Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below Sorry for being a newb, but, I am wondering what you guyz mean by that. Also off topic, I really like lifting weights, and I am on a 5x5 and I am wondering if I can hit my arms more than once a week? what about chest? I really love working both of those. But I want to get the greatest gain so I will accept your responses as the golden rule.
What is a "good pump"?
- Thread starter seanzilla
- Start date
ghettostudmuffin
New member
Never except anyone's response as a golden rule. It might be for them, but not neccesarily for you.
5x5 is a good routine for strength and overall size gains.
If you feel your arms need more work than go ahead and try training thme twice a week and see what happens. IF they feel tired or you start feeling overtrained thne you'll know that maybe twice a week isn't good for them, but maybe they'll respond really well to the higher frequency. You have to find that out through trial and error.
As for what constitutes a good pump. Well I think that depends on the person as we all feel things differently. I personally don't get pumped on anything under 6 reps. But I get alot stronger and I due grow from it. To me, a good pump is a sensation of tightness in the muscle. Like it's pumped up and really tight feeling. The muscle feels real hard and cramps up when I flex it hard. That's what a good pump feels like to to me.
If you aren't experiencing a pump on 5x5 don't worry about it. If you like the pump or want to feel it then do a set or 2 of dumbell bench for 8-12 reps and focus on squeezing your chest hard on each rep. That should give you a pump. Same can be done for arms.
Hope this helps and don't feel bad for being a newbie, we all were once.
5x5 is a good routine for strength and overall size gains.
If you feel your arms need more work than go ahead and try training thme twice a week and see what happens. IF they feel tired or you start feeling overtrained thne you'll know that maybe twice a week isn't good for them, but maybe they'll respond really well to the higher frequency. You have to find that out through trial and error.
As for what constitutes a good pump. Well I think that depends on the person as we all feel things differently. I personally don't get pumped on anything under 6 reps. But I get alot stronger and I due grow from it. To me, a good pump is a sensation of tightness in the muscle. Like it's pumped up and really tight feeling. The muscle feels real hard and cramps up when I flex it hard. That's what a good pump feels like to to me.
If you aren't experiencing a pump on 5x5 don't worry about it. If you like the pump or want to feel it then do a set or 2 of dumbell bench for 8-12 reps and focus on squeezing your chest hard on each rep. That should give you a pump. Same can be done for arms.
Hope this helps and don't feel bad for being a newbie, we all were once.
Ghetto makes some great points. Id have to agree with most of what he says. Hard to add to such a good response. For me a good pump is more then just filling the muscle with blood. I can get my arms extremely tight, but if they dont look much larger in the mirror I feel like shit. And if Im not really feeling the contractions that day Id consider the pump shitty and a bad workout overall. This is mainly for arms though. I dont really focus on the pump as much on the other muscle groups. I always like to be as pumped as possible though, it always motivates me to move more and more weight.
great points also. thank you as well. I only get a nice pump in my arms if I do a lot. My chest on the otherhand barely ever gets pumped. which I wish would happen. I also have a very very hard time getting my chest to be sore after a workout. And I havn't been lifting for more than a couple months and am pretty damn sedantary. very stocky but fat too. not a good combination, but the stocky will provide a solid base to start with.
..
Stats:
23, 5'11'', big f#ck at 248lbs but workin on it. weird i'm about 18% body fat. last checked when I weighed 265 so it might be less. (hopefully)
max flat bench 205lbs 1X thats all I know. hehehe (with all my veins in neck and forehead about to burst)
..
Stats:
23, 5'11'', big f#ck at 248lbs but workin on it. weird i'm about 18% body fat. last checked when I weighed 265 so it might be less. (hopefully)
max flat bench 205lbs 1X thats all I know. hehehe (with all my veins in neck and forehead about to burst)
ghettostudmuffin
New member
Sounds like you've got an excellent base for strength and and size seanzilla.
I'm about 17-18% bodyfat at 5'8 1/2" and 209lbs and I'm definitely not fat. If you were 18% BF at 265 and 5'11" then you are just a naturally stock mofo like me. BE thankful amigo. All you gotta do to look good is lose fat. Some guys wish they were bigger cuz they have to eat like crazy to gain weight, and then lose it real quick if they quit working out.
Also, the smaller guys may look better becasue of the smaller joints relative to the size of the muscle but we got that thick power look bro. It's trade off of positives and negatives.
I'm about 17-18% bodyfat at 5'8 1/2" and 209lbs and I'm definitely not fat. If you were 18% BF at 265 and 5'11" then you are just a naturally stock mofo like me. BE thankful amigo. All you gotta do to look good is lose fat. Some guys wish they were bigger cuz they have to eat like crazy to gain weight, and then lose it real quick if they quit working out.
