I suffered a minor knee injury at Wrigley Field during my stint with the Cubs. If I'm explaining this to a chick at a bar I leave out the part that I was there in December running around the upper deck attempting to show a ravenous crowd of prospective season ticket holders available seats.

I soldiered through the injury, and by the start of the season I was back in left field (this time begging season ticket holders to kindly not tear the ivy apart).

(07-02-2015, 10:53 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: What exactly does the niacin flush feel like? Is that the tingly sensation? 

I thought about how often I want to use it after I was done with my workout yesterday. I did a full scoop yesterday, but may cut back to a half scoop because I was pretty amped up until I went to bed last night. 

The tingly feeling is from the beta-alanine. Good stuff 



Pretty much when looking for a pre-workout you want to focus on the big 3 ingredients. 

Caffeine

Beta-Alanine

Creatine (preferably creatine monohydrate, most brands use nitrate which is kinda a rip off)

Help me out here guys. A couple questions.

I have been on a new lifting program as of late and set my training days as follow:

Chest - Triceps

Back - Biceps

Shoulders

Legs

I try to workout 4 days a week and hit most of the body parts. What do you guys think of that schedule? I am looking to put on a considerable amount of size. A couple weeks ago when I started I was 6'3 159 lbs. I am now up to 164 lbs. My goal is to get up to 176 (what I weighed in college when I lifted considerably) before my wedding in September.

I have been eating like crazy, which helps because my metabolism is ridiculous for a 28 year old.


Secondly, can someone hit me up with a workout that just destroys biceps? I feel like I have such a hard time hitting this muscle group. I usually do some overhand weighted pull ups, hammer curls, and bb curls. Im never sore the next day tho and I just feel like im not seeing any improvement in this area. This group has always been a problem for me.

(07-09-2015, 10:12 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Secondly, can someone hit me up with a workout that just destroys biceps? I feel like I have such a hard time hitting this muscle group. I usually do some overhand weighted pull ups, hammer curls, and bb curls. Im never sore the next day tho and I just feel like im not seeing any improvement in this area. This group has always been a problem for me.

Pull-ups and bent-over barbell rows will strengthen your biceps more than any isolation bicep workout out there. Hitting them a lot as a secondary muscle during back workouts is probably your best bet. As for training strictly biceps, 2 sets of 28's give an insane pump.

I need to mix it up anyone try anything successful? Ive done PX90, running, elliptical, weights, cycling and feel like my body is used to it and doesn't respond like it did when I first did that. I know shocking the body doing different things is the way to go. Im just running out of ideas. Any suggestions guys?

(07-09-2015, 11:44 AM)GodFather Wrote: I need to mix it up anyone try anything successful? Ive done PX90, running, elliptical, weights, cycling and feel like my body is used to it and doesn't respond like it did when I first did that. I know shocking the body doing different things is the way to go. Im just running out of ideas. Any suggestions guys?

You have anywhere you can swim? Swimming is a hell of a workout. 

(07-09-2015, 03:27 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: You have anywhere you can swim? Swimming is a hell of a workout. 

I don't unfortunately. Whats great about swimming too is that it isn't hard on your joints like running and other things are.

(07-09-2015, 11:44 AM)GodFather Wrote: I need to mix it up anyone try anything successful? Ive done PX90, running, elliptical, weights, cycling and feel like my body is used to it and doesn't respond like it did when I first did that. I know shocking the body doing different things is the way to go. Im just running out of ideas. Any suggestions guys?

If you are succeeding at all those things... Its time for an ice cream break you earned it.

(07-09-2015, 11:04 AM)6andcounting Wrote: Pull-ups and bent-over barbell rows will strengthen your biceps more than any isolation bicep workout out there. Hitting them a lot as a secondary muscle during back workouts is probably your best bet. As for training strictly biceps, 2 sets of 28's give an insane pump.

LOL that reminds me of when i was really out of shape.

Pullups that is... That was my first workout goal. they are hard as hell when your pushing 300lbs. i do much better now though.

(07-10-2015, 05:44 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: LOL that reminds me of when i was really out of shape.

Pullups that is... That was my first workout goal. they are hard as hell when your pushing 300lbs. i do much better now though.

I could never do a pullup. I couldn't even hang with my chin above the bar in high school. A year and a half ago after working out a lot a tried a set and did my first 6. Granted, they were neutral gripped and probably poor form. Now I've been starting off back day by doing 2 sets of 10 with a regular grip and doing wash one from a dad hang. Screw you middle school gym class fitness test.

If you've been out of lifting for several years, you're basically a newb and the rec is train muscle groups 3X a week....twice at least. In fact, if you're not using drugs and/or near your max potential, then it's most likely sub-optimal NOT to hit muscle groups at least every 4-5 days.

I've been studying this a lot just getting back in myself, and the weekly volume seems pretty consistent for all levels from what I've read. What seems to change is the more advanced you get, the more volume you need to do in a workout to stress the muscles to promote growth. So maybe a spankin' newbie does 4 sets of 8 3X a week, while an advanced trainee does 12x8 once a week.

The vast majority of people overtrain, ESPECIALLY the people who do hard cardio PLUS weights 5x a week or more. If you're training properly for muscle growth, then you're already getting a solid 30 minutes of intense anaerobic exercise in a session. That's why bodybuilders are relatively fit - they won't win any ironman competitions, but that's mainly because they're lugging around en extra 60+ lbs of muscle. It's not endurance training, but the potential of the bodybuilder to sustain short-to-moderate power ratios (a.k.a. "functional" use) is most likely superior to endurance athletes.

