The EC Workout Thread: Shared Motivation

:lol: Thank you however before I give you an advice I should say that I'm not a professional(yet!) in the field of health. So if you have any doubts always consult a professional.

Anyways from what you wrote you seem to be doing things right. Keep on changing exercises and weights. For building size you want to up the weight from the reps you presented instead of 10,8,6 use 8,6,4 or even more.One lift I'd advise you to look into is decline bench press. Also do you make sure to rest in between days since if you just focus on one area you could face muscle plateauing. One thing I'm curious is how long have you been trying to increase chest size? You should take into account the fact that people sometimes are limited in appearance by genetics naturally.

 

I mean, I've been trying to increase for like 2 years now, but not very seriously until recently. I used to be really into running (about 25 miles a week). The problem I have is that I have a hard time putting on weight. I can do it, but I basically have to stop cardio. The problem with this is that when I put on weight, it first goes to my lower body, which I don't want. But, when I run consistently, the first place I lose mass is my upper body. It's frustrating, but I have made some discernible progress in the past 2 years.

I of course rest. I usually try to do each body part once a week, except legs which is about every 2 weeks. I sometimes throw a decline bench in. Do you think decline barbell or dumbbell is better?

 

Hmm seems to be your genetic then are the ones that play the major role here(lol I actually have a naturally big chest). Yeah running will cause you to not gain weight. Perhaps have you thought about swimming as a substitute it'll give you the cardio work while working your entire body instead of just legs.

Hmm I can't really say if one or the other is better when it comes to the whole issue of db or bb. However you can definitely mix both of them into the workout. For example my work has me do both flat and incline benches with db and bb however they are on different days of the week.

 

Hang Clean:4x115,135x5,6
Squats:5x175,205,215,225,230x10,8
Step-Ups:3x45x10
RDL:3x205x10
Pull Downs:3x120,130,150x10
Upright Rows:3x95,105x10
Preacher Curls:4x70,80,90,100x10
Russian Twist: 3x25x20

Jogged for 60 minutes.

 

Wow I haven't seen this thread before. I take my workouts seriously wehen I work out.
I try to go to the gym three times a week (work on mostly chest, biceps, and shoulders)
I don ab workouts Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and the intensity depend son how much abs I do when it's not any of those days (e.g. my track team does core workouts every other day, and I do some abs at the gym)
I never work with machines or free weights with my legs, since I run.
I should be working on my back triceps some more as well...
Also, I should improve my diet, but hey I still got 2 years til college =D

Anyways, today I ran (I run 6/7 days a week) and did two ab workouts, and tomorrow I shall run and go to the gym.

 

Score, despite me not noticing it, loads of people have been commenting on me slimming down, and I've started to see someone, who keeps telling me my body is perfect - modicum of body confidence here I come. Now I just even more incentive to work out.

 

Incline Bench:4x125,135,145,155x10
DB Shoulder Press:3x45x10
Dips:3xBWx10
DB Bench Press:3x65,70x10
Lateral Raises:3x30x10
DB Shrugs:3x90x12
CG Bench Press:3x135x10
Cable Side Pulls:3x150,180,200x10
Decline Sit-ups:3x20
Side Leg Raises:3x15

Was short on time so I only jogged for 30 minutes.

 

Congrats! Keep it up!

 

i'm the exact same way, I see my tummy and don't think I've lost jack crap, but the scale and other folk don't lie

 

Bench Press:5x135,185,190,200,205x10,8
DB Incline Press:3x60,65,70x10
DB Standing Press:3x40,45x10
Lateral Raises:3x30x10
Front Raises:3x30x10
Dips: 3xBWx10
Close Grip Bench: 3x135x10
Cable Side Pulls:3x160, 200, 210x10
Side Leg Raises:3x15
Decline Setups:3x20

Jogged for 30 minutes.

 

I started lifting this January. 3 times a week. I stopped in mid March due to school plus I had weird pain in my leg & back... Finally got myself back to doing it this summer. I usually do free weights and try to increase by 5lbs every time I go to the gym. So far its been pretty consistent but I don't know why I always have trouble with bench press. I got to 115lbs a week ago and I'm stuck there now... Any advice?

 

I recently got a gym membership to anytime fitness. basically, whenever I feel the urge to work out, I can go, 24/7 and lift weights and do cardio. I try to do 5-6 days a week, with four days of lifting, and every day I go, I do cardio.

I split my lifting into upper body, and lower body, with a day of rest once I have done two days of lifting. I am sticking for now to the machines for lower body, because I find free weight leg workouts to be nerve wracking, because form is even more important, and they are also your most prone lifts.

