Am I doing enough?

NFH

I'm 25, male, 6 foot, 12 stone, thin but not scrawney. Now doin 3 sessions a week. Monday - upperbody weights, mainly 5 sets of high reps of 10 to 12 to build mass. Wednesday some leg weights followed by 30 min run and then repeat the upperbody weights session on Saturday. Would ya say this is enough to stay fit and also see changes in size?

Stopped doin 4 to 5 sessions of weights a week because I was told thats actually going to hinder size gain as your not giving muscle time to build after a session and started with the run because I was also told you can be putting your heart under pressure if you dont balance weights with cardio. I eat healty but no protein supplements etc.

mack1

Depends - how heavy are you lifting?
What is your diet like?

Post up a typical days eating for us to have a look.

Short answer is - YOU can tell us if it's enough, are you seeing gains? if not lift heavier and eat more, are you seeing gains now? if not lift EVEN heavier and eat EVEN more, etc

crotalus667

NFH wrote: »

I'm 25, male, 6 foot, 12 stone, thin but not scrawney. Now doin 3 sessions a week. Monday - upperbody weights, mainly 5 sets of high reps of 10 to 12 to build mass. Wednesday some leg weights followed by 30 min run and then repeat the upperbody weights session on Saturday. Would ya say this is enough to stay fit and also see changes in size?

Stopped doin 4 to 5 sessions of weights a week because I was told thats actually going to hinder size gain as your not giving muscle time to build after a session and started with the run because I was also told you can be putting your heart under pressure if you dont balance weights with cardio. I eat healty but no protein supplements etc.

you will need to tell us you diet , over all it's not bad , persanly id do more weight's in more complex split (but then again I am a gym junkie:))

NFH

Diet:
Morning - bowl of bran flakes, fruit
Lunch - A "mammy" dinner in college, meat, veg, spuds etc
Dinner - Same as lunch

Meals are generally standard kinda meals, try to eat some protein in between meals like tuna or chicken sandwichs etc.

In between meals alot of fruit and 2.5L of water, no junk, not a great diet for building but I dont really have money or time for meals every 2 hours and all that.

Weights-
All 5 sets of 10 reps where cant do 11th rep, lower weights through session to always be hittings 10 reps. Dont want to lift too heavy as I hear its not good for building mass and when I do high rep sessions as oppose to heavy wieghts sessions of 5 reper's etc, I feel a much better burn and feel more swollen etc.

Do pull ups, bench, dumb bell curls lying on back arms warping around chest, dumb bell arm curls, lat pull down and shoulder press(military press). Legs just do quad curls and hamstring curls on your standard bench set up, then a 30 min run. Might start takin protein supplements if i need to start gettin more protein.

tribulus

Unless your portion sizes are huge you're seriously lacking in cals and protein (and other things).

You might get some improvement in your legs if you're new to it but leg extensions (I'm guessing thats what you meant) and ham curls won't be very effective in the long run. You're better off learning how to squat, lunge and do rdl's etc.

NFH

So basically its all about food, are there any suggested diets goin around 'Boards', id certainly give em a go

tribulus

No it's all about food, training and recovery! If any one of them is seriously lacking then you're gonna have trouble making progress.

In your case, I don't think your leg training is optimal but I'm sure it will do something but if you're not getting in enough cals you're just not gonna put on muscle regardless of training, so basically find a way to get more cals and protein as a priority.

Snack on nuts, cook several chickens in advance etc. some good ideas in the stickies at the top of the page.

aye

i would agree that you should do some squats and deadlifts for your legs rather than a leg extension.

whats is a "dumb bell curls lying on back arms warping around chest"? reverse fly?

are you doing any rows for your back? barbell rows or seated rows. building your middle traps will combat rounded shoulders and make your chest look wider.

would you do your run on a separate day, so that you could do more weights on your legs day?

do you have a dipping station you could use?

mack1

I'll 2nd what trib said, if adding mass is a goal you should be eating a lot more than that.

Also, add some big compound lifts (squats & deadlifts) to you routine.

NFH

Weights wise, when doing the bench, 5 sets of 10 reps, I start at like 60kg and finish on 50 kg.

Could someone give me an exmple of what a person of my age, weight etc should be eating in one day to get the needed cal intake so as to see gains in size, I'd really appreciate it, cheers and if part of that should be a protein supplement what kind is good etc

NFH

Any suggestions would be great

Naos

From what I've gathered from my time on these threads and I am open to correction:

Heavier weights x less reps = mass.

Lighter weights x more reps = toning.

Basically.

I've recently started doing Rippletoes Starting Strength programme on recommendation by Hanley here on boards and it is very good. I am finding overall strength is increasing a lot.

NFH

Ok well if thats the case I'm well confused cause I,ve been told the opposite, again any suggestions on the diet

rubadub

Naos wrote: »

Heavier weights x less reps = mass.

Lighter weights x more reps = toning.

NFH wrote: »

Ok well if thats the case I'm well confused cause I,ve been told the opposite, again any suggestions on the diet

You might have both been told the right thing, and simply have different definitions of what "toning" means.

What do you think it means?

Most I read would be referring to an athletic build, some muscle mass, and low bodyfat. So that would be aiming for hypertrophy, muscle growth, which most recommend to be 3 sets, 8-12reps.

NFH

rubadub wrote: »

Most I read would be referring to an athletic build, some muscle mass, and low bodyfat. So that would be aiming for hypertrophy, muscle growth, which most recommend to be 3 sets, 8-12reps.

Hmmm, might start doin 3 sets instead of 5 now and that way I can add different sets into my sessions.

Still wonderin if anyone can give me an example of a typical days diet for the calorie intake I would need to see size gains

mack1

NFH wrote: »

Still wonderin if anyone can give me an example of a typical days diet for the calorie intake I would need to see size gains

Depends completely on the person. If you are naturally inclined to gain weight then you can eat less than somebody who isnt.