i used to weight lift and excercise daily till about 4 years ago. got in a pretty bad motorcycle accident. two pins in my left wrist and a fractured colar bone along with a damaged wrist from snowboard and trick roller blading soon put a stop to all that.

although im always weight lifting at work. kept my mass up. at 280 pounds right now and im 5'10". don't look my weight at all. thank god i still have my strength.

 

I very much appreciate everyone input. I think you guys are correct on me needing to mix it up some. I guess i haven't really been doing that much lately.

Does anyone have a certain schedule they do to mix things up that works good for them?

I was just thinking of buying a new weight system. How are the bow flex's or the crossbows? Or is there something else out there right in that price range thats good also? Or should i just keep what i have which is an incline bench with arm workouts and leg work outs on it?

Thanks everyone.

 

I would really look into a decline bench, or join a gym.
DB flys, pull downs, skull crushers, basic work outs..
But as everyone said the two big ones you're missing are squats and dead-lifts.
If you are worried about saftey, have proper spotters, and maybe look into a squat suit/d-l suit.
Study form.
Good website I use is http://www.exrx.net/
Has a ton of great information!
Hope it helps some!

 

Perhaps. But consider that the heart reacts to load. If you are constantly training hard at an elevated heart rate, then you ARE getting a workout for your cardio system. After all, your whole circulatory system adapts to the kinds of loads placed upon it. If you are burning a lot of glycogen, it will react accordingly. Or so goes the rationale of the SuperSlow Exercise Guild-- a somewhat controversial training philosophy.

Cardio exercises help to condition the heart muscle, but I don't think they help much with building "overload capacity". There's nothing like a brutal anaerobic workout of a couple minutes to really put some extra coal in the chute, just in case you need it.

I did 4 miles Monday in <33 min, so I'm getting closer to where I want to be (goal: 6 mi<40 min). It's hard to run on indoor tracks (shin splints, knee probs, etc), but coming from Hawaii has left me completely unprepared to run outdoors in Chicago cold.

Maybe in a few weeks. Anyway, take Scotty's advice to the bank. When he says "shock the body" that means GO HARD and GO DIFFERENT. Don't do the same exercise more than once in a week. If you're like him and into dragging locomotives, that's one way. Squats are perhaps the single best all-around resistance exercise. You'd be surprised how completely spent you'll feel after just doing squats, some clean-and-jerk, and some bench.

Also, keep in mind that people vary a lot in natural body capability. I, for example, have a naturally small heart and weak cardio system. The running I do doesn't seem that hard for me, but my HR is typically 175-190, even at a slow pace. The "target zone" is simply impossible for me to get that low, even on a slow jog. I can only get that low on an elliptical trainer or stationary bike.
But I have naturally pretty strong legs. I'm not a very big guy, but on a hip sled I can load it to it's physical capacity (600+) and rep it 15-20 times on my 3rd set (building up from 400-450 in the first sets). This isn't all that impressive because the angle of the sled drops the effective load down. (for example, a 45º angle like many sleds drops the weight down to 70% of the actual load (sq rt of 2 times plate load) meaning that 600 lb is more like 420 in a straight push.

I'd encourage you to ditch the suppplements and fast from all food, vitamins, and such for 3 days-- just do juices (carrot, tomato, etc--veg juices if you can). Let your body de-tox from all the junk you've been ingesting. Then start clean, eating healthy, natural foods higher in protein. Hit your new workout program hard and never look back!

JMO

 

As said above about ditching the supplyments.
I'm sure you know it isn't a "I'll drink this, and next week move my bench up and X amount".

Eat EAT EAT.
One protein, one carb.
ATLEAST 5 meals a day.
3 snacks inbetween.
Gotta keep your metabolism burnin!

 

Use freeweights and good form. Be very diliberate in your movements. Strengthen your back. I thought of my back as my foundation so to speak. The strongest thighs or biceps are worthless without a strong back. And if possible, have an ex-marine as a football coach. A situp just wasnt a situp unless you have a 25lb plate on your chest (which sucked if you only weighed 100 lbs). The methods and routines he used got me from a 90 lb freshman that could barely bench his own weight to a 125 lb sophmore who could curl his own weight, do effortless situps with the 25lb chest plate, and bench 185 lbs. And no supplements. He gave me strength and a good physique which is still with me 20+ years later. Just a bit more padded however.

 

My max is 315 kid i weigh 200 all natural no proteen or nothin just good ole corn fed But when i hit a plato somtimes like thye said you take time off or just drop weight and up yuur reps to like 15 to 20 for a few weeks think of it as down shifting and i had a buddy that tried the royds and swore by em blew me away wel now a few years later his junk dont work hahaha bid i told you so when his woman got drunk andtol us that and hes in his early 30s haha good luck man

 

You have to eat big to get big!

Concentrate on the three mass builders,bench press,squats,dead lifts.

 

It looks like EVERYONE has the right answer . Ask 10 people and you'll get 10 different answers and viewpoints.


Hohn ... good post !! Dude, you are hauling at 6 miles <40 min !! Thats a really good pace. I can't stand running on any kind of track indoor or out but I do enjoy running in the cold.


Is the bowflex system intended for hulking out or just strength training ?? I had always heard the latter. There sure are some junky units being sold out there today ... whatever you get, try it out in the store first.

PISTOL

 

Make sure, make sure, make sure you are drinking enough water every day with the creatine! Yes it can be used safely, but most think 'more is better' etc... Only a small amount per kilo is required...

Make sure which ever brand you are using does not contain Guanidinopropionic Acid (GPA) and Glycocyamine (G-amine)!!! While the creatine may no be so bad if you use it correctly (did I mention drink lots of water?? If your not getting up to urinate often then your probably not drinking enough!) GPA and G-amine are bad news!!

 

Every BODY is different what works for one guy will not work for you. The good news is your young so you have many years to figure what works for you. I have been very lucky to be around some top notch trainers and a few Pro Bodybuilders, and 1 guy thats always ranked in the top ten. Can you say around 5-8 or 5-10 and offseason he gets to 305-315lbs and still has abs, no thanks.
A few constants are
1- its better to undertrain than overtrain.
2-what works for you may not work for me.
3- If you are trying to put on size never ever do intense cardio. All the bodybuilders I have met generally use a treadmill at around 3 mph no incline mainly to burn some fat and oxygenate the blood stream. You have to read up on Cardiovascular vrs Cardiavascular. You do not want to deplete your glycogen stores and start burning muscle.
4- And most supplements are not worth the money.
5- protien and vitamins are always a good buy, and make sure to take them in smaller doses more times per day or you will just whiz them out.

 

Note: 6miles <40min is the GOAL. "WE" are still quite a bit away from that. I'm guessing I'm around 51 min for 6 miles

 

I dug out the snow shoes the other day...so far I have not had the jam to go out, put them on and go for a brisk walk in deep snow. That was always part of my cardio and I am putting it back into the mix. I just go north of the city where the ditches are filled with snow and crank it up. I remember the last time I started this routine I hurled a few times but I stuck with it.
Justin, the goal here is to drop 50 pounds and have more fun with my wife and daughter. Doc has given me the green light and all is well. Resting BP is 90/60 and the heart is ready. LOL
Come spring, out comes the canoe and the bike.

Take Care everyone...a good reminder someone posted was to drink lots of water...thanks.

Scotty

 

Pretty much everything that has been stated was already said by me in my first couple of posts....

 

Oh yeah ... I guess you did say that was the goal, huh ? You are rolling about what I was at last year at this time. No way I could do it now though .... amazing how fast things start to slip when you don't keep after it.

Sorry for the thread hijack.
PISTOL