Then you should change your routine a little bit. Incline DB presses are by far the best exercise there is for chest.
Or you could change your rep scheme. If you do 6-8 reps, you might want to aim for 10. You’ll definately feel a difference.
OK, I thought it over for the past week
I’ve finally decided and realized who had the perfect body (Not intended to sound gay)
Bruce FUCKING Lee
Its perfect, plus its just the right size for chinese ppl (not too big or small)
BUT, how can i achieve this??? Any special rountine?
only if you plan on training like bruce lee he was known to train up to 14 hours a day, i would tell you just find a good workout program you like and follow and just watch what you eat
Heres perfect.
crouching tiger…without steroids it’s gonna take you a long fuckin time to gain 40 pounds of muscle…I’d say with the way u describe ur metabolism ur looking at at least a couple years.
Also people gotta realize that 67% of what u look like is what you eat…if ur not taking in enough protein in a given period of time u might just be wasting ur time in the gym…
Another reason u should eat like 6 meals a day is so ur body can actually use all the protein you give it…I wanna say most people’s bodies can’t really take in more than 35-40 grams of protein at one sit in…and you really should be aiming to take in a gram of protein for every pound you weigh.
Also…some proteins are better and more “complete” than others…and that’s why I drink a couple protein shakes a day…You guys may already know this but one of the most perfect, naturally occuring protein is egg whites…boil some eggs…peel the whites off…season em with a little salt and pepper and go to town.
I weighed 145 in high school and am now at almost 170
And about getting cut…unless ur pretty overweight…the muscle mass you put on will help metabolize fat tremendously…but you can also try staying away from salts and stuff with sodium cuz without the water weight you’ll see a big difference and ur skin will look a little thinner.
Actually I finally settled on a routine and have been going at it for about a month now. I already feel better, and though I haven’t gained maybe more than a pound yet, there is actually a slight noticable difference.
While I’ve settled on a good routine, I’m still trying to iron some of the wrinkles out of my diet plan, but once I get that final piece of the equation, the gains should be flowing in hopefully.
This is my routine:
—Monday—
Barbell Benchpress 3x8
Dips 3x8
Standing Military Press 3x8
Side Lateral Raises 3x8
—TUESDAY—
30min cardio
—Wednesday—
Wide-grip Chins 3x8
Bent-over Barbell Rows 3x8
Barbell Curls 3x8
Dumbell Shrugs 3x8
—THURSDAY—
30min cardio
—Friday—
Squats 3x8
Stiff-legged Deadlifts 3x8
Calf-Raises 4x8
Decline/Weighted Crunches 3x20
—SATURDAY—
rest
—SUNDAY—
30min cardio
My diet has been for the past week, roughly 2500 cals a day at 45:35:20 ratio of carbs:protein:fat. When I run out most of my current food and have to go to the grocery store again, I plan on getting food to fit this diet:
You really need to add more to that routine. I see almost no isolation work there, and way too many sets to stimulate your muscles.
For chest alone, I’d do at least 9 sets. 8 for quads, 4 for hams, 5 for calves, 6 for tricep, 6 for bicep, 4 for each head of the shoulder, 6 for traps, 8 for lats and middle back, 4 for lower back.
that’s a decent workout I guess…I notice ur not doing any kinda incline press and that’s essential…You’ll also want to throw in a decline press exercise as well…dips do hit the very bottom of ur chest, but only ever so slightly.
Other than that…ur hittin the major muscle groups, but after about another month…u should seperate ur muscle groups into different days and start to REALLY tax them…cuz that’s the only way ur going to put on some mass…I’ve been at this a couple years off and on but this past 6 or 7 months I’ve gotten serious and alot more hardcore. Here’s my weekly routine…but I can already here the naysayers tellin me I’m over training
Day 1: Chest and Tri’s
dumbell press
Incline dumbell press
dumbell flies
hammer strength decline press
cable cross decline flies
dips
tricep pull downs
curl bar nosebreakers
dumbell kickbacks
Day 2: Back and Bi’s
Pull ups (ABSOFUCKINLUTELY necessary)
wide grip lat pull downs (in front of neck to simulate a pull up motion)
more lat pull downs on a different machine and slightly closer grip
Don’t know what this is called but u take a dumbell and lay over a flat bench and hold it out and let it go back behind ur head and pull it back up over u…(this is sposed to stretch ur ribcage out while workin ur lats at the same time)
One arm dumbell rows
Seated rows with a different grip
dumbell curls
concentration curls with a curl bar
hammer curls with cables.
