Hello, I’m a new member to your T-Nation family and I’m hoping to learn a lot from these boards.
Anyways let me explain to you my problem.
Yesterday I was given some pretty depressing news. I was told by my friend ( a bodybuilder who has been working out for 4 years )that " I don’t have the body for bodybuilding, I have the body for power lifting". At first I wasn’t to sure to why he said this now, I also wish he had told me this earlier. I had a good idea to why he said what he said and when I asked why, he basically said it’s because I’m not as big as I should be. I figured!
I’ve been lifting weights now for the past 7 months (going into my 8th the start of April)and have noticed gain, not a lot of gain, but gain. However, the weight that I lift has increased tremendously! To give you an idea of just how much I lift in 7 months of working out i’ll name a few exercises and tell you all how much I lift for those particular exercises…
Hammer Strength (Seated Row - 270lbs, 3x 45plates on each side)
Deadlift 235lbs
Hammer Strength (Behind Neck Press - 180lbs 2x 45plates each side)
( I always warm up with two sets, the first set being a light weight, the 2nd being slightly heavier and then finally 3x sets of 6 - 8 with my max weight)
My workout routine is a common one…Monday (chest and triceps), Tuesday (back and biceps), Wednesday (Shoulders), Thursday (break), Friday (chest and triceps), Saturday (back and biceps), Sunday (shoulders and legs), Monday (break), etc, etc.
Can someone offer me guidance on how to gain size? My friend told me that I should limit my reps to 5 - 7 3 sets and increase the weight so when I pull out my 6th or 7th rep I can’t pull out another. Can you gain size through a “power lifting” routine? Plz help!
OK. First of all, don’t even listen to that guy man. If u want to have a “bodybuilder” physique, then have one.
NO ONE CAN EVER LIMIT YOU EXCEPT YOU.
The first thing i would recommend would be to add a heavy leg day. Being the largest muscles on your body, the legs also initiate the largest amount of muscle building hormones. Keep in mind that MANY things come into account when you’re talking about putting on size. Eating enough protein (at least 1 gram per pound of body weight), enough carbs to provide the fuel to workout and grow (roughly 2 grams per pound), AND enough overall calories to gain weight. This amount varies from person to person. It usually averages to around 500 extra calories a day.
Try adding 15-20 grams of whey and 15-20 grams of casein protein with a slow digesting carb like an apple before your workout. Afterwards, the same amount of protein and a fast digesting carb like 32oz of gatorade.
Make sure you’re going to failure on every lift as well. The reps that trigger growth are the last few on the set at which u fail. (most bodybuilders use 8-12 reps as their staple) This forces your body to adapt to the new stimulus of added weight.
The one thing that helped me the most was, every four weeks or so, to change my routine. When you do this you force your body to continually adapt. After about four or so weeks on the same routine your body doesn’t adapt anymore because it doesn’t need to.
No adaptation=no hypertrophy (muscle growth)
That’s fairly basic and many, many other things influence your growth. Just remember you can’t grow without rest. Hit it HARD for 60 mins in the gym then feed, rest, and grow. Hope this helps you out.
I never changed my routine every 4 weeks, infact I change it every 3 months! So i’ll definitely do what you said to do.
I still have 1 question. Can I build muscle mass while powerlifting? Truth is, i’d rather be a power lifter then a body builder. I just figured you only gained size by working out the way a body builder does.
I still have 1 question. Can I build muscle mass while powerlifting? Truth is, i’d rather be a power lifter then a body builder. I just figured you only gained size by working out the way a body builder does. [/quote]
You will gain mass as a Strength Trainee. However, as Powerlifting ( your chosen field ) is a sport, you will gain nearly all of the mass in direct correlation with the demands of said sport. The only exception is if you are some kind of dude who can look like a half-assed bodybuilder while training in other sports. This is uncommon though and from your post I don’t see you being that kind of guy.
If you want to look like a bodybuilder though, you should wipeout the powerlifting, and become a hardcore bodybuilder. It’s that simple, door A, or door B…It’s up to you, but you can’t have both. Not even Coleman did, or Arnold S., etc. Got it?
[quote]SaugaStar wrote:
Ty very much for the help from both posters.
The one thing that helped me the most was, every four weeks or so, to change my routine.
I never changed my routine every 4 weeks, infact I change it every 3 months! So i’ll definitely do what you said to do.
I still have 1 question. Can I build muscle mass while powerlifting? Truth is, i’d rather be a power lifter then a body builder. I just figured you only gained size by working out the way a body builder does. [/quote]
[quote]SaugaStar wrote:
Ty very much for the help from both posters.
The one thing that helped me the most was, every four weeks or so, to change my routine.
I never changed my routine every 4 weeks, infact I change it every 3 months! So i’ll definitely do what you said to do.
I still have 1 question. Can I build muscle mass while powerlifting? Truth is, i’d rather be a power lifter then a body builder. I just figured you only gained size by working out the way a body builder does. [/quote]
I was reading something one time and the guy said, “To build mass you need to build strength.” That’s not always true but if you’re powerlifting you should be gaining mass. I’m not that buff but when I started out I went from a 10 rep program to a 8,6,6 rep program. Since I switch to the 8,6,6 (60%1RM,70%1RM, and 80%1RM) I’ve gained a lot of mass. You’ll probably want to go lower reps and more weight. You want to reach failure. You can’t gain mass if you aren’t forcing your muscles.
If you want strength, you should look into training with isometrics and negatives.