Methods for gaining muscle and losing fat

[Rehoboth]

Quote from 50/50:

hahahah.

lolololol
I'm not saying I completely understand the science behind it, I just know that from observation alone, size does not equate to strength.

[/B][/QUOTE]

Do you have anything intelligent to offer or is that it? I'm being serious, some of us here are trying to have a normal conversation outside of the typical ET bullshit. It's your call. [/B][/QUOTE]

are you saying the smaller muscle can create more tension than a larger?

thats insane

what are you trying to say? [/B][/QUOTE]

I think the folks over a leangains might agree with Maverick. Larger size does not necessarily mean stronger. A lot of these dudes(non pros) are holding in a lot of water and a lot of hidden adipose tissue.

No reason to dial up the troll with maverick just trying to offer his observation.

 

[DT-waw]

Quote from Baron:

My genetic disposition is to be skinny. That's another reason why I have to hit each body part twice a week. If I do chest and then wait for a full week before I hit chest again, my body will have more than enough time to eat away at any progress and bring me right back to where it was by the next workout. My body does not want to hold muscle. It is a constant struggle to keep what I've gained.

Hmm have you tried to hit a single body part 3 or 5 times during a week?
I'm curious about what you say "my body does not want to hold muscle"....
I find it strange, because the body adapts to conditions, regardless of genetic background.

The more frequent you train, the more sustainable gains and the shorter period of recovery. Many pros (like Mariusz Pudzianowski or Mike Tyson) trade VERY frequently, two times a day. Beginners need 5-7 days of recovery, because its a shock to muscles, adrenals, glands.


It works in similar fashion to sun tanning.
The more pale you are, the harder and longer it takes to get a tan.
Also, the easier it is to LOSE a tan.
And vice-versa. The more melanin you have, the faster you'll get even more of it. And the longer you can keep it- even for months.

Genes play a role. But if you really want to have a brown skin for many months being originally white, you can do it- just spend a month in Vegas (outdoors of course), then another month in Colombia and another one in Kenya.

However, if you expose your body to sun only once a week (train once a week) and do nothing in the remaining days, the body won't adapt, no reason for it....

 

[bigarrow]

Nursebee I take osteobiflex and pycnogynol.
Here's a link to an artice on pycnogynol and joint health.
I've lost 20 lbs. myself since the first of the year. I have some knee problems and the operation motivated me to shape up and lighten up.

 

[Baron]

Quote from DT-waw:

Hmm have you tried to hit a single body part 3 or 5 times during a week?

I've hit the same body part 3 times per week via 3 whole body workouts. But I've never done any type of split routine that hit the same body parts 3 or more times per week. Now you've got me thinking how I would do if I did my 2-day workout split 3 times over the course of 6 days. Hmmm.....

Quote from DT-waw:

I'm curious about what you say "my body does not want to hold muscle"....
I find it strange, because the body adapts to conditions, regardless of genetic background.

Actually, you explained what I meant through your sun tanning example. If I work out a body part just once per week, that's not enough training frequency for my genetic disposition. Obviously, there must be people out there that have the genes to build and hold muscle from infrequent training, just like there are certain people that have the genes to lay out at the beach one weekend and get enough suntan to last them for the summer, but I'm not one of them.

 

[Maverick74]

So I did Barron's chest blaster yesterday. Here are my comments. The 2nd set with the negative rep at the end really burned especially after 10 reps. The third set where you just do one negative rep for 20 seconds was too easy though. Not sure why that 3rd set didn't sting more. The 2nd set was a killer though.

So I actually did negative reps for my entire upper body workout and I have to say, it was a great workout. Probably the hardest workout I've had in years.

 

[Baron]

Quote from Maverick74:

The third set where you just do one negative rep for 20 seconds was too easy though.

Yeah, the performance on set 3 can vary widely from person to person. I've trained a couple guys who were so burned out after the second set that they couldn't even get the dumbbells to the upright position for that one rep on set 3.

But for you, consider these options for next time:

#1. Cut your rest time from one minute to 30 seconds between sets 2 and 3.

#2. Just duplicate the rep scheme you did on set 2.

P.S. I'm glad you gave it a shot! It will be interesting to see if you are sore tomorrow from yesterday's workout. I remember being quite sore a couple days after my first negative rep workout.

 

[Brass]

All this negativity on the Internet, eh?

Okay, going forward I will look to do something of a pronounced negative rep, say 10+ seconds, but only on the last rep of the last set of any given exercise. It may add some spice to my forced rep.

 

[TRS]

Quote from Baron:

It will be interesting to see if you are sore tomorrow from yesterday's workout. I remember being quite sore a couple days after my first negative rep workout.

I hit upper body with Baron inspired workout yesterday and definitely aware of muscle groups in upper body today
Going to go with the: 1 exercise/3 sets per muscle group. Hit upper/lower body twice week.
Using my previous workout of Matrix (partial reps).

Knowing my body this should yield a good dividend. At the very least, the change should initiate growth.

Thanks for the inspiration Baron

 

[Baron]

Quote from TRS:

Knowing my body this should yield a good dividend. At the very least, the change should initiate growth.

Thanks for the inspiration Baron

No problem. I think you hit the nail on the head though with that second sentence. This may or may not end up being the exact workout for you for the long term, but just switching things up for the time being will surely help stimulate some new growth.

 

[Brass]

Quote from Baron:

It's interesting that you mention the over training phrase...

...But out of all the people I've ever met in person or seen at the gym, I can't say that I've ever met a single person who I thought was overtraining...

Just another observation about your earlier comment here. Since you are doing, and advocating, only 3 sets per muscle group twice a week, and you are getting the rather impressive results that you are, then wouldn't anything beyond that point be considered overtraining? Especially since you consider yourself as someone who has difficulty retaining muscle. Most of the people I have known or seen in the gym over the years have been doing well more than that. And while not all of them have done so with serious intensity, certainly some of them have, myself included.

So then, why would the overtraining comment come as a surprise to you?

P.S. When I was at the gym yesterday, I actually did notice a couple of the "bigger" guys doing negative reps. It was not quite as pronounced as what you are suggesting. Perhaps I was previously inattentive to it because it only lasted about 5 seconds or so. I probably hadn't previously given it much thought, regarding it as just a slow rep. But upon closer inspection, I noted the negative portion of the reps lasted longer. Just thought I'd acknowledge the point.