Soldato
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what is the optimum amount of sets per body part on a 3 day split?
*** The 2010 Gym Rats Thread ***
- Thread starter Freefaller
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I like to train each body part twice in 10 days. It gives enough time for recovery whilst keeping the body fired up.
I feel i have acheieved my first goal i wrote down when i joined the gym today
Physical determination and focus. after having a a week out and missing a leg, back a shoulder session due to some horrific blistering sunburn jumped staright back in with a leg session..
Heres how it went
sorry i had to share, no one around me cares for the gym :S this is my release lol confused as to why i wasnt happy?. usually im elated when i reach a new weight...meh lol
Physical determination and focus. after having a a week out and missing a leg, back a shoulder session due to some horrific blistering sunburn jumped staright back in with a leg session..
Heres how it went
60 x 8
80 x 8
90 x 8
100 x 5
110 x 2
115 x1
120...now this where i feel i acheived my goal... the last leg session i did i managed to work up to 125KG i knew this 120 would be my max for today, i could feel everything in me saying it was...sure enough, did the negative of the rep and couldnt push it back up! I was devastatedjust sat under the bar for a minute head in hands, bar on my back but resting on the support bars, something was going through me and i was detremined not to be beaten, i knew i could rep that weight..next thing im doing is reracking the plates and have the bar on my traps again...i dunno what it was either testoterone, adrenaline whatever was surging through me i could see it in my eyes, feel it in my mind as i started the negative, it took everything to get back up..i was so impressed with myself...not happy just impressed, an awesome feeling
90 x 8
70 x 12
60 x 20
sorry i had to share, no one around me cares for the gym :S this is my release lol confused as to why i wasnt happy?. usually im elated when i reach a new weight...meh lol
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Those feelings are great - they sometimes happen at the most unexpected times - but when they do you just want to tell everyone! 
Had a good session in the gym today, trained hard and a guy I know from their commented on my lats 
. Didnt bother with a protein shake and instead came home from the 40min walk to have lamb steak, sweet potato and lots of mixed veg, fantastic 
.
. Didnt bother with a protein shake and instead came home from the 40min walk to have lamb steak, sweet potato and lots of mixed veg, fantastic .
Soldato
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Ok I need to be pointed in the right direction, i used to train at decent gym a few years back and made some decent progress but now I just don't have the time to get there how i used too so can't jus justify the fees now.(KIDS) I have collected a DB Bench a 5ft BB and a few db's all spinlocks and some plates.
[6*10Kgs,2*7.5Kgs,4*5kgs,8*2.5kgs,8*1.25kgs, + some odds and sods 1&2 kgs plates]
Time available to me is MON/TUES 30-45 mins before missus goes to work, WED/THURS are fine , FRI - 1hr and either saturday/sunday are ok.
whats the best split I can achieve some lean mass on or will fullbody be better I am 36 years old 5'11 and currently 13.5kg ( got my old gut back ) will hopefully fit a bit of skipping in somewhere.
so guys diet and routine tips please using the equipment I have
[6*10Kgs,2*7.5Kgs,4*5kgs,8*2.5kgs,8*1.25kgs, + some odds and sods 1&2 kgs plates]
Time available to me is MON/TUES 30-45 mins before missus goes to work, WED/THURS are fine , FRI - 1hr and either saturday/sunday are ok.
whats the best split I can achieve some lean mass on or will fullbody be better I am 36 years old 5'11 and currently 13.5kg ( got my old gut back
) will hopefully fit a bit of skipping in somewhere.so guys diet and routine tips please using the equipment I have
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General Hormone and nutrition info
Been typing this up for a few days (double checking validity etc...) - hope you find it interesting.
Glycemic index (GI)
GI is a measure of: "the rate at which food is broken down and absorbed into the blood stream". The higher a food's GI, the quicker this happens. IME/IMO foods with low to medium GI should be chosen, to help minimise insulin response (spikes), in doing so, this will increase the amount of fat used as a fuel source rather than hard earned muscle.
