Optimum Growth

RE: Optimum Growth (cpl)

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 20:38:06 GMT

Definitely.
First thing, head over to the nutrition forum and look for a post called "Calculate expenditure"- you'll find out exactly how to figure out how many calories per day your body needs in order for it to grow new muscle. It sounds to me like you're definitely falling short there. The basic rule is, five or six meals a day, each with a good source of protein, carbs and fats of the right types. Personally, I eat a lot of chicken- It's an excellent source of protein. Whole grain brown rice is my favorite carb, especially because it's a slow burner- It takes the body longer to digest than white rice, which means my body's burning fat for a longer period of time due to digestion. I supplement my fat intake with some fish oil- Omega 3 fats. Today, I took in approx 3200 calories.
Next, the workout- You're going to need to change that quite a lot.
First, you have to work your legs if you're even the least bit serious. You're an upper body only guy right now, so I'm guessing you find leg workouts to be boring. Well, you're missing out on tons of upper body growth by not working your legs. A good leg workout builds more overall body muscle than any other workout- See, squats use the most muscle out of any exercise. Besides building your legs into a nice solid base for the rest of your body, they also help build the rest of your body at the same time- When you have all that weight on your shoulders, for example- What do you think keeps the weight in the proper position? Your upper back. You have to keep that bar from rolling down your spine, so your traps and rear delts come into play under a lot of weight. And what muscles do you think stop you from falling forwards or backwards? Your lower back and your abs, also working under all that weight. Believe it or not, I never got such great gains in my abs until I got serious about my leg workouts. And lower back, well- Who likes injuring their lower back? No one. With a good squat workout, you can make your lower back virtually bomb proof- Besides all that, everyone is always concerned with how much weight you can bench, right? Well, the squat is actually the king when it comes to determining someone's actual overall strength- And because it uses so much muscle, with a little work, your squat weight grows in leaps and bounds. So next time you run across some upper body junkie with sticks for legs and he wants to know how much you bench, go ahead and blow him away with your bench weight (Because stronger squat= stronger lower back= stronger military press= stronger shoulders= stronger bench press)- And then ask for his squat weight.
And don't tell us your legs are in good enough shape for any excuse- We've had people tell us that their legs are fine because they run, or they do martial arts or mountainbiking. It's not the same thing, nowhere near it.
But anyway-
You asked for a routine. Try this out.
Monday- Chest
Flat, incline, decline
Tuesday- Legs
Squats, stiff leg deadlifts, calf raises
Wednesday- Shoulders
Standing military press, side lateral raises, shrugs
Thursday- Back
Deadlifts, bent over rows, pullups
Friday- Arms
Standing barbell curls, reverse curls, alternating dumbbell curls
close grip bench press, skullcrushers, triceps pressdowns

For each day, do a couple of light warmup sets, then do three sets of eight to ten reps for each exercise. No need to warm up again within the same muscle group. Rest two to three minutes in between sets.

RE: Optimum Growth (pinkpony)

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 19:34:50 GMT

whats a good diet to be on?

daily i consume

2-3 nature valley granola bars
3-4 servings fruit (apples, oranges, pears, bananas)
vegetables (salad, carrots)
some form of protein (chicken, steak) - dinner
2 sandwiches (turkey/ham) - lunch
breakfast - usually no idea

right now i workout

chest, tri, biceps - 2x a week
flatbb
incline db/ incline bb
dips
extensions
pushdown
pushups
curls
preacher curls

back, shoulders - 1x a week
machines at the gym

so i guess i also need some help there too

RE: Optimum Growth (cpl)

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 17:53:22 GMT

and could you suggest any training regiments

Actually, it's spelled "regimens". A regiment is, in fact, a military unit. You know what I'm talking about, pinkpony-
When it comes to how far you can expect your one rep max to increase over that period of time, there really isn't a set answer because there are so many variables. First, remember that the big three rules of getting big are to eat big, train hard, and rest right. If you're lacking in any of those areas, you're not going to get the results you want. If your one rep max isn't going up despite you trying your best, then you most likely need work in one, if not all, of those areas.
So let's start with your nutrition. You mentioned that you're not on any supps, which is fine- What you eat is much more important than that stuff anyway, so how about giving us an idea of what a normal day of eating looks like for you.
Next, training. What are you doing right now? List your whole workout, for every muscle group.
And finally, rest. If you're not giving your muscles enough time to rest in between workouts, you could be overtraining which will definitely slow down or stop your gains.

Optimum Growth (pinkpony)

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 17:26:30 GMT

I want to know how much you can improve your MAX 1 REP in a 6-8 month period

over the past 6-8 months for me my squat max has gone up almost 100 pounds, but my bench press max will not increase, it has actually decreased or stayed the same.

bench max
max 2 - increase 5 pounds
max 3 - decrease 5 pounds
max 4 - increase 5 pounds

so after the the 6-8 month period im right back where i started

so i was wondering how much gain do you have in a 6-8 month period, and could you suggest any training regiments

i don't use any supplements or anything like that btw