rest / exercise cycle

[robbase]

I usually do 3 days on (3 days of exercise- about 40-45 minutes of weights, 20-30 minutes of cardio)) 1 day off and 2 days on (2 days of exercise) and another day off.....

recently I changed it up and think it is working better, doing about an hour of weights a day for 3 days a week (every other day kind of) and on the "other day" I run for 40 minutes (about 3 days a week) and do a 20 minute "core" class twice a week. on my total "off" day I at least walk the dog 3 times for an overall total of 60 minutes (I usually walk the dog the other days too the same amount)

anyway, with a 24 hour break between lifting weights, I am feeling a difference...not sure to chalk it up to just that I am doing something different or that my body has at least 24 hrs "off" from weights between each weight session.

Thoughts? (does my description make sense?)

as a side note I constantly like to change things up anyway so not sure how long I will maintain my current schedule until I change it (I try to apply my favorite Einstein quote- "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results)

[pig]

What are your goals?

[robbase]

for now that it is "summer" time my goal is 6 pack (Ok I probably won't make that this summer, but as good as I can get). After summer I am going to try for strength / power. At least that is the plan, we'll see how the execution goes.

[pig]

If you're comfortable with it it seems ok. It certainly wouldn't hurt to add more cardio. I'm of the opinion that it's hard to overtrain with cardio unless you're doing something like a marathon.

What are you doing for lifting? If you did a circuit type of training with the weights that will help you burn more calories as well.

[robbase]

usually I superset bis & tris one day and also superset chest and back another day.

[pig]

Well if you run out of ideas and want to mix it up try circuits, they are great for burning calories.

[robbase]

and then you recommend just doing a full body circuit each workout or some kind of split? Like right now I still only work out each muscle group once a week

[pig]

Yes, full body. You will burn more calories doing upper with lower as the blood is needed everywhere and gets your heart rate up more so than doing say just upper or just lower. I think you'll find that doing a circuit in this fashion is easier on your muscles than a regular split like you're doing now so you won't be as sore which will allow you to do two or three of them a week without issue.

[robbase]

but that seems to me like I won't be able to do as much for each body part like how I do now?

[pig]

No you won't but if you're goal is to get that six pack it will help and you said you like to mix things up so just give it a try for a week or two when you feel like you need a change.

[robbase]

but then I am afraid I will lose my bench press strength?

[pig]

Set aside one day a week to just do bench then.

[robbase]

but then I have a thing about some of my other lifts too--i.e. preacher curl and a few others, but I guess it is what I have to do / should try?

[pig]

Dude no one gives a crap how much one can preacher curl lol Suck it up. It could be worse and you could be me who benches more than anyone in the gym and had to take a 2 month lay off. I'm not even benching 135 now as I have to be careful and go slow and you don't see me complaining (except to Fam for sympathy ). If you do it for 2 weeks your lifts aren't going to go down that much.

[tractor]

In reality, unless your in some kind of competition, no body really cares what you can bench, curl or squat except yourself. Don't worry about what everyone else says, focus on what's best for you. I have heard may times I can bench "X", but they might weigh 100 lbs more than you. The fact that they can bench more doesn't matter. It's funny how your (generic your, not you specifically) focus changes from wanting to lift a bunch of weight, but be really cut at the same time. The reality is it's almost impossible to do unless you can focus 100 percent of you time on lifting weights, and maintaining a proper diet. In real life, most people don't have the time to do both.

If you really want to lift crazy weights, don't worry about your abs, focus on building muscle. How many "cut" Olympic lifters have you seen? Most look kind of flabby, but have significant amounts of muscle, and thus can move much more weight than some cut, muscular looking guy you might see at the beach. When I was only 165, my max bench was 340, it made me feel good, but if you would have looked at me, all you would have seen was some skinny little guy with flabby abs. Now I'm in the 195 lb range and haven't seen that max bench in over 20 years, but I look much larger (and feel much better).

I guess what I'm trying to say is stay focused on what your goals are, ignore the rest of the guys in the gym, and you will be fine. It doesn't matter how much you can bench, or how big you are because there will always be someone bigger and stronger. The only person that you need to satisfy is you. FWIW, I have found that most people that brag about how much they can lift are lying.

[pig]

That reminds me of an article I recently read in Powerlifting USA. Lifting for size and lifting for strength are almost opposite each other. People see a body builder and think boy he must be strong when in reality they use a much higher rep scheme and are not able to out lift powerlifter for stregnth. The two sports rely on different muscle fibers.

Type I fibers Type II a fibers Type II x fibers Type II b fibers
Contraction time Slow Moderately Fast Fast Very fast

Powerlifters maximize the later two types of fibers that is the maximum force applied as fast as possible. These types of fibers, however, do not grow very much. Body builders work mostly with the first two fiber types which are able to grow much larger. There is some overlap of course but that's why body building and powerlifting are quite different.

[Deleted]

Which fibers make you look GOOD with with minimal effort?

[tractor]

Jul 8, 2011 9:19:16 GMT -5 @pig said:

People see a body builder and think boy he must be strong when in reality they use a much higher rep scheme and are not able to out lift powerlifter for stregnth.

Reminds me of a line in a country song "don't pick a fight with a little guy who doesn't talk that much" looks can be deceiving, and you never know what your going to get.

[tractor]

Jul 8, 2011 9:34:35 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Which fibers make you look with with minimal effort?

The drinking fibers, or at least those always help me to think someones better looking that they really are.

[Deleted]

Which fibers make you look with with minimal effort?

For you Archie, I would try spandex.

[pig]

[ktunes]

The drinking fibers, or at least those always help me to think someones better looking that they really are.

now you're talkin'

[Artemis Windsong]

Jul 8, 2011 9:34:35 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Which fibers make you look GOOD with with minimal effort?

This routine works great on young bodies.

Do combinations with dumb bells. DL to Sq., curl to ohp, tri ext. with a toe raise. Then reverse. You can add lunges on the way down to the next dl. Finish off with bench press, abs and more chest if you want that.

In and out of the gym in about 10 minutes.

Walk, run and bike when you have time.

[robbase]

I am just returning from Europe, will write more once I recover from jet lag, thanks all for the info

[robbase]

In reality, unless your in some kind of competition, no body really cares what you can bench, curl or squat EXCEPT YOURSELF

that's just it, I push myself pretty hard, and I don't go for max reps (not my one rep max anyway) but I do track my reps and weights (i.e. my last bench press exercise I usually bench 225 lbs 8 times, so I want to maintain or improve that, same kind of goals with preacher curl, etc.....)

does that make sense?

[pig]

Makes total sense to me. Lifters are a proud bunch. I know that when I have to lift light it pisses me off. But you must consider your goals and if what you're doing will help you attain them.