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[RLench]

Yeah it's very good. I usually do 2 x 15 x 130kg or set it 150kg and do a few sets of as many repts as possible (between 10 and 15). iirc the most I've ever done was 10 x 180kg but that was months ago. I've no idea what I could do now.

For a "weedy rake boy" I'd say you're doing very well

I haven't posted here for a few weeks so here's my update: my trouser size is now officially two sizes lower than it was six months ago I've lost 30lbs and I'm stronger and fitter than ever before. I have a new workout that I designed myself for cardio on the treadmill. It's dead easy - just bring an iPod and a load of songs

Pick a few different albums with varying lengths of song. I stick it on shuffle and run for a song at 9km/h. Once it's about to end, I slow the machine down to 6.5km/h (fast walk) and put the incline up to 15% for a song. This lets me 'recover' from the running, even though this is still a very hard exercise. Just before that song ends I stick it up to 9km/h again and bring the incline down...so I'm running on an incline for about 15-20 seconds. I basically do this for as long as I can. I aim for 30 minutes but I've managed 38 once

What I love about this is there's no set pattern to how long you run for, or how long the cool-down period is. I could run for 6 minutes, rest for 2, then run for another 6. Or I could have a 5 minute break inbetween two short runs. I really enjoy it though and it's given me back my motivation to work on my cardio. And to show how much that's improved...

When I first started using the treadmill on 6.5@ 15% incline, my heart rate would rocket up to about 165bpm. Running would push it to about 175. Now I can run for 10 minutes, check my heart rate and it's 160...if I then walk at a 15% incline @ 6.5km/h my heart rate will drop to under 140bpm in less than 25 seconds

[mikewl]

Congrats. When do you have aim to get back down to 15 by?

Hopefully within about two months, then things should pick up a bit as summer approaches and I can work on getting to 13-14 stone..

[charlesr]

Did a really fast gym session to see what was achievable.

I did 1 set of a few different weights exercises with the only recovery time being the walk to the next area. Because I was only doing 1 set, I put the weights up a bit so I could really max each one, with around 7 or 8 reps tops.

To allow the muscles to sort themselves out, I either did supersets (opposing muscle groups, e.g. biceps and then triceps) or completely different groups e.g. bench press and then leg press.

My heart was pounding very early on and by the end I was completely battered. Not including warm up or stretches, it only took me 20 mins to do all the major muscle groups, so felt pretty pleased with that. Am aching a lot today.

[MattyD]

I'm just about to finish the second phase of the four-phase bodybuilding programme I started before Xmas and the gains just keep on coming . Between my last post (just under a month ago) and now, I've gone back up to the weight I was when I met my girlfirend about four or five years ago - about 70Kgs.

I even had to go out and buy load of new clothes last weekend as none of my 30" jeans fit me any more and and some of my t-shirts are starting to get a little bit camp-looking

[MarioMark]

For the first time ever I'm sick of the Winter, it's boring being stuck in and doing indoor keep-fit things like the gym. I've just spent £60 to repair my mountain bike and I wanna take it out in the car to have a bike ride in our local woods/biking area (it's called the pines).

[Rivuzu]

Eh, had something of a wake up call myself recently which prompted me to go to the gym rather sharpish. Basically, my fiance was cheating on me - now, I'd not changed how I was at all since I'd first been with her, but the guy she was cheating on me with well... eh, no adonis, but he makes me look like the blob.

Promptly left her with the intention of bettering myself, joined the gym, and I'm now down there atleast four times a week.

I hate the way our society revolves where it takes something drastic for us to change though. I always knew I was a little more portly than most, but never cared about it, and now all I can think about is losing it as fast as possible, as well as putting on a little more muscle.

Charlesr, I was reading through what you said you did at the gym - it's not about what's "achievable" weight wise. Doing 10 reps of, say, 50kg on Biceps is going to only damage your muscles rather than build them up. Doing 30 reps of 30kg is going to benefit you much much more, because when you go back you'll then be able to "achieve" even higher. Like with my leg presses, I used to have a maximum of 120kg, so I went away and did a week of 50 reps @ 70kg, and I can now hit 180kg. Though, you may already know all of this, just throwing my two cents in!

[RLench]

Exactly right, IMO. I've been told several times to do more reps at a lower weight and that will build up muscle faster and with a lower risk of injury

I went for a Personal Training session today and it's knocked me out. Although some good news to be had as he measured my body fat at 18.8%. He said anything below 20% is fine for me as it'll continue to drop over the next few weeks and months. To show you how far I've come along...I had it measured six months ago and it was a little over 25%

[Rivuzu]

Congrats =] Good job getting it down.

When I first started working out, I was bordering 16stone. I'm only 5'8", and that's despicable.