Insulin (something else I bore people with!)
Insulin enables the storage of glucose in the muscle and the liver. However, it also directly inhibits the use of fat as a fuel source (remember low GI as I was saying before?). It is nigh on impossible to burn fat with high insulin levels. Carbs are the direct impact the release of insulin (though most foods to a certain extent create a release of some kind). This level of release is directly related to their relative GI. There is, however, another hormone which counteracts the levels of insulin in the body (woohoo!), as well as enabling the body to burn fat more efficiently. Glucagon (I'll go on about it in a sec). Insulin also suppresses the effect of adrenalin and noradrenalin, reducing the bodies ability to metabolise fat.
Cortisol
Cortisol is a catabolic (muscle degenerative) stress hormone. Although it acts as a natural analgesic too (and it's what helps you wake up in the morning), it very much has a negative effect on protein synthesis (my favourite topic!). High levels of coritsol are linked to a loss in muscle tissue. However, like all things, this is a double edged sword; because, as your muscle mass decreases, your metabolic rate also decreases (as I've been rabbiting on for years ). Thus, as your metabolic decreases, fat levels increase - simples, eh? Fat also has the ability to convert the inactive (safe) form of cortisol to the active form. Active cortisol promotes fat storage in spots around your body, however, cortisol deposition is more evident around the abs/lower belly. Fat around there is often used as an indicator and precursor of heart disease. It doesn't mean you will have it, but it's a start of a potential warning.
Fat (the most overused and misunderstood word!)
There is more to fat than most people realise. Most people think of it as something that is around your belly, or lard stuck to the end of bacon or meat and is generally a hugely negative component of modern life. However this much misunderstood compound has a lot of interesting parts to it. A whole book/thesis could be written on this - so let's try and keep it simple! Fat produces an enzyme called aromatase (heard of it? If any of you have looked into naughty juices you will have heard this name being mentioned many times). Aromatase is bad news as it converts testosterone to oestrogen (we don't want this at all! This can also lead to Gynecomastia in the long term - aka, bitch ****).
Oestrogen has the ability and a tendency to increase body fat deposition around the body (there are certain parts, back, thighs predominently however these are not exclusive but common).
Still with me? Ok, so more fat deposition = more fat. Therefore more fat = more armoatase! Ooop, this means more oestrogen! Which means more fat deposition, which means..... yup you got it, it's a vicious circle. Great eh? Lovely!
If you thought that was the worse you could get it actually does more in the long term... bad things. If and when oestrogen rises and gets to a significant elevated level (this is different for every person, and it gets super complicated) this leads to negative feedback through the HPTA. Which is bad. The HPTA is the Hypothalmic Pituitary Testicular Axis. This causes a drop in endogenous (made by our bodies) testosterone. Testosterone is what we need to help us be big strong men - so as you can imagine, this ain't good! So the fatter you get, you will have lower testosterone, more opestrogen, and then we go back to that vicious circle again.... This potentially could lead to higher levels of body fat, heart disease, diabetes, potentially impotence, depression (very very common according to the stats) and many other things.
However this is just fat on your body, not fat that one eats. We all know about that already - this is just the compound within our bodies.
Thyroid
The body's temperature should be around 36C and 37C, it's the thyroid hormone's job to regulate that body temperature. A person with high fat, will have a larger surface area, and also have more insulation insulation as a result. (Basic thermodynamics, about losing heat/absorbing heat). Therefore owing to this principle, the thyroid has to compensate, else they will be overheating and therefore die. This strain lowers T3 and T4 thyroid hormones, which lowers their thyroid production. It's not because they have a bad thyroid that they're getting fat, it's because they are fat that their thyroid ain't working as it should! All the excuses are coming out of the woodwork now eh?!
Cellulite (a girl's worst nightmare!)
Let's clear up the myths:
I'm sure you've heard all the "cures" - I won't get into them, because ostensibly cellulite is just a form of fat.
The tell tale "skin pattern" is caused by the following:
If you want to get rid of cellulite drop your bodyfat - that's all there is to it - sorry if you were expecting more science!
