GordyR's Beginners Guide to Bodybuilding

Adam, that is great work.
Extremely fast gaining. Were you working out at all before you took the before pic?
If not then thats really great.






Voltar's update, I havent posted on this thread for ages, but.

Bench was 65 now 75kg doing three sets of eight
I've had some noticeable tricep gains too, they're now quite large.
Shoulders are still not really growing which is a little disappointing, so I'm going to start rowing, apparently its quite good for that kind of thing.

General fitness is better as well, and my upper body is growing and improving very quickly despite not being able to control what I eat here. I would recommend Holland and Barrett Protein shake (if its not been mentioned already) as its made a difference.

Thanks for the advice Gordy and others.
cheers
Voltar
 
Just a quick question really as im getting a lot of mixed advice from some of the guys down my local gym. The thing is i want to bulk up a bit more, a lot of the guys at *** gym say i have the body to look good bulked up...big wide shoulders etc etc.
Anyways some have said lots of reps small weights and some have said low reps but big heavy weights...in order for me to get the bulk up. So i dont know really, am a bit confused by it all. The problem being is at the moment when i bench 15 kgs im having a lot of trouble, can only do about 3-4 reps then my arms just give way :(. Suffer from too much muscle fatigue by the looks of it and its kinda narking me off lol.
I have my protein shakes and eat a lot of protein food ie chicken, fish etc etc but havent noticed any major gains other than my upper chest muscles have firmed up.

Also have bought a bench and 90kg weight set for my home as i can train when i like and dont have to worry about paying a fiver to use my local gym.

So any advice on how to increase my muscle mass and strength??
 
I wasn't doing any working out in the before the before picture.

We have 3 types of muscle.

Type I ("slow twitch"): Activated at 0-60% of max strength levels. These are the smallest muscles fibres with little force output. Meant for endurance activities.

Type IIa: Activated at 20-75% of max strength levels. A mix of type I and type IIb. Fatigue resistant and have a high force output.

Type IIb ("fast twitch"): Activated at 60-85% of maximum strength levels. These are the largest fibres which cause the largest, most visible muscle growth (you want these to be big!). They produce most force, but fatigue quickly. When these fibres are in use, all the other muscle fibres will be recruited at the same time.

With that in mind, for mass gaining I'd use this rep scheme: 8-6-4-2. It goes like this: Choose a weight you can do for 8 reps - 3min break, increase weight so you can only do 6 reps max with it - then do 6 reps - 3min break, increase weight so you can only do 4 reps with it - then do 4 reps - 3min break, increase it to the heaviest weight you can do for 2 reps - then do your final 2 reps - 3min break till next exercise.

The 3 min break reduces you having to fight latic acid on your next set of reps. The low rep scheme specifically targets type IIb fibres. The program I bought really went into great detail about this and it did feel a little wierd doing something for only 2 reps. But results have been great so far and I'll have reached nearly 20lbs gained soon!

80% of your muscle gains will be with your diet. Most people who want to get stronger can put 100% effort in the gym, but finding someone with a good diet to back it up is much harder.

When you bench 15kgs are you doing it with dumbells or barbells?
 
Last edited:
^^^Cheers Adam, ill keep that in mind. Ive changed my routine a bit now so will see how i get on with it. I have noticed my arms getting bigger and my chest muscles getting tighter day by day.

AS for the 15kgs...ive bumped it up to 20kg on each end of the barbell and its tough, can only do maybe 3-4 reps before my arms start getting fatigued. With dumbells im doing about 15kgs on each arm and im doing 5 sets of 10.

That programme seems interesting, so might have to look into getting that for myself. Im eating more and more now, am up to 4-5 times a day with a lot of protein but then im eating anything and everything lol.
 
The diet is the hardest thing about getting a great body, eating anything and everything will probably get you bigger if you are eating more calories than you are burning, but you'll also be seeing a lot of fat. Even myself, who has been on a reasonably strict diet for around 6 months, can start to see the fat coming :/ If you are serious about it, and by serious I mean willing to eat the right foods and plan your diet, then you will gain a lot of benefit from the program.

Don't give up on getting a good body whatever you do spawn, it's so much better being bigger!
 
Great guide btw.
Im just starting out, and you suggest:

Monday (Chest/Shoulder/Triceps)

Flat Bench Press – 3x8
Incline Dumbbell Bench – 3x8
Skull Crushers – 3x8 (similar to lying tricep extensions)
Close Grip Bench Press – 3x8
Seated Dumbbell Military Press -3x8
Lateral Dumbbell Raises – 3x8


Wednesday (Back/Biceps)

Dead lifts – 3x8
Bent over one arm Dumbbell rows – 3x8
Chin Ups 3x8 (Or Lat pull downs if you can’t do chins yet)
Barbell Bicep Curl -3x8
One arm Dumbbell hammer Curls – 3x8


Friday (Legs/Abs)

Barbell Squats – 3x8
Dumbbell Lunges – 3x8
Calf Raises-4x10
Abdominal workout (Crunches, leg raises, whatever)

As regards to the sets, on each set do you increase the weight. Start off light and go heavy?
 
Fantastic progress Adam!

Has anyone else bought this Gaining Mass package? Is it worth it? I've already got beyond brawn and arnolds encylopedia. Bot sure whether that package would provide me with any new info.
 
How do you guys add poundage? Do you add weight or increase reps?

For instance, at the moment, I start of on 3 sets of 6 reps.

So for bench press for example, I'll start on 3x6 on 20kg, then over the weeks build up with the same weight to 3x12. Once I reach 3x12, I'll go up to 25kg and drop the reps back down to 3x6.

The thing is, in my gym, the smallest plates are 2.5kg.

Still, is this the best method of doing things? Should i maybe shorten the range from 3x6-12 to 3x6-10? For example.
 
Tweek_1984 said:
Still, is this the best method of doing things? Should i maybe shorten the range from 3x6-12 to 3x6-10? For example.
Click to expand...

That is a very good way of doing it if you don't have smaller weight increments. I would say yes, reduce the range to 6-10
 
maybe someone can help here, in the gym today i was bench pressing amongst other things, i consider myself to have bigger arms than my training buddies but they where pushing out more than me. Felt like my arms (left) was giving in rather than my chest.
Is this down to having long forearms (because i have!) or a lack of somthin in my body?

thanks for any advice
 
Biceps and triceps are only stabilizers in a bench press so even if your arms are bigger, (although just having larger muscles doesn't always mean you can lift more) it is the chest that is doing the work. Although having longer arms will also mean when you lift, the bar will be travelling further - hence more effort.
 
Volcs said:
Biceps and triceps are only stabilizers in a bench press so even if your arms are bigger, (although just having larger muscles doesn't always mean you can lift more) it is the chest that is doing the work.
Click to expand...

Actually the most important muscles for a strong bench are the triceps followed by front delts, and then chest
 
Is it a myth that if your muscles don't ache or feel sore the day after you train that you didn't work hard enough? I did an abs workout yesterday and I thought I had trained quite hard but don't ache or feel sore this morning so am not sure now if I gained anything or not. Cracking guide by the way :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom