Struggling body building
mkarencastillo
Posts: 8 Member
Hey! So I have started working out January 1st 2018, 5 days a week, 1.5-2 hours a day. I lost 40 pounds (now weighing 109 at a height of 5’4) but I want to gain weight and tone up at my core, legs, and arms. I take protein shakes twice a day and cut out all sweets. Any advice, motivation tips, or helpful stories?
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Replies
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small calorie surplus, adequate protein and a progressive lifting programme7
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Thank you. Currently I just use the gym at my house. (I’m not much of a public person) I’ll definitely look into a lifting programme!1
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First off, congratulations on your determination and results with weight loss!
7.5 - 10 hrs of training per week is quite a lot! Do you follow a specific routine /programme? If so, which?
Cutting out sweets is not necessary. Just make sure you get sufficient protein and fat in, fill the rest with carbs. For a lean bulk you can try a 200-300 calorie surplus per day. Of course, it goes hand in hand with lifting moderate to high weights and progressively adding more to that.4 -
If you want to gain muscle mass you need to cut down on cardio (max 30-min. a day), and increase weight training. Really the only 4-weight training exercises you should focus on are Bench Press, Squat, Deadlift, and O/H Press the first year or so (this will help protect your muscle groups), after that you can break down to individual muscles. And remember use low weight, do 12 - 20 reps, start with 3-sets of each exercise, use full range of motion. (Look to Youtube to find correct way to do the exercises).
I disagree, keep carbs out of the picture, Keto Diet is the way to go if you want that shredded look.
Always bring it to every workout you do!
Peace and Love...
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SabAteNine wrote: »First off, congratulations on your determination and results with weight loss!
7.5 - 10 hrs of training per week is quite a lot! Do you follow a specific routine /programme? If so, which?
Cutting out sweets is not necessary. Just make sure you get sufficient protein and fat in, fill the rest with carbs. For a lean bulk you can try a 200-300 calorie surplus per day. Of course, it goes hand in hand with lifting moderate to high weights and progressively adding more to that.
Well it’s my routine changed over the year because I wanted to see what fit best. I’m seeing more results with my current one. I set it up by day of the week. Monday I’ll do cardio- a mile of running and a mile of cycling. Then I’ll jump rope, jumping jacks, mountain climbers. And I’ll switch up on cardio activities. Tuesday’s I’ll foucus on my core. Wednesday’s it’s all about my legs so a do a lot of heavy lifting and squating along with lunges and such. Thursday I’ll do my upper body. And Friday I’ll do a combination of my whole week. Each day contains a lot of stretching of course. And thank you!0 -
mkarencastillo wrote: »Thank you. Currently I just use the gym at my house. (I’m not much of a public person) I’ll definitely look into a lifting programme!
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p15 -
JusticejamesbMBA wrote: »If you want to gain muscle mass you need to cut down on cardio (max 30-min. a day), and increase weight training. Really the only 4-weight training exercises you should focus on are Bench Press, Squat, Deadlift, and O/H Press the first year or so (this will help protect your muscle groups), after that you can break down to individual muscles. And remember use low weight, do 12 - 20 reps, start with 3-sets of each exercise, use full range of motion. (Look to Youtube to find correct way to do the exercises).
I disagree, keep carbs out of the picture, Keto Diet is the way to go if you want that shredded look.
Always bring it to every workout you do!
Peace and Love...
Thank you! When I wanted my weight lost I did a lot more cardio so I am now cutting down on it. I’ll make sure to do less running and more lifting💪🏼2 -
^ the thread shared by Tavistock is THE resource to be read when trying to identify a programme
My advice would be to re-focus on your strength training programme of choice (can be 3x full body, or an upper-lower split, or a push/pull/legs split, whatever fits you and your current abilities) and leave cardio as a secondary workout. Don't cut it out, just make sure your focus is on strength building.
Regarding the post above, keto is in my opinion suboptimal for building mass, for the vast majority of people. Trying to build on very low carb is like striving for progress in spite of, not with the assistance of proper nutrition.8 -
SabAteNine wrote: »^ the thread shared by Tavistock is THE resource to be read when trying to identify a programme
My advice would be to re-focus on your strength training programme of choice (can be 3x full body, or an upper-lower split, or a push/pull/legs split, whatever fits you and your current abilities) and leave cardio as a secondary workout. Don't cut it out, just make sure your focus is on strength building.
Regarding the post above, keto is in my opinion suboptimal for building mass, for the vast majority of people. Trying to build on very low carb is like striving for progress in spite of, not with the assistance of proper nutrition.
Honestly I like my eating habits now at first it felt like a diet but now it’s just natural? If that makes sense? But thanks I’ll be focusing more on weight training. I’ll update in a month or so!0 -
mkarencastillo wrote: »Hey! So I have started working out January 1st 2018, 5 days a week, 1.5-2 hours a day. I lost 40 pounds (now weighing 109 at a height of 5’4) but I want to gain weight and tone up at my core, legs, and arms. I take protein shakes twice a day and cut out all sweets. Any advice, motivation tips, or helpful stories?