Glucagon
I mentioned glucagon earlier. This is a hormone that helps the body in moving the remaining glycogen stores (do you need an explanation of glycogen?) from the liver and muscles to turn it into energy. When glycogen levels become low, glucagon triggers something called the carnithine shuttle, which in turn promotes the use of stored fatty acids into energy.
This really is the best and only natural way to make your body use fat as fuel, and thus reduce your body fat. Which is why something like HIIT is perfect for this sort of activity. Certainly first thing in the morning. As mentioned in the first paragraph it replaces the primary fuel (carbs) with the secondary (fat). It really is that simple.
Our bodies are fascinating, and love synergy, so when one hormone gets too high, others compensate to either bring it low, or to bring a balance in your body. As such, it creates more and more chain reactions. It's quite clever really.
Growth Hormone (GH) (the natural stuff obviously!)
As you've no doubt heard me metion before, GH is abundant in low insulin environments, insulin suppresses GH. GH is highly lipolytic, but more importantly, strengthens your immune system (hence why newborns have such high levels). Unfortunately as you get older GH reduces - or more accurately, the lowering levels of GH are part of the ageing process! If you can keep these levels as high as you can for as long as you can - the better you will be!
It's only a bit of a skim, I've put it in this thread, but if there's more or other bits of info you want let me know and I'll add to it... or I can put it in a separate thread? If it's stuff you already knew and not interested well, I still enjoyed typing it up!
Been typing this up for a few days (double checking validity etc...) - hope you find it interesting.
Glycemic index (GI)
GI is a measure of: "the rate at which food is broken down and absorbed into the blood stream". The higher a food's GI, the quicker this happens. IME/IMO foods with low to medium GI should be chosen, to help minimise insulin response (spikes), in doing so, this will increase the amount of fat used as a fuel source rather than hard earned muscle.
Insulin (something else I bore people with!
)Insulin enables the storage of glucose in the muscle and the liver. However, it also directly inhibits the use of fat as a fuel source (remember low GI as I was saying before?). It is nigh on impossible to burn fat with high insulin levels. Carbs are the direct impact the release of insulin (though most foods to a certain extent create a release of some kind). This level of release is directly related to their relative GI. There is, however, another hormone which counteracts the levels of insulin in the body (woohoo!), as well as enabling the body to burn fat more efficiently. Glucagon (I'll go on about it in a sec). Insulin also suppresses the effect of adrenalin and noradrenalin, reducing the bodies ability to metabolise fat.
Cortisol
Cortisol is a catabolic (muscle degenerative) stress hormone. Although it acts as a natural analgesic too (and it's what helps you wake up in the morning), it very much has a negative effect on protein synthesis (my favourite topic!
). High levels of coritsol are linked to a loss in muscle tissue. However, like all things, this is a double edged sword; because, as your muscle mass decreases, your metabolic rate also decreases (as I've been rabbiting on for years ). Thus, as your metabolic decreases, fat levels increase - simples, eh? Fat also has the ability to convert the inactive (safe) form of cortisol to the active form. Active cortisol promotes fat storage in spots around your body, however, cortisol deposition is more evident around the abs/lower belly. Fat around there is often used as an indicator and precursor of heart disease. It doesn't mean you will have it, but it's a start of a potential warning.Fat (the most overused and misunderstood word!)
There is more to fat than most people realise. Most people think of it as something that is around your belly, or lard stuck to the end of bacon or meat and is generally a hugely negative component of modern life. However this much misunderstood compound has a lot of interesting parts to it. A whole book/thesis could be written on this - so let's try and keep it simple! Fat produces an enzyme called aromatase (heard of it? If any of you have looked into naughty juices you will have heard this name being mentioned many times). Aromatase is bad news as it converts testosterone to oestrogen (we don't want this at all! This can also lead to Gynecomastia in the long term - aka, bitch ****).
Oestrogen has the ability and a tendency to increase body fat deposition around the body (there are certain parts, back, thighs predominently however these are not exclusive but common).
