Kill yourself in the gym to get BIG?

R

Roonaldo

0
Hi

I've been properly weight training to a routine for about 5 weeks and seem to be getting bigger. I'm 19yrs old, 173lbs & 6 ft, and am bulking eating around 3500 cals a day (all healthy), 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat.

My question is, to get bigger do you have to kill yourself in the gym? I mean I feel like I'm wussing out too much. I try to keep the weights as heavy as possible but know I could perhaps push that little harder for the extra reps.

I see these 'meatheads' in the gym and wonder if they got that way from really taking the pain in the gym or if like me they are sticking to a routine and perhaps not quite killing themselves?

I was also wondering if creatine might be worth using?

Anyways, could you please reply with your experience on how YOU got big and muscley or your general opinion on what is required to get big?

Thanks...
 
use the low rep high weight thing, use Satur8(way better than creatine monohydrate and has a volumizer cocktail...i dont know what that means.)...and i recommend muscle milk if you want a protein/gainer drink
 
if you want to go anywhere then vary the intensity...some days go all out, some days go hard, and somedays just go easy, the easy days are as necassary as the hard days.
 
and also change the exercises you do about every 6-8 weeks...or even more frequently if you want. I change between flat and incline DB presses between every workout right now. You're hitting the pecs in both situations...just from different angles.

basically, don't let your body adapt too much to your current routine. keep it changing so the body must constantly change in an attempt to adapt.

Those big meat heads in the gym have probably been lifting like that for 5+ years. They probably have a more refined diet, and I'd put money on them use some kind of creatine supplement.

They also might have better genetics for bulking up. Even if you have better endurance (i.e. a marathon runner) than strength (power lifter) it doesn't mean you can't mass up and have an awesome physique...it just means you probably won't ever be a heavy weight body builder tipping the scales at 250lbs of raw muscle. Nothing wrong with that.
Just focus on what your goals are, and only use those other guys for a little inspiration.
 
yeh i don't wanna be massive (like arny etc.), but was just wandering if on the days you go quite easy it will have no effect? don't you have to rip the muscles up, otherwise it doesn't really reach the point of them needing to grow back bigger??

I'm gonna do 2 routines, then alternate each week (pretty much things like flat, then incline etc.).

Finally, what's the deal with creatine? can it be bad for you? I don't really hear people talking about it that much??
 
if you're not doing enough volume to tear down the muscle, you're not gonna grow. This is the crux that some people get in to...they don't wanna feel stiff or sore, so they never lift heavy, never go to failure, and thus their body quickly adapts to that level of activity and they become stagnant.

the old site had about a millino posts on creatine. here's the basics:
- stick to 5g (a heaping teaspoon) once a day.
- take it pre or post workout (pretty clear split on this. i think its better as post, so you can refill creatine stores)
- all creatine really does is increase cell volume in the muscles (i.e. more water in the muscles, so they look fuller) and it aids in energy transport...so you can get those last few reps in.
- any negative side effects stem from taking too much creatine and/or not enough water. some people report getting acne, but no real link between the two has been established.

Taking creatine will cause your weight to increase because of the extra water retention. going off creatine will cause weight loss, and your muscles may seem a little smaller. Some people are not responders to creatine, so if you see no change whatsoever after 6 weeks of daily 5g doses, you can probably skip it. However it's a pretty small margin that doesn't respond, so you'll likely see some benefits.
 
If you keep your volume high and your intensity high you will burn yourself out. Like Mike said, you have to train hard some days and lighter others. There's absolutely no reason to kill yourself in the gym, more is not better.
 
thanks evo

just a little helper to stear you in the right direction for mass gains, reduce the number of exercises you do and add more sets to them. stick with the same exercises for 6 weeks. changing it up is important, but changing it within 6 weeks adds too much confusion and the body won't adapt. think of it like a room you walk into that smells like lemon. at first you really notice the smell, then become comfortable with it, then you don't notice it. you're body will stop noticing the exercises in about 6 weeks. so increase the weight you use or vary the exercises.
keep the reps around six and never push yourself to failure, size gains, I find, are made by increasing the sets or "volume".
 
Honestly, I'd try everything. Some people do better with 8-10 reps, and pushing to failure. Others, like Mike, excel by sticking to 6 reps, and not push to failure, and instead add more sets.
We're all unique, so there's not 1 single right answer. Its more about finding YOUR right answer.
You might be best by changing your intensity every workout: 3sets of 5 reps today, 4 sets of 10 the next time, and maybe 5 sets of 8 reps after that, then repeat.
 
ok, so you reckon it would not be beneficial changing my excercises until around the 6 weeks mark (Mike100)?

So if i were to change my excercises every 6 weeks, would you think it would be a good idea to alternate each week from around 6 reps one week, then 10 the next week?
 
Hey yall, I'm new here and it's a little too late in the night for me to go round writin up intros.

What I've been wondering about is almost the opposite of what Roonaldo seems to want. I have been doing low reps with high weight (5 sets of 5 on bench for instance) and have seen an increase of bulk and strength. However, my endurance was really lacking. Since then, which is about two or three months, I have been doing body weight exercises with medium reps (4 sets of 25 suspended push ups...I know, and it was still hard).

