BeginnerGuy Pre pics

[stantheman]

ok,

back down on the amount of excersizes you're doing. You are most definetly over-working your muscles and if not (like using low weights) you are doing a cardio workout. What you are doing is good with light weights and with a goal of losing weight.

The theory behind 5x5 (basic theory mind you hehe.. there are alot of them) is the following.

You load up your 5 rep max.. Basically you should be grunting like your taking a mongo shit when you lift that last rep.

Once you are done rest for 1 minute to catch your breath and let your muscles get some atp in them so you can still work..

Then you do it again, Chances are you will only be able to press out 4.. and if you can do 5 then up the weight and start with that new weight next time. BTW having a high carb shake on had is always good. Start drinking it about 10-20 minutes before your workout. Refined sugar and other small carbs convert into glyco quickly in other words, it spikes the amount of sugar in your blood. When this happens your body releases insulin to shove that into your muscles and what is left over is generally turned into fat. Well when you are working out having a spike in your sugar is very good as that is what is turned into ATP and powers your muscles. Read about creatine, it bascially does something very similar.


The start of the program would look like this.

Bench press

xyz pounds

5 reps (next to failure)
4 reps (next to failure)
3
2
1

The idea behind it is to train with maxium weight for maximum str gain. This helps you develop alot of your stabalizer muscles. After you gain the str you go to a higher rep program to help develop the muscle more (thats what I do when I get off roids). Now don't take it as you will not be developing muscle under a 5x5.. take a look at most power lifters, they are not small people. And to be honest with you, in my personal experiance it has been easier to keep the post gains like this. When doing this program you are generally training slow twitch and when you switch to a higher rep program with less weights you develop your fast twich fibers. Fast twich fibers are known to grow faster.

You continue this untill you can do 5 reps for 5 sets. Once you get to that goal you either up the weight back to a 5,4,3,2,1 senario or you move on to a different program to come back to 5x5 a few months later.

From what I read about your eating (atkins diet) and what you just told me about your workout, I can see why your growing so slowly. You are indeed eating and working out as if you were looking to lose weight and that is exactly what is happening.

At 6'2 220ish lbs you need to eat like a damn horse man I'm guessing that after you read that formula in the website I gave you, you will be eating close to 5k cal a day. I mean I'm 5'10 195 lbs and I eat 4.5k to bulk up.

Eating is 90% of the battle. Most people that go to the gym and are no longer growing is because they are EATING wrong. Most programs work just fine but if you don't have gas in your car, I don't care how hard you push on the accelerator, you are not going anywhere hehe.

With that said, here are some personal issues I have been through.

When I eat 4.5k cal a day there is no way I have the time (and I don't know about the stomach room either) to swallow that much food. This is why a good cal shake is key. Cytogainer is a great shake to take in order to help you get to the calories you need to hit. And go OVER the amount before you go UNDER when you are bulking.


Days that you work out you consume more calories then days you don't work out. This might seem obviouse but most people will just eat 4.5k every day no matter if they work out or not. I lower my intake to 4k on days I don't work out (prolly should go lower but I'm of the school of eating more then eating less).

If you do a correct bulking cycle and then lean down, you will be ready in plenty of time for summer

ps. The link I provided you is only part 1 of massive eating, there are 3 parts I think. Do a search on google for 5x5 program. There are alot of websites that will even help you design a program for you.

Excuse the bad spelling hehe I speak 3 languages and can't write in any of them (yes I know spellcheck exists but I'm to lazy to do it lol)

[BeginnerGuy]

It's gonna be really hard to change my workout routine. I've been doing it that way for so long. But I'm persistant so I will give it a shot. I'm a bit apprehensive about not having a spot when I do these heavy weight excersises. I will try to use machines as much as possible but it's hard to push yourself without a spot.

I actually have been playing with my testosterone dosages. The improvements have been noticeable. I won't be posting any pictures of the effects or benefits of the increased testosterone however.

I have read the eating articles you linked to. I went out and bought some slimfast diet cans to augment my eating since it is painfully obvious I don't take in near enough calories (not even half).