Sometimes a couple exercises for forearms too here of late.
Day 3: Shoulders and traps
seated dumbell military press
military press on a cybex machine
lateral raises
frontal raises
I hit the rear delts on a machine for flies, u just turn around and do reverse flies…and I down set those
barbell smilies
side shrugs with dumbells
frontal barbell shrugs (be sure to roll the weight each rep and hold to make sure u hit the back of ur traps too)
Day 4: Legs
Squats on a smith machine
Leg press
Leg extensions
6 sets of reverse curls for hams on two different machines
6 sets of calf raises on two different machines…one seated and one standing.
(Sometimes) Day 5: Either Chest again or Bi’s/Tri’s
Repeat chest workout
Or do 9-12 sets each of whatever I feel like doing for bi’s and tri’s
I also try to do abs at least 3 times a week whenever I can.
Hmm, I cut down my routine because I was previously “overtraining.” I don’t really know what kind of isolation work I should be doing right now, nor how I would add any in without overtraining once again.
Not only that, but I’m usually too wasted after that to do any remaining isolation exercises: On Mondays, after benches and dips, I don’t really have anything left in my chest for another exercise, and barely enough left in my triceps for a military press. The only reason I even do laterals is because I feel my shoulders are by far my weakest area, so I figured I could work them a bit harder than everything else. Wednesdays, my biceps are pretty worked after the chins and rows, so all they have left in them is enough for some type of curls. I had originally settled for concentration curls, but was advised to go for barbell curls. On Fridays, my legs DEFINATELY won’t be doing any extensions after squats. I might could get in some leg curls, but the SLDL’s seem to work my hamstrings pretty good anyway.
The reason I have the days split up like they are is due to what muscles are synergistic to the rest. Chest/tris/shoulders all get worked together, as do back/bis. My routine is basically a traditional push/pull/legs routine. I think I would prefer a four day routine, giving shoulders/traps their own day apart from chest/tri, but I was again advised against that, being told that unless my shoulders are already becoming defined, they shouldn’t get their own day. And as I already stated, my shoulders being my weakest point, they are far from defined right now.
If you want to lay out a workout plan for me Romie, feel free to heh. But every time I try to add in an isolation exercise, I start to feel like “well if I’m isolating this, why not isolate that?” And before I know it I have 15 exercises per session lined up, and I’m back in the overtraining boat again.
As for chest, I do probably need an incline in there… I was planning on swapping it out with the flat bench after a couple months when I change my routine up a bit. But dips feel like they hit my chest pretty hard, particularly if you cross your feet behind you and lean forward. I certainly didn’t see the point of dips and decline presses, so I opted for one over the other.
Any thoughts on that Romie/MagnusMadness? As another example, today was back/bicep day, and my biceps literally couldn’t do another curl near the end of my third set of BB curls. Chins and BB Rows were already taxing my biceps, and curls finished them off.
no ab work at all?
with exercises like that you’re already preexhausting your biceps if you want to do the chin ups you can face your hands forward and it won’t work your biceps as much if at all but they’re aloooooooooot harder pull ups are easier cause you have your biceps to assist you
also remember incline and decline is alot harder then reg benchpress i found this out the hard way a few weeks back in my room and i had to slide under the bar cause it got to heavy after the 5th rep
as for pull ups I ALWAYS face my hands forward and have them about shoulder width apart maybe a little farther apart…pull ups are supposed to be for ur lats don’t put it all on ur biceps…they’ll be smoked by the time ur done anyway.
As for incline yes it’s a pretty good bit harder…but decline should be easier…cuz ur moving the weight less distance and should be able to use more of ur tricep…it probably seems harder cuz u do it last.
