Protein powder side effects

[learflyer]

400. what do you think of an all dumbell workout? Also, is doing chest only once per week enough? (per your example) are doing squats on a smith machine cheating? I don't think so.

[inside0ut]

Seriously thanks!!

I have been hitting some weights, I joined a gym again but I feel lost in how I should go about it. I do some cardio on the elliptical, running kills my knees. I did get a body fat test and I'm 25.3 percent by their test, which they said isn't bad. I'm 6'2" and stocky (19in neck 50in chest 38 waist) so I still have the bulk, I just wanna lose the weight and get back to where I was. Id rather lean out and lose 50lbs (like I said im 255, I know by the charts I should be in the 180 range. I was once 185 when I got mono and didn't eat forever and I looked like I was going to die. That weight would never work.)

As for the routine, how many sets and reps? I dont want to over do/under do the workout....

[400A]

Lear,

Dumbell workouts are fine, they are actually a tad harder than barbell workouts because you have to balance the weight(s) a bit more. The only road block is the amount of weight you have available to you with dumbells. Most gyms only have them up to 120lbs or so. There is also, IMO, a higher risk of rotator cuff injuries with dumbells since it is much easier to twist your shoulder or be out of alignment with them.

There is arguments on how many times a week or how many times in a 30 day period your muscles should be worked. The hyperopothy school of thought has you hitting every muscle group 3 times in a 7 day period, and you hit them hard. I tried this, made great gains, but my central nervous system just couldn't keep up with, I burned out fairly quickly and ended up being set back a week or two on my gains. Squats are done every day because they are such a great overall body workout. That doesn't mean you have to squat heavy each time or even do back squats, front squats are a great workout as well. For the beginner, squats every workout and bench and OH press once a week. I advocate back training twice since it is such and undertrained muscle group and such an important muscle group for overall health and fitness and posture.

Smith machines are bad, that should have been gym rule #4. They have there place for things like calf raises and maybe some incline pressing to help get your OH pressing strength up, but that is about it. Squatting with a smith machine takes away your range of motion and really puts your lower back in a bad position, it doesn't allow you to lean forward as you go down and thus puts a lot of torque on your lower back.

Try to find a copy of Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength 2nd edition. This guy is hands down the best strength coach out there and approaches weight lifting as a way to improve your stength, not lift big numbers (kind of a contradiction in terms, but it makes sense if you think about it).

[400A]

Originally Posted by inside0ut

Seriously thanks!!

I have been hitting some weights, I joined a gym again but I feel lost in how I should go about it. I do some cardio on the elliptical, running kills my knees. I did get a body fat test and I'm 25.3 percent by their test, which they said isn't bad. I'm 6'2" and stocky (19in neck 50in chest 38 waist) so I still have the bulk, I just wanna lose the weight and get back to where I was. Id rather lean out and lose 50lbs (like I said im 255, I know by the charts I should be in the 180 range. I was once 185 when I got mono and didn't eat forever and I looked like I was going to die. That weight would never work.)

As for the routine, how many sets and reps? I dont want to over do/under do the workout....

You are built about like me, only I am 5'9" with the 56 inch chest and 38 inch waist at 275, right around 25% too. If I can get down to 250 or 240 I will be very happy.

On all the workouts, shoot for 3-4 sets with 5-6 reps each (not counting warm up). Cardio is good as well, just do it after your workout and keep it to 20 minutes or less, or check out High Intensity Interval Training HIIT. Basically run fast for one minute, jog for 2 run fast for a 2 minutes, jog for 3, etc. Or find some stairs and sprint up, walk down.

It will probably take a week or two to find the right weight combinations for your workouts. Don't worry about how much weight you lift, worry about lifting more weight the next week. The mantra to live by, is each workout must be more intense than the last one, either more weight, more reps or some combination there of. Don't overcomplicate though, 5 pounds is more weight and is a all you really need to gain each week (do the math, 5 pounds a week over a year is a 250 pound increase). You will stall out, you will have set backs, you will get bored with a routine. That is all normal, the key is to be consistant and be honest with yourself. If one week you only get your new weight for 3 sets of 4 reps, don't increase the weight next week, concentrate on getting that 5 or 6 reps for all sets, then move up. If you need to, back off the weight and "start over" also called "de loading".

Keep a journal of your workouts too. Nothing worse than not being able to remember what you did 4 days ago and repeating yourself for little or no gain. Eat clean, about 1 gram of protein per lean body mass DESIRED weight, ie you weigh want to weight 200 lbs and have 15% body fat, you would eat about 170 grams of protein a day, maybe a little more on workout days, but not something that will make or break you. You still need good fats and good carbs. For a clean diet it should be a 3 way split on proteing, carbs, and fat each one making up about 33% of your total caloric intake. That will have to be tweaked depending on how fast you want to loose the fat or how much muscle you want to put on, etc.

[PGT]

Originally Posted by learflyer

400. what do you think of an all dumbell workout? Also, is doing chest only once per week enough? (per your example) are doing squats on a smith machine cheating? I don't think so.

It's what I do ... paid $200 for dumbells and a bar with weights.

I've had very good increases in strength, size, and weight.