MUSCLE GROWTH FORUM

BODY POWER Posted by: Mitch Carkner (motherrussia15@hotmail.com)

Im 17, and im a high level hockey player in Canada and i have been weighttraining for 3 years. I am 225 pounds and 6 foot 4 inches. I was wondering if you could suggest some exercises that will increase back strenght and overall body strenght? ive been having trouble getting really solid on my skates, and i have had trouble finding exercises that develop overall strength....?? CAN YOU HELP??? thanks

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EXERCISE FOR CORNERBACKS Posted by: Tiege (wrestlersnest@webtv.net)

I am 14 years old. I started football last year. I am a cornerback. My problum is quickness. Could anybody give me suggestions on excercises to increase my speed? I would like any kind of suggestions. I had never played before so i am behind everyone else. Thanks.

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SHOULDER WORKOUT Posted by: Nick (madgq82@aol.com)

Does anyone know of an effective shoulder routine? I have heard about pre-exhaustion, is that an effective strategy? Thank you for your time.

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PULLUPS Posted by: Thai Dinh (allstr158@yahoo.com)

Since this month ive been working on pullups and ive been experiencing headaches just doing few sets and the headaches last for a long time. How can i ignore this problem? I haven't had this problem working out excercises. I drink alot of water and eat healthy and also breath with the right tempo.

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WEIGHT TRAINING BEGINNER Posted by: pk (kpauline@lycos.com)

I have been on a weight training program for about 3 weeks now. I workout 3x's/week. I am eating 6 meals/day w/plenty of protein, carbs, etc. My goal is to gain muscle mass and lost body fat. I have noticed a gain in muscle mass but I'm not sure if I'm losing body fat. My understanding of gaining muscle is that it will use the fat storages I have as an energy source and my overall body size will actually decrease. But my overall size has increased. Is that increase just muscle or is it muscle with fat? Or is an initial body size gain normal and will eventually decrease as I gain more muscle?

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NEED TO INCREASE BENCH Posted by: Not so tough (Brian_862007@yahoo.com)

I'm in my freshman year in high school and i can only bench 150lbs and i powerclean 150lbs in need to increase my bench badly. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated,but i won't take supplements.

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HOW DO I GROW WITHOUT CHEATING Posted by: buff bagwell (cptjake33@yahoo.com)

I;m 35 yrs. old I've competed for 12 yrs and weigh only 185 off season and when I'm dieting I'm down to 170 lbs. and yet I only recieved 2,2,3,4,5,5,6 places in my shows, I have really worked hard to get to where I am at,but now I'm down to 160 and loosing it because I losed my membership to lifestyles 2000 gym,and I can't afford the products because there to exspencive to but I'm on a strict low income and it hurt me to see the prices go up every time I get a chance to save some money to buy it I need some help real bad andI'm hoping that you will have the answers for me real soon because I don't like where I'm going at this point and I want to get back in the groove of it and take 1st place so I can prove to my self that I still got what it takes to be a true natural bodybuilder. Thanks for listening .. the body shrinking man that can't stop loosing weight. buffy.

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40 YARD DASH HELP Posted by: Kory (kory_D_42@hotmail.com)

im hoping to be the starting full back for my football team and i need to find something else other than my size to use. i was hoping to get some help on how to improve my 40 so ill have speed and power. i can run it a little under 5 seconds and i heard that pulling a sled can lower it significantly.

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GAINING MASS IN ARMS? Posted by: J-Bird (chevy2supersport@hotmail.com)

I am trying to get my arms bigger in size. I have been training for about a year with some results. I don't go to a gym I work out at home with free weights. I dont have a bench. What are some suggestions from you guys on what exercises to do including # of sets and reps, and how many times to work my arms a week. Right now I work my arms 3 times a week and the exercises i do are done to 5 sets for each exercise and 8-10 reps.

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MY SQUATS Posted by: quarterback killer (qbkiller94@msn.com)

i am a 18 year old college football player. i can't seem to get my squat up. i've been at about 500lbs for 2 1/2 years. my bench is catching up to my squat, and thats embarrassing. you guys gave me tips to get my bench up and those worked great. my bench has gone up about 35lbs in 3 weeks. right now i do my legs twice a week. i squat one of those days and the other day I do extensions, curls, and lunges. Thanks

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BURNING SENSATION WHEN DOING SQUATS Posted by: the_Prophit (the_prophit@myvzw.com)

I've been lifting for a few years but I haven't been to the bym in the past 7 months. I squatted for the first time today, the first few reps were fine but after that I felt a burning sensagion or a "pull" feeling in my hamstrings. am I doing something wrong ir is this from being away from the bym so long. thanks

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LATS Posted by: Jay (marksjason3@aol.com)

i find it hard doing pull ups now compared to when i was in forces but i was a lot lighter then is there any way i can change this becuase i know this is a major part for exercising lats

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WRISTS Posted by: nicki (nikchic_2007@hotmail.com)

I am 13 5'10 and I already have bad wrists.I am not strong I bench only 90lbs,but I have terrible I always have to do fingertip push ups(not really a bad thing)but I cant do some activities.how in the world do u strenthin ur wrists?.

