Been lifting weights for 9 months..

RE: Been lifting weights for 9 months.. (danmirage)

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 09:56:57 GMT

You want strength, "good muscle", improved performance, vascularity...

"to be able to have your vains basically poping out of your arms "

Requires low body fat...but certainly the vascularity that comes from intense training will increase the veins!

"to be able to have good muscles"

Requires
1) the proper training to stimulate muscle growth...when you say "good" do you mean big or defined...?

Optimal set / rep ranges and days between:
For muscular Endurance the rep range is 12-25 / 1-3 sets / 4-7 days between
For muscle size the rep range is 9-12 / 3 -4 sets per / 4-7 days between
For Strength (vs. power) the rep range is 6-8 / 3-4 sets per / 4-7 days between
For power the rep range is 1-5 / 4-8 sets per / 2-3 days between

2) the proper diet to support muscle growth..that is
Consuming quality calories at or slightly above the number of calories you burn.

Ideal caloric balance ranges for optimal growth:
Protein-15-30%,
carbohydrates-40-75%,
fat-10-30%

The ideal range of protein for growth is .6-.9 grams per pound of body weight.
If you are a light eater and meats sit like a brick in your tummy then go for the lower part of the range.
If you enjoy meats and could eat them many times in the day, and they give you energy...go for the higher end.
Target the fat % on the scale proportionate with the protein. Then inversely proportion the carbs to the protein.

I.E. The moderate protein type=
Protein-20%,
carbohydrates-65%,
fat-15%

Do you know your caloric target?
Go here to read up on this:
Caloric calculator <---- link to click
there is a calculator at the bottom of the post. Use the gain column!

You can go to fitday.com and use their free journal as a planner and create a menu of foods that fulfills your needs.

3) that your training intensity vary sufficiently to keep the muscle growing (increasing weight is just one intensity principle for example)

Some discussion threads on varying intensity...
http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/m_87226/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm#87256
http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/m_93729/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm#94183

Keep the lifting workouts under an hour!!!

Also, get pre workout and post workout nutrition dialed in to spare muscle during training..
that means BCAA/EAAs or whey 30 mins before and whey or a meal within 30 mins after! ( If it is whey, around .2 grams whey per lb bodyweight)

8-12 cups water minimum!!!
Multivitamin to support growth!
8 hours sleep a night

Questions on any of that?

I play alot of tennis and want to keep building my strength for that and for basketball

Training for muscle size and for reactive strength....do it in phases...strengthen your muscles, joints, ligaments, and tendons..then train for speed and reaction strength.

Both those sports are great! Straight weight lifting is not specific for improving performance in those sports...look into some sport specific training...the variety that these other training modalities offer is very good for the things you say you want!

RE: Been lifting weights for 9 months.. (dontgvadamn)

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 09:31:09 GMT

You need to continualy progress up in the amount of weight you lift. other wise your muscles will come to a point at which they no longer grow. Instead they will just maintain the point at which they are at.

RE: Been lifting weights for 9 months.. (The_Game)

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 09:11:57 GMT

to first off being able to bench/lift my body weight which is around 200-203 pounds. I'm 6'2 1/2 might be closer to 6'3 now.

I play alot of tennis and want to keep building my strength for that and for basketball. I play quite bit of that. So I just want to get stronger. The look is important as well.

one question, to be able to have good muscles and have your vains basically poping out of your arms do i need to be lifting much bigger weights than I do now? or will I be able to keep building muscle with what I lift now?

I'm 19 BTW

RE: Been lifting weights for 9 months.. (danmirage)

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 14:13:33 GMT

Glad you could join us..what are your goals?

RE: Been lifting weights for 9 months.. (dontgvadamn)

Sun, 15 Jan 2006 17:13:00 GMT

welcome to the board

Been lifting weights for 9 months.. (The_Game)

Sun, 15 Jan 2006 16:18:35 GMT

Hey all, new to the boards

I have been lifting weights for about 9 monts and currently bench press around 115-120. I started low mainly because i didn't have many weights as i started this at home. I currently have no problem lifting the 115 pounds off the floor

It's quiteeasy but lately have only been able to bench press for about 10 reps, i for some reason have had trouble lifting the bar...but a few weeks ago i had no problem getting it up when i was doing it more than once..i took like a week off and for some reason it got harder to lift

so of you may think i might be a bit weak lifting just 115 but i was quite weak before i started lifting. I'm actually quite bulky when you consider i havn't been lifting anything more than 100 for most of the time i have been lifting

i plan on getting some bigger weights and a bigger bench as the one i have now isn't big enough to put extra weights on.