GordyR's Beginners Guide to Bodybuilding

sen said:
Alright, so I should just do 3x8 of the maximum weight I can manage, until I can do more and then increase the weight? I was just checking because I read about some sort of bodyweight:weights ratio that you're supposed to follow...
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not UNTIL you can do more always PUSH to do more. Use a load that is difficult to do 3x8. Then, providing you managed 3x8 the last time, use heavier weights and try 3x8 until you get to a point that you cant do 3x8 with good form. Keep trying this weight to see if you improve. If you dont you may need to try one of the following methods

1) use a heavier weight for less reps for a few sessions
2) Upon failure cheat the rep or get assistance from a spotter
3)Do the negative portion of the rep only with heavily assisted positive
4)Drop the reps significantly and do very heavy strength training for a few weeks.

Then try again
 
ok, sounds like some pretty sound advice, thanks. I've been following Gordy's weights programme from the start of this thread for about a month, so I know an all-round workout involving all the muscle groups is important, but I'm just wondering, if I'm doing sets for biceps (for example) just once a week, how long roughly will it take before I start to see improvements... you know, if four months have passed and my biceps still don't seem any bigger, should I be starting to worry? lol.
 
You chose a bad example of a muscle there.....if your eating, sleeping and training well then you should see some improvements in a couple of weeks or so. But itdepends on so many things that you can't really put a time on it. For biceps you don't really have to train them, a lot of back exercises work them. Four months is a long time and you can make very good gains if you are doing it all right.

Can anyone answer my question above?? ^^^^^
 
Richard : There is no point doing military press and DB SH press in the same session really alternate them or something. Do reverse flye instead for rear delts otherwise looks great!

Sen: You really expect massive biceps in 4 months? Biceps grow best when you forget about them and focus on the amount your lifting or chinning. Takes many years to get impressive biceps. If you have great genetics and flawless training ethic and diet you could have nice arms in under 2 years but if your not genetically blessed and still learning the ropes food/exercise wise it'll likely take longer. Dont think anyone, without steroids, built a great body in under 3 or 4 years. Even with drug-assistance itd still take a year or 2 to get real size on.
 
I was only using biceps as an example really, I was just wondering if working out each muscle group just once a week was enough to get good results, and when I would start to see improvements. I'm not expecting to look like superman in the next 4 months lol. Anyway, cheers for the replies guys, you've been helpful!
 
sen said:
I was only using biceps as an example really, I was just wondering if working out each muscle group just once a week was enough to get good results, and when I would start to see improvements. I'm not expecting to look like superman in the next 4 months lol. Anyway, cheers for the replies guys, you've been helpful!
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Stick to the prescribed volume, whilst you can train muscle groups more often you need to know your body very well to avoid overtraining. Just give it time, or take steroids, up to you.
 
sen said:
I was only using biceps as an example really, I was just wondering if working out each muscle group just once a week was enough to get good results, and when I would start to see improvements. I'm not expecting to look like superman in the next 4 months lol. Anyway, cheers for the replies guys, you've been helpful!
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some people can get on fine with 1 part a week, some people need to hit it twice hard, some get on with doing lighter explosive session then another more hardcore session in the same week.
There are millions of routines out there, most of these have come about from people finding what works best for them. just because it works for the person who wrote it doesnt mean it will work for anyone else at all, but generally it will to some extent.

finding what works best for you is the key, know your body, know how it feels when something is working and when its not. then you can do your own thing.
my sessions generally end up being a mix mash of many styles, from 10x3 to 5x5 to just getting 25 reps no matter how many sets it takes. throw in some drop sets, maybe some negatives and you have on paper a shoddy mixed up routine, but you know what, it works for me :D
 
I used to stick to a very strict routine - writing down all my sets, reps and weights each training session. For a change I decided to train a few times with instinct. I've been going gym long enough to know what my body wants and needs.

An example would be on a chest day. Usually, on my structured program I'd start with bench press then move to incline db press. However, training by instinct I didn't 'feel' bench press was going to work as well as flat db press, so did that instead.

I think Arnie used to do a lot of instinctive training.
 
Instictive training is good once you know what you are doing. You know that you want to hit chest, you know what exercises you can do, then you can pick ones appropriately on the fly so to speak.

It can actually be pretty useful because sometimes you get a little tired of the same old movement.
 
Wardie said:
Instictive training is good once you know what you are doing. You know that you want to hit chest, you know what exercises you can do, then you can pick ones appropriately on the fly so to speak.

It can actually be pretty useful because sometimes you get a little tired of the same old movement.
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Yeah, it also helps when the gym is busy. being able to just do anything or think of different uses for things makes a session much easier than waiting around for specific machines / benches / racks.
 
For the first time ever I have been sick due to training... Heavy deadlifts (for me), working it very hard, with only 30 seconds between sets and straight after my last set felt really odd.. Went and was sick, felt much better afterwards and now I feel somewhat proud of myself! (is that wrong/odd?)..
Only thing I am slightly concerned about is my left eye now feels quite sore, like I have hurt something behind it? Any ideas?
 
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