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Tips on weight training/muscle gain/strength gain

jpdos

New member
Hi all,

I'm an avid athlete just coming off of a serious injury. Needless to say, I'm not in the best shape of my life. I still play sports and have rejoined my team, but I don't feel the extra step I used to have. I do not feel as strong, my muscles feel weak, and I could probably use with losing 10-15 lbs of fat.

I broke my knee and tore ligaments in my anke and was unable to walk. I peaked at about 250 lbs in August of 2008. I am down to 175 lbs and in pretty good shape, but again, I do not feel as strong, muscles feel weak and tired, and I could probably use with losing 10-15 lbs of fat.

To further complicate the issue, I don't really have a weight set up at my place. I don't care if my muscles aren't big and visible, as long as I'm stronger, I'm dedicated to whatever help is given.

I know there are probably a million threads out there asking the same variation of questions, but I figured I'd ask here and if someone is able to answer specifically for me, I'd be happy.

1) What could I be doing to train effectively to get a stronger body? Leg power and upper body/wrists are essential for my sport (Hockey) as well as a strong back, and pretty much every other muscle.

2) Suppliments: I see a lot of suppliments advertise as a weight gainer, but if I'm interested in gaining muscle but losing the little bit of fat I want to, isn't it counter productive to use a weight gainer, or am I not understanding it properly.

3) Diet: What type of diet should I be concentrating on to maximize potential. Also, what type of diet do you find enables you to workout at your peak for a long period of time? My conditioning is off and I want to be able to play hard for a longer period of time.

4) Cardiovascular workout: I used to train with HIIT (High intensity interval training) before my injury, and am wondering if that's the best way to go? Is there anything else?

5) Workouts that do not involve needing a bench and bar, olympic weights, squat machines etc. The place I'm living at currently has a bowflex type machine, but it's on loan for a few weeks. When it gets back, I can use that.

If there's anything you guru's can help with, I'd be glad to read any and all information. Even a link to a site that will give me the information is good as long as it's information that will benefit me.

Oh, I'm 5'10, 175 lb, athletic. Could definitely lose about 10 lbs of fat though. 15 would probably be too much I think. I can feel my abs and my chest muscles, my biceps etc. The muscles are there... just need to let them show once again.

Thanks a lot!

Jpdos
 
Hi and welcome to EF.

Is there anything else you can use besides a bowflex? Like dumbells or kettlebells? The best would be those and barbell exercises.
 
You can solve a lot of your problems with a sandbag and maybe a sled. Minimal investment and maximum results.

Make your own sandbag using a duffle bag and some gym equipment places sell them prefabricated and ready to use. You could even use a beer keg half filled with water. Here's an example I found of a sandbag exercise:
EliteFTS - Superior Products and Knowledge for Lifters, Athletes, Coaches, and Trainers

This would work well for most all the exercises you'd want to do.

For legs do a lot a unilateral work besides your squats: step ups and split squats.

You'll want to deadlift of course. Strengthen your lower back with RDL and Good Mornings and work your abs and obliques.

For lats all you need are rows like in the link above and chins.

Outside the gym you can improve your conditioning with sprints and sled drills:YouTube - Sled Dragging
His looks homemade if you don't want to invest in a lot of equipment. This is something you can do forward,backward, for distance, for time, heavy or light. Whatever you can think up.
 
Hi, thanks for the replies!

I can probably spare some money on my credit card to get the required things. Obviously would prefer cheap as to expensive, I'm only 19 years old and not exactly well off right now.

I'll be going through your post, fortunatesun, and figuring out what I can do with that.

"2) Suppliments: I see a lot of suppliments advertise as a weight gainer, but if I'm interested in gaining muscle but losing the little bit of fat I want to, isn't it counter productive to use a weight gainer, or am I not understanding it properly."

I know supplements will not work properly unless you eat a proper diet, so any diet tips or links to websites for diets is great.

Can anybody enlighten my on my question in regards to supplements?
 
Whey isolate, creatine and lots of water. Keep in mind that a good diet it's what will give a nice anabolic environment.
 
Is your leg healed up 100%? Full range of motion, near normal strength, any "tempermental" ligaments and tendons, etc. Just to get a good understanding of what we have to work with.
 
My leg is healed up. My ankle isn't bothering me either, and I have Dr. permission to participate in full contact sports, so I think I'm good to go.

Sorry, I was away for a few days and just got back.
 
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