To the guys that do weights and stuff....

2459 Views 18 Replies 9 Participants Last post by Serratus, Sep 25, 2005

dreaming_neon_black

Discussion Starter · Sep 24, 2005

I go running x3 a week for around 1/2 hour roughly but atlhough it's slimmed me down at bit (lost 4 inches on my waist woo!) I still have chub pretty much everywhere except my arms and legs lol. Since I go Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I figured I wouldn't mind doing some weights to tone up a little on the odd days. I don't wanna Hulk myself out - my aim is to build strength a little and mainly to look a little leaner and more defined - get that tapered look happening.

Ok, so I bought myself a barbell/dumbell set and I know that I'm supposed to do light weights/high reps (that right?) for non-Hulkiness. I've got the exercises I need to do set out. My question (finally) is could any of you point me in the direction of what weight/reps is good to start out with for what I'm aiming for? I'm about average size/strength if that helps.

I know eating and stuff's definately a part of that so I'm trying to balance my diet a bit better as well. Thanks.

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

buddroyce

· #2 · Sep 24, 2005

Check out http://www.flexonline.com/

It's a bodybuilding site by flex mag. Although everyone there looks like a freaky human version of the hulk, there's lots of good info there. (and yes, you want high reps, low weight, but not so low that you can easily exceed 20-25 reps).

elcid

· #3 · Sep 24, 2005

The instructions that came with my weight set said you want to do as much weight as you can for 15-20 reps.

buddroyce

· #4 · Sep 24, 2005

That makes sense. 15-20 range is where you may want to be. My suggestion is that if you're aiming for fatigue at the 15-20 range, do your first couple of sets with a lighter warm up weight (20-25 range).

What you want to do is pyramid your sets. That is, start with a lighter weight and do a lot of reps and then add some weight and do fewer reps. So if you have a 15lb, 25lb and 40lb weight you would start with the 15lb one and do about 20 reps of that for 2-3 sets, then switch to the 25lb for 12-15 for anther 2-3 sets and end with the 40lb one for 4-8 reps. (well that's more or less my regular pyramid set since my 20rep sets are my warmup sets.)

dreaming_neon_black

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 25, 2005 (Edited)

Cheers, much appreciated. Do I divide stuff by 1/2 for the dumbells? On the JP forum Michael Angelo Batio (a low weight heigh reps guy lol) said he keeps to about 8lb an arm and does around 50 reps. This was in response to a question about how he never has had tendonitis and he went into how he works out.

I bought a fairly low priced set that came with..*checks* 50lb in total as I didn't think I'd be doing anything big.

elcid

· #6 · Sep 25, 2005

buddroyce said:
That makes sense. 15-20 range is where you may want to be. My suggestion is that if you're aiming for fatigue at the 15-20 range, do your first couple of sets with a lighter warm up weight (20-25 range).

What you want to do is pyramid your sets. That is, start with a lighter weight and do a lot of reps and then add some weight and do fewer reps. So if you have a 15lb, 25lb and 40lb weight you would start with the 15lb one and do about 20 reps of that for 2-3 sets, then switch to the 25lb for 12-15 for anther 2-3 sets and end with the 40lb one for 4-8 reps. (well that's more or less my regular pyramid set since my 20rep sets are my warmup sets.)

I read that you should start with the highest rate and go lower as a cool down. I'm sure either way would work fine though. I start with my maximum and keep it there the whole time and it seems to be working ok, but that's me.

bacon

· #7 · Sep 25, 2005

Lifting weights alone doesn't make you blow up. That part comes from the diet. I suggest bodybuilding.com or dragondoor.com

Chris From Singapore.

· #8 · Sep 25, 2005

I suggest you find a good solid workout plan and just stick to it. The body will respond to the training it undergoes, no need to make things so complicated at this point of time. If you have access to a gym I suggest you stick to what I call the big 4 exercises, bench press, chin ups, deadlifts and squats. Also keep the running program in check.

But one thing I found when I was working out was that my guitar playing suffered, my hands and forearms got so stiff.