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40 YARD DASH Posted by: dee-mac (domach@cox.net)

I have 4 months before football camp start, and i want to decrease my 40 time by as much as 2/10 of a second. I run a 4.96 40 yard dash and would like to bring it down to a 4.7 before camp start.

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UPPER ARMS Posted by: Nasir Rasheed (nasirrasheed70@hotmail.com)

I have been weight lifting for 6 months but there is no good development. Please Help me.

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I WANT TO FLY Posted by: Greyson (chunticulver@hotmail.com)

I play volleyball and I am only 5'8". I would like to know what to do to increase my verticle leap as much as possible in a short amount of time.

Re: I WANT TO FLY Posted by: mork (bigmork@hotmail.com)

Start by doing calf raises with no weight then when that gets easy go to the smith machine or the leg press and do calf raises with weight. This is what michel Jordan does and my friend (whos in volley ball) told me a story about a guy who increased his vertical by about 10 inches doing this of course.

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NEED ADVICE Posted by: Hal (JHHWARD@MSN.COM)

I work a strange schedule at work , I work seven days on and seven days off. While I am working my days average about 14 hours and I have no time to workout during this time , but when i am on my week off I can workout every day .My question is this, what kind of program should I do , and is seven days off between workouts too much to gain anything from working out on my days off? I have a very physical job , and I work hard , there is lots of heavy lifting and excersise involved, any advice is appreciated.

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SKIN Posted by: Andre (abaron@hotmail.com)

When i strech before working out my skin feels kind of like its ripping, it fells like a burning feeling i was wondering if there is anything i could do about it.

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BULLWORKER Posted by: andy rehnert (andyrehnert@aol.com)

I helped a friend move recently, and he gave me his Bullworker X5. Anyone have or use one? if so got some tips? thank you

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IS CANTHAXANTHIN SAFE? Posted by: Jason (TheRecordagent@aol.com)

I was just wondering about the tanning pill called Canthaxanthin. I have heard alot about it. Alot of people say it works.....but i have found about 2 articles saying thats its not safe and that it colors the eyes yellow if taking too much of it....Please, if anyone has any information on this or used Canthaxanthin. Please let me know. Thanks

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PROJECTION FORMULA Posted by: Mark (liquidsoul21@hotmail.com)

I was womdering if anyone had a formula or projection chart I hurt my wrist so i have been working with low weight for a while but Im getting a lot stronger! today I benched 135lbs 19 times what does that work out to for a max? (btw If anyone is wondering Im trainng for olympic distance/ international distance triathlons thats why do such high reps.)

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HOME WORKOUTS Posted by: steve (stevegrant1109@aol.com)

Hi there , to be brief I do not get time these days to attend the gym with work , other sporting interest's and a family as well.I only possess a pair of fairly heavy home dumbells to workout with.Im faily tall but have excess fat on my upper frame / chest/abs etc.further more as well as losing this Id like to build up my arms which are queit small compared to my legs. My question is therefore twofold. can I effectivly workout with the equipment mentioned and how resolve the problems mentioned?

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I WANT TO BE THE BEST Posted by: Daniel (bigtuckin9@aol.com)

I am recovering knee sugery and I am recovering pretty fast. But not fast enough, I want and need some advice on exercises or any type of training that I can do become the fastest and strongest and pretty much the best football player that I can possibly be. I am sick of people saying that I am doing good after having knee surgery. I want to be hitting the crap out of people, running faster than any one else, and stronger than everyone. Can anyone give me some pointers. Thanks

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ARM WRESTLING Posted by: Greg (blingin504@msn.com)

My friend and I always likes to arm wrestle. Most of the time he beats me! I need advice on some techniques and some weight lifting excercises to help me improve.

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BENCH TROUBLES Posted by: Jeff (coolmojeff@aol.com)

I'm 16, 5'5 135 an i bench 240. The problem is ive been stuk at this for a while now. im wodering that since i wrestle and i have to maintain my weight that this may be affecting it.

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WHAT SUPPLEMENTS? Posted by: Jordan (bigbentdawg79@yahoo)

I am 17 years old. I want to start taking some supplements but I am not sure what I should take. I am 6'3 1/2 and 280, I want to get stronger, I am not really worried about being big or cut, just stronger at the moment, if being cut and big comes along with it then thats cool. I have heard to take whey protein and some creatine, but I was just wondering what advice others will give me.

