confusion/newbie stuff

I agree that with limited time a 3x full body workout would be best. SL 5x5 or strong curves or whatever. I know you said you're not a beginner but if you haven't done a programme like that for a while there could be some gains to be had.

Heavy is what's heavy for you (with good form).

I work out a total of 2 hours / week and while I wish I could do more it seems to be enough for muscle building. No cardio.

I think you know when you had a good workout. You have to push yourself, not necessarily with higher weights but it has to be challenging. Other than that it's like they say "the only bad workout is the one that didn't get done" (apart from injuring yourself due to bad form)

working out three days a week doing a full body workout is usual advisable because as a beginner it takes about two days for your body to recover form a workout. training three days a week optimizes this cycle. if you do a body part split say training one body part a day over 5 days you end up with one body part having recovered but not being trained for an entire week. having a body part split may work but its not optimal.

Forget "training hard" think about "training smart" don't make up your own program get on a well established program. a good program should set out a linear approach to progressive overload. i.e each session you lift slightly more.

as for food why not take food with you, I when I cook my evening meal I Cook enough for two meal and take the left over to work with me the following day. I eat 3000+ calories a day and never have difficulty getting it in and am out of the house for 10-12 hours a day.

nhguy78 wrote: »

Thanks for the response. What I've been doing lately for my workout is tri/back day 1, bi/chest day 2 and legs day 3 ... 15-20 minutes cardio otherwise. I do that twice (a week)

Without knowing what those workouts look like (reps/sets/weights, etc...)
Sounds decent.....
But are you getting proper nutrition/food??
And is the weight you are doing, stimulating your muscles??
Are you doing compound lifts as part of your program?

Then I would build my workouts around compound lifts to start, before moving to accessory/isolation exercises.

A lot of people think that you do not need cardio. For looking good by building muscle, sure you dont really need it. But keep in mind that if you put on more weight from building muscle, you need to work your heart because thats additional strain. It matters!! You only need 30 minutes/day to take care of your cardiovascular system.

Makeup and fashon are important but I bet you a dollar that when you start gaining a bit of muscle, you'll feel 100% less frumpy. Kill it.

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I was going to say the same earlier, but decided not to post it, so I didnt' start a food fight.
But I think I get a decent aerobic workout from my lifting sessions....
But I still two days of light cardio on my "rest" days.

Now if I were training for some long distance running or something, then obviously I would stop doing so many weight lifting days and switch to running days.....

But I dont believe cardio is that big a requirement if you are lifting....and your diet is on point with what your goals are.

nhguy78 wrote: »

What does it mean to train hard..... If I feel my form is suffering I usually adjust weight lower so I'm getting the most out of the movement. Is this bad? How heavy should I go just to add weight?

Training "hard" means barely able to complete your reps (almost failure) on each set with good form.

Think of it this way - If you are naturally slim (as I am) your body wants to stay in this slim state. For muscle growth, you are asking your body to do something that is biologically inefficient... Creating more expensive muscle. The only reason your body will do this, is if it thinks that it absolutely HAS to,... to keep you alive.

Going through the motions in the gym isn't going to cut it. You need to be doing your weights heavy enough that your body starts a defensive mechanism (growing) to combat the perceived threat of the weights that you are lifting.

If you are 'comfortable' while working out, your body is 'comfortable' and there is no need for it to respond. You must make thing very 'uncomfortable' for your body.

This all might sound extreme and very daunting. But that is where you need to get to - eventually. As others have pointed out, you can do this by simply making sure that you are lifting more each and every time you go to the gym. That means monitoring everything you lift (weights/reps) and pushing yourself further each time (even if it's just a tiny bit more weight.

Start out by getting people to show you the correct form. But once you have your form sorted, and two weeks of acclimation then you need to be pushing your muscles to failure if you want to see any decent results.

Many people have one of two mentalities about bulking: former fat boy syndrome, or former skinny guy syndrome. FFBs are afraid of getting too fat and FSGs are afraid of getting too skinny and refuse to cut. Don't worry, the fat will come off again after the bulk, so don't minimize gains because of fear. However, do be sane about it and eat at a modest surplus (250-500 calories).