The Bodybuilders Thread!

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Eating the food is not as bad as the remarks people tend to give you. Once is cool, but if they say the same thing every day I wanna smash their faces in. Very immature if you ask me, especially from the 40yo+ guys! I guess they are just jealous haha
 
riempiestoel said:
I have recently started incorporating giant sets into my routine with the odd superset. I have cut training time down and increased intensity hugely. So far results seem great, I may alternate between this routine and regular sets over a couple of months. One example:

Barbell curls
Tricep pushdown
Hammer curls
Close grip bench
Reverse (or sometimes preacher) curls
Reverse dips

No rest in between. Max 2 min rest after the lot, start again, do it three times.

For Chest / Back its:

Dips
Pull-ups (or lat pulldown)
Flyes
Seated Rows
Incline Dumbell press
Close grip pull down

No rest in between - rest 1-2 mins afterwards, repeat twice more.

Alternatively do three sets, one after the other, of one muscle group (Dips, Flyes, Incline Dumbell Press) without resting in between, then a 1-2min rest and then the next muscle group.

I have found stamina improving and intensity is superb with these workouts... anyone else giant / super / negative or drop setting as a regular part of their routine? It's one of those things you think you can't do until you actually try it.
Note, I'm not a serious bodybuilder - too 'over the hill' for that lol. I do enjoy my weekly endorphins and testosterone boost though. I generally take lean pure protein suppliments - anything with 75g or more per 100. At my age it's not easy to control the carbs like it used to be :p
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So anyone else giant / super / drop setting as regular part of their routine?
 
riempiestoel said:
So anyone else giant / super / drop setting as regular part of their routine?
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Nope sorry. I pretty much stick to the basics and not get overly fancy.

I'm actually considering changing my routine early and going on Max-OT for the next few months.

Less exercises, less reps, bigger weights etc.
 
Well it's as basic as it gets - great for guys who don't have alot of time in the gym. It's ideal for size + stamina (yes you can do both at the same time). You get a killer cardio workout while driving your muscle to fatigue. Of course you do it for 6 weeks then switch so that your body doesn't get too comfortable. Back to something like you suggested - to build strength. It was one of those things that I thought would be near impossible for me but i was pleasantly surprised and am really enjoying giant sets.
 
nivek said:
Just an update on this, their website and ordering from them online is a complete waste of time, you wont get your stuff and they dont bother to reply to emails either
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Went to the store on Grant road and got the dextrose from there. I just called them first to make sure they had stock.
 
Hosehead said:
Ah. Thanks for the reminder. Time for that Test-Tos-Ter-on jab in the buttocks again.
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ROFL - now why would you want a testosterone jab? Is your own body not producing enough :p
 
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Hosehead said:
One can never get too much of a good thing. The weight falls off, The chest blows up, the arms become hams and the mattress springs need renewing once a month.
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Rofl, just having a go for fun, yeh, know what you mean.
I have read a few recent articles detailing why testosterone taken externally does very little for the gym - apparently the more you train the more your body produces, but with actual studies, people who were given additional testosterone did not necessarily outperform those who weren't getting externally. The conclusion is that naturally produced testosterone has an effect because of the state the body is in when producing it. Having said that, I believe it can help with things outside the gym ;)
 
MrsBBL, what a load of *** you can talk. More testosterone + training ALWAYS = more muscle. Bodybuilders take 500mg to 1000mg of testosterone a week. A superfit human body does not make more than 100mg a week max, huge difference.
 
Sensorei said:
MrsBBL, what a load of *** you can talk. More testosterone + training ALWAYS = more muscle. Bodybuilders take 500mg to 1000mg of testosterone a week. A superfit human body does not make more than 100mg a week max, huge difference.
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Hey, whats a few doctors opinions and a test cohort over time? What they discovered was that taking testosterone itself doesn't do what you expect it to... So are you talking about taking testosterone or testosterone boosters? There is a difference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodybuilding_supplement#Testosterone_boosters
wikipedia said:
There are several naturally occurring plants and vitamins as well as synthetic chemicals that supplement companies claim may produce an increase in testosterone levels. However, the validity of many of these products is questionable due to a lack of valid scientific research showing their effectiveness, and even scientific evidence showing a lack of effectiveness. Some commonly taken supplements of this type are ZMA and Tribulus terrestris.

