im a keep gym goer!

i dont do cardio just weights!

been at it a year seriously. go every day and my improvement have tripled.

i have become bigger, but i want to be bigger! my diet is good, but the question im asking is.

why i dont have muscle pain after a hard work out?

i was pushing 120kg last night and i dont have any pain today?!

is every day too much ?? just i enjoy going and love the feeling of hurting hahaha

every day is too much – you are suppossed to push weight to the point of failure, which clues the body into growing some more muscle to cope, and it needs some time to do that.

Do you stretch too? I used to do tons of weights. Turned into a bit of a competition with myself to keep lifting more and more. I didn’t stretch enough.

I was never particularly flexible, but I am now the most inflexible person that I know. I did yoga for a while and I couldn’t get into some of the starting positions, let alone the actual stretches….

Ditto – I was told do no moe than 30-40 minutes weights with at least a day rest in between (from weights). Also don’t mix endurance with weights on the same day since the benefit from the weights is undone by the endurance. Weights are very intense for very short durations, and sometimes the intensity doesn’t show up as tiredness but the stimulus was there and the body will get stronger if you leave it to recover.

You’ve got to mix it up as well.

You will stop feeling pain after a workout if you keep doing the same routine and muscle excercises time after time after time. Your body just gets too used to it. Change up your routine every 6 weeks or so. There are lots of different ways to work out the same muscle/muscle group. You’ll certainly feel it after a change of routine.

okey dokey thanks all

I train most days but I split my training up. One day I do back and biceps, the next day chest and triceps and shoulders and legs on a different day. Then your muscle groups have plenty rest inbetween.

To get bigger you need to take in more calories and push fewer but heavier weights.

The pain you are referring to is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, DOMS, in the trade. Google it.

Are you sure you’re going to failure on each rep? And I mean failure.

Also, you should be mixing up your routine as previously mentioned. Also, you must stretch, I know the benefit doesn’t seem immediate but when you have a nagging pain that just won’t go away you will understand. I predict it will be your shoulder. Most folks train chest and don’t stretch it, eventually tight chest muscles pull the shoulder forward and hey presto, nagging shoulder pain.

Theoretically you shouldn’t be training every day. 2 or 3 on and 1 off seems to be the universally accepted standard. Your body grows when it’s resting. You also need food to grow and repair, so diet is key. In order of improtance: diet, rest, exercise. I can’t stress enough the importance of good diet, really is the key to being bigger and stronger.

Also don’t mix endurance with weights on the same day since the benefit from the weights is undone reduced by the endurance

not so black and white but would agree best avoided unless you have specific reasons

what neallman said as well.

😉

Maybe you need to push heavier weights, low reps at near maximum or pyramids.

Loving that top left headline on the mag there!!

I was under the impression it was shorter sets, heavier weight for strength and longer sets with a lighter weight for bulk. Is this wrong?

First off, Yes – everyday is too much. 3-4 times a week is genrally optimal.
Unless you are “hormonally assisted” you will not recover in time for you next workout.

I too love the weights, the key to adaptation is to keep your muscles guessing by changing reps, exercises and intensity.
Have a google about “periodisation” and you’ll see what I mean.
Good article here: Periodisation
I’m currently using a linear periodisation plan as it’s simple and works for me. No doubt I could use a more complicated plan that works better but to be honest my life is complicated enough.

Also, training for size and strength are quite different, as the stimulae and hence adaptation is different. You mention what weight you are lifting but then mention you want to be bigger.
Another article here: Size vs Strength Are you training to be Bodybuilder big or Heavyweight Powerlifter big? They are very different.

You say your diet is good, are you counting calories and grams of protein, are you drinking alcohol? You need to be taking in more calories than your burn through exercise and your basal metabolic rate. You need to be taking in 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight. So if you are 100kg, you need 220g of protein. For me that’s hard to do without using a Whey protein supplement, you may have access to chicken breasts, cottage cheese and tuna 24 hours a day.

You can do cardio on the same day as weights but I wouldn’t reccomend hours of slow Cardio. Try doing some HIIT (again Google is your friend) 2-3 times a week.

Training to failure – people say “training to failure” alot, tends to be misused alot. There are actually 3 failure points, 1) Can’t lift the weight, 2) Can’t hold the weight up 3) can’t lower the weight in a controlled fashion.
Most people only train to Point 1, you need to be going to point 3 to acheive true “failure”. 2 easy-ish warm up sets followed by a really hard set to True Failure works well for most.
Again Google “Mike Mentzer Heavy Duty”

4 Top tips:
1) Plan – plan the next 3 months of training and set goals
2) Keep a Training/Food Diary – write everything down.
3) Do not overtrain.
4) Sleep loads

Everyday is not enough sphincter boy!

Pansies like you make me sick… MTFU and get down there twice a day concentrating on one muscle per workout. If you’re not too wet make it three times a day and chuck in some cardio classes and swimming so that you get really ripped.

What were you ‘pushing 120kg’ on?

I have to say that’s impressive 120kilos is what I usually leg press. You must be built like a corrugated steel shithouse.

No such thing as over-training. You can under-rest and under-eat though 😉 , so it depends on your priorities.

Have a look at Chad Waterbury’s Anti-Bodybuilding Hypertrophy Program.

“No such thing as over-training.” Actually there is… if a body part is not given sufficient time to repair.
Even assuming 10 hours of sleep and perfect nutrition you still need TIME to recover.

The OP might prefer to ask on a Bodybuilding/Weight Training forum as Mountain Bikers aren’t generally known for big scuplted physiques…

“No such thing as over-training.” Actually there is… if a body part is not given sufficient time to repair.
Even assuming 10 hours of sleep and perfect nutrition you still need TIME to recover.

Hence the 😉 .

