Seeking for *good* advice...

kajinku · 22-May-03, 04:14 AM

(sorry for the length of my post)

Hello all,

I'm glad I found this forum yesterday... I read a lot of threads and I think a lot of great advice is been written here. I decided to register since I'm kind of an "experienced newbie" (or something) in this area and still have unanswered questions. I'll try to be as clear as possible (I'm from Belgium).

First of all, my goal is to have a nice, athletic-like body. I don't want to become a meat head. I think the best example of my goal are the guys from the Baywatch series. You know, kind of the Calvin Klein look.

My stats:
age: 21
weight: 81 kg (178.605 pounds)
height: 1,94 m (6.3651 foot)

I went to the gym during 1 year, but this got kind of expensive and I didn't see a lot of results. I was distracted by people that wanted to chat and so on. That's why I call myself an "experience newbie"... I know how to do the exercises and what I can expect after some time.
Anyway, I quit for 8 months and bought myself some basic equipment to do my workout at home:

Weights:
4 x 10kg (22.05 lb)
4 x 5kg (11.025 lb)
4 x 2kg (4.41 lb)
4 x 1kg (2.205 lb)
8 x 0,5kg (1.1025 lb)
2 x 0,38m (14.9606 inch) dumbell bars (2kg each)
1 x 1,75m (5.7418 foot) bar (8kg)
+ an inclinable fitness bench.

So far I like it (I bought this 2 months ago). I can concentrate much better on my exercises and don't have to drive all the way to the gym.

For my sets & reps, well, I was a bit confused after reading magazines and internet sites and all... so I decided to do this:

3 sets of 10 reps / muscle & 2 or 3 different exercises / muscle.
Which means I end up doing 60 or 90 reps / muscle.

Routine:
Monday: chest + shoulders
Tuesday: biceps & abs
Wednesday: legs
Thursday: triceps & back
Friday: abs (when I have enough time)
Saturday / Sunday: off

I do 30 min. of cardio, 2 days / week. I feel hungry more often now and try to eat healthy food. I have 4 meals a day and drink a lot. I don't use supplements or whatever. I'm kind of thin from nature...

OK, pffeew, now my questions

1) Is my routine OK? What about my sets & reps?

2) I want to have the ripped look... like the Baywatch guys (the younger ones). What do I have to do? I'm afraid my muscles will become round and erm... "poofy" or soft looking instead of being kinda "rectangle" and hard looking. I realise I will have to get bigger first. I always try to train hard so that I feel very weak after an hour of training. The smallest thing becomes heavy!

Personally I think light weights and high reps to become ripped is a crap advice... doesn't seem logical. Am I wrong?

3) Do you guys think cables are a must have to train biceps and other muscles? I only have weights and dumbells. I've been told this is enough to train everything. Is this true?

4) Do you have to "shock" your muscles from time to time? That's the oddest thing I've ever heard. A muscle can only get smaller, bigger or stay the same, right? It's not like it has a brain of its own. As long as you do the movement to stress it, it's OK... Stop me if I'm wrong!

If you have any other advice, please, do tell! I'm looking forward to your replies!

Thanks a bunch!!

BigManSlim · 22-May-03, 07:50 AM

"3 sets of 10 reps / muscle & 2 or 3 different exercises / muscle.
Which means I end up doing 60 or 90 reps / muscle."

60-90 reps is too much. Cut down to 3 to 5 sets and use 6 to 15 reps. Don't work the same muscle group with 3 different exercises, just go with 1 (maybe 2). The weight you're using is too light, you need to increase it so it's a struggle for you to get that last rep out.

If you can do 90 reps on a muscle then you're not really working it. Get that weight up man!

You haven't mentioned anything about diet. How is your caloric intake and how many grams protein are you getting each day? Diet is more important than the workout!

kajinku · 22-May-03, 08:43 AM

Thanks for your reply.

I usually do 2 exercises for each muscle... By the end of each rep I can hardly lift the weight anymore. The second exercise I do after resting 5 minutes or so. It doesn't go as smooth and I can't always finish the last rep... but I'll try to increase like you said.

As for the diet, I don't really have one... I'm thin from nature and I do some cardio (see stats)... is it really that necessary? I thought proteins were necessary if you wanted to get *big*. I mean like, B.A. (A-team) big. And I want to be Baywatch-like.

Am I wrong here? What do you advice? Thanks in advance!

tave · 22-May-03, 10:55 AM

you don't need the cables, with your eqipment your pretty much set up.

kajinku · 23-May-03, 03:00 AM

OK, thanks, good to know.

BigManSlim · 23-May-03, 08:29 AM

"As for the diet, I don't really have one... I'm thin from nature and I do some cardio (see stats)... is it really that necessary? I thought proteins were necessary if you wanted to get *big*. I mean like, B.A. (A-team) big. And I want to be Baywatch-like.
Am I wrong here? What do you advice? Thanks in advance!"

The way you're going to get to your goal (Baywatch-like) is going to be through your diet. The diet is more important than the lifting. If you're not eating right and feeding your muscles you're not going to gain an ounce of muscle.

Start monitoring your daily intake (grams of protein, carbs, fat, and total calories) and if you're not getting any stronger/bigger you need to adjust your diet. (Run a search on the details of how to do this.)

"I thought proteins were necessary if you wanted to get *big*. " Proteins are necessary for muscle development and they are an absolute must in your diet. Don't neglect them and don't worry about getting too big.

BMS

kajinku · 23-May-03, 08:57 AM

I appreciate the help, thanks

skinny · 24-May-03, 12:56 PM

re: shocking the muscle. your body adapts differently to different weight loads. in the 1-5 rep range (about 87-100% of your one rep max) you train the nervous system as much, or more, than the muscle. 6-12 reps (70-85% 1rm) will cause (mostly) hypertrophy or muscle growth. higher than 12 will improve waste removal and tolerance of waste products, and will help strength endurance. if you change your rep ranges from time to time, and diet with them, you will force adaptions which will allow you to lift heavier weights, for more reps, than you previously did while working in the hypertrophy range. increased intensity combined with increased volume equals increased gains. some people only do this when they hit a plateau, to work through it. i think it's worth changing your routine every 6-12 weeks.