Serratus

· #9 · Sep 25, 2005

Firstly, don't worry about getting too hugely muscled - lots of people when they start a training program say this sort of thing, like "I only want to tone up, not get big". Getting big takes alot of work, alot of lifting big weights, and alot of calories (inc protein). It doesn't happen by accident so don't worry about that.
You want to pick an exercise for each part of your body, so say:
Bench press (for chest),
Shoulder press,
Dumbbell row (for back),
Squats (for legs),
Bicep curl,
Tricep extension.
(You should be able to find explanations of these exercises online). And do some situps or crunch's for your abs (say four sets of 25 at the end of your workout).
Do all of your sets for each exercise before moving onto the next one, and do all the exercises in each workout (you could move onto more exercises and split workouts later, but start with all exercises on every workout to get your core strength up). Start with the first exercise, do a warm-up set to get the muscles going (light weight for say 20 reps). Then do 4 sets of 15 reps, gradually increasing the weight until you can't do 15 on the last set. After a few workouts you'll find that you can do 15 on the last set so you then increase all the weights a bit. Leave a minute or two between sets to allow your muscles to recover, ready for the next set. Once you've completed all the sets for one exercise, more to the next. And always do the exercises for larger muscle groups first (ie, squats, bench press, etc, then arm exercises afterwards).
Less reps and higher weight is more likely to make your muscles grow bigger (I usually do sets of eight), and there has been evidence that doing four sets is not necessary, so if time is an issue then do less sets but always make sure that the last set is a struggle! You should see some changes pretty quickly (within a few weeks I would hope). And make sure that you don't 'cheat' any exercises (ie, swinging a weight or you body to help get the weight up) - lots of people do and it doesn't work; you're better going to a lower weight and doing the exercise properly.
Hope this helps, I should know what I'm talking about (in theory lol), as I have a degree in it!
Rich

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Serratus

· #10 · Sep 25, 2005

^^^^^^
Hope this makes sense and isn't too confusing, it's hard to fit it all into a few words!!!!

dreaming_neon_black

Discussion Starter · #11 · Sep 25, 2005

Yeah it's cool, cheers. I have this men's health book that has what they consider the 3-4 best exercises for each set of muscles, so I pretty much know what I'm actually going to be doing. One other question:

If I go by the book then I have the 3-4 exercises for:

Shoulders and traps
Chest and back of arms
Bicep and upper back
Stomach and lower back
Upper thigh and butt
Hamstrings and calves
'Forgotten muscles' (forearms, hip flexors and rotator cuffs)

Say I do weights 3 times a week to start off, how should I divide these 7 areas up. Do 3 Tuesday, 2 Thusday and 2 Saturday? I know I can't do all 7 in one day obviously.

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fettouhi

· #12 · Sep 25, 2005

dreaming_neon_black said:
I go running x3 a week for around 1/2 hour roughly but atlhough it's slimmed me down at bit (lost 4 inches on my waist woo!) I still have chub pretty much everywhere except my arms and legs lol. Since I go Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I figured I wouldn't mind doing some weights to tone up a little on the odd days. I don't wanna Hulk myself out - my aim is to build strength a little and mainly to look a little leaner and more defined - get that tapered look happening.

Ok, so I bought myself a barbell/dumbell set and I know that I'm supposed to do light weights/high reps (that right?) for non-Hulkiness. I've got the exercises I need to do set out. My question (finally) is could any of you point me in the direction of what weight/reps is good to start out with for what I'm aiming for? I'm about average size/strength if that helps.

I know eating and stuff's definately a part of that so I'm trying to balance my diet a bit better as well. Thanks.

I started running everyday now (30 minutes), because of my blood pressure and weight. I have thought about going swimming too.

Regards

André

mi2tom

· #13 · Sep 25, 2005

fettouhi said:
I started running everyday now (30 minutes), because of my blood pressure and weight. I have thought about going swimming too.

Regards

André

No point starting if you don't have consistency.... I hope you will keep on being consistence :wink: :mrgreen:

dreaming_neon_black

Discussion Starter · #14 · Sep 25, 2005

fettouhi said:
I started running everyday now (30 minutes), because of my blood pressure and weight. I have thought about going swimming too.