Still with me? Ok, so more fat deposition = more fat. Therefore more fat = more armoatase! Ooop, this means more oestrogen! Which means more fat deposition, which means..... yup you got it, it's a vicious circle. Great eh? Lovely!
If you thought that was the worse you could get it actually does more in the long term... bad things. If and when oestrogen rises and gets to a significant elevated level (this is different for every person, and it gets super complicated) this leads to negative feedback through the HPTA. Which is bad. The HPTA is the Hypothalmic Pituitary Testicular Axis. This causes a drop in endogenous (made by our bodies) testosterone. Testosterone is what we need to help us be big strong men - so as you can imagine, this ain't good! So the fatter you get, you will have lower testosterone, more opestrogen, and then we go back to that vicious circle again.... This potentially could lead to higher levels of body fat, heart disease, diabetes, potentially impotence, depression (very very common according to the stats) and many other things.
However this is just fat on your body, not fat that one eats. We all know about that already - this is just the compound within our bodies.
Thyroid
The body's temperature should be around 36C and 37C, it's the thyroid hormone's job to regulate that body temperature. A person with high fat, will have a larger surface area, and also have more insulation insulation as a result. (Basic thermodynamics, about losing heat/absorbing heat). Therefore owing to this principle, the thyroid has to compensate, else they will be overheating and therefore die. This strain lowers T3 and T4 thyroid hormones, which lowers their thyroid production. It's not because they have a bad thyroid that they're getting fat, it's because they are fat that their thyroid ain't working as it should! All the excuses are coming out of the woodwork now eh?!
Cellulite (a girl's worst nightmare!)
Let's clear up the myths:
- Caffeine causes it to increase
- Somking causes it
- Lymphatic system
- Alcohol and other "toxins"
- A host of other old wive's tales
I'm sure you've heard all the "cures" - I won't get into them, because ostensibly cellulite is just a form of fat.
The tell tale "skin pattern" is caused by the following:
- Uneven spread of fat receptors
- Putting lots of fat tissue into a tight lattice of tendons, muscle and skin cells basically makes it squeeze in between the tendons and cells creating that pattern
- Having too much body fat basically... it's just the way it is!
If you want to get rid of cellulite drop your bodyfat - that's all there is to it - sorry if you were expecting more science!
Glucagon
I mentioned glucagon earlier. This is a hormone that helps the body in moving the remaining glycogen stores (do you need an explanation of glycogen?) from the liver and muscles to turn it into energy. When glycogen levels become low, glucagon triggers something called the carnithine shuttle, which in turn promotes the use of stored fatty acids into energy.
This really is the best and only natural way to make your body use fat as fuel, and thus reduce your body fat. Which is why something like HIIT is perfect for this sort of activity. Certainly first thing in the morning.
As mentioned in the first paragraph it replaces the primary fuel (carbs) with the secondary (fat). It really is that simple. Our bodies are fascinating, and love synergy, so when one hormone gets too high, others compensate to either bring it low, or to bring a balance in your body. As such, it creates more and more chain reactions. It's quite clever really.
Growth Hormone (GH) (the natural stuff obviously!
)As you've no doubt heard me metion before, GH is abundant in low insulin environments, insulin suppresses GH. GH is highly lipolytic, but more importantly, strengthens your immune system (hence why newborns have such high levels). Unfortunately as you get older GH reduces - or more accurately, the lowering levels of GH are part of the ageing process! If you can keep these levels as high as you can for as long as you can - the better you will be!
It's only a bit of a skim, I've put it in this thread, but if there's more or other bits of info you want let me know and I'll add to it... or I can put it in a separate thread? If it's stuff you already knew and not interested well, I still enjoyed typing it up!
Urgh, fed up of "bulking" already, even after a short period, the thing is as soon as I start to eat more my weight just shoots up, it stabilizes after some time yeah. The thing is it's not amazingly noticeable anywhere, except my face, my face gets massive and fat, this was supposed to be a "lean bulk" and even eating extremely clean, counting calories has just not worked.