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CHEST MUSCLES Posted by: Jere' odum (jodum@gmu.edu)

Hi, I'm a 21 year old male and am really trying to develop my chest better. I was wandering what are some good lifting exercises that I can do to develop the middle part of my chest as well as underneath. It seems like when I lift the top part of my chest gets bigger and sticks out, but underneath is having some trouble.

Re: CHEST MUSCLES Posted by: Kevin (IF43@msn.com)

The best way to train your chest is to traing using many different exercises. For example use flat bench press, incline press, decline press and flys. In addition to using these exercises use different types of training every workout. For example use dumbells one workout, then barbells then machines then cables. Your muscles will adapt to what ever you are doing and it will be a normal routine if you continue to use the same thing every workout. Keep the body surprised and you will keep it growing. I hope some of what I have said helps you. As an old gym rat I always like to see younger guys in the gym and try to help them when ever I can. Keep pumping. Its the best.

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SQUAT AND BENCH Posted by: Brad Bough (BradBough557@hotmail.com)

Hey i was just wondering if any one had any advice to give me on how i could boost my squat and bench press any,on squat my max is 320lbs which i would like to get up to at least 400lbs if possible and my max on bench is 180lbs, i'm 6ft 2in and weigh 170lbs if that helps any--any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

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GAINING WEIGHT Posted by: skin (skatendestroi@aol.com) 1/25/2002

im 5'9" and i weigh 130 and workout 4-5 times a week and i take glutimine, i am not gaining weight and i wanted to know how gain weight without getting fat.

Re: GAINING WEIGHT Posted by: Kevin (IF43.msn.com)

It has been proven that in order to grow muscle a person requires at least 2500 cals. If you are not gaining size your best tecnique is to evaluate your diet. It sounds like you are getting plenty of training in but you need to make sure you are eating a balanced deit with enough cals to grow and gain. Try this: get a notebook and for one entire week record everything you eat or drink. After that weeek review the record and determine what potion of you intake was protein, carbs and fat and the number of cals. Then adjust your deit accordingly. It will take planning and dedication on your part but it is worh it to get what you want. It may also take time and some additional adjustments to get to where you want to be. Good Luck and keep at it. Let me know how it goes. Always keep a record.

Re: GAINING WEIGHT Posted by: Mark (liquidsoul21@hotmail.com)

I use resistance trainig to help me in triathalons. when Im not in race season I am 10-15 pounds heavier and I still do a lot of cardio. You could cut out your cardio if you do cardio to gain weight. I am sure you have heard protein, protein, protein. But if you do not eat enough carbs (which produces insulin) your body canibalizes itself and starts uses your muscles as a resource for energy. Hence you lose all the hard work. My advice is eat imediatley before and after a workout. Eat many medium sized meals a day rather than 3- or 4 huge ones. Your body wastes a lot of that potential fuel when it all goes in at once. I would suggest atleast 6 meals a day with atleast 3 protein or meal replacment shakes a day good luck.

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HAND/BAR PLACEMENT ON SQUATS Posted by: gino (the_prophit@myvzw.com)

hey guys I was just wondering if anyone could give me any advise on hand placement on the bar (shoulder width, less than shoulder width, etc) and bar placement. thanks.

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SHOULDERS Posted by: Sage (SageInSilver@netscape.net)

I was pretty skinny a while ago, and i'm still not huge. I've been lifting and excercising for a while, and i've seen improvement in the size of my upper arms, chest and stomach and so forth, but the problem is, I've got narrow shoulders and very thin wrists, and it looks awkward, strong arms and narrow shoulders. What can I do to broaden my shoulders?

Re: SHOULDERS Posted by: brad (BradBough557@hotmail.com)

hey, i used to have the same problem with my shoulders and arms but my football coach tought me a work-out that will make you confident and your shoulders broad,here it is. 1st set-Dumbell Shoulder Shrugs-you want to make sure that you get a full rotating motion in your shoulders when doing this. 2nd set-Powercling Shoulder Shrugs-Do the exact same thing as your first set.(this works both shoulder muscles at the same time.) 3rd set-Dumbell Incline-for this you want to take a bench that will incline and set it all the way up,then take the dumbells and position them over your head, with them over your head only take 1 down at a time and rotate arms, if that makes any sense. On your sets for strength you want to do 5 sets of 8 or 6 with heavy weight and for physique do 3 sets of 10 or 12 with lighter weight.

