Bodybuilding for the Beginner!

bob, good side bends progress mate and pleased you can see the changes now. Personally I don't side bend presently as my waist thickness is plenty at present. I'd also say stick with strict barbell curls but hold your hands nearer together to tuck your elbows in (almost a standing preacher curl I guess). This puts the biceps under good strain and hits them hard. It also recruits many fibres through the biceps and brachialis which is beneficial to gains. Secret to biceps is not too many sets and strict form. Good luck mate.

Uranus, as bob says chins (you can buy a bar and bolt to the wall for this or I think you can buy one that attaches over the doorway IIRC) for lats. Dips you can always improvise with a couple of really strong backed chairs, etc. If you are at Uni then I would be amazed if they don't have a really cheap gym for students. Unless you have plenty of free space and lots of weight and the right bars then you will soon outgrow it.

Hmmm....this is true. Time to scab some money from my parents me thinks, for a gym membership! Cheers guv.

oh, I forgot. I have increadibly small wrists, which is not helped by the fact that I have quite large hands, (god damn it), so do you think I should include some wrist curls in the second day of your (excellent) Beginner's Routine or would that be over-doing it?

I think I probably will join the gym at some stage as like you said I will outgrow my free weights set.

Thanks.

the wrists half closer to the hand has almot no muscle (at least on me!!!) so i would not worry about there

and the first hald the one with the 2 muscles (one on top and under) seems to develop quite well just moving the weights around!
keep your energy for the more important muscle group...
and wait for cashman's, he probably has more knowledge about this!

and just being a beginner weightlifter might be why you have small wrists!

Fair enough. Kind of obvoius when I think about it. I seem to be giving myself a reputation as a bit of a dunce! Everydays a school day as they say.

LOL Uranus... IMHO Bob's right. If you are doing lifts like bench, dips, dead, etc your grip , forearm and wrist muscles & connective tissues will strengthen accordingly.

hey cashman i posted in the routine forum for my next routine that I will start in a couple of weeks but no one answered

so, i will ask to you because you always gave good advices

Well I am starting week 7 of your program and it will stop at week 12 so I wanna make sure I don't end up without any routine by then so I was thinking about Frankie NY's first mass bulding routine with 3 days of 3 compound exercises 4x6 or 5x5...
1) Is this routine right for me?
2) It seemed like you chose which exercises you wanted for your routine, so im wondering if I should take some exercises that I do on your routine or should I take none of the same, or should I mix?

My current lifts (of last week):
3x6 Bench 155lbs
3x10 Dips 0lbs
2x6 DB incline flyes 30lbs
3x6 Skull Crushers 80lbs

4x6 Deadlifts 155lbs
4x6 bent over db row 65lbs
4-4-1 wide grips chin-ups 0lbs
3x6 bb curls 95lbs
3x6 one arm hammer curl 35 lbs

3x6 bb military press 100lbs
3x6 db lat raise 25lbs
3x6 bb shrugs 245 lbs

4x6 bb squat 170lbs
4x6 SLDL 130lbs
4x6 calf raises 235lbs
4x6 weighted crunches 75lbs
3x6 side bends 70lbs

[EDIT]
http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/explosive_strength%21/m_199601/tm.htm
how can i up my explosive strength!!!

Hi

Have just started with free weights and at local gym been at it for about 2 weeks, my primary aim is to increase my size and have some sort of visable muscles rather than a worzel gummage frame!
My secondary goal is to increase my fitness and endeurance, at this point im concerned that all the cardio work im doing at the gym (lots of running, cross training, rowing, swimming etc) is going to hamper my progress in developing muscles.
I know a few people who seem to know bits and bobs about this and that and i seem to be getting more confused with some advice saying lay off all cardio to build muscle and others saying that cardio will give me more definition (do i need to worry about this after 2 weeks?!)
Both are long term goals but personally at the moment i would prioritise muscle development if i had to make a choice between that and cardio.
As you can see im one mixed up kid!!
Any ideas??

C

Try doing CV on different days to weight training and make sure you eat well and you should be fine

I think i'll do that, im going to give my self a decent period of time training one way before i consider changing again. I do tend to jump at new info!

Cheers

Hi,

What is the realistic time frame for one to see results?

I'm 44, 5'10", 170 lbs, 42" chest, 33" waist and 14" biceps. I find my biceps too skinny for my broad frame - imagine Wesley Snipes or Stallone with arms like smaller than Pierce Brosnan's.

I've been working out for almost 4 months now, using a routine similar to Cashman's. I'll be starting Cashman's routine to break the monotony. I've also been eating clean, lots of protein shakes and no fried food.

My waist line has gone down from about 35" and I can see hints of the 6 packs. There are also more muscle definitions on the pecs, delts, biceps and triceps. My stamina has also improved.

But my arms just don't seem to get bigger! How do I get arms like Snipes or Stallone? How long do I have to wait? 1 year? 3 years? 5 years?