The relatively new drug 4-androstene-3,6,17-trione may increase the testosterone-estrogen ratio.[citation needed]

Excess testosterone can cause undesirable side effects, such as hair loss and acne,[citation needed] and may be converted into estrogens,[19] which can have undesirable effects on males, such as gynecomastia and testicular atrophy.[20]
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Testosterone boosters are not testosterone, and no, testosterone boosters do not do much at all for muscle growth. Its all a big marketing scam. ZMA, tribulus, ecdysterone, hmb and all that rubbish are a huge waste of money. 4AT mentioned in your quote above works by blocking estrogen conversion by inhibiting aromatase enzymes so that is very different as it works directly on a hormonal level. Studies that show that crap like tribulus does increase testosterone levels which is true but it is not enough to have much effect on muscle growth. Increasing testosterone levels by 30-50% really does very little.

An average man's body produces around 50-80mg testosterone a week. Even doubling that amount of testosterone in the bloodstream has surprisingly little effect on muscle growth which is why even a bodybuilder doing their very first cycle of testosterone will usually use a minimum of 400mg per week to get decent muscle gains over a 2-3 month period. So that is 5 to 7 times his normal testosterone production to get the same results that "testosterone boosters" claim they can do with a 50% boost in testosterone. It might sound logical that test boosters work but they are a waste of time unless they work on a hormonal level like prohormones.

Yes, excess testosterone does cause undesirable side effects, some of which can be permanent, and 9/10 users will get side effects over an extended period of time. Its not a simple quick fix, it can be very dangerous.
 
Stiffness

Hey guys,

Quick question, should I be concerned that I no longer get stiff the day (or 2 days) after a workout?

My workouts are centered around Max OT principles, max weights few reps. My strength gains are good but I have little to no stiffness.

Is it an old wives tale that stiffness = growth?

Thanks
 
Yes it's old wives tales to a greater extent... google DOMS - it can be good it can be bad. Stiffness could also mean you need to work more stretching into your routine. Your body is likely just acclimatising but it doesn't mean your workouts are less intense necessarily.... however, it could also mean you need to make some routine changes. Some things to consider - try more complex exersices - i.e. don't waste your time with leg press - go for squats, particularly front squats that work the core region. For hams, try incorporating deadlifts and good mornings - which also include the core region - add a couple of new exersices to your workout, substitute some of the ones you are doing with others and you will prevent your body from getting too comfortable... my 5c
 
Well, well, some very good advice there. I'm also a fan of Max OT style training but its true that if you don't change your weights routine regularly, then muscle growth shifts down into first gear.

Its not so much stiffness that = growth, its that muscles grow fastest when you push them to the point where you cause micro tears in the tissue. With a good diet the muscle tissue grows back bigger and stronger. Unless you are doing that your results will slow down.
 

Any tips for getting squarer pecs? They squarish in the middle, how do I get the outsides more square?
 
JK8, body fat % is the main trick and then hitting all areas around the pec equally. But if bf% isn't low enough you won't see what your muscles look like under the fat. Its not difficult to get your chest bigger by lifting heavy but what is difficult is giving good form to where your bigger pectoral muscle joins the upper arm and the inner pecs which are often undertrained. Variations of flys on an incline and a decline, keeping arms straight and extending your arms as low as you can, but slowly so you feel the outer pecs straining work nicely. Along with going heavy on the pec dec, focussing on squeezing your pecs together, but hold it there for a whole second so by the 8-10th rep its burning like hell. Pec deck is an awesome machine and generally I don't like machines. I moved to a new gym with a crappy pec deck so I didn't really use it and man, it didn't take long before I noticed I had less definition and it affected my dumbell press as well.

But hey I've been struggling to keep a gym routine this year and everything is starting to go south. What a mission it is to get back in shape. Gotta find the energy somewhere!
 
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I noticed something , I dn't use any sups and follow a loose diet yet I have perfect results. Genes Ftw.
 
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