|
2003/11/05, 12:52 AM
I have been working out now for about 2 months and am in the 4th week of the ft 8 week muscle building program i am 19, 5"11 ,179lbs. I've put on about 6lbs. And I only take AST VP2 whey protein. I am pretty happy with the results so far i look and feel bigger and people have noticed my gains as well. I was going up in weight every week then about a week or 2 ago i remained the same weight then again today falls between 179-180. I still feel like i'm getting bigger tho but the scale doesn't say so. I'm starting to get a bit of a gut tho, I'm a college student and my eating schedules are kind of messed up i only really eat about 2 good meals a day and a bit of some healthy snacks, but thats about it but i also don't do too much so i don't think i'm burning that much calories, i get plenty of sleep about 8 hrs. a night and occassionly nap. I workout 2 days a week and get plenty of rest days. I haven't really done any cardio. My goal is to get at about 190 and then start to work on definition and get "cut". Although it seems all my fat is in my stomach where for males is where it collects i do have some fat on my arms but not much at all. I was just wondering if in the beginning of someone returning to lifting weights would see big gains at first but then gains become slowed or if it's my eating and lack of cardio and some suggestions on how i can reach my goal, thanks guys for all the great info.
|
|
|
|
2003/11/05, 12:47 PM
Your gains do gradually slow down, but the fact that you are gaining fat probably indicates some dietary work is needed.
If you want to build a superior physique there is no way around eating for it. That means quality food every three hours. Meal replacements and bars make that easier for people with busy schedules, but in the end it boils down to one or two evenings a week spent cooking up your chicken, fish or other lean protein, cutting up your vegetables and making your brown rice or other complex carbs. Buy some divied tupperware and set yourself up on a plan.
There are many bodybuilders who manage to build amazing physiques while working doube shifts, going to school, raising a family. It is harder, but anything woth having requires efort.
--------------
Challenge + Consistency = Results
\"You do or you do not. There is no try.\" - Yoda
I wept because I had no shoes, and then I met a man who had no feet. - Persian saying
|
|
2003/11/05, 07:51 PM
Congrats, you have found what it takes for you to grow & as asimmer stated once you get the diet right you'll do even better. Now unfortunately the body likes to adapt & stop growing usually around 10 weeks into a mass cycle, however a short cutting phase(4-6weeks) will help to reduce the gut & prime the body for another 10 weeks of growth. As already mentioned however the key is going to be your diet the key lies in making the healthy snacks more substantial & cutting back on the main meals.
--------------
\\\\\"Education is the progressive discovery of our own ignorance\\\\"
Patrick L.
ISSA-CFT
|
|
2003/11/05, 09:03 PM
I think I've worked out a good plan with my 3 main meal seperated by 3 hours and a few healthy snacks every 3 hours after my last main meal. how does this sound and is an omlet with sausage and ham good or bad? I selected the cutting program here on ft but the reps and sets are the same, why is that? what am i missing or could someone guide me on how to work on drafting my own cutting program out, i know there are compund and isolation exercises does this play a role in getting cut?
|
|
2003/11/05, 11:07 PM
Unfortunatly there is no way to train for definition, this is a myth. The cutting phase does offer an opportunity to focus on one of two goals due to the fact that high trauma mass training wil be inhibited by a lack of calories to facilitate optimal recovery. The first goal is increasing absolute strength through low rep training. The lack of volume in this program will not cause as much damage to muscle tissue therefore perserving lean mass. In addition the increase in strength will carry over into the next mass cycle & higher workload can mean better growth. The second goal is muscular endurance, using lighter weight & higher repititions you can increses the bodies muscular stamina. Once again the weights are not to heavy to cause severe tissue damage & the increase in endurance can help your next mass cycle by increasing your ability to handle more volume with higher weight. As far as weight gain & loss we are strictly talking about diet. In order to effectively lose weight we must use more calories than we consume. At the rate you are gaining now a 1000 cal per day reduction in total calories should be sufficient to cause the desired fat loss with minimal muscle loss. Just be sure to consume additional calories pre workout to make the most out of your strength/endurance gains.