Is it advisable for me to use an Arms Prioritize Routine which consists of 2 sets each for the biceps and triceps, and 1 set each for the rest of the body, working each set to failure 3 times a week?

Thanking you in advance.

CPT11

Stallone probably was on steroids and worked out for a damnnn long time!!!

And remember more is less sometimes with the arms...
I actually reduced following cashman's advice the number of sets and exercises on chest day and seemed to gain better that way, so dont try to pound them in submission!

Well how much time if takes, that is tricky, i wouldnt know, im still waiting after 6 weeks and a half

Hi Everyone, just joined today. First of all, I am an ectomorph in the truest sense of the word, as I am 6' (183cm), and about 130lbs (59 kg). Although I've always naturally been very thin, part of this is also due to the fact that I do long-distance running (10-12km) 2-3 times per week.
I would like to put on about 20lbs of muscle or so, but I don't want to sacrifice any of my running workouts or endurance, since they are something I do on a competitive basis as well. Since putting on weight of any kind is difficult for me, will it even be possible if I continue running as I do? And if I can put some weight on, will my endurance necessarily suffer as a result? Thanks in advance.

-Geoff

wow your advice for bb curl really worked, i lowered the weight 5 pound but i will continue with that 5 pound less 1 more week to get my form to the best!!!

i also got a huge wrist pump from this, it was weird!!!

ORIGINAL: Geoffrey the Thin

Hi Everyone, just joined today. First of all, I am an ectomorph in the truest sense of the word, as I am 6' (183cm), and about 130lbs (59 kg). Although I've always naturally been very thin, part of this is also due to the fact that I do long-distance running (10-12km) 2-3 times per week.
I would like to put on about 20lbs of muscle or so, but I don't want to sacrifice any of my running workouts or endurance, since they are something I do on a competitive basis as well. Since putting on weight of any kind is difficult for me, will it even be possible if I continue running as I do? And if I can put some weight on, will my endurance necessarily suffer as a result? Thanks in advance.

-Geoff

Several points to make here:
1) 20lbs of muscle will likely be very difficult for you to put on whether or not you continue with your running. The amount you run is not excessive and as long as you raise your calories high enough my personal view is that your genetics will prove a bigger hurdle than the running.
2) Now to contradict myself, it is possible that a combination of your diet and lifestyle (including your running) accounts for your 130lbs and it could be that, rather like someone escaping a concentration camp, simply increasing your calories would bring you to a higher sedentary level of musculature even in the absence of resistance training.
The only way to know is to 'suck it and see' and do the weights, eat a lot more and monitor monitor monitor. Monitor your weight (it must go up, if not eat more); monitor your dimensions (circumferences of limbs/ chest/ waist etc); monitor your bodyfat and see whether you are putting on mainly muscle or just getting fatter LOL!
3) My belief is that putting on 20lbs will adversely affect your running whether you like it or not. Ever wondered why marathon runners have skinny legs and yet marathon wheel chairers (probably not the right term there) have large arms? Leg muscles are large and can utilise more oxygen than the cv system can mobilise - more leg mass can't help your running because there isn't the oxygen available to make use of it. Arms are smaller and the cv system can easily utilise extra arm muscle in a way it can't with the legs. The point of telling you this is just to point out that the extra weight you will be running with is more or less dead weight over longer distances because the extra leg power cannot be utilised as oxygen is the limiting factor not muscle mass (muscle fibre type issues aside).

I think you need to make a decision right here and now whether you want the extra 20lbs or your present level of running. or look at the following longer term goal:

At 12k 2-3 times a week I gather your competitiveness is at a lower standard and I'm sure that, unless you are extremely ectomorphic given your present very light weight if you could put more weight on you could actually keep your running standard up by doing a little more running. Make no mistake, the running won't make your weight gain/ maintenance any easier but then a target weight of 155-160lbs (allowing for some fat gain as well) for a 6 footer is still fairly modest and if you get all the aspects right over the longer term should be a reasonable goal IMO.

SNP.

Thanks for the advice. And yes, my running is more casual than competitive. Competitive to me means finishing in the top 20 of a couple of local 10k races each year, so I'm not at the olympic level or anything! But it's still something I like doing and which I try to improve at each year.

I knew it wouldn't be easy, but like you say, for someone of my height, getting to at least 150 should be within reach. I'll see what I can do. Thanks.

-Geoff

I duno y but this is the first time I ever looked at this post.

ORIGINAL: cobramaximus

I duno y but this is the first time I ever looked at this post.

? I don't know what you mean.

ORIGINAL: cobramaximus

I duno y but this is the first time I ever looked at this post.

its the first one i ever looked

ORIGINAL: MuscleBob

wow your advice for bb curl really worked, i lowered the weight 5 pound but i will continue with that 5 pound less 1 more week to get my form to the best!!!

i also got a huge wrist pump from this, it was weird!!!

I'm not just a pretty face