Professor X: A Request

Training Bodybuilding
1043

[quote]yalb93 wrote:
Prof X

I’m around 6 foot and weigh 175. My training do far has been:

Shoulders/Chest/Tris
Back/Bis/Legs

training four times a week. In my main lifts I use a powerlifting style approach, but a bb style for accessory work, like drops sets, higher reps etc.

Ive gained decent strength and weight, but feel like my physique has not really improved. My arms are stuck at a puny 12 inches and have been so for a year. Its wierd cos all my lifts have gone up, including curls and weighted dips and the like.

When I first started training I weighed 135, but my physique hasnt drastically improved.

Should I start a typical BB split, like 1 bodypart a week?

Do i need more volume?

cheers X[/quote]

You are 6 feet tall. You won’t look big at that height unless you are over a casual 200lbs and/or have very round muscle bellies and small joints. If your arms are still 12" around, maybe you need to work on eating more…or perhaps training biceps directly.

Why would you lift using a “powerlifting” style when your goals fall in line with bodybuilding? Strength is a part of bodybuilding. It simply isn’t the only focus like it is in powerlifting.

First, you won’t see me tell anyone looking to make huge changes in how they look to only train 4 days a week…unless they played outside sports or had the genetics to thrive off of training like that. As a beginner, you recover faster and if you don’t USE that to your advantage, you will not make optimal progress. I never trained less than 5 days a week as a beginner.

My guess is, your overall routine is wrong and you avoid training muscle groups directly in isolation.

List what it is you do exactly, or perhaps start another thread on the subject.

1044

[quote]yalb93 wrote:
Prof X

I’m around 6 foot and weigh 175. My training do far has been:

Shoulders/Chest/Tris
Back/Bis/Legs

training four times a week. In my main lifts I use a powerlifting style approach, but a bb style for accessory work, like drops sets, higher reps etc.

Ive gained decent strength and weight, but feel like my physique has not really improved. My arms are stuck at a puny 12 inches and have been so for a year. Its wierd cos all my lifts have gone up, including curls and weighted dips and the like.

When I first started training I weighed 135, but my physique hasnt drastically improved.

Should I start a typical BB split, like 1 bodypart a week?

Do i need more volume?

cheers X[/quote]

Im not one to speak for progress but really? 12"? At 6’? WOW! You need to work on those asap.

1045

My diet seems to be working as I’m steadily gaining weight, around a pound or two a month.
I train bench squat and deadlift in a powerlifting style as I want to compete at some point later in life. However, I do understand that this wont make me bigger, so I do employ BBing techniques to stimulate the muscles.

Sun:
Clean and Press, work up to 3RM or heavy singles
Lateral raises 4 x 12
face pulls 4 x 12-15
Dips (I like to heavy, up to sets of 3-5)
Pushdowns 4 x 12

Tue:
Deadlift
Chins
T bar rows 4 x 8
other row variations 3 x 8-12
Barbell curls 4 x 5 (more of a heavy warmup)
Hammer curls 4 x 10

Thurs:
Bench
Dumbbell bench 4 x 8
Incline machine 4 x 10
JM presses or close grip bench 4 x 8
Pushdowns 4 x 12

Fri:
Squat
Leg presses 4 x 15
Leg curls 3 x 12
DB curls 3 x 8
Hammer curls 4 x 12

I am hitting arms twice a week. The sets and reps are estimated, as I pyramid up in weight and go by feel mostly.

1046

[quote]yalb93 wrote:

My diet seems to be working as I’m steadily gaining weight, around a pound or two a month.
I train bench squat and deadlift in a powerlifting style as I want to compete at some point later in life. However, I do understand that this wont make me bigger, so I do employ BBing techniques to stimulate the muscles.

Sun:
Clean and Press, work up to 3RM or heavy singles
Lateral raises 4 x 12
face pulls 4 x 12-15
Dips (I like to heavy, up to sets of 3-5)
Pushdowns 4 x 12

Tue:
Deadlift
Chins
T bar rows 4 x 8
other row variations 3 x 8-12
Barbell curls 4 x 5 (more of a heavy warmup)
Hammer curls 4 x 10

Thurs:
Bench
Dumbbell bench 4 x 8
Incline machine 4 x 10
JM presses or close grip bench 4 x 8
Pushdowns 4 x 12

Fri:
Squat
Leg presses 4 x 15
Leg curls 3 x 12
DB curls 3 x 8
Hammer curls 4 x 12

I am hitting arms twice a week. The sets and reps are estimated, as I pyramid up in weight and go by feel mostly.
[/quote]

I think you should start your own thread on this.

I will only write that someone at your stage only gaining 1 or 2lbs a month is way too slow unless you aren’t training right. How do you even track 1 or 2lbs a month? My weight can fluctuate 5lbs or more in one day as can most people’s.

1047

the problem is that when i fisrt started, i was gaining far more per month. Then i realised that it was mostly fat gain. since then i am trying to gain lean mass and have seen that a slower approach is better.