--------------
\\\\\"Education is the progressive discovery of our own ignorance\\\\"
Patrick L.
ISSA-CFT
|
|
2003/11/06, 02:34 AM
So basically i continue to workout the same but just decrease the amount of calories i take in. So i can still continue to get stronger? So i can either do low weight high reps or a set of reps like 12- 10- 8 as i am on now. And then when i go back on the mass building cycle after 4 weeks and add the extra 1000 calories i will start to get bigger and lose the definition then go back to toning? How exactly does this work? Do your muscles stop growing due to lack of energy to make more muscle fibers and therefore concentrates the body on shedding fat while maintaing muscle size or do you lose muscle? And how does this spark your muscles into new growth as in the mass building cycle before it? Sorry if i'm being a bit confising
|
|
2003/11/06, 02:38 AM
Also i plan on toning next week, should i take a week off then start toning?
|
|
2003/11/06, 06:24 AM
The 12/10/8 plan is basically designed for mass, using above 12 will work endurance & below 8 will build strength. The problem with the mass rep zone (8-12) is that gaining mass at this point is going to be very slow due to a lack of calories & the fact your body has adapted to the number of reps, therefore a change of either higher or lower is desireable. The problem is that the body adapts to training by becoming more efficient(ie. both stronger & smaller) being big is not a desireable effect to the body as it just requires more energy. That is why variations in the program must be made in order to produce constant gains. In regards to gaining fat & losing muscle its a delicate process, if you cut calories too much you'll lose alot of muscle while losing fat, likewise if you take in too much calories you'll gain alot of fat while adding muscle. Now you'll always have a litle spill over regardless but the key is to keep to negative aspect of the cycle to a minimum by not going overboard, a little bit of progress on a consistant basis adds up quickly. Personally I like to do very low reps during cuttng to improve strength simply becaus the strength gains keep me motivated while dieting which is very important, another problem I found with staying at 8-12 reps while cutting is that the workouts become stagnant & morale drops. The increasing pounds help me to forget that I'm hungry & keep my spirits up. As far as a week off it depends greatly on your mental state, if your ready to go & motivated I wouldn't worry about it, however if your feeling run down & tired from the mass cycle it could help. I've always found that an off week or "strategic deconditioning" is better performed prior to the mass cycle unless a state of overtrainnig is present. It's kinda late so I hope I didn't forget anything, any more questions let me know.
--------------
\\\\\"Education is the progressive discovery of our own ignorance\\\\"
Patrick L.
ISSA-CFT
|
|
2003/11/06, 08:30 PM
So like an 8/6/4 routine with a cut of about 500 calories would do the trick? And doing that for like 4 weeks then loading the calories back up and switching to the 12/10/8 cycle will be enough of a jump start for my body to get back in to building mass? Sorry i'm finding this kinda confusing on how this is supposed work? Thanks for all you help plfitness.
|
|
2003/11/07, 10:32 AM
its very affective i was 185lbs last year im now 290 and only 18% bf. give it ago you'll beed happy with the reslots
You gained 105lbs in a year?
--------------
LIFT HEAVY! BECOME STRONG, LIKE BULL!
|
|
2003/11/07, 02:41 PM
neov3 what exactly do you mean by a normal workout plan and a hit and overload workout plan? after the third week do you just start back at the normal and keep cycling through?
|
|
2003/11/07, 05:03 PM
if u wanan get cut.... cut calories to get cut.. if u wanan get bigger and stronger eat more.......can do both things at the same time, yea u have slowed down everyone does. try changing ur routine. excercises reps days u work out everything catch ur body off guard and throw somthing new at it
|
|
2003/11/07, 05:10 PM
Ok so I take it the 105lbs was more than few pounds of fat? I am confused?
--------------
LIFT HEAVY! BECOME STRONG, LIKE BULL!
|