Personally, I think the gold standard for a "trained" natural lifter is back, chest and legs plus a day off - that hits each muscle group 1.75X per week. Wash, rinse, repeat...

(07-10-2015, 05:44 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: LOL that reminds me of when i was really out of shape.

Pullups that is... That was my first workout goal.  they are hard as hell when your pushing 300lbs.  i do much better now though.

Im actually really good at pullups. I cant knock out 20 of them no problem. 

(07-11-2015, 05:50 AM)JustWinBaby Wrote: If you've been out of lifting for several years, you're basically a newb and the rec is train muscle groups 3X a week....twice at least.  In fact, if you're not using drugs and/or near your max potential, then it's most likely sub-optimal NOT to hit muscle groups at least every 4-5 days.

I've been studying this a lot just getting back in myself, and the weekly volume seems pretty consistent for all levels from what I've read.  What seems to change is the more advanced you get, the more volume you need to do in a workout to stress the muscles to promote growth.  So maybe a spankin' newbie does 4 sets of 8 3X a week, while an advanced trainee does 12x8 once a week.

The vast majority of people overtrain, ESPECIALLY the people who do hard cardio PLUS weights 5x a week or more.  If you're training properly for muscle growth, then you're already getting a solid 30 minutes of intense anaerobic exercise in a session.  That's why bodybuilders are relatively fit - they won't win any ironman competitions, but that's mainly because they're lugging around en extra 60+ lbs of muscle.  It's not endurance training, but the potential of the bodybuilder to sustain short-to-moderate power ratios (a.k.a. "functional" use) is most likely superior to endurance athletes.

Personally, I think the gold standard for a "trained" natural lifter is back, chest and legs plus a day off - that hits each muscle group 1.75X per week.  Wash, rinse, repeat...

Your post confused me. Are you saying to train muscle groups 3x a week? You are talking about different muscle groups, correct? For example NOT lift back 3x a week, just once... 

You have to be insane if you are training the same muscle group 3x a week... 

When I was in the Military we preached the PROVeRBS of Fitness:

Progression
Regularity
Overload
Variety
Recovery
Balance
Specificity

(07-11-2015, 07:12 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Your post confused me. Are you saying to train muscle groups 3x a week? You are talking about different muscle groups, correct? For example NOT lift back 3x a week, just once... 

You have to be insane if you are training the same muscle group 3x a week... 

One of the few things you'll find most sources agree on is that beginners (typically defined as new or coming back to lifting for less than 6-12 months) get best results training muscle groups 3x a week....the usual recommended routine is a full body workout consisting of compound lifts 3x a week.  Take a look at Strong Lifts - one of the most recommended routines for beginners and it has you squat 3x a week.

It all comes down to volume...whether you hit a muscle group 1x or 3x a week, the optimal sets/reps remain pretty much the same.  Holding weekly volume relatively constant, the volume you do in a single workout depends on your weekly frequency.

There's nothing insane about it, all that matters is allowing proper recovery where the body is building muscle to adapt to the new loads.  On average, you need 24-48 hours to recover.  Because the beginner lacks the strength and stamina to do more damage in a single workout, they only need 2 days to recover, so 3x a week per muscle group.

But intermediate and advanced lifters need more volume in that workout to effectively damage the muscles, and in order not to overtrain that dictates twice a week.  But we're talking 4-5 days max for recovery if you're not roided-up.

The 7-10 days off crap before hitting a muscle group again is for roided-up bodybuilders.  Once a week or less for natural lifters is suboptimal, at best.  There's some debate that, for natural lifters, you possibly lose some actual gains if you go longer than 5 days before coming back to a muscle group.  Without question you lose potential gains because if you're not overtrained, your body is ready to go and you're just unnecessarily adding time to your progression.

(07-11-2015, 07:44 PM)bfine32 Wrote: When I was in the Military we preached the PROVeRBS of Fitness:

Progression
Regularity
Overload
Variety
Recovery
Balance
Specificity

That's pretty solid.  I've just started back, and TRY to do a variation of alternating pull/push workouts 6 days a week (training muscle groups 3x a week).  My workouts take about 30 minutes (not counting warm-up time), and I find it's more enjoyable and easier to get to the gym.  I had no clue in the past how much I overtrained on a daily/weekly basis, not to mention your intensity just sucks trying to drag through a 60+ minute workout. 

I've also gotten much more strict about rest between sets - they say optimal for mass gain is 30-90 seconds.  I'm doing pretty well on most exercises with a little over 60 seconds, but it's tough on squats and brutal on deadlift so I have to go 90+ between sets.  But as a result I'm feeling pretty good cardio benefits from lifting with that intensity.  That short of rest isn't the greatest for strength gains, but again it gets me in-and-out quickly and that's the most important thing as far as sticking with it.

(07-11-2015, 07:10 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Im actually really good at pullups. I cant knock out 20 of them no problem. 

I can do about a dozen push ups at a time

I always like weight lifting but got bored quickly with aerobic workouts. Then I discovered that if you lift with a lot of reps and very little rest between sets that is actually a very good form of aerobic workout. Between each set I would walk across the gym to the water fountain and back so that I was constantly moving. kept my heart rate up for the entire workout. Plus it got me in and out of the gym faster than when I sat around for a couple of minutes between each set.

This will not work out as well for guys who are lifting to add a lot of mass, but I think most people just want to be stronger and it better all-around shape.

(07-09-2015, 10:12 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Help me out here guys. A couple questions.

I have been on a new lifting program as of late and set my training days as follow:

Chest - Triceps

Back - Biceps

Shoulders

Legs

Stomach and lower back are very important.  I suggest you work it in with your shoulders since that is probably your easiest day.  Actually you should work them in twice a week.