1048

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]browndisaster wrote:
In an earlier post you mentioned prefatiguing certain muscles when training biceps. could you go into more detail?[/quote]

I injured my forearm years back with a strain. It hurts to do regular curls now without warming up significantly (which can take 10 minutes some days or more). I found that by stressing that particular muscle until it “fails”, I can go heavy for biceps curls without the same soreness.

My conclusion is, because of that, the brachioradialis fires first with any curling motion which may be why my forearms never needed direct attention as they grew along with everything else.

I now have to take them out of the equation first to hit my biceps hard enough.[/quote]

  1. Awesome thread, thanks to all. Made me join up :slight_smile:

  2. Have you tried “rolling” this, as in Myofascial Release? I get much the same issue with pull ups, and this seems to help. Kinda awkward to get at, looks like I’m humping the bench, but does help.

1049

[quote]johnny johnny wrote:

  1. Awesome thread, thanks to all. Made me join up :slight_smile:

  2. Have you tried “rolling” this, as in Myofascial Release? I get much the same issue with pull ups, and this seems to help. Kinda awkward to get at, looks like I’m humping the bench, but does help.

[/quote]

I haven’t tried rolling, but this isn’t a problem I feel at any other time. Warming up while holding the contraction has worked for over a year…and my biceps are responding as a result. This isn’t an issue with cramped muscles so much as it is having a group of muscles that fire first. My forearms are even larger in that area (with new stretch marks) all because that part of my arm fires first whenever I do a biceps curl. I literally have to take that muscle group out of action to some degree so I can even work my biceps normally.

1050

Professor X,

I was talking to my sister who’s a dentist about what additional schooling is required after dental school to become an oral surgeon. She told me it’s a 4-6 year program, and if you do the full 6 you also get and MD as well.

Do you also have an MD?

1051

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Professor X,

I was talking to my sister who’s a dentist about what additional schooling is required after dental school to become an oral surgeon. She told me it’s a 4-6 year program, and if you do the full 6 you also get and MD as well.

Do you also have an MD?[/quote]

It is a 6 year residency program at most hospitals and no, I did not go that route. By the time I got my DDS I was ready to be done with school. I had been going non-stop since college full time and just needed a break. I do not have an MD but received heavy training in that area by an MD as far as oral surgery while in the Air Force. But yes, your sister is right. Once you have your DDS, it takes going through a surgery residency.

In other words, they treat 4 years of dental school like 4 years of med school. You simply have to finish a surgery residency program.

1052

X, at what point did force feeding become easy? I to do not count calories but do you think it would be a good idea to count to see what 3,000 actually looks and takes to eat?

1053

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Professor X,

I was talking to my sister who’s a dentist about what additional schooling is required after dental school to become an oral surgeon. She told me it’s a 4-6 year program, and if you do the full 6 you also get and MD as well.

Do you also have an MD?[/quote]

It is a 6 year residency program at most hospitals and no, I did not go that route. By the time I got my DDS I was ready to be done with school. I had been going non-stop since college full time and just needed a break. I do not have an MD but received heavy training in that area by an MD as far as oral surgery while in the Air Force. But yes, your sister is right. Once you have your DDS, it takes going through a surgery residency.

In other words, they treat 4 years of dental school like 4 years of med school. You simply have to finish a surgery residency program.[/quote]

I was talking to my dentist and yea apparently out of dental school other options are available. His one friend became an anesthesiologist afterward.

1054

[quote]Fuzzyapple wrote:
X, at what point did force feeding become easy? I to do not count calories but do you think it
would be a good idea to count to see what 3,000 actually looks and takes to eat?[/quote]

LOL. I don’t think it became “easy” until about 4 years ago after I hit my heaviest body weight. After that, it seemed as if it didn’t take as much for me to maintain the same weight.

Let me put it like this…in junior high and high school, I was one of those kids who would get nauseated even thinking about eating breakfast. I literally had to force myself to start eating better (or at all) at that time of day with my only inspiration for it being what I read in Flex magazine. That was when I started eating “6 meals a day” even though back then, I had no clue what those “6 meals” should be.

Eating all day was never easy for me until I got much bigger overall. I was uncomfortable most of the time. Protein shakes back then were shit and I had to deal with the lactose intolerance from most of them if I used them.

You are asking me if YOU should count calories. That is up to you. I personally understand how variable all of those factors are that go into what maintains your body weight through out a day so I don’t see the point or the need…but then, I can get a general picture of how much I am eating by looking at a calorie panel. Also, if you aren’t gaining weight, you need to eat MORE. Getting caught up in the specific number isn’t always the best idea.

1055

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]johnny johnny wrote:

  1. Awesome thread, thanks to all. Made me join up :slight_smile:

  2. Have you tried “rolling” this, as in Myofascial Release? I get much the same issue with pull ups, and this seems to help. Kinda awkward to get at, looks like I’m humping the bench, but does help.

[/quote]

I haven’t tried rolling, but this isn’t a problem I feel at any other time. Warming up while holding the contraction has worked for over a year…and my biceps are responding as a result. This isn’t an issue with cramped muscles so much as it is having a group of muscles that fire first. My forearms are even larger in that area (with new stretch marks) all because that part of my arm fires first whenever I do a biceps curl. I literally have to take that muscle group out of action to some degree so I can even work my biceps normally.