I've already concluded that I would rather work out hard and steady over a longer period of time than to bulk up and hit the high wieghts fast. I'd like to build powerful lean muscle and waste nothing like I feel like I am wasting just doing five sets of five. What I am saying in my mind is I'd rather have sculpted steel than what feels like watery flab.

Can I achieve this with a high reps and fairly low weight? Will I be more compact if I continue this type of workout and increse weight with the reps?

Here are my ****ty stats:
5' 10''
150 lbs
Bench 180

I've kind of lost track of my thought along the way so if you need clarification feel free to ask. Thanks everyone for your help.
 
nope, you'll actually get even more "watery flab" because of the type of musce that high reps promote.

If you want to get more compact either use kettlebells, which you probably don't have access to. Or, cut down the number of sets you do for each workout and increase the frequency in which you do them.

For example you may bench press once a week doing 5 sets of 5. Bench press 3 times a week now, going 2 sets monday, 1 set wed, and 2 sets friday. Stay away from failure, always quit your set when you feel like you could probably do another 2 reps. This promote myofibrillar hypertrophy which is a more compact form of muscle. Its is more compact because you are teaching your body a lesson in muscular tension, the more tense a muscle, the more firm. Think like bruce lee, he was little, but strong like a tightly coil wire. He followed a lot of tension routines.

If you want to pull your car out of a ditch you call a tow truck, not a sports car. So if you want power, stick with your low reps high weight exercises. If you want endurance, add some high rep body weight exercises. If you want more compact muscles, spread the "volume" of your workout throughout the week.

I hope this all helps.
 
roonaldo,

yea, i say stick with the same exercises for about 6 weeks, then mix it up.

for changing reps, like i said, i stay 5 and under, so some days I do 5 reps and some days I do 2 reps, actually, i mix it up between sets, some sets are easy, some sets are hard. SO find the rep limit you are comfortable with, I strongly recommend 5, and vary your reps among that.

This whole, easy day, hard day, easy set, hard set, is periodization which has become the MUST among powerlifters. It's pretty big in russia, i dunno if westerners use it that much.
 
Thanks a lot Mike, I really appreciate it. But this whole mixing it up thing is kinda making me nervous. When I was doing 5 sets of 5, I would go in and hit it three times a week until failure. I didn't always do 5 sets but usually got around 4. Now I should still go in 3 times a week and vary the sets and not go till failure? How bout after about 6 weeks?
 
ok so my routine is like:

mon: chest
tue: rest
wed: back
thu: legs
fri: arms
sat: rest
sun: shoulders

I'm not sure which days to go easy on. Do you think i should switch the body part i go easy on each week?

e.g. week 1 i go easy on the chest, week 2 i go easy on the back, 3 legs etc.

I'm gonna try sticking in the 5 rep range for all of my excercises now and see how that goes for a few weeks. If i don't feel like i am getting bigger as i was previously i will try 8 reps, with going to failure on the last set (although doing 5 reps is just like going to failure anyway because it too heavy to do much more).

could you please give me a recommendation on when to go easy for my routine?

one other thing - today i did arms and stuck to 5 reps range, but to do this my mate had to help me a bit for the last couple of reps, e.g. lightly pushing my hand up when doing a bicep curl. Is this ok and do you do this as well Mike?

Thanks!
 
I'm not Mike but what you might try is changing your set/rep scheme week to week, an example-
Week 1:4X6
Week 2:5X5
Week 3:3X12
Week 4:3X6
You would work all your movements with these sets/reps, this allows you to run a cool little periodized volume and intensity manipulation set up.

I don't know how set in you are to your body part split up but something you might try is-
Day 1-chest/back
Day 2-off
Day 3-legs/abs
Day 4-off
Day 5-arms/shoulders/abs
Day 6-off
Day 7-repeat

This would give each muscle group more stimulus. You might try giving the arms and shoulders 2 movements a piece with a 5X8 set up. As you hit the muscle group alternate a 5X5 and a 3X12 set up. This would allow 2 direct chest and back days, 2-3 direct and indirect arms and shoulders days and you'd hit legs three times every two weeks.

The other thought I'm having is that unless you've just hit a really stale part because you've stalled out on making gains due to a long lifting history then you could use the Forced Rep trick (partner assisted lifting) but if you're still relatively new (under 1.5-2 years or so) and you're hitting a 5 rep goal, then use a 6 rep max.
 
thanks for getting back.

I just wanna say I haven't hit a 'plateau' (think thats what it's called) and am still getting bigger. I was just wandering if there was a better way so that i can get bigger even faster (e.g. having easy days now and then etc.).

I defo wanna keep my current body split because i like it like this, but may try the different rep ranges for each of the weeks you mentioned. However, if i were to switch the reps like you said would that still warrant having 'easy' days, e.g. would week 4 be considered the easy week because there are only 3 sets?

I hoped that made sense. I did that partner assisted lifting thing you were on about yesterday. Is that a good thing considering ive only been working out properly for a few months?
 
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