I'm not coming up to 14.5 stone. So pleased with these results =D

[ShadowDancer]

7th week for me with diet and exercise. Body is a far better shape, i feel tons better and all my friends have said i look better which was nice encouragement to keep going

Just waiting for wii fit, I love the idea of doing exercise in the home, its perfect for me.

Still not found a suitable cycle, but I'm on the case..its not forgotten.

I have a planner with my exercise (drawn up by me) so nothings random and it gets increased weekly.

Nice to read the positives in this thread. It can be done!

Just to note..I'm not selfish, but I am doing this for me, thats the main reason.

[MattyD]

This stuff about doing more reps but using lower weights isn't necessarily true for everyone.

I gather CharlesR is inclined to be a bit on the slender side like I am (they call that 'ectomorphic' in the lingo). It depends on your goals but *generally speaking* the best way for the thinner peeps to gain weight is to ditch isolation exercises like bicep curls and leg raises, and do compound lifts like deadlifts, squats, bench presses etc with the heaviest weights you can manage for a low number of reps.

I know this works because since I started a programme like this specially tailored for the ectomorphic body type I've been putting on muscle faster than David Banner when he gets angry - after years of being skinny as a rake I've also made better and faster gains than I ever did using traditional weightlifting programmes.

The traditional approach may well work for you though if you're quite athletic or inclined to be stocky anyway - it all depends on body type.

[Nijo]

Interesting. Having met CharlesR and looked up the word "ectomorphic" I have to conclude that I'm in the same group: 5ft 11, 10st 0 and 5% fat. I've been hitting the gym this month and am trying out different approaches to find out what works best for me.

My aim is to gain muscle, especially upper-body, while retaining good fitness. I've tried the max-weight for low-reps approach and find that I burn out quickly and need a long rest in between sessions. I concluded that my core strength needs building up, so I'm going to embark on a programme of higher reps and basic stuff like press-ups. This way I hope to reduce the risk of damaging myself and can move on to the heavier stuff later on.

But that's all made up ideas. I'm curious about this ectomorphic plan of yours, MattyD... can you share more? You're just doing freeweights? Are you building up endurance or only size?

[Nijo]

According to this wiki page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_training

According to popular theory:

* Sets of one to five repetitions primarily develop strength, with less impact on muscle size and none on endurance.
* Sets of six to twelve repetitions develop a balance of strength, muscle size and endurance.
* Sets of thirteen to twenty repetitions develop endurance, with some increases to muscle size and limited impact on strength.
* Sets of more than twenty repetitions are considered to be focused on aerobic exercise. They do still use the anaerobic system, but usually at a rate through which it can consistently remove the lactic acid generated from it.

Lots of stuff to read in that page, though probably only interesting to a n00b like myself.

[charlesr]

I think the most important thing is variation. Your muscles quickly become accustomed to doing a particular exercise, so sometimes I drop the weight and do more reps (especially if I'm feeling tired - injuries aren't funny). Then other times I'll do dropsets (start very heavy so possibly 4 reps, lower the weight to do another 4, lower again etc until you can barely move 1kg ). The variation also stops you getting bored.

"50kg on Biceps is going to only damage your muscles rather than build them up" - I'm not sure what you are getting at here Can you clarify? My understanding is that you intentionally damage your muscles TO build them up. That's why you get the ache the next day - those torn muscle fibres are repairing, but larger and stronger. If you feel the ache straight away, you've probably overdone it though.

A lot of this is more about experience and what works for you and your goals. This is where a personal trainer can help. I'm just want to stay in shape - I'm not looking to become ripped or rambo.

[MattyD]

But that's all made up ideas. I'm curious about this ectomorphic plan of yours, MattyD... can you share more? You're just doing freeweights? Are you building up endurance or only size?

The plan I'm following is from this book, which is specifically designed to help ectomorphs bulk up - stuff like endurance comes later once you've reached the size you want. It's entirely free weights-based with some supplemental cardio work, but even that is short and intense interval training sessions as opposed to long, steady runs. The book explains that ectomorphs need a slightly different approach because of their muscle fibre composition, skeletal structure, hormones etc.

It's really worth reading for all the physiology, nutrion etc but the gist of it is that to get big you've got to eat big (and I mean SRSLY), focus your workouts on heavy, compound lifts, and use heavy to near-maximal weights with lower reps.

If you want to know how effective the book is, I've gone from 9/12 stone (62Kg) at 5" 8, to over 72Kgs just since mid December when I started. I'm only half way through the programme now and I'm still putting on a pound or two every week. I might take a photo of me in some of my old clothes later to show you the difference.

[shanaleonhart]

My gym plan isn't coming along too badly. I started doing bodypump classes around the new years and I've been zooming through it, have noticed a definite improvement almost everywhere so I'm just going to carry on doing that and going to the gym. Currently @10stone, dont really need to lose any more weight, just need to lose some more size, maybe.