A few things. First, that link provided, is a great place to start for a routine. You should choose one based on your goals. As you become more experienced or work with someone knowledgeable enough, they can customize a program for you.
Second, you do not gain weight and get shredded. When you bulk, you are going gain new fat. For women, it's roughly 50% of your total gain. So you will have to gain, and then do a cut later to eliminate fat gains. This many have to be repeated a few times.
Third, there is no reason to drink that many protein shakes unless you really just like shakes or struggle to get calories. Having said that, it certainly won't hurt you either. If you do struggle to get adequate calories, I'd consider reading the below.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10326769/are-you-a-hard-gainer-please-read/p1JusticejamesbMBA wrote: »If you want to gain muscle mass you need to cut down on cardio (max 30-min. a day), and increase weight training. Really the only 4-weight training exercises you should focus on are Bench Press, Squat, Deadlift, and O/H Press the first year or so (this will help protect your muscle groups), after that you can break down to individual muscles. And remember use low weight, do 12 - 20 reps, start with 3-sets of each exercise, use full range of motion. (Look to Youtube to find correct way to do the exercises).
I disagree, keep carbs out of the picture, Keto Diet is the way to go if you want that shredded look.
Always bring it to every workout you do!
Peace and Love...
I partly agree with this. I agree that a focus of a program should be bench, squat, DL and OHP, but you shouldn't limit yourself to those for over a year. If anything, only a few months would be sufficient. Following a well structured program will help hit the big muscle groups, but also include accessories to help with the supporting muscles.
Second, there is zero reasons to stay at 12-20 reps per set. In fact, it will leave a lot on the table by doing do. And the keto diet is no more effective at fat loss, than other diets. Personally, I find keto unappealing and difficult to stick with. Modulating fat is much more effective to me.
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Some people love keto, some people don't. I know some people who are legit jacked & shredded on it; I know people who are jacked & shredded on other diets. I have been able to achieve what I believe is a physique with more muscle/size than average for a female, but also with considerably lower bodyfat and I don't use keto. I manipulate my carb and fat intake, so I get to enjoy the foods I like (pasta? check!) and still make satisfactory progress.2
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Log every rep and set either using an app or a note book to make sure your progressing most session, and as others have set eat in a surplus and also get plenty of good quality protein from food rather than shakes as much as possible,try to save the shakes as a post workout only with some carbs5
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what @psuLemon said basically.
Keto not necessary at all. Actually probably not even good for muscle gainz. leave that for cutting if it works for you. It's a personal preference keto.
My only suggestion other than what was said above is if you want to sculpt your body, you need to get someone to show you proper form so you can work on what needs to be worked on.
I lifted for a while and my lats and delts never grew and I couldn't understand why until someone showed me exactly how to activate those muscles and work them properly - now they are growing.
I see it all the time at the gym - big guys going heavy but using all sorts of wrong parts of the body - like hunching up when using the lat pulldown for example - when in fact they should be depressing the scapula and pulling down to target the muscle.5 -
I lift heavy and run far. It depends on goals but I have been a runner for a long time (several years of long distance running) and a body builder on and off, this time with a trainer to start and now without one. My trainer always, ALWAYS had me doing dynamics lifts with higher weight (within good form) and lower reps. I'm not shredded yet but my body has the beginnings of gorgeous tone. I adore aubrieb on instagram for workouts. I wouldn't do low weights/high reps...but that's just me.0
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Really good video:
https://youtu.be/yB0YhPg7o7E
I much prefer using lighter weights with higher reps to failure. Can feel the muscle working way better than heavy weight low reps.
I have seen a ton more evidence to the contrary of what this guy is saying. Not saying people can't get big using high rep but a lot of his justification is regarding bodybuilders, who are largely "supplemented".
Speaking from personal experience and experience of working with a wide range of people now, most see more gains when incorporating heavy weight. The benefits of adding higher weight low rep work, is that it can complement your lower weight higher rep work. If you only practice within a single rep range, you are going to leave a bunch on the table. Heck, even Layne Norton, who is a pro powerlifter and bodybuilder, discusses how he gain 4" in his legs when he got away from bodybuilding routines and intermixed powerlifting.
We should never be as narrow as to only do one style of lifting.2 -
This content has been removed.
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I have seen a ton more evidence to the contrary of what this guy is saying. Not saying people can't get big using high rep but a lot of his justification is regarding bodybuilders, who are largely "supplemented".
Speaking from personal experience and experience of working with a wide range of people now, most see more gains when incorporating heavy weight. The benefits of adding higher weight low rep work, is that it can complement your lower weight higher rep work. If you only practice within a single rep range, you are going to leave a bunch on the table. Heck, even Layne Norton, who is a pro powerlifter and bodybuilder, discusses how he gain 4" in his legs when he got away from bodybuilding routines and intermixed powerlifting.
