Back into weight lifting, question for adding muscle

[SirDingo]

Hello, my name is Dave, my user name is based of my dog I am 5'10 165lbs and 33yrs old, I would like to add some more muscle to my frame, I admire to have a body type like the late Brandon Lee from The Crow, and eventually I think the best body a man can have is that of Daniel Craig from the new James Bond

Right now I do the 3set routine I learned in high school while on the track team, doing like 10-8-6 or 12-10-8, and every set your not supposed to be able to handle one more,upping the weight for each set and rest 60seconds between each set

I do Incline bench......flat bench......dumbbell curls......bar curls......military press......and last a set of killer dips.

Before this I was big into non weight training like a million pushups, pullups, chinups, and dips plus bike riding and got really tone, but never gained any weight or mass, now I am changing my whole routine to gain more mass, and less bike riding and pushups

I have been doing my new workout now for five weeks, and just added the protein shakes after each workout and it seems to be working, I feel my muscles are tense the next day after working out, and hopefully by Summer in a couple of months I will have packed on a little more muscle. Question do ya think the protein shakes should just be taken after workouts only, or should they also be taken on off days ?

Thank's for the help

 

[s8nlilhlpr]

To add more weight, you need to eat more, that simple. Protein shakes are just a way of adding more calories quickly. Tightness/Soreness aren't really good indicators of if you are gaining weight, the scale is. If you aren't putting on 1lb-1.5 a week, then you aren't eating enough.

Read the training sticky, it has good advice.

Most people here will recommend less reps, more sets, and heavier weights.

 

[ZGzaZ]

With the exercises you currently do, you will not add much of anything. Follow s8nlilhlpr's advice and read the training sticky.... carefully...

 

[SirDingo]

So should I try this 5x5 program >? That goes alot different than I have trained in the past, so like right away the first set of reps is done with a very heavy weight I can only manage five reps with ? And then rest 60seconds in between and repeat ? So should all five sets be with the same weight, or should the last one or two sets in the 5x5 program be even heavier ?

I am just used to doing the 3 sets of 12-10-8 or on heavier weight 10-8-6 reps for each exercise, and so far I seem to notice a little improvement doing it this way, but then again it has only been like a month, and my weight of 165lbs has not changed, that is why I just added the Protein shakes starting this past weekend

Thank's

 

[ZGzaZ]

The only thing that will add weight to you is being over your daily maintenace requirements for calories every day. Protein powders are not some magic, add it in and gain weight supplement.... they are just protein. Just a little more convenient then say, cooking up a chicken breast.

At 165lbs, it should be relatively easy to gain weight. Just eat a lot of whole good foods, drink a lot of milk, and lift heavy and rest a lot. Pretty basic.

 

[SirDingo]

The only thing that will add weight to you is being over your daily maintenace requirements for calories every day. Protein powders are not some magic, add it in and gain weight supplement.... they are just protein. Just a little more convenient then say, cooking up a chicken breast.

At 165lbs, it should be relatively easy to gain weight. Just eat a lot of whole good foods, drink a lot of milk, and lift heavy and rest a lot. Pretty basic.

Thank's for the advice, I eat healthy to begin with, my Wife and I are big Organic eaters, meat, fish, and mainly the fruits and veggies and I also drink alot of water every day. I have always done the body exercises with no weights your typical million push ups, and pull ups, and mountain biking, but now I am sick of that routine, and I want to just go for the weight lifting exercises only and hope to get a body with more muscle packed on, I am close to that of Brandon Lee build, but far from the Daniel Craig "James Bond" body I would like to achieve

Two questions, to get more muscle I need to eat even more >?

I am one of these guys that can eat like a horse or keep up with the fat guys at dinner and not gain much weight, but now that I am in my 30's it does seem a little easier to gain weight So the Protein shakes should just be an "extra" not in place of breakfast or anything ? should it be taken just during the weight lifting or on off days too ?

