Looking for a good basic strength/muscle building workout?

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_Ben
_Ben Posts: 1,608 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey yall,
Been sticking hardcore with MFP for a little over 2 months, and Im getting close to starting some hardcore strength training. Hopefully by next month I will be ready to start p90x which I know helps with strength training and muscle building, but I want something to start out. I exercise twice a day (cardio), but my morning workout (workout video) has strength training with weights. Where I can, Im working to increase the weights from the morning workout, but Id like to start building up on my upper chest and arms, such as doing bench presses. I have about 2-3 days a week I can strength train, so Im wondering, whats a good progression cycle. Im not really sure how much I can bench, but I want to know whats a good way to get started. Should I just go for my maximum weight immediately, do as many as I can, rest for a min, then go again? Should I get close to my max, and go for more reps? How many reps should I do? How many sets? Just trying to get a better idea how to get started. Any advice would be great!
_Ben

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  • aWashCloth
    aWashCloth Posts: 198 Member
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    When starting out, you should always work on endurance. You want to find a weight that you can do roughly 12-20 reps at which point you hit whats called "momentary muscular fatigue (MMF)" meaning you cannnot do another one no matter how much you want to. At which point you rest for 30 seconds, and do another set, again going to MMF, if this time your reps is smaller, that is ok! Only doing two sets of these will give you a great pay out, but be sure to record your weight and rep/set that you do for each work out.

    I also suggest, if you are doing chest workouts, do back work outs as well. This way you keep all your muscles at the same strength level. I suggest doing MMF for every workout, once you get good at the endurance level, you can lower your reps and increase your sets, and increasing the weight for more of a hypertrophy result (Bigger muscles) (8-12 Reps 3-5 Sets)

    If you want to push from there, you do the same thing again for pure strength increase. (Meaning 3-5 Reps and 5+ sets with about a 2-5 min rest between)
  • _Ben
    _Ben Posts: 1,608 Member
    Options
    When starting out, you should always work on endurance. You want to find a weight that you can do roughly 12-20 reps at which point you hit whats called "momentary muscular fatigue (MMF)" meaning you cannnot do another one no matter how much you want to. At which point you rest for 30 seconds, and do another set, again going to MMF, if this time your reps is smaller, that is ok! Only doing two sets of these will give you a great pay out, but be sure to record your weight and rep/set that you do for each work out.

    I also suggest, if you are doing chest workouts, do back work outs as well. This way you keep all your muscles at the same strength level. I suggest doing MMF for every workout, once you get good at the endurance level, you can lower your reps and increase your sets, and increasing the weight for more of a hypertrophy result (Bigger muscles) (8-12 Reps 3-5 Sets)

    If you want to push from there, you do the same thing again for pure strength increase. (Meaning 3-5 Reps and 5+ sets with about a 2-5 min rest between)

    Thanks for the detailed post. Ill give this a try tomorrow!

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