We should never be as narrow as to only do one style of lifting.
This summary of some scientific studies on the topic seems to indicate that high rep, low weight is just as effective as low rep, high weight, when taken to failure, for building muscle mass, particularly in beginners.
I did read another meta-analysis on the topic that also supported that contention but I can't find the ref now. In that one the authors pointed out that, in general, people are more comfortable when doing low rep, high weight workouts because they tend to be less exhausting (I would assume because there's less cardio involved) and that would mean that most people trying to build muscle with high rep, low weight may not really be going to, or close to, failure because they're becoming exhausted and thus aren't building as much muscle. So while the two approaches, when done correctly, may lead to equivalent muscle mass increases it's "harder" to do the high rep, low weight approach in the proper way in order to increase muscle mass.
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From Eric Helms:
“Except for extremely light loads (<30% 1RM), light, moderate and heavy loads can effectively stimulate hypertrophy given sufficient effort (i.e. reasonable proximity to failure ~5+ RPE). However, heavy low rep training (<6 reps) requires more sets be performed compared to higher rep training to compensate for the short length of time muscles are put under tension. Likewise, high rep training (over 12 reps) is probably unsuitable on skilled compound exercises that train much of the body simultaneously (squats and deadlifts for example) due to their technical demand and high risk, coupled with high metabolic fatigue which can be detrimental to the performance of subsequent exercises and a tendency to underestimate proximity to true muscular failure due to sensations of discomfort and fatigue.”
Source: https://3dmusclejourney.com/times-wrong-7-things-ive-changed-mind-evidence-based-professional/?fbclid=IwAR1a4BOzNgYg8Y8b99hYBlFYw_K4AdvIOzGF_IxD24KzsGjBq-E1s_82CWo4 -
From Eric Helms:
“Except for extremely light loads (<30% 1RM), light, moderate and heavy loads can effectively stimulate hypertrophy given sufficient effort (i.e. reasonable proximity to failure ~5+ RPE). However, heavy low rep training (<6 reps) requires more sets be performed compared to higher rep training to compensate for the short length of time muscles are put under tension. Likewise, high rep training (over 12 reps) is probably unsuitable on skilled compound exercises that train much of the body simultaneously (squats and deadlifts for example) due to their technical demand and high risk, coupled with high metabolic fatigue which can be detrimental to the performance of subsequent exercises and a tendency to underestimate proximity to true muscular failure due to sensations of discomfort and fatigue.”
Source: https://3dmusclejourney.com/times-wrong-7-things-ive-changed-mind-evidence-based-professional/?fbclid=IwAR1a4BOzNgYg8Y8b99hYBlFYw_K4AdvIOzGF_IxD24KzsGjBq-E1s_82CWo
This is essentially why i program my core big lifts at lower reps and higher weight. Taking a deadlift or squat to failure would increase the chance of injury. And its why i program accessories with higher reps.3 -
I have seen a ton more evidence to the contrary of what this guy is saying. Not saying people can't get big using high rep but a lot of his justification is regarding bodybuilders, who are largely "supplemented".
Speaking from personal experience and experience of working with a wide range of people now, most see more gains when incorporating heavy weight. The benefits of adding higher weight low rep work, is that it can complement your lower weight higher rep work. If you only practice within a single rep range, you are going to leave a bunch on the table. Heck, even Layne Norton, who is a pro powerlifter and bodybuilder, discusses how he gain 4" in his legs when he got away from bodybuilding routines and intermixed powerlifting.
We should never be as narrow as to only do one style of lifting.
This summary of some scientific studies on the topic seems to indicate that high rep, low weight is just as effective as low rep, high weight, when taken to failure, for building muscle mass, particularly in beginners.
I did read another meta-analysis on the topic that also supported that contention but I can't find the ref now. In that one the authors pointed out that, in general, people are more comfortable when doing low rep, high weight workouts because they tend to be less exhausting (I would assume because there's less cardio involved) and that would mean that most people trying to build muscle with high rep, low weight may not really be going to, or close to, failure because they're becoming exhausted and thus aren't building as much muscle. So while the two approaches, when done correctly, may lead to equivalent muscle mass increases it's "harder" to do the high rep, low weight approach in the proper way in order to increase muscle mass.
For trained lifters, not really just as effective:
« The average amount of muscle mass gained in the high rep group was 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram), compared with 3.5 pounds (1.6 kilograms) in the low rep group. »
Also, they define « low rep » as 8-10 reps. The last meta analysis that I read on this topic included the more typical power lifter low rep range of 4-6. Similar to the paragraph that I quoted above from your link, it found that low rep provided more mass gains and (and this isn’t addressed in the studies quoted in your link) significantly greater increases in one rep max lifts.0
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