Crouching tiger:
Just try a regular 4 day routine as follows: (this is what worked for me, and it’s what I liked…but everybody’s different)
Day 1 chest and tri’s:
flat bench press
incline press
decline press
dips
tricep pull downs
kick backs (on the kick backs, when u extend ur arm turn ur wrist making ur palm face the ceiling)
Day 2: Back and Bi’s
PULL UPS…(hands facing forward)
wide grip lateral pull downs
rows
Bicep curls (try dumbells while laying on an incline bench, this one is the shit)
concentration curls
Day 3: shoulders and traps
Military press
lateral raises
frontal raises
Then lay on ur stomach on an incline bench and do reverse flies for ur rear delts
shrugs ( I started really feeling my traps when I started doing 6 sets)
Day 4: Legs
Squats
Leg Extensions
reverse curls (hams)
calf raises
There see?? That’s not overtraining at all…that’s just hitting all the major muscle groups and that’s important early on…cuz one day ur gonna plateau and it’s gonna be alot harder to move up in weight and shit starts to get frustrating. After a while you’ll get comfortable with this routine and u will prolly need to start adding sets and adding exercises to really tax ur muscles. I was fortunate enough to be friends with alot of big motherfuckers at the gym who showed me everything I know and still show me new shit all the time and always offer advice…It’s always a good idea to be polite in the gym, offering folks a spot every once in a while if they need it…shits real important to people like me who go to the gym alone. I know everybody at my local gym now…and if I need anything (even the hookup on all kinds of supplements) all I gotta do is ask.
I do like that routine… I think I will switch to that one after about 2 months on my current one. I’ve been workin out for about a month and a half, though the first month wasn’t “routine” at all. It was pretty much a different exercise every day/week, trying to find ones I liked and ones that felt good. Now that I finally chose something, I’m gonna stick with it for a bit. I like the idea of “phase training” where you alternate between two routines every 8-12 weeks or so, so maybe that will be the routine I switch to.
Long time no see, good to see a new version of this thread. To the people citing Toby/Brad Pitt workouts and results, they used gear to accomplish their changes. At the very least they had someone to monitor their diet and supplementation 24 hours a day, something you will not. Using their routine and expecting similar results is setting yourself up for disappointment. Argue if you want but it is commonplace in hollywood to use test/Clen/etc. for physique changes.
As far as recommended workouts, I’m currently following DC style training, its interesting to say the least. Romie have you tried it, you’re the lifter in here who I think has adequate muscular base/experience to give it a whirl. It is the most taxing workout I have ever done though, beating the log book is getting to be tough. I’m now doing 315 for 8 reps on floor deadlifts though, going for ten tomorrow. I’m about 6’1, currently at 200 pounds so thats not a bad lift.
Throw me a link to it man. I’m always up for different styles of training.
BTW, in case some of you didn’t know, I was gone for a while due to a dislocated shoulder and slight injury to my rotator cuff while playing baseball. I’m at 100% now, although my shoulder makes a clicking sound when I bench.
Heres a link to the basics.
http://www.chadnicholls.net/forums/showthread.php?t=11851
Not for the weak of heart, nor for those who wanna look like male strippers year round (read- those of you who want to keep a constant 6-pack).
And as an aside I strongly suggest you drop flat bench (bar) from your program, otherwise your asking to reinjure yourself. Bar bench locks your shoulder into a range of motion that puts lots of stress on teh rotator cuff, the supraspinatus most notably. Just my .02 worth.
I do incline DB presses. I didn’t even do flat bench before the injury.
Good heads up though.
I’ve heard of doggcrapp training before. I’m still a little confused on some stuff. If you can, hit me up on AIM, my sn is y0ureign0rant
Where is a good website to order whey from?!
I Just Started Working Out. So I’m Getting Pain In My Chest / Arms, Wich I Know Is Normal, Here’s My Question:
How Do I Mimimalize The Pain, Does Massaging Or A Cream Work, Its Annoying As Hell.