Regards

André

2 Best ways of burning fat lol. I don't run everyday to give my calves a break, although I try and stay off the pavement if I can. I started on grass for 6 weeks (I live near a field lol) but now I prefer moving about a bit so I go round the neighbourhood.

My usual thing on the 3 days is wake up and stretch a bit, then drink a big glass of water and have some fruit. Give it a little break then out I go. Brisk walk for 2 mins then run for 30 then 2 mins walking again to cool down.

fettouhi

· #15 · Sep 25, 2005

dreaming_neon_black said:
2 Best ways of burning fat lol. I don't run everyday to give my calves a break, although I try and stay off the pavement if I can. I started on grass for 6 weeks (I live near a field lol) but now I prefer moving about a bit so I go round the neighbourhood.

My usual thing on the 3 days is wake up and stretch a bit, then drink a big glass of water and have some fruit. Give it a little break then out I go. Brisk walk for 2 mins then run for 30 then 2 mins walking again to cool down.

I also run around the neighbourhood and I have started eating low fat meat (expensive by the way), more salat, no sodas etc. and more milk and water

.

Regards

André

Serratus

· #16 · Sep 25, 2005

dreaming_neon_black said:
Yeah it's cool, cheers. I have this men's health book that has what they consider the 3-4 best exercises for each set of muscles, so I pretty much know what I'm actually going to be doing. One other question:

If I go by the book then I have the 3-4 exercises for:

Shoulders and traps
Chest and back of arms
Bicep and upper back
Stomach and lower back
Upper thigh and butt
Hamstrings and calves
'Forgotten muscles' (forearms, hip flexors and rotator cuffs)

Say I do weights 3 times a week to start off, how should I divide these 7 areas up. Do 3 Tuesday, 2 Thusday and 2 Saturday? I know I can't do all 7 in one day obviously.

Well, I would spend the first 4 weeks or so doing exercises for the whole body in every workout, but only do one of the 3-4 exercises for each bodypart in each workout. Doing you whole body in every workout should improve your core strength, and get your muscles used to being trained, then after a few weeks you go to a split system where you do more than one exercise for a bodypart in each workout, but only work a particular muscle group once a week. This is more intense for the muscle and allows it more time to recover aswell, but could be a bit much to launch yourself straight into.
In answer to your question, yes, when you do a split system you do say, two muscle groups in each workout. Think about splitting them up intelligently, so you wouldn't want back and legs on one day, then biceps and abs in another, as one day would be murder and the next relatively easy. And as I said, always do the larger muscle group first.

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dreaming_neon_black

Discussion Starter · #17 · Sep 25, 2005

Cheers, you've all been very helpful

rgr

· #18 · Sep 25, 2005

You might also check out this site, http://www.yogajournal.com/, getting some stretching in your workout routine is a good thing. Rodney Yee's Yoga for Strength DVD kicked my butt at first. Baron Baptiste's (www.baronbaptiste.com) Back, Abs, and Bliss is an excellent <30 minute all over workout, http://www.baronbaptiste.com/pages/cp.htm, highly recommended, even the background music is great, and the women, well, you'll see what yoga can do;-)

I'm not a hard core work out'er, I mountain bike when I can, I love bombing down! Do some weights, and some yoga, running bores me. Of course I grew up swimming and playing soccer (real football to anyone outside of the US) so I've never had a weight problem. But, as Baptiste says, building all muscle in your abs (or any muscle group), i.e. crunches, situps, leg lifts, etc... without incorporating some stretching and lengthening of the ab muscles will put strain on your back from those muscles always wanting to contract.

BTW, congrats on your losses so far! (how many times do you get to use the phrase "congrats on your loss" in everyday life? I don't even think Hallmark makes a card for that!)

Hope this helps too,
Roger

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Serratus

· #19 · Sep 25, 2005

Stretching is one of those things where you should do it if it makes you feel better to do it. I never do, because I've found that it makes no difference to me, and there is actually no scientific evidence that it has any effect at all. But then to some people it's very much part of their workout and they'd feel bad if they didn't do it. So do whatever feels right to you I suppose. My wife used to stretch alot before and after workouts, as she was told to by her gym; I then convinced her to try leaving it out and she had less soreness after her workouts (although soreness isn't necessarily the best indicator of a 'good' workout).

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