Also, the smaller guys may look better becasue of the smaller joints relative to the size of the muscle but we got that thick power look bro. It's trade off of positives and negatives.
seanzilla said:
Great to have you on the boards! Welcome! I wouldnt put too much value on the pump, and alot of people use the term in different ways, so its all individual. Ive had people tell me I look Pumped or Jacked, so it seems its also another way to say big. The stocky is a good thing and will work to your advantage. Power may even be your strong point. You can find that out later once you lay the foundation. The main thing now is to train heavy and hard and eat enough. If your looking to lean out a bit then you might want to try lower carbs and fats while keeping the protein high. Youll have to tweak it to see whats right for you. Keep KILLING it brother!!
oh one more thing. this is what I am doing for my 5x5 (same as needsize's old one)
day 1 chest/calves
day 2 back shoulders
day 3 and 4 rest
day 5 bis/tris
day 6 quads/hams/abs
day 7 rest
what are the best things to do for each one? for the 5x5s and the 2x8s for each one of those muscle groups. I am wanting to know what works best for major muscle growth since I am starting the low carb/high protein to drop the fat. I want to gain as much as possible while losing the weight. Is this the way I should be doing it for weighloss w/ muscle gain? Also can I do 30 minutes of cardio everyday or should I just do it on the workout days.
..
seanzilla
day 1 chest/calves
day 2 back shoulders
day 3 and 4 rest
day 5 bis/tris
day 6 quads/hams/abs
day 7 rest
what are the best things to do for each one? for the 5x5s and the 2x8s for each one of those muscle groups. I am wanting to know what works best for major muscle growth since I am starting the low carb/high protein to drop the fat. I want to gain as much as possible while losing the weight. Is this the way I should be doing it for weighloss w/ muscle gain? Also can I do 30 minutes of cardio everyday or should I just do it on the workout days.
..
seanzilla
Last edited:
ghettostudmuffin
New member
I wouldn't go too low carb while starting out. You need them for strength and too get a good pump. If you just cut out all teh refined carbs like simple sugars and just eat complex carbs like sweet potatoes, oatmeal, brown rice and real whole grain bread that uses whole wheat flour and not regular white flour that should be good. You'd be surprised at how much that will drop your total carb intake. Watch out for pop and juice because those are sugar laden too. I personally have to at least have some real apple juice or orange juice on a regular basis to satisfy my sweet tooth or I start going nuts.
Your training split looks good.
AS for rep ranges and sets, you have to figure out what your muscles like for rep ranges and set volume. Every muscle on my body likes a different rep range. Most everyone has at least 1 muscle that responds best to a certain rep range. Trial and error and time will help you figure all this stuff out.
If you aren't taking in a protein powder I'd suggest you do. It really helps my recovery go ALOT faster. At your size, basically 250lbs rounded up, I'd try to consume 350 grams of protein a day. Maybe 150-200 grams a day from a cheap, but good whey powder like Metabolic REsponse Modifiers(MRM) Metabolic whey, and 150-200 grams from real food like tuna, chicken, lean beef, lowfat milk, cheese, egg whites etc.
The more protein the merrier imho.
TRy to eat around 5-7x a day. Try to consume about 50-70 grams protein every 2-2.5 hours. I like to stagger it. 1 meal is regular food, and the other is a protein drink, then regular food etc. It might sound like alot, but it's really not hard. The hardest part is just making sure you eat consistently on the clock.
Also, it REALLY helps recovery go alot faster between workouts if you drink a protein shake about an hour before working out and 1 immediately after training. I like about 50 grams whey mixed with about 2 cups milk for a pre-workout drink, and about 70 grams whey and 2 cups milk post workout and a cup of real juice.
That's roughly 150 grams of milk and whey protein in about a 2.5 hour time frame and believe me, it gets used as I never experience gas afterwards.
Hope this helps amigo.
Your training split looks good.
AS for rep ranges and sets, you have to figure out what your muscles like for rep ranges and set volume. Every muscle on my body likes a different rep range. Most everyone has at least 1 muscle that responds best to a certain rep range. Trial and error and time will help you figure all this stuff out.
If you aren't taking in a protein powder I'd suggest you do. It really helps my recovery go ALOT faster. At your size, basically 250lbs rounded up, I'd try to consume 350 grams of protein a day. Maybe 150-200 grams a day from a cheap, but good whey powder like Metabolic REsponse Modifiers(MRM) Metabolic whey, and 150-200 grams from real food like tuna, chicken, lean beef, lowfat milk, cheese, egg whites etc.
The more protein the merrier imho.
TRy to eat around 5-7x a day. Try to consume about 50-70 grams protein every 2-2.5 hours. I like to stagger it. 1 meal is regular food, and the other is a protein drink, then regular food etc. It might sound like alot, but it's really not hard. The hardest part is just making sure you eat consistently on the clock.
Also, it REALLY helps recovery go alot faster between workouts if you drink a protein shake about an hour before working out and 1 immediately after training. I like about 50 grams whey mixed with about 2 cups milk for a pre-workout drink, and about 70 grams whey and 2 cups milk post workout and a cup of real juice.
That's roughly 150 grams of milk and whey protein in about a 2.5 hour time frame and believe me, it gets used as I never experience gas afterwards.
Hope this helps amigo.
