Weightlifting Advice

[Michael Davis]

OK, so me and geormiet and CostaRicaBill joined a gym two doors down from our apartment here in lovely Costa Rica. We're all underweight and know very little about working out.

Anyways, our trainer, Marcello, has created a program that has us working out five times time a week lifting the same weight, doing a circuit of every body part each day. Now, like I said, I know very little about working out, but everything I do know says that this is entirely wrong if the goal is to build muscle. What do the 2+2 experts think of Marcello's advice?

Thanks.

-Michael

Its fine if you are a beginner.

[Warik]

[ QUOTE ]
Anyways, our trainer, Marcello, has created a program that has us working out five times time a week lifting the same weight, doing a circuit of every body part each day. Now, like I said, I know very little about working out, but everything I do know says that this is entirely wrong if the goal is to build muscle. What do the 2+2 experts think of Marcello's advice?

[/ QUOTE ]

Marcello's advice sucks because your muscles need time to recooperate between workouts. Think of a cut healing. If you cut yourself on Monday, do you think the cut is going to heal up if you keep re-opening the wound every single day of the week?

If your goal is for muscle building in the bodybuilding sense, then never work out a major muscle group more than twice in a 7 day period. Personally, I do each once a week.

Mon: Chest & Tris
Tues: Legs
Wed: Back & Bis
Thurs: Traps, Shoulders, and Abs

Ugh. Tomorrow is back day.

I hate back day.

----

P.S. Admins: We need a Fitness Forum. We don't want the world thinking that all [censored] players are fat slobs, do we?

[IronDragon1]

Mmmm....free weights

[Colonel Kataffy]

This is why Costa Ricans aren't known for bodybuilding.

Your gonna want to work a particular muscle group 1-3 times a week, with rest in between. Do several excercise for each muscle group and use enough weight so that you can only finish between 5 and 8 reps.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
Its fine if you are a beginner.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's the thing, early on it matters much less what you do than that you're doing something. You'll gain on almost any program.

I happen to be a big believer in full-body workout programs. They're slightly different than a circuit in that you don't jump from exercise to exercise quickly. But I think most split programs are pretty silly for most people.

[Warik]

[ QUOTE ]
Its fine if you are a beginner.

[/ QUOTE ]

No way.

There are only two times in your life that you'll experience higher than average muscle gain.

Time #1: The first couple of months after you start working out seriously for the first time.

Time #2: Your first steroid cycle if you choose to go that route.

Why waste #1 with a bad workout?

Man... if I knew then what I did now, I would have gained so much more when I first started lifting.

[leehrat]

6'2 220 10%bf here so i'll weigh in..

just a horrible workout plan. circuit training of the type you described is for women. i like a 5x/week plan of:

1: chest/tris
2: back/bis
3: legs
4: shoulders/abs

mix in 3-4 sessions of 30-45 min cardio btwn 60-70% of heart rate max and that's at least a good maintenance schedule. it would help a bit more to know your goals in greater detail. since you seem to be bulking, know that you will inevitable gain some fat while putting on muscle (sans gear, but that's for a different thread). make sure and eat >30 g protein every 3-4 hours (~6 meals/day) and scale back the cardio in inverse correlation to how much mass you'd like to put on.

and lose your trainer because he sux. hit up google for specific exercises i'm too lazy

[vulturesrow]

[ QUOTE ]
OK, so me and geormiet and CostaRicaBill joined a gym two doors down from our apartment here in lovely Costa Rica. We're all underweight and know very little about working out.

Anyways, our trainer, Marcello, has created a program that has us working out five times time a week lifting the same weight, doing a circuit of every body part each day. Now, like I said, I know very little about working out, but everything I do know says that this is entirely wrong if the goal is to build muscle. What do the 2+2 experts think of Marcello's advice?

Thanks.

-Michael

[/ QUOTE ]

Ugh. A full body circuit is a fine way for a beginner to start out, mostly to get your body acclimated to lifting, but 5 times a week is too much. Let me guess, Marcello charges on a per session basis? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Fire his ass, Im sure you could do better just reading on the internet or buying a good book from amazon.

[leehrat]

oh and someone else said 5-8 reps but i disagree 8-10 for mass (which is what is important unless youre entering powerlifting comps.)