Re: SHOULDERS Posted by: art (artber@aol.com)

I've found that doing the clean and press is awesome for hitting not only the side and front delts, but the traps, back and legs. You want to make sure that you don't neglect the rear delt head, otherwise your shoulders will really be out of symmetry. Bent-over delt flys (dumbbell and cable) are really awesome for this area. I've also found that if you lay on a flat bench on your side, you can do a really isolated version of the bent over rear-delt fly! Control the weight all the way down in front of you, and be strict on the contraction. You've got to be really careful not to use too heavy a weight, cause keeping your balance can be pretty tough. With a little bit of practice and shifting your body around, you'll find a position that is comfortable and in balance. Good luck!!

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OVERSIZED PECS Posted by: Rock8 (cahelies@yahoo.com)

My pecs are too big for the rest of my body and it makes me look stupid. But i play football and i must keep on benching lots of weight to become more powerful. I have tried doing pushups after benching to get them more cut than big. If anyone can help me that would be great, thanks

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ARE SUPPLEMENTS ALL RIGHT FOR ME?? Posted by: Killa (ghetto_juvenile69@hotmail.com)

Im 13 years old about 6'1 145 and im starting to weight train for football and really wanted to get built. IM considerong supplements but are they alright for a person of my age????

Re: ARE SUPPLEMENTS ALL RIGHT FOR ME?? Posted by: art (artber8100@aol.com)

I wouldn't really recommend getting too much into the supplements right now. At your age, your body is still really active and just the fact that your getting into lifting will make your body gain. Maybe some whey protein would be okay, but make sure you don't get carried away with fatty foods, as well as junk foods. Proper nutrition now will go a long way as you get older. It's really awesome to see the younger guys getting into the gym. Hope everything goes well for you!!

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TRAPEZIUS Posted by: Chad Hedrick (Chad10469@hotmail.com)

How do you build the trapezius or the neck i need to lose weight or 2 inchs of my gut or get a bigger neck so that i can hurry and get intot he army i need to sign by march 18th if anyone can give me some tips.

Re: TRAPEZIUS Posted by: psycho (psychosabound@hotmail.com)

I've got naturally big traps (lucky me!) but had to work on them to develop my traps and shoulders so they look better and are stronger and more stable. Use upright rows, side lateral raises, front raises, to build ur traps and shoulders. If u want to really isolate the neck, practise the "wrestlers bridge". but be careful - this is quite an advanced technique and u need to develop strength before u start training this, and use proper technique, or u could do urself damage.

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SQUATS Posted by: jason (a.mills@16ntlworld.com)

i use squats as my main quad xercise and im just wondering how far down i should be going on the decent! i've seen alot of people go rite down below paralell, but for me i can only get to before paralell! ive used a board under my heels and this seems to let me go down further but with the xtra stress on my quads i feel the burn quicker and dont complete the same amount of reps as without the board! so how do u think i should be squatting? i squat 210 pounds!

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Re: SQUATS Posted by: Johnny (keep_ittight@hotmail.com)

I think you are on the right track. How long have you been squatting? For me the key points are 1. Good Form- I don't use a board under my feet, just try and keep balance and push out through my heels; 2. Look Up- It seems that if you tend to stare straight ahead, you tend to lean forward, look up at a fixed point on the wall. Doing this took my mind off how far down I was going and before I knew it, I was going "ass to the grass"; 3. Warm Up- I do 15-20 min on the stationary bike before I even start legs. I seem to get a good bit of blood flow from this and have noticed that my weight began to climb. Most of all KEEP POSITIVE!

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TIME BETWEEN SETS Posted by: Jim (JDMCB@aol.com)

I work at home and try to work out during the day. i am interupted alot and am wondering if it matters how long a break I take between sets. A one hour work out sometimes takes me all morning with 20 min breaks between sets. How much does this affect the benifits of the workout?

Re: TIME BETWEEN SETS Posted by: BiggDogg (Bigg_Dogg3@excite.com)

A 20 minute break in-between sets is no good. I train at home as well. I do not let any distractions disturb me while I'm in the gym.(Barring of course serious,life or death, etc.etc.) When you are in the gym, that's your time. Set aside time you can give yourself, and take full advantage of that time. I have a set schedule and time to train, and my friends, family, etc. know not to even bother to try to get in touch with me at that time. Give your body 100%, and it will give you 100%.

Re: TIME BETWEEN SETS Posted by: Titusfan (STR8WOLL@aol.com)

To answer your question,yes.The time you take in between sets does affect your muscle growth.If you take 20 minute breaks you are truly wasting your time.Your rests should be as little as 20 seconds(fat burning) or as much as 5 minutes but never over.(5 minute breaks means your lifting as heavy as possible)Only take a break as long as your body needs so when you feel the burn stop do another set.Otherwise,your not accomplishing anything during all those hard workouts.

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