BeginnerGuy

[ghostdog]

It's gonna be really hard to change my workout routine. I've been doing it that way for so long.

I'd say it's definetly time for a change then.

[stantheman]

cytogainer bro.. go get that

I went to gnc and they have this cup thing that comes with a top that has a plastic blender on it.

It seems like you are on alot of planes and travel a bit. Grab cytogainer and put it in a ziplock bag, take your cup with blender with you. No matter where you go, you can get ahold of some milk

Ps. Never do the same workout for more then 3 months and that is only if you are new. After you been in the gym for a few years you want to change it up every month or so.

pps. hehe

what you eat + what you do at the gym = what you look like

so if you want to change the output you have to shake up the input

[cornfed 2]

Beginner guy,

Read your post and got stuck on the FOUR HOURS IN THE GYM. HOLY CRAP! Olympic weightlifters don't train that long. I worked out for an hour and 20 minutes last night right before dinner. During dinner, with the four or five brain cells that were still functioning, I was contemplating how nice it would be to have an IV cause I barely had the energy to chew. To get me to work out past two hours with any intensity, you would have to light my balls on fire. At three hours, you would have to stick a cattleprod up my ass. At four hours, you would have to scare me with naked pictures of Rosie O'Donnell.

Seriously, at 1 to 1.5 hours, that is about all a mortal can be efficient. After that, you are just burning calories and muscle.

I agree with most of Stantheman's post. 5x5 is a good routine. I would throw some more deadlifts and squats into the workout at the expense of some of the smaller muscle groups and the mighty deadlifts and squats pretty much work everything.

If you have been doing your routine for quite some time and it doesn't appear to be working for you, it is time to change it up.

The best mass building routine and explanation that I have ever seen is doggcrapp's "cycling for pennies" thread. There is no way in a small post that I can do his routine justice. It is about 100 pages long and is a good three or four hours to read. Most of the essentials are covered in the first twenty or thirty minutes. Using his techniques, I went from 185 to 205, almost natural, in about 6 months.

Anyway, put forth the effort and you will be rewarded.

[The Guardian]

Real fast here. 4 hours in the gym is to long if your trying to gain. Anything over an hour and 15 minutes pretty much puts your body into burn mode. If your trying to lose weight thats good. But if your on cycle you should be trying to gain weight.

Pick one or the other. Go for the gains. pick a weight you want for your goal. then bulk up 10 to 15 lbs more then that. Once your there, then rip back down to your goal weigh shedding the extra BF.

I was like you when I started, trying to gain weight and get a rip at the same time. IT DON'T WORK You will get the results you want 50 times faster if you bulk first then rip down.


Good luck. and by the way. You may be smaller in the second pic but you look ten times better. And remeber, the more rip you have the bigger you look. definded muscle just looks bigger then chub. Don't stress so much bro. ya just need to settle down and dial in you work out.

[BeginnerGuy]

All good suggestions. I can't wait to read the article about "cycling for pennies". I wil download that and read it on the flight home on Saturday.

No GNC here in this city in Iowa. I will get the cytogain as soon as possible, probably sat night.

I changed my work out yesterday and worked out for 1.3 hours from 1:15pm to 230pm. Did abbs, pushups and ARMS. Felt like I was cheating while doing ARMS. The low reps with heavier weights seemed like a cop out. That being said, holy crap are my arms feeling it today. I swear they look bigger already. Maybe it's the increase in calories and the change in workout routine. My Triceps have been cramping ever so slightly all day. Usually I don't feel this effect to this extent the next day.

5x5 Biceps (wide grip, middle grip, narrow grip)
triceps (french press, rope, and Skull crushers standing done over head with both hands)

Went back to work, then came back to the gym at 630 to 730pm and did Chest. I went really heavy, should have had a spot. Don't know anyone at this gym in the airport though. I felt a little sore in my shoulder joints at this heavier weight. That kinda worried me but it seemed to subside somewhat during the reps. It was hard to keep my form correct, my back kept wanting to arch to try and get the weight back up. I was using a smith machine for chest.

Chest (Incline, flat, flat bench fly's, wide grip cable pull down).

