So I have been trying to establish a workout plan through the articles in here while I recover from a back injury again.
And I keep realizing that I think I am doing thing WAY to fast.
I mean, when I go through a typical article about working out arms, I complete all of the sets in about 30-40 minutes. Yet I hear all of these incredibly muscular guys who say they are working out 3 hours a day. Are they simply restarting the program and doing it 2-3 more times to get in 3 hours of work a day?
Or are they working out more than just arms a day? Is it bad to work out both legs and arms a day or am I supposed to still do “Just arms and just leg days”.
These same people are also saying they are doing this EVERY day. I was told before that you should allow a day between workouts to allow muscle to recover. Should I workout with weights everyday? Or will I never put on any muscle and just keep breaking down muscle constantly while it never even gets a chance to build it back up?
Its clear you have a large lack of knowledge when it comes to strength-training and nutrition.
Your way of educating yourself should NOT be based on people’s opinions from a forum. You should use forums to supplement knowledge, and/or discuss specific scenarios.
The answers to the questions you are posing should be verified by Articles which contain scientific evidence to support their claims.
This is a good article to start with. It’s written by T-Nation’s own Chris Colucci. He has excellent articles, and I suggest you read a few of them, as you build your ‘locker of knowledge’.
I like my workouts to last no longer than 90 minutes. 90 minute mark is where I’ve realized that my mental and physical abilities are compromised enough for me to make stupid mistakes and injure myself.
Your workouts should be as long as it takes to get the prescribed sets/reps in for the program you are using. As a novice, you should be using one of the proven programs like Starting Strength, Stronglifts, etc. that focus on doing compound whole-body barbell lifts. You should not be thinking in terms of “arms” or “legs” at this point.
Its clear you have a large lack of knowledge when it comes to strength-training and nutrition.
Your way of educating yourself should NOT be based on people’s opinions from a forum. You should use forums to supplement knowledge, and/or discuss specific scenarios.
The answers to the questions you are posing should be verified by Articles which contain scientific evidence to support their claims.
This is a good article to start with. It’s written by T-Nation’s own Chris Colucci. He has excellent articles, and I suggest you read a few of them, as you build your ‘locker of knowledge’.
Bro,
He’s a beginner, the forum is “Beginners” forum, It’s a fair question for a beginner. I’m sure you are way more advanced then both him and I but I can remember asking the same thing may years ago.
[quote]Haymaker33 wrote:
So I have been trying to establish a workout plan through the articles in here while I recover from a back injury again.
And I keep realizing that I think I am doing thing WAY to fast.
I mean, when I go through a typical article about working out arms, I complete all of the sets in about 30-40 minutes. Yet I hear all of these incredibly muscular guys who say they are working out 3 hours a day. Are they simply restarting the program and doing it 2-3 more times to get in 3 hours of work a day?
Or are they working out more than just arms a day? Is it bad to work out both legs and arms a day or am I supposed to still do “Just arms and just leg days”.
These same people are also saying they are doing this EVERY day. I was told before that you should allow a day between workouts to allow muscle to recover. Should I workout with weights everyday? Or will I never put on any muscle and just keep breaking down muscle constantly while it never even gets a chance to build it back up?
Thanks for the help.[/quote]
Now my opinion, take it for what it’s worth;
You are young and starting out and your body will forgive you for some of the dumb things you will do. But please get 2 days between hitting a muscle. Don’t do back on Monday and biceps on Tuesday since you will be hitting the bi’s in your back work. Same goes for chest and tri’s. When you start looking at shoulders, it gets even more complicated since the shoulders can be involved in numerous movement. Best bet is to keep chest together with tri’s and back with bi’s (Multi-joint work first)
Time wise, depending on where you are at, I would say keep it to 60-90 min. excluding any cardio. 4-5 times a week. Pick a day you will always take off, that’s the day for fun and relaxing; I recommend fishing!