[/quote]

Anything specific that you do for injury prevention, mitigation or rehab?

1056

X,
I understand how you say every person’s body is different and responds different to certain training. I’ve been following the cookie cutter programs without much success lately, so I was hoping for some “mentor” advice from someone who’s truly big and strong. Exactly how would you tell me to train? I know you don’t know me at all, but can you give me a basic outline to follow? How long should it take to notice results(when should I change things that aren’t working?) And also what variables should I change when things aren’t working(sets/reps? frequency? exercise?) You’ve probably heard this a million times, but I’m a stupid noob who wants to get big like prof X. thanks for this great thread and any advice

David

1057

[quote]johnny johnny wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]johnny johnny wrote:

  1. Awesome thread, thanks to all. Made me join up :slight_smile:

  2. Have you tried “rolling” this, as in Myofascial Release? I get much the same issue with pull ups, and this seems to help. Kinda awkward to get at, looks like I’m humping the bench, but does help.

[/quote]

I haven’t tried rolling, but this isn’t a problem I feel at any other time. Warming up while holding the contraction has worked for over a year…and my biceps are responding as a result. This isn’t an issue with cramped muscles so much as it is having a group of muscles that fire first. My forearms are even larger in that area (with new stretch marks) all because that part of my arm fires first whenever I do a biceps curl. I literally have to take that muscle group out of action to some degree so I can even work my biceps normally.

[/quote]

Anything specific that you do for injury prevention, mitigation or rehab?

[/quote]

Other than warm up enough so the pain isn’t there or is much less noticeable? No, not really. What I am doing is working. This doesn’t just seem to be directly related to an injury. I truly seem to have a forearm muscle that fires first during any curl movement and given my biceps is stronger, it seems to strain that area unless I fatigue it first. That area of my forearm is pretty big especially considering I do no direct work for them.

1058

[quote]godsrealson wrote:
X,
I understand how you say every person’s body is different and responds different to certain training. I’ve been following the cookie cutter programs without much success lately, so I was hoping for some “mentor” advice from someone who’s truly big and strong. Exactly how would you tell me to train? I know you don’t know me at all, but can you give me a basic outline to follow? How long should it take to notice results(when should I change things that aren’t working?) And also what variables should I change when things aren’t working(sets/reps? frequency? exercise?) You’ve probably heard this a million times, but I’m a stupid noob who wants to get big like prof X. thanks for this great thread and any advice

David[/quote]

You need a basic workout skeleton that will allow you to learn and make changes as you progress. There is nothing wrong with the concept of doing 2-3 movements per body part doing the “mass builders” first and then doing more isolation later in the workout.

If you are in the gym five days a week, I believe the average beginner should have no problem training 2 body parts a day (or more if abs and calves are thrown in and counted as such).

In general I would recommend training whatever muscle group is lagging “more” twice a week.

Putting the muscle groups together on certain days is more matter of preference and LOGIC. Obviously, if you just trained chest yesterday, you may want to AVOID training shoulders today.

Why? Because they use many of the same muscle groups, not to mention the shoulder joint seems to be one of the most prone to long term injury.

So, considering that, a schedule could look like:
Mon- Biceps, back
Tues - Chest, Triceps
wed-rest
Thursday - Legs
Friday - shoulders
whatever you train either Saturday or Sunday could be the muscle group lagging the most allowing one more rest day.

That is it. It is not complicated.

If you aren’t progressing at all in what you are doing, the likely culprit is YOU, not the specific routine. If you are gaining no body weight, don’t expect to be making huge gains in muscle mass.

if you aren’t pushing yourself harder than most, don’t expect above average progress.

There is no “cookie cutter” routine. This is about LOGIC, hard work and consistency in the gym and the kitchen, and long term commitment.

That is why so few ever make outstanding progress.

1059

[quote]Professor X wrote:
If you aren’t progressing at all in what you are doing, the likely culprit is YOU, not the specific routine.[/quote]

Nah. Gotta be the routine. Just gotta be. Hard work and food are overrated.

1060

Ok thank you. That helps a lot, just a few questions about what an actual training day would look like. Say for chest day, do 2 or 3 exercises and then some isolation work…how would it look in terms of volume and sets/reps. Are some days high rep sets, or should everyday be ramping up to a heavy triple or double. I realize this will change based on goals and levels, but what would you recommend to start with. Similarly, how do you feel about training to failure? Thanks for everything

1061

[quote]Professor X wrote:
not to mention the shoulder joint seems to be one of the most prone to long term injury.

[…]

if you aren’t pushing yourself harder than most, don’t expect above average progress.

There is no “cookie cutter” routine. This is about LOGIC, hard work and consistency in the gym and the kitchen, and long term commitment.

That is why so few ever make outstanding progress.[/quote]

All of this, quoted for truth and emphasis.

1062

[quote]Professor X wrote:
a schedule could look like:
Mon- Biceps, back
Tues - Chest, Triceps
wed-rest
Thursday - Legs
Friday - shoulders[/quote]X, would you recommend Heavy BB Shrugs on both Monday’s and Friday’s workouts ?