I’ve read a lot of threads recently from newbies about wanting to get hyooge and stay trim at the same time. And I’ve seen even more replies from the people who’ve been in the game a while telling them that it doesn’t work that way, that you can’t just bulk for a few weeks and then cut unless you want to undo your gains.
One thing I haven’t seen in those discussions is how you let your body adapt to bulking for long periods. Am I wrong in assuming that not every part of your body adapts to heavier weights at the same rate? When you bulk, do you need to hit the weights hard for a few weeks and then stay at a plateau for another week or two to allow the muscles, tendons, and other body parts get used to the new stresses before pursuing even heavier weights?
I’ve been reading up on this and confess there’s a lot more for me to read. But I’m interested in how the people here who have bulked for several months at a time or longer plan their routines around this, or if it’s even a concern.
I don’t plan my routine any differently than it always is. I go heavy. There may be some days I don’t always hit my heaviest weight on that last set, but that is because I listen to my body and don’t just do what’s written on paper when I’m in the gym.
Your body shouldn’t be outgrowing your tendon strength naturally if you are training correctly. If you are eating enough and resting individual muscle groups enough, then you are giving your body what it needs to adapt.
i’m just about the same way, i always go heavy…i haven’t known a cutting cycle or a light day for a long time now…
i’m not sure about individual parts adapting at different rates…i train every bodypart the same, and i expect the same progress from them…i think some people try to analyse things too much…if you can’t add weight this week, well…just keep at it, and try again next week…
I’m not sure what your getting at but regarding connective tissue-
"Our joints, rather than muscles, are particularly susceptible to injury when bulking because they seem to adapt more slowly. This is likely due to a decreased blood supply to connective tissue, resulting in a longer adaptation period. So while your muscles may be getting bigger and stronger by the week, your tendons and ligaments may be no better off than they were when you started.
One solution to this problem is to increase rep range as your strength increases. This will help ensure that you’re handling a weight that your joints and connective tissue can handle. Take for example, someone who’s squatting with a 5-7 rep range and has gone from sets using 400 to sets of 420lbs.
Rather than jumping to 440, it may serve him better to stay at 420 for a couple of weeks while his body adjusts to the higher load. In order to keep stressing the muscle, a higher rep range is used in subsequent workouts; for example, 420 for sets of 8-10." -Dave Barr
[quote]tmay11 wrote:
I’m not sure what your getting at but regarding connective tissue-
"Our joints, rather than muscles, are particularly susceptible to injury when bulking because they seem to adapt more slowly. This is likely due to a decreased blood supply to connective tissue, resulting in a longer adaptation period. So while your muscles may be getting bigger and stronger by the week, your tendons and ligaments may be no better off than they were when you started.
[/quote]
Tendons may develop slower, however, I find this of much less importance to the beginner or even most intermediate trainers as their injuries will more often be related to poor form, poor diet or lack of rest. Unless someone’s strength is growing so fast that their body simply can’t keep up, most people will not have to take extended periods of time working on tendon strength.
Barr gives an example of a guy squatting 400lbs. Well, damn, if they squat that much, chances are they are not beginners and moving extremely heavy weight that could kill some people can cause injury, not only to ligaments, but also in muscle bellies.
This is why anyone who is moving such weight should work on warming up more than a beginner may need when training.
[quote]El_Animal wrote:
I’m not sure I understand the question but you ALWAYS try to progress in any way you can.
We don’t like plateaus.
Plateaus are bad.[/quote]
I was just wondering if your body as a whole can adapt to the rapid increase of muscle tissue and support it, or whether you might run the risk of injury by having things like connective tissue lag behind. But Prof X made a point that makes a lot of sense to me regarding that being more of an issue for advanced lifters.
I gotta be honest with you guys, the idea that you can put on a half pound of muscle a week is kinda mind-blowing for me. I realize it’s not easy to do and requires a lot of dedication and discipline, but the just the idea that it’s possible… I think it’s one of those preconceptions I had about lifting, that you couldn’t pack on muscle that quickly.
It probably came from knowing a lot of people who “worked out” or claimed to work out and never really got any bigger. When you see enough of that, you start to believe that it’s damn near impossible to get big for the average person. Obviously we all can’t be as big as Ronnie Coleman, but for some reason it just never occurred to me until I started reading the articles and threads here that with enough effort it can be done.