There is a balance of rest/training/nutrition. You could be overtrained because you’re getting pissed and sleeping 5 hours a night. The term overtraining would suggest you should train less, but what you should do is sleep more and stop getting pissed.

So… I don’t like the term overtraining.

The OP might prefer to ask on a Bodybuilding/Weight Training forum as Mountain Bikers aren’t generally known for big scuplted physiques…

Yes. The good ones look like a bag of elbows.
Muscletalk is pretty laid back.

What BillOddie says is good advice.

One of the most important aspects of a training regime is recovery time…if you aren’t accounting for this then you won’t meet your goals of getting bigger.

You should rest muscle groups for roughly 48 hours, this doesn’t mean you can’t train for 2 days, just train different muscle groups in different sessions. But it’s not as simple as that really, successful body builders would spend a lot of time doing research and paying for advice, and would have developed an incredibly complicated workout and recovery plan.

Put simply. it’s not just a case of going to the gym and picking heavy stuff up for an hour or so…you need to plan your workouts with your goals in mind and track your progress.

Oh, and do some cardio…it’ll help with your muscle building goals. It’s doesn’t have to be a lot, just 5 – 10 mins on the exercise bike before you hit the weights.

slight thread hijack…..

Is it possible to make decent gains in size whilst still riding my bike 3-4 times a week?

Is it as simple as making sure i’m getting enough calories (including protein) onboard?

Forget all this lame talk about resting.

You need supplements. Chat to the biggest guy in th weight room he’ll know someone that can hook you up. Failing that look for the guy that wears bib shorts to the spinning classes… he’ll be a serious roadie and will know what you need too.

Get some inspirational tattoos…

“Go BIG or go home”
“Pain is weakness leaving the body”
“You can rest when you’re dead”

etc.

Is it possible to make decent gains in size whilst still riding my bike 3-4 times a week?

Rest is the big part of getting big, so it will make it harder.

im pushing 120kg on bench press on rail machine… or 100kg normal bench type.

im doing sets of 5-6.. 7 being the optimum fail. (about to poo if i push/pull anymore 😉 )

im not big but i want to become bigger.

see i think my diet then is the fail tbh.

i try to watch my weight alot because i gain weight very quick around my belly. Even healthy veg seem to stick it seems lol

so i will try and get a 1lb for every kilo and see how that goes 😉

cheers all

Guy i know swears by this

StrongLifts: Strength Training, Lifting Weights, 5×5 Workouts

I’m not big but i want to become bigger.

Why?

Nick – if this isn’t a troll, and you want to pack on size you need to reduce the weight you’re lifting and work out in the range of 8-12 reps.

My personal view is that working out to get big is nothing but vanity.
Cycle your workout in 6 week stints between…
Low reps and heavy weights for ultimate strength – what you’re doing now.
&
High reps (>15), low weights for endurance.

I was just going to ask exactly what Kingtut has asked. Why would anyone want to get “big”?

I was just going to ask exactly what Kingtut has asked. Why would anyone want to get “big”?

I was asking this as I went down the same route when I was younger (I’m presuming you are quite young) and wanted to get ‘big’ took all kinds of shit including Stanizol.

My advice, enjoy weight training for strength and definition and loose the desire to get big.

Why?

2 get da chickz?

Chickz dig athletes not muscle bound freakoids.

Jamie – Member

Why?

2 get da chickz?

The funny thing is most women don’t like ‘built’ men, my GF at the time though it all very strange.

It seems the only people that admire bodybuilders are other bodybuilders.

im pushing 120kg on bench press on rail machine… or 100kg normal bench type.

A 100kg bench is getting quite handy.

You really need to get yourself over to MuscleTalk and do some research/ask some questions. When asking for advice (or just reading it) make sure that it’s for it’s clear that it’s for ‘natural’ lifting. There will be an assumption you use drugs otherwise (and in much of the existing advice there).

You won’t get simple advice. You could talk for hours on the subject. Well I could and often do. 🙂

The funny thing is most women don’t like ‘built’ men, my GF at the time though it all very strange.

Most women don’t like blokes that are made of tendons and spend 20 hours a week on a bicycle either. What women like rarely has any bearing on male behaviour.

It seems the only people that admire bodybuilders are other bodybuilders.

Does seem to be the case.

It seems the only people that admire bodybuilders are other bodybuilders.

Does seem to be the case.

I dunno, a certain type of girl likes built blokes but you probably wouldn’t want to take them home to meet mum…

I like to do something every day, so do

Sat: Chest
Sun: Triceps
Mon: Biceps/Forearms (plus 80 minutes cycling commute)
Tue: Core (plus 80 minutes cycling commute)
Wed: Shoulders (plus 80 minutes cycling commute & 90 minutes kickboxing)
Thur: Back (plus 90 minutes kickboxing)
Fri: Core (plus 80 minutes cycling commute)

I have been assuming that as I am mixing up the body parts, each group is getting sufficient rest. Is this right?

(not training legs specifically as they get a good stretch/workout with kickboxing)

I have been assuming that as I am mixing up the body parts, each group is getting sufficient rest. Is this right?

There is no right answer. If you’re achieving your goals then what you’re doing is right. If not, then you need to re-think.

Having a day dedicated to biceps and a day dedicated to triceps is odd though. Just chuck biceps on the end of your back workout and triceps after chest. You can then do legs/abs/whatever on your ‘free’ days if you want the daily routine (I run a five day routine that could be done in three for the same reason).

sc-xc, you are probably overtraining your triceps as they will get hit on chest and shoulder day too.

Same goes for Biceps being trained on Back day.

Do a leg day…

Having a day dedicated to biceps and a day dedicated to triceps is odd though. Just chuck biceps on the end of your back workout and triceps after chest.

Or t’other way round to be able to go big guns on your guns.