What shall I do?
Option 1) Ignore and keep going
Option 2) Cut back and hope my body weight stabilizes sooner
Option 3) More cardio to see if I can shed off a bit of the fat (If that even works?!)
Option 4) Suggest something
What shall I do?
Option 1) Ignore and keep going
Option 2) Cut back and hope my body weight stabilizes sooner
Option 3) More cardio to see if I can shed off a bit of the fat (If that even works?!)
Option 4) Suggest something
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List your current diet, training and general lifestyle, including stats before/current etc...
According to weight and height maintenance cal per day is 2300-2600 according to site
3 work out days per week, diet as followed:
(I cut down milk from the diet already, as I thought it was 1 of the main contenders for why my weight has shot up so rapidly)
Work out days 1.5hours of heavy lifting
Off days 10-20 minutes of light exercise
About 3-4 weeks ago my weight was about 184lbs, now it's 198lbs.
Routine is:
Monday
Flat Bench
Incline Bench
Dips
21's
Bicep curls
Skull crushers
Wednesday
Pull-ups
Shrugs
Rows
Upright rows
Deadlift
Hammer curls
Friday
Hamstring raises
Squats
Calf raises
Leg raises
Weighted sit-ups
Shoulder press
Barbell front raises
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If you're after a lean bulk you need a lot less carbs, and more fats to make up the calories. On non work out days do some HIIT (like skipping or hill sprints for example). Do you sleep well - go to bed early not watching tv till late for example?
Your split could be a bit better IMO. And don't limit it to a day of a week, roll it over, one day on one day off... Does it have to be 3 days?
I'd ditch the shrugs, no need for them.
No need for front raises IMO, side raises are far more important, and incline and flat bench hits the front deltoid.
I take it rows are BORs if not BORs are vital!
On day 2, no need for the hammer curls then - you'll be hitting your bis a lot with the rowing and back work out
It would be good to see some SLDLs instead of ham raises, but if you get on with them then fine.
All the sit up stuff - do at home. Use the gym for it's full potential.
HC2PP and powercleans would be good to add. And for variation some front squats, step ups, lunges and split squats would be worth while looking into.
You've got the major exercises, bench, squats, deadlift - and you've got good subsidiary exercises like dips, and chins - good.
How many reps are you doing? Excluding working sets? It would be good to see at least 4-5 sets of between 6-8 reps. That's where supersets may come in handy too.
Other exercises you may want to consider.
Chest:
Incline DB
Decline DB
Flies
Dips (lean forward)
Back:
T-Bars
Cable Rows
DB Rows
BORs
Chins (since you're already doing pull ups)
Shoulders:
Side raises (really important IMO)
Face pulls
Cable raises
Arnies
BB press
Standing DB press
Legs:
Lunges
Split squats
step ups
Front squats
Leg press (to pre-exhaust or as a finisher is great)
Hack squats
Make sure you get a decent amount of volume if you're trying to build mass, and let yourself recover. Apart from the comments about your diet the rest of it looks good, but as I said, too many carbs really for "lean bulking" especially all those potatoes. Make sure the rice is brown/or wild rice, and pasta is wholemeal. Try couscous and sweet potato too (far better than normal potato!).
Lean bulking is possible, but the results are slooooooow - and it's hard work, but you have to be rather regimented about your diet. It gets a bit more expensive and is a pain - but it is possible.
Your split could be a bit better IMO. And don't limit it to a day of a week, roll it over, one day on one day off... Does it have to be 3 days?
I'd ditch the shrugs, no need for them.
No need for front raises IMO, side raises are far more important, and incline and flat bench hits the front deltoid.
I take it rows are BORs if not BORs are vital!
On day 2, no need for the hammer curls then - you'll be hitting your bis a lot with the rowing and back work out
It would be good to see some SLDLs instead of ham raises, but if you get on with them then fine.
All the sit up stuff - do at home. Use the gym for it's full potential.
