Nope, but you said if i wanted to add curls i could.
Unload? Yeah in the original thing you said… one week of 2 sets of 15 reps… I laughed at that… but I guess I need it now? :looney:
I’ve been doing this…
5x5,
4x12,
3x8
For about 4 months now… You think it’s time for a change to another type of periodization when I return? Any recommendations for what has worked for your clients the most?
Most of my clients don’t even need periodization yet to be honest. They progress well in a linear fashion…although I plan to make some changes in the future…
Also, remember, I train mostly women who want to lose weight…
I don’t think you necessarily need to make any changes to periodization, just maybe cut back on the volume and UNLOAD MOTHERFUCKER!!!
what i do when i want to identify weight for a particular periodization period, is i start out with what i think is reasonable (from past experience on how much weight i can push for reps), and then go slightly lower than that…i then work my way up from that point…
im outi
Roberth
If you’ve been at any particular program for longer than 1 month and you are writing stuff down, you should know about where you are at…and can set goals as to where you want to be…
I.E.
“last month I was able to get 225 for 8 reps…This month I want to try and get at least 230-235 for that same 8 reps…”
I tried for 2 days lifting my max for 8 reps and 1 set but I didn’t like it too much.
Now I’m trying something else I read where you do 3 sets of 10 reps pre-exercise and increase 5lbs each set. So for example do curls with 20lb, 25ls then 30lb and do the same for the rest of the upper body with less weight were I’m weaker, like the shoulders. It takes about a hour or less to finish. I’m wondering if this is a ok program.
magnus u ever seen anyone have a full bicep/back routine W/O curls? ive completely taken it for the sole reason that when i go to the gym 8/10 are standing in front the mirror curling. i want to see if i can grow my biceps w/o curls now, so they gone.
ya that is what i do, i was talking about when you first start, that first month where you are trying to figure out for the first time what weights to use at the start of the program…
im outi
Roberth
Perfect. Thank you.
What about: “Hm, X pounds is getting easy. Let’s kick it up. X + 5.” … “DAMN X + 5 is SO hard!”
What happens then? I’m guessing it’s all mental?
generally, if you are doing a weight that you think is “easy” 5 lbs extra will not become “SO hard”. i dont know what you consider easy but take for example, the bench press because an additional 5lbs CAN be heavy on bench…but i think analyzing what you believe easy actually is, will prevent this from happening…
anyway, say i am doing 135lbs on my heavy week and i put up 6 reps. after i finish my fourth set i think to myself hmmm, could have probably done 2 more reps with the 2nd rep being to failure…now for this example, and how i would analyze this, i wouldnt consider the weight being “easy”. so i would think that adding 5lbs might make it too heavy next time around…
now lets say that after the 4th set i think to myself it seems like i could have put up another 4 reps without going to failure on that 4th rep…this would to me mean that the weight is “easy” and if i were to increase it by 5lbs the next time around i would be able to push out the desired reps with the increase weight…
now for my program it takes me a month to get back to my heavy week, so within a month my strenght definately increases, so taking this into consideration and going back to the first example, i would have to ask myself if i think my strength would increase enough in a month to be able to handle that extra 5lbs…
hahah that was kinda long, but that is how i break things down for how decisions on how much weight i will increase the next time…
like right now on the heavy week like i said before, i did dips with 25lbs, after i was done with my 4th set, after going through the process that i described above, for the next heavy week im going to increase it by 10lbs instead of 5lbs (generally if i increase my weight it is by 5lbs)…
im outi
Roberth
I’ve been workin out for the past 10 months or so and I used to see a big difference in my muscle definition in the first 2-3 months, but after that, it seems I don’t see many results. I go to the gym Monday-Thursday and then I try to go one of the days on the weekend. I mainly concentrate on my chest and arms and sides. I’m not sure of the machines I use, but if you guys could help suggest on ways to help me get more mass, especially on my chest and arms, I would appreciate it.
-jmar
lol, ACTUALLY alwyn cosgrove wrote a “no curlz” bicep routine…It involved building a stronger base and back so you could potentially curl more weight, which means more growth…One point in the article he said “do you really think people have small biceps cuz they don’t do enough curls?” 
You are on the right track. Focus on gross pulling movements with various grips and I would imagine you will get the results you are seeking. I am not doing ANY direct arm work right now on my strength program but I can bet I will see some growth in the arms from the chin ups and dips…
My advice? Start working out your legs and back.
Im sure magnus will have a better answer, but youve been training for 10months straight and likly doing the same excerises, your body has simply become used to what your doing its no longer in shock like in the first months or so.
Its advised you change your routine around atleast every 8 weeks it doesnt have to be major changes just something different.
Also you didnt mention your eating habits which play a major part in your growth, if your not putting on weight then your not growing simple.
Im no expect just saying what I think, magnus will go into this more.