[quote]doublelung84 wrote:
Bro,
He’s a beginner, the forum is “Beginners” forum, It’s a fair question for a beginner. I’m sure you are way more advanced the both him and I but I can remember asking the same thing may years ago.
[/quote]
I’m having a hard time understanding what you are implying.
Was my advice detrimental?
I’m sorry if you assumed or interpreted my answer based on the premise that his question was “unfair” or “stupid”.
[quote]doublelung84 wrote:
Bro,
He’s a beginner, the forum is “Beginners” forum, It’s a fair question for a beginner. I’m sure you are way more advanced the both him and I but I can remember asking the same thing may years ago.
[/quote]
I’m having a hard time understanding what you are implying.
Was my advice detrimental?
I’m sorry if you assumed or interpreted my answer based on the premise that his question was “unfair” or “stupid”.
[/quote]
It just sounded condescending.
“Its clear you have a large lack of knowledge when it comes to strength-training and nutrition.”
[quote]doublelung84 wrote:
Bro,
He’s a beginner, the forum is “Beginners” forum, It’s a fair question for a beginner. I’m sure you are way more advanced the both him and I but I can remember asking the same thing may years ago.
[/quote]
I’m having a hard time understanding what you are implying.
Was my advice detrimental?
I’m sorry if you assumed or interpreted my answer based on the premise that his question was “unfair” or “stupid”.
[/quote]
It just sounded condescending.
“Its clear you have a large lack of knowledge when it comes to strength-training and nutrition.” [/quote]
[quote]doublelung84 wrote:
Bro,
He’s a beginner, the forum is “Beginners” forum, It’s a fair question for a beginner. I’m sure you are way more advanced the both him and I but I can remember asking the same thing may years ago.
[/quote]
I’m having a hard time understanding what you are implying.
Was my advice detrimental?
I’m sorry if you assumed or interpreted my answer based on the premise that his question was “unfair” or “stupid”.
[/quote]
It just sounded condescending.
“Its clear you have a large lack of knowledge when it comes to strength-training and nutrition.” [/quote]
I actually thought it was a fair response. I think the OP should be looking for a program, vs how long a work-out should take. A good program will dictate the amount of time needed. Maybe a little condescending, but we’re all big kids here.
For me… after 90 minutes I am totally spent and training becomes worthless at that point.
op you may be reading about three hour workouts from pros or some that are injecting human growth hormone and steroids.
that will allow some to lift two - three hours without catabolism occurring. the more intense the workout, the more cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands to make up for the loss of muscle tissue. in other words your body is breaking down muscle for fuel.
the reason a “natural” bodybuilder shouldn’t train longer than 60-70 minutes is the body’s “natural” hormones that build muscle and burn fat begin to drop after 60-70 minutes. your levels of testosterone and human growth hormone have been depleted and training past that limit is a waste of time.
also glycogen (your stored carbs) levels that fuel muscles will be exhausted. if you train long hours on a regular basis your body’s ability to recover will be impaired. no more muscle growth is the result.
rest between sets should be in the 90 second range. besides helping you get more work in, it helps improve your cardiovascular system.
keep your sets in the eight - fifteen rep limit. within this range your body’s human growth hormone output is maximized. you will get a good pump (blood rushing to muscle) which helps nourish muscle cells while allowing them to recover and rebuild faster. lastly with this number of repetitions you will be less likely to injure yourself because you will be forced to use lighter weight.
(higher reps on calves and abs)
the other thing to do is progressively add a little weight or more sets and repetitions to each workout. do what you can without injuring or draining yourself. this prevents your body from adapting to the workout.
if you don’t change the workout your body will get to a point where it maintains it’s level of muscle instead of growing it bigger.
it likes to remain in a state of homeostasis/balance. so keep increasing the weight when you can and about every three weeks switch and do lighter weight with a whole lot more reps, then vice versa heavier weight fewer reps in another three weeks.
read as much as you can. i’m sure your local library has some very good books on weight lifting.