Second how about my routine of 3sets of medium weight to allow 10-12reps, then heavier weight of 8-10reps, and final set of arm busting weight 6-8reps, resting less than a minute between. Will this plus eating more calories per day give me what I want ?

 

[H_T_]

Brandon Lee. just don't eat that much.

 

[SirDingo]

If you have seen the movie The Crow, Brandon Lee is pretty cut/toned in there, and not skinny like his father Bruce, Brandon is bulkier, and I am close to that build, but after seeing the new James Bond movie, out on DvD this Tuesday, and the best Bond movie in decades, the actor Daniel Craig I think has by far the best body a man can have, he is ripped, good size muscle, but not freaky big like Arnold. That is the build I would like to achieve a some point if possible

I am on this forum to ask what I need to do to get there, and more simply how do I go about adding muscle/weight the fastest ? I suppose it really is just these two things ?

- Increase my daily calories

- When lifting make sure it is heavy weight, not high reps with low weight ?

 

[ZGzaZ]

I was going to respond with my advice until you talked down about Arnold.....

 

[SirDingo]

I was going to respond with my advice until you talked down about Arnold.....

Sorry no offense to the King, I just saw an old classic on late night television "Commando" and man was he ripped plus huge at the same time, very impressive I can never get to his size, I dont have the time to work out that much, I have a very bust career and Family life too. So i am trying to be realistic and first get to the Brandon Lee build, then work harder to Daniel Craig size, and would just like everyone's opinion here on the best way to get to that ?

Thank's

 

[s8nlilhlpr]

You have to realize you will NEVER be identical to these actors you keep babbling about. YOU have a different body than they do, not better not worse. And, I doubt Daniel Craig got his body like that by bulking slowly. Most of them probably use "chemical enhancement" also, because these movies roles are worth millions. He probably had a trainer get him 20-30lbs heavier, then cut away the fat for the movie. No, you will never get as big as ahhhnold, you don't have the will or dedication.

You can eat healthy foods all you want, but the simple matter is, if you aren't gaining weight YOU AREN'T EATING ENOUGH. The "5x5" you made up, is more than just lifting your 5rep max 5 times. It is a program, find the link, and read about the structuring and progression involved.

 

[SirDingo]

You have to realize you will NEVER be identical to these actors you keep babbling about. YOU have a different body than they do, not better not worse. And, I doubt Daniel Craig got his body like that by bulking slowly. Most of them probably use "chemical enhancement" also, because these movies roles are worth millions. He probably had a trainer get him 20-30lbs heavier, then cut away the fat for the movie. No, you will never get as big as ahhhnold, you don't have the will or dedication.

You can eat healthy foods all you want, but the simple matter is, if you aren't gaining weight YOU AREN'T EATING ENOUGH. The "5x5" you made up, is more than just lifting your 5rep max 5 times. It is a program, find the link, and read about the structuring and progression involved.

Thank ya for the reply Please answer these questions for me, and I realize Brandon Lee and Daniel Craig have different bodies than me, and have professional trainers paid to help them get bigger, as well as the actors having all day to work out, and not handle a 6day a week career.

I just want to gain like 10+lbs of muscle in the upper body, and the best way to do that is just eat more food than I do currently, plus weight lifting ?

And also when lifting I need to add weight to the bar on a certain basis, if I dont add weight to the bar I wont gain muscle, and if I am not eating more than I am now it also wont help me gain ?

I am just used to the 3set or 4set's of reps routine with lighter weight used first to warm up, and the last 3rd and 4th set have the heaviest weight to shock the muscles and allow them to grow ? Is there something wrong with this method ? And I start off doing 10-12reps the first set, and the final 4th set of reps is usually like 6reps and I cant even handle a 7th

Thank ya for all your help so far, I appreciate it very much

 

[Cynical Simian]

This might answer a lot of questions you have about training:
http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow1/Topics/Training_Primer.htm

 

[Kabeetz]

This might answer a lot of questions you have about training:
http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow1/Topics/Training_Primer.htm

Did Daniel Craig do that program??? I want to look just him when I grow up! But I'll be happy with John Ritter's body circa Three's Company for now. Thanks!