I gotta be honest with you guys, the idea that you can put on a half pound of muscle a week is kinda mind-blowing for me. I realize it’s not easy to do and requires a lot of dedication and discipline, but the just the idea that it’s possible… I think it’s one of those preconceptions I had about lifting, that you couldn’t pack on muscle that quickly.
It probably came from knowing a lot of people who “worked out” or claimed to work out and never really got any bigger. When you see enough of that, you start to believe that it’s damn near impossible to get big for the average person. Obviously we all can’t be as big as Ronnie Coleman, but for some reason it just never occurred to me until I started reading the articles and threads here that with enough effort it can be done.[/quote]
This is mostly from people either half assing their training and not eating enough. I think most people are to insecure that after they put on 10 15 or 20 lbs they feel they are putting on to much fat and than cut back down to soon and loose most/all of the muscle mass they built. I know I have done this in the past and now am on a long term bulk and have gained almost 40lbs since the start of this year. I still plan on putting another 30 or so lbs before I consider a cutting cycle.
[quote]Defender wrote:
It probably came from knowing a lot of people who “worked out” or claimed to work out and never really got any bigger. When you see enough of that, you start to believe that it’s damn near impossible to get big for the average person. Obviously we all can’t be as big as Ronnie Coleman, but for some reason it just never occurred to me until I started reading the articles and threads here that with enough effort it can be done.[/quote]
If this is truly a description of the current state of affairs, then this country is truly beginning to suck in terms of its male population. When I was in high school, which wasn’t exactly that long ago for this drastic of a change, if you wanted to get big, you lifted weights and ate more. Period. I don’t understand what the hell happened in such a short period of time that there are actually guys growing up now who think that any muscle gain at all is nearly impossible without drugs.
This is what happens when media and the general public begins focusing on drug use as if that is what makes an athlete. If anyone thinks that Ronnie Coleman didn’t work his ass off and force himself to grow in spite of anything else he might be doing, they are severely misinformed.
Yes, hard work is how you grow. I can’t believe this isn’t understood anymore. That explains why people treat me like I was always big my entire life.
If this is truly a description of the current state of affairs, then this country is truly beginning to suck in terms of its male population. When I was in high school, which wasn’t exactly that long ago for this drastic of a change, if you wanted to get big, you lifted weights and ate more. Period. I don’t understand what the hell happened in such a short period of time that there are actually guys growing up now who think that any muscle gain at all is nearly impossible without drugs.
This is what happens when media and the general public begins focusing on drug use as if that is what makes an athlete. If anyone thinks that Ronnie Coleman didn’t work his ass off and force himself to grow in spite of anything else he might be doing, they are severely misinformed.
Yes, hard work is how you grow. I can’t believe this isn’t understood anymore. That explains why people treat me like I was always big my entire life.[/quote]
There is a huge chasm of ignorance out there when it comes to lifting. A year ago, I knew nothing about weights and shamefully believed all the misinformation. I really think it’s due to jealousy. After all, if you try to lift weights and aren’t successful because you didn’t put in the hard work, it’s easy to rationalize your lack of results by implying those who succeed do so because they either have perfect genetics or use drugs. Basically, it’s easier to tear down others than admit your own failings.
i disagree,all my friends who play sports are bigger then most guys at my school(average guy being 130lb,athlete at 150-170lbs)and they know what to do.The ones who dont wanna be big(until they start some shit) dont wanna be big because,frankly highschool girls dont like the big strong guy anymore.
They want the cute “misfit” skater guy who looks anorexic.Though when I put on 75lbs in a years time everyone screamed steriods cept a few of my friends cause i took them to some of my workouts.
Now as far as training,I lifted heavy-I mean heavy.When i first started i could use 45lb dbs,so on my first bulk day i used 55lb dbs.You have to push yourself constantly or you fall off…and its easy to not be sore and tired and not go workout.And if you are vein I would suggest bulking very slowly,or stretch marks are gonna be making guest appearances.
Also each week I added at least 5lbs or 5 reps to each exercise to make sure I didnt stall.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Your body shouldn’t be outgrowing your tendon strength naturally if you are training correctly. If you are eating enough and resting individual muscle groups enough, then you are giving your body what it needs to adapt.
[/quote]
I wish someone told me this about 5 years ago. So much wasted time. Overtraining turns into a serious issue when you don’t eat enough.