To get big, lift big

S

specialk12

0
I've followed this method and am hoping itlll work.

I am starting to lift more than I usually do so I can gain muscle mass. Along with the lifting I usually do some dropsets or supersets.

Do you think thats a good idea?? Or should I just lift a lot and not proceed witht the supersets/dropsets.

For example to get my shoulders big I do 4 sets of behind the neck press and then immediatly follow that with dropsets of the same thing.

Another should exercise I do is the side lateral raise and superset that with the front lateral raise.

I want some definition in my shoulders as well as it to get a little bigger. How do those exercises sound???? Does it sound good???

For my chest I start off bench press and superset that with incline bench press.
The problems with my chest is that I usually use the smith to do my benches, but when I use the barbell I am able to lift less then I would doing the smith. Why is that???
 
Well the smith is guided so you are not using your stabilizer muscles as much as you would with barbells, so it makes it seem harder.
 
The way it was explained to me is that using the typical free weight bench press over the smith machine is that it requires a few more stabilization muscles. This is because the machine limits your bodies natural ability to bring the bar down the way you have been doing it... With the machine, for the most part it's like a "preset setting" on how you have to bring it down and put it back up...

It would be better to train on the normal bench press because it would require more muscle to stabilize the bar from going all over the place unlike the smith machine. That is why functional exercises are slightly better than traditional machine/isolated muscle exercises...
 
Dex,

Please define 'functional' exercises. How is a bench press more functional than a smith press? I may be wrong but if a functional exercise is something that simulates or mimics everyday movement, lets compare some chest exercises.

Push-up: How often do I get on my toes/hands in everyday life and push myself up?

Bench Press: How often do I lie on my back and push something overhead?

Seated chest press machine: How often do I push something from a seated position?

All of these exercises will train the chest and IMHO help in everday activity regardless of their specificity. I think the functional training exercises is just a new term to seem as if there is all this new information out there on exercise.
 
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Sorry for the confusion... I was in a hurry when I typed this...

With the smith machine, the only movement of the bar that you control is going up and going down... Where as traditional bench press you have to control all possible movements of the bar... you have to keep it level, keep it from going too far above your shoulders/waist line, etc....

As far as functional exercise, I ment that to be into kind of a transition into better training... because you are right... when in sports do you do a crunch, or just a biceps curl.... That's why we have our football players in the strength hammer and cable columns instead of nothing but bench press...

(For those people who don't know what function exercise is, here is an article quickly describing it... )
 
There is no 'best' exercise IMO. While I prefer some exercises over others (i.e. bench press or DB press as opposed to a chest press machine), you're going to have to experiment and find out what rep ranges and set ranges along with corresponding exercises work best for you.
 
I my P.O.V. you need to train your body what you want it to do... Because from what I've seen, football players do slightly different variations of the chest exercises compared to hockey players... Think... who would be better at hockey, a big "buff" bodybuilder, or someone that isn't "buff" yet has done sport specific exercises for hockey? lol... I'm willing to put my money on the hockey player... Muscle size isn't everything, it's how you use your muscle that counts...

So if you just want to gain muscle mass and look big, stick to bodybuilding exercises, but if you want to get good at your sport, you need to look for sport specific exercises. (and yes some exercises overlap, but sometimes there are different variations.)
 
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