/23/2006 6:57:35 AM

cpl

Posts: 4780
Joined: 5/26/2003
From: New York City
Status: offline

First thing you need to do, get on a serious diet- One that'll feed your muscles what they need to grow. read this, and follow the link at the end of the article.
http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/What_the_hell_is_a_calorie_anyway/m_135283/tm.htm
Check out the nutrition forum for advice on which foods to eat, etc- there's a post near the top called "master grocery list"- Definitely worth a read.
Next, sounds like you're making some pretty common mistakes for someone starting out- But making progress anyway. Congrats, once you're doing things in a more ordered manner, your body should respond VERY nicely.
Here's a sample routine to get an idea of what your workout could look like-

Monday- Chest/back
flat bench, weighted dips (I'm sure you can find some way to do these at home) dumbbell flies (You may need heavier dumbbells for this. I'd recommend getting some dumbbell handles that you can change the weight on.)
Deadlifts, bent over rows, pullups (Again, I'm sure you can figure something out for these.)

Wednesday- Legs/shoulders
Squats, stiff leg deadlifts, calf raises
Standing barbell military press, side lateral raises, shrugs

Friday- Arms/abs
Standing barbell curls, alternating dumbbell curls (Again, you might need heavier weight) reverse curls
Close grip bench press, skullcrushers, dumbbell kickbacks
Whatever ab workout you like.

For each exercise, do three or four sets. Rest two to three minutes between sets- But don't do any other work during that rest period. Use an amount of weight that has you working in the eight to ten rep range- If you can lift the weight no more than ten times with good form on your first set, you know you've found the right amount of weight. I'd definitely recommend this type of training over trying for your max too often- Which it sounds like you're doing right now- One rep max lifts can be very hard on the joints. No matter how tempting it might be to crank them out as often as possible, please just limit yourself to once in a while on those. You can build plenty of strength and muscle with more reps and less weight.
It sounds like right now, you're trying to work every muscle group in the same day- The problem with that is, you only have so much energy every day, and you can only challenge your body to grow muscle for so long each day- If your workout is taking more than an hour, you're wasting your time- After an hour or so, your body simply stops responding to the stimulus, and you end up just burning calories that could be going to build more muscle instead.
Muscle is built while your body's resting, not while you're in the gym- That's why the routine I listed gives each muscle group an entire week to rest before it's next workout. Muscle takes days to recover from a good workout- More than just a couple of days. And it takes longer than a week for muscle to start to break down, so don't worry about losing size/strength from waiting a whole week between lifts.

(in reply to Ken)

Post #: 2