HC2PP and powercleans would be good to add. And for variation some front squats, step ups, lunges and split squats would be worth while looking into.
You've got the major exercises, bench, squats, deadlift - and you've got good subsidiary exercises like dips, and chins - good.
How many reps are you doing? Excluding working sets? It would be good to see at least 4-5 sets of between 6-8 reps. That's where supersets may come in handy too.
Other exercises you may want to consider.
Chest:
Incline DB
Decline DB
Flies
Dips (lean forward)
Back:
T-Bars
Cable Rows
DB Rows
BORs
Chins (since you're already doing pull ups)
Shoulders:
Side raises (really important IMO)
Face pulls
Cable raises
Arnies
BB press
Standing DB press
Legs:
Lunges
Split squats
step ups
Front squats
Leg press (to pre-exhaust or as a finisher is great)
Hack squats
Make sure you get a decent amount of volume if you're trying to build mass, and let yourself recover. Apart from the comments about your diet the rest of it looks good, but as I said, too many carbs really for "lean bulking" especially all those potatoes. Make sure the rice is brown/or wild rice, and pasta is wholemeal. Try couscous and sweet potato too (far better than normal potato!).
Lean bulking is possible, but the results are slooooooow - and it's hard work, but you have to be rather regimented about your diet. It gets a bit more expensive and is a pain - but it is possible.
Soldato
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Great post FF, bookmarked it for future reference.
Big day tomorrow (for me), going to try crack 100kg deadlift Will be very happy if i do it.
Out of interest, are all 'big' weight bars likely to be 20kg or are there lighter variations. Last time i lifted it up empty it felt less than 20kg but i may be mistaken. I will hold it in one hand with a 20kg in the other for comparison tomorrow. Does make a difference if i need 85-90kg on the bar rather than 80 though.
Big day tomorrow (for me), going to try crack 100kg deadlift
Will be very happy if i do it.Out of interest, are all 'big' weight bars likely to be 20kg or are there lighter variations. Last time i lifted it up empty it felt less than 20kg but i may be mistaken. I will hold it in one hand with a 20kg in the other for comparison tomorrow. Does make a difference if i need 85-90kg on the bar rather than 80 though.
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Should be 20kg if it's a proper oly bar.
Gonna reply to each part in steps.
How many g should I cut my carbs to? Or if it's not such a lean bulk what would be a better amount to have?
Will do some HIIT skipping I think, how much per day? 30minutes?
My sleeping pattern needs to change a bit, goes bad when it's hot weather
I was doing 1 day on 1 day off, the thing is work makes it more difficult, but I could always do Monday, Weds, Thursday, Saturday, Monday etc. and roll it over as you say. The split was harder for me to work out, I asked some people for tips on that before but didn't get much, because I had chest and shoulders on the same day, which was killer, so I had to re-arrange everything. What bits would you change around?
Okay, done.
Will also change
BORs, I can't find even what they are so i get the feeling I'm going to get shouted at for that, looked online for anything and can't find a thing, my rows were Dumbbell rows/
Hammies are alright.
I have everything at home, I got my own equipment
Kinda limits me some ways though with no cables or anything like that, but a high amount of exercises are possible.Was doing lunges and things before, but had to be 1 of my most hated exercises, so I dropped it. If they're worth taking up again I can always do that.
4 sets and 8 reps per set, unless it's pull-ups or dips, then it's 4 sets and done until failure.
Will look in to some of these, how many exercises per session would be good, and what would be considered "Too many"
Yeah i've heard, but it's better than feeling ****ty about my now massive face
EDIT: Oh I found what BORs are, Bent over rows, I just didn't recognise the acronym.
I'll do BORs instead of Hammer curls.
Last edited:
Soldato
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Also just read this
I do front raises atm but think i might switch to side raises. Are they with arm straight or bent google seems to vary its answer?
I do front raises atm but think i might switch to side raises. Are they with arm straight or bent google seems to vary its answer?
Associate
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I knew absolutely none of that thanks for typing that up, great read, when's the next chapter coming?