Group: Competitive Bodybuilding & Fitness

Created: 2012/01/01, Members: 21, Messages: 5367

Discuss the process of preparing for a competition on the sport of body building, fitness and more!

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FREE WEIGHTS ONLY

mattawesome
mattawesome
Posts: 141
Joined: 2005/01/13
United States
2005/05/12, 11:01 PM
All I have to train with are free weights, and maybe once a week a Bow Flex machine. I have my training guide from this site, but I was wondering if any of you could give me some quick tip on using the free weights better. CHEST, ARMS, ECT. And how about ab work outs, whats the best???

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If you can't hang with the big dogs, go your little ass home.
bropie
bropie
Posts: 1,084
Joined: 2004/12/04
Canada
2005/05/13, 09:54 AM
in terms of free weight exercises, make sure your form is perfect, ie dont swing your arms on a bicep curl, bounce the bar off your chest when you're benching, etc. the free weights are also going to benefit stabilizer muscles which machines dont target. in terms of your abs, you dont really need weights, esp. if you are just getting back into things. just focuse on proper technique for regular crunches, leg raises or whatever is in your program, and you should be good to go.. good luck!
mattawesome
mattawesome
Posts: 141
Joined: 2005/01/13
United States
2005/05/13, 12:50 PM
Ok thanks, but as far a how many sets do I need to do. Just what I feel is comfortable or what, and what about rest?
bropie
bropie
Posts: 1,084
Joined: 2004/12/04
Canada
2005/05/13, 12:55 PM
sets, reps, rest depends on your goals..

reps: 6-8 reps will be good to build size, 8- 10 reps will be good for definition

sets: do 3- 4 sets per exercise, plus one warmup

rest: if you are looking for a really intense workout, 30s- 1 min is a good rest. after about a minute, most of your body systems that accumulate metabolites etc (lactic acid, etc.) will have returned to normal. i typically rest about 1 min to 2 minutes. however, dont go over 3 mins for rest b/t sets, as you will lose your intensity and "pump" (for lack of a better term)

i hope that covers everything..
2007/07/09, 11:33 PM
sounds good