I have had the membership for about 2 and a half weeks, and my bodyfat percentange has dropped from 11-13% fluctuations throughout the day to 9.5-11%, and I have put on maybe half a pound to a pound of muscle, since my body was used to free weights, and I am doing basically machines, so I can push more. I broke through my body's adaptation to my prior routine. I have basically been able to keep my weight about the same while getting trimmer, and I now am working my way up to 170-175 from 161 average body weight.

my motivation right now is that my arms and legs have exploded in the last two and a half weeks, and I added a half a inch to my arms, and parts of my legs added two inches as I only did leg workouts with free weights every two weeks because I hated them.

I am going to try to pack on as much muscle as I can in the next ten days, as my 10 year high school reunion is the 30th. it might not make a difference, but might as well try... what do I have to lose?

I also am addicted to adaptive motion machines. they are a cross between a elliptical, a arc trainer, and a stair master. you basically can switch your motion during your workout to work the muscles differently, and keep your heart rate up by keeping your body guessing. plus, they have built in tv screens, and top quality cable selection. my weds night ritual is workout at 7pm on them so I can workout and enjoy 'through the wormhole with morgan freeman'

---------- Post added 20th Jul 2011 at 11:57 AM ----------

if you are doing barbells, switch to dumbbells... just pull back the weight shared between the two as dumbbells require use of smaller muscles to stabilize the wieght that you do not get with barbells. Also, make sure you get some incline and decline bench presses in to work the muscles differently if you are not already doing so.

dumbells alone can help you break through the fact that your body adapts to a routine, and therefore, it becomes less effective, even if you push more weight. When you switch it up, you force the body to readapt. you should switch things like this every 8-12 weeks to maximse growth and strength gains.

 

Thanks Emberstone! One more question: When doing bench press with barbells, if i want to work out my chest more, I shouldn't do close grip right? Thanks again!!

 

Incline Bench:4x115,135,145,160x10
DB Shoulder Press:3x50x10
DB Bench Press:3x65x10
Lateral Raises:3x30x10
Dips:3xBWx12
Tricep Pulldowns:4x130,150x10
Cable Side Pulls:3x150,180,200x10
Side Leg Raises:3x15
Decline Sit-Ups:3x20

Jogged for 30 minutes.

 

well, changing the grip will always stimulate chest growth if you have become used to normal, wide, or close grips. however generally, the wider the grip, the more it hits the chest, the narrower the grip, the more your triceps come into play. it is good idea to move between various grips to keep your body guessing. you will still hit the chest with close grips, but if you take a few weeks of to allow your body to adapt to those, when you go back to normal or wide grip bench presses, you will have quicker gains for a while because you body was not used to them. of course, you will still make more switching between dumbells and barbell bench presses than changing your grip, but you should change your grip every once in a while if your just going to stick to barbells.

Also, make sure you are doing dumbell/machine flys, as stretching the muscle helps you get better pumps (blood flooding and engorging the muscles because of them being worked out) which can help with chest development. you dont need much weight, just enough to help the stretch when you pull the arms back.

 

Went to the gym yesterday. Going there is harder because of transportation :/
I did declines to work my chest, and it was the first time I've ever done them, so I had to start at a light weight. Did 4 types of chest workouts, 3 sets for the first one, and 3 sets for the last one, and the 2 in between I did 2 heavy sets.

I was able to move up 10 more pounds with my biceps, rejoice!! (!)

Did a few triceps, I need to do more workouts for those, they are the flabbiest parts of my body.

Next time, I think I will be able to move up a few pounds when I do shoulder shrugs! My shoulders are growing, yess:icon_bigg

Did 3 sets of abs, will work on abs later tonight. Why are abs the hardest muscles to get? ):

Anyways, will go to the gym tomorrow and work more on triceps.

 

I hate ab workouts as much as legs. I think it is because they are both some of your smaller muscles, and they also dont do all that much, so, at least for me, working them out gets boring fast.

Also, most people dont have you work them properly. cruches and bicycle kicks work the outer abs, but it is hard to hit the inner abs if you dont know what you are doing. outer abs may give you the washerboard, but they do not give you the flat stomach profile. you have to find ways to work the inner abs to do that.

I only started to see my stomach flatten when I started doing stomach vacums where you pull your belly button in as if you want to touch it to your spine. you hold it until you cant hold it in anymore, and that tones and tightened the inner muscles that dont get hit by crunches.

 

thanks so much! thats really helpful :icon_bigg

 

Interesting...
I don't do crunches, though, I use the P90X Ab Ripper and I use a couple different workouts often to change it around.

I'll have to try that belly button thing