Notice, I dropped the decline, and the pec deck.

Slept like crap last night, both shoulders were sore and everytime I would roll over I would wake up.

All and all I like the new routine, seems to have made a huge difference. I will post pics next week. I can't help it but I am doing cardio today. My stomach looks bigger today after all the calories and carbs from the past 2 days. Still attempting to hit that majic 5000 calorie mark for building.

Thanks everybody for the suggestions. They seem to be making a difference.

BeginnerGuy

[stantheman]

little more input.

tri = stabalizers for chest (bench press etc) so always work your chest FIRST because if your tri's are tired you will be lifting less.

Same with bi's and back, always work the back first (this also applies for forearms)

besides that, can't tell you how happy I am to hear that things are going well now. Stay away from that damn cardio machine lol unless you want to be eating 6K calories a week!!

ps. Do alot of ab work, alot of times your stomach bulges because your abs are to weak to keep it in. Here is a little secret I used to do in college and in Brazil. When I was sitting around doing nothing i would tense my abs and losen and do half arse self resistance crunches.

If you want a good ab routine do this. When you wake up in the morning lay down at the side of your bed and do crunches but do them like this.

Lift to the right (your shoulders should be no further then maybe 8 inches off the ground) and hold for 5 seconds, then take 5 seconds to move from your right to your left, then go down but DO NOT let your abs rest (in other words no going all the way down. Now do the reverse of that.. do that 50 times if you can, take breaks if you have to.

Tell me how your abs feel later

[stantheman]

if your joints are sore and stay sore, back off the weight a little bit. Your frame needs to get used to it before you can crank it up that high. Its ok to take a few weeks at a lower weight in order for your body to get used to it. Joint pain is not good, if it is very mild it is ok (in my personal opinion and I live with mild joint pain while lifting sometimes but not that I am saying it is good because it isn't). Keep tabs on the pain, if the pain is bad back off the weight a bit till your frame can handle it.

Also, yeah from what you were doing to what you are doing now, you will probably grow on a daily fuuken basis. Take your measurments. By my first week back in the gym when I started again my chest crew 2 inches and my arms grew 1 while me waist went down an inch. Not to shabby for a damn week.

keep it up!!

[BeginnerGuy]

Originally posted by cornfed 2
Beginner guy,


The best mass building routine and explanation that I have ever seen is doggcrapp's "cycling for pennies" thread.

Can't find that link. Searched and Searched.

BeginnerGuy

[cornfed 2]

http://www.animalkits.be/ is the board. The thread is under "realm of doggcrapp and ironaddict."

Direct link is below but you will have to register so I am not sure it will work directly.

http://animalkits.haha.be/phpBB7/viewtopic.php?t=8796

Warning: Animal is the mother of all site nazis and his tolerance for what he considers to be dumb questions is very low. Don't post anything on his board unless you have thoroughly researched first.

[stantheman]

any updates?? new pics to see whats been going on :P?

[BeginnerGuy]

Yeah, have had comments on my arms and legs. Both were worked with the new routine last week. I really see a huge difference. I have a jeep and it's nice to ride around with my arm out the window showin off a much bigger bicep/tricep these days!! Now for those damn forearms.

Need to snap a few pics.

BeginnerGuy

[BeginnerGuy]

Here is a pic 2/3 way through my cycle. The other one was 1/2 way through.

[BeginnerGuy]

I still have the love handles. Even with that pose. And I've noticed a little more pudgieness with the increase in Calories and Carbs. I still don't think I'm eating the right carbs. I am going to buy the Cytogain today. I got back in town on sunday.

I know you guys say ignore the BF during the bulking phase and concentrate on it after the cycle. But I would like to keep that gain to a minimum. Someone earlier said (while chastising me) that I couldn't expect everything all at once. I couldn't repair years of improper diet and working out with one training cycle. Okay, maybe I was being too hard on myself and expecting too much.

I would like to see more beginner pics on here to show what is possible and realistic with the first cycle. Hopefully they won't get yelled at if they post. Dumpling...indeed!

BeginnerGuy

Last edited by BeginnerGuy on 03-01-2004 at 10:44 AM