Will 4 sets of 12 every other day on machine help me gain muscle?

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fearluna
fearluna Posts: 61 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I do 4 sets of 12 on two leg machines, two arm machine and one ab machine. I was wondering if that's enough every other day to gain muscle. I don't want to be wasting my time if it's not enough, you know?

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  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,613 Member
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    Free weights and a progressive program would be better.
  • giantrobot_powerlifting
    giantrobot_powerlifting Posts: 2,598 Member
    edited July 2017
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    TL:DR It's not the sets so much, as it is the loads. As a gym neophyte you'll make gains easy, but you need to progressively lift heavier weight week after week to continue to make gains until you plateau.
  • fearluna
    fearluna Posts: 61 Member
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    I just started. It's embrassing to say but my upper body is so weak I have a hard time pulling metal doors open without great effort. So far I've been doing 60 pounds for my arms and 70 for my legs. That's a good start right? Or is that like, not average?
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
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    Gaining muscle takes time.
    What's important is that you like what you are doing and that you want to do more.
    Many people start and exercise program and then they don't stick with it.
    There may be better programs you could do. There may be better exercises. But, if you like this and can stick with it, I would continue to use it to develop the habit. The rest will happen organically.
  • Grnhouse
    Grnhouse Posts: 254 Member
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    fearluna wrote: »
    I just started. It's embrassing to say but my upper body is so weak I have a hard time pulling metal doors open without great effort. So far I've been doing 60 pounds for my arms and 70 for my legs. That's a good start right? Or is that like, not average?

    It's a great start. Good for you.
  • fearluna
    fearluna Posts: 61 Member
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    GiddyupTim wrote: »
    Gaining muscle takes time.
    What's important is that you like what you are doing and that you want to do more.
    Many people start and exercise program and then they don't stick with it.
    There may be better programs you could do. There may be better exercises. But, if you like this and can stick with it, I would continue to use it to develop the habit. The rest will happen organically.

    I do like it, but it's not a program someone advised me to do, I just made one up, so I'm not sure if I'm doing to much or to little.
  • fearluna
    fearluna Posts: 61 Member
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    Okay thanks I will!
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    It sounds like you could benefit from either working with a trainer to structure a program to meet your goals or from picking up something like the New Rules of Lifting for Women (available through Amazon, Barnes & noble etc) which will help you with both exercises and nutrition.|

    Another alternative to consider would be Stronglifts 5 x 5, it's pure strength & compound lifts but is very easy to follow and works.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    fearluna wrote: »
    I do 4 sets of 12 on two leg machines, two arm machine and one ab machine. I was wondering if that's enough every other day to gain muscle. I don't want to be wasting my time if it's not enough, you know?

    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    Free weights and a progressive program would be better.

    True, but without knowing which 2 leg/arm machines you're doing, it's hard to tell how much better.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    bray149 wrote: »
    Any exercise is good exercise! May I recommend just a slight shift in strategy though. Experiment with your weight a little and find the weight where you are reaching muscle failure at the end of each set of 10. And cycle through your workout. So set of ten legs, set of ten abs, set of ten arms or chest. Then start back over....go through 3 times. Don't do all 3 sets at once on any one exercise.

    Don't train to failure.

    Especially not every session. It's teaching your CNS to fail.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    fearluna wrote: »
    GiddyupTim wrote: »
    Gaining muscle takes time.
    What's important is that you like what you are doing and that you want to do more.
    Many people start and exercise program and then they don't stick with it.
    There may be better programs you could do. There may be better exercises. But, if you like this and can stick with it, I would continue to use it to develop the habit. The rest will happen organically.

    I do like it, but it's not a program someone advised me to do, I just made one up, so I'm not sure if I'm doing to much or to little.

    You would be far better off to find the sticky here that talks about choosing a program, finding one and following it. While what you are doing is probably better than nothing, it's also probably wasting a lot of time
  • joeybrid
    joeybrid Posts: 65 Member
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    Not really. 20 sets for legs, 12-15 sets for arms and 10 sets for abs
  • RavenLibra
    RavenLibra Posts: 1,737 Member
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    Continue with your current sets and reps... but add 5 lbs each session until it gets really tough... consider adding other machines... muscle imbalances will cause injury and pain
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,568 Member
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    bray149 wrote: »
    Any exercise is good exercise! May I recommend just a slight shift in strategy though. Experiment with your weight a little and find the weight where you are reaching muscle failure at the end of each set of 10. And cycle through your workout. So set of ten legs, set of ten abs, set of ten arms or chest. Then start back over....go through 3 times. Don't do all 3 sets at once on any one exercise.
    That's basically circuit training and that's not as conducive to muscle gaining for someone trying to do it. A smarter approach would be starting with the largest muscles, completing exercises and sets for them and working backwards to the smaller muscles that way energy is utilized (energy is highest at the beginning of a workout) efficiently.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • FatWithFatness
    FatWithFatness Posts: 315 Member
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    I think you're wasting a lot of time.

    You should find a good program, starting strength, new rules of lifting, 5/3/1, etc.

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