Edit:Too slow god dam it, meh, back to lurking…
well put lol…but no I don’t go into too much detail when someone asks how to make their chest and arms grow faster. They probably won’t be working out too much longer anyway
How long does the average person take to run a mile? I wanna start running a few miles a day, but I don’t have one of those things that count how far you have gone. Getting one of those Nike Plue things for X-mas, but until then how long do you think? 10 mintues?
:lol: true
i think ten minutes for the avg male, twelve for the avg female… no? this is just off of the top of my head from what old coaches told me… hopefully that’s average since i run something similar to that, i usually cover 4 miles in 40 mins with HIIT (cut it down from an hour)…
~
a few questions:
will it affect my gains/energy level if i run in the morning and then lift around 5/6 at night? i’ve been told to avoid lifting on the same days that i train(martial arts)/run, but i don’t know if they meant lifting RIGHT after doing those activities…
also, will i start breaking down muscle instead of fat if i run AFTER i lift… or if i jog after i lift (even if i drink a protein shake after lifting)… is there an amount of time i could wait before i start doing cardio after lifting (and taking in something for energy)
FINALLY, what do you guys think of pre exhaustion training? i read someswhere that if you do isolated before compound exercises, it will actually work against you because compound lifts work more muscle and have higher potential for gaining more mass… if that’s the case, how about compound before an isolated lift? (althogh that prob wouldn’t matter for the rest of the exercises in the session ie working: isolated>compound>isolated>compound is only a little different than compound>isolated etc. as it still exhausts muscles for the compound exercises)
phew,… thanks
do you need to lose a shitload of weight or something? Martial arts + weightlifting + ton of cardio = a lot of metabolic work. Try to spread these activities out as much as possible…it is hard to say exactly how you would do on such a rigorous training regimen…all I can say is try it and see.
Don’t plan on gaining ANY size in the way of muscle on such a program though. You will lose weight quickly but perhaps at the expense of muscle.
Alright boys…
So, I started off at:
166 16% body fat
Now i’m at:
160 10% body fat
Fat loss:
Around 10 pounds
Muscle gain:
Around 4 pounds
It seems i’ve lost some muscle in the process of maybe cutting down (I remember gaining more muscle in b/w however I don’t remember writing it down anywhere… d’oh)… Maybe not enough calories? The thing i’ve learnt from this is I wasn’t documenting my body composition effectively (because of different sites on the body got different readings at different timings) as well my weighing scales at home weren’t accurate 
so i’ve got a new one that i’ll be using and sticking with… got the last weight + body fat properly. Losing muscle, possibly because of my calories being too low… However, when I come back from montreal I plan on taking proper ‘before’ pics with stats, sticking with strict calorie intake, every 2 weeks seeing my progress and changing diet+exercise regimen accordingly. It’s time for bulking when I return… goal is to put on about 5 lbs. of muscle by the end of march with minimum fat gain (3 months). :looney: I’m surprised that I have lost muscle as my strength keeps going up. 
One question though… I think there might be some issue with my bodyfat caliper but, according to that i’m 10% bodyfat… but i’m starting to see my top abs. Is that normal? IIRC, it differs for everybody.
Either way, probably my last post of the year… unless I holla at you guys from Montreal. Merry x-mas and happy new year! Don’t drink too much during x-mas time, and try to eat clean! Lift big, eat big, sleep big!
-Shu
heh, i have lost some weight since i started lifting, but i gained it back with muscle,… i was only 10.0 lbs overweight when i started lifting and upping my cardio and cutting down on martial arts training… i lost 15.0 lbs. and gained 5.0 lbs back of muscle… i have no clue what my body fat is though cause i don’t have calipers/access to anything to tell me… i’m not too concerned about it anymore though …
i’m definitely not going for HEAVY mass, but to get more definition… i run in the morning, but if i’m running late for work, i’ll run at night… i do martial arts training like twice a week (used to be 5 times a week when i was in high school and first two years of college) and i lift 3 times a week… if i go out with friends and/or if i had to work late, some weeks i have to chose between missing my workout(s) or cram them into a day i’m not busy after work… i usually chose to cram them into a day…
i’ve slimmed down and gained a good deal of my lost fat weight with muscle weight, but you’re right, my muscles haven’t exploded… i stretch a lot too and i heard that keeps them from growing…
i’m pretty happy with my results since i started lifting though… definitely look better… i just want to make sure i am getting the most efficient work out regimen…
some family members told me they think my knees will start having problems when i get older because i work out almost every day (even with proper form) , which i kinda believe them, but it’s hard to stop when you get going, you know?..
anyways, what do you think i should cut down on?
(also, i actually find that i have been eating MORE since i started trying to do ish correctly)
thanks for the help though y’all
(also any word on the pre exhaustion training?)
pre exhaustion is a good technique…strictly for hypertrophy and not for beginners…(most of us are beginners)
I wouldn’t worry about it too much until you get a few years under your belt and feel that some kind of compensation is taking place in ur big compound lifts. You might pre exhaust your chest with flies before bench pressing if your tri’s are taking over the bench press