 

[Tweakle]

so like right away the first set of reps is done with a very heavy weight I can only manage five reps with ? And then rest 60seconds in between and repeat

no

I believe Daniel Craig got a secret routine from George Spellwin, along with a months supply of Amplify 02

 

[H_T_]

Dodgeball.

 

[Protobuilder]

I'm going more for the Harry Potter body style. Post-puberty, of course.

 

[H_T_]

pre-exhaustion works. i strangle my weasel before workouts.

 

[roy2]

no

I believe Daniel Craig got a secret routine from George Spellwin, along with a months supply of Amplify 02

Oooh shit

 

[SirDingo]

This might answer a lot of questions you have about training:
http://www.geocities.com/elitemadcow1/Topics/Training_Primer.htm

Thank's and yes I did read that last week, mainly this part "No one added significant muscle that didn't add weight to the bar or just do a ton more work. You are stressing the muscular system here and the adaptation of hypertrophy is a method the body uses to cope and improve to be able to better tolerate the stress."

So I am just asking if my 3set routine is ok, if I am always adding more weight to the bar each set, and upping that weight every couple of weeks ? Will I add more muscle that way, plus of course increasing my daily calorie count as well

But this part in that training guide as well has me thinking it says "People say that 8-12 reps is for hypertrophy but 1-3 reps is for strength, why? I mean, intensity (%1RM) otherwise known as weight on the bar is linearly related to potential for microtrauma right? Why do you need to do more reps and why isn't a heavy weight better. Well, a heavy weight is better. The problem is that you can't do a whole lot of work with it and get a reasonable amount of microtrauma for hypertrophy - hence, it mainly stresses the neural components more than the muscular."

So it seems to me it is saying that doing 8-12 reps is good for both strength and adding muscle ? Too many rep like 15 is just for toning, and small reps like 5 is just for hardcore strength only, it need to be in the middle of 5 and 15 reps to get both at the same time ? Am I understanding this correct

 

[s8nlilhlpr]

anything under 3 reps is mainly training for strength, you'll get a little hypertrophy, but not much. Anything more than 10 reps is simply endurance. I prefer 5 sets of 5 reps, because its easy to remember, and I've been doing it forever. It works. Period. It doesn't matter if you "ramp the weights" across your sets, or do straight sets of the same weight for 3 sets. Do the same reps/sets every time, so you have something to gauge progress against. If you hit 225x3reps and 205x5 reps, did you progress? How do you know, unless you did 3rep maxes and 5rep maxes? Pick a rep/set scheme and STICK TO IT.


What matters is EVERY workout, adding 2.5lb to your lift. Not once every couple weeks, EVERY time you do the exercise again, until you can't physically add another pound. THEN you start worrying about weekly loading.

Also, as far as "people say," most people are idiots.

 

[SirDingo]

anything under 3 reps is mainly training for strength, you'll get a little hypertrophy, but not much. Anything more than 10 reps is simply endurance. I prefer 5 sets of 5 reps, because its easy to remember, and I've been doing it forever. It works. Period. It doesn't matter if you "ramp the weights" across your sets, or do straight sets of the same weight for 3 sets. Do the same reps/sets every time, so you have something to gauge progress against. If you hit 225x3reps and 205x5 reps, did you progress? How do you know, unless you did 3rep maxes and 5rep maxes? Pick a rep/set scheme and STICK TO IT.


What matters is EVERY workout, adding 2.5lb to your lift. Not once every couple weeks, EVERY time you do the exercise again, until you can't physically add another pound. THEN you start worrying about weekly loading.

Also, as far as "people say," most people are idiots.

Thank's I will try that, also need to get some smaller weights to add just a little every workout, I have the 25lb and 10lb weights only on my bars, need some 2.5's