[Shan2nu]

I'l be completing my first year of bodybuilding this 13th. Gave up supplements 6 months ago, reason being that the size you gain from supplements will only stay as long as you're willing to take them. The moment you stop, your body goes back to it's natural size.

So the question for me was, how long do i keep spending that much money and for what?

My current stats are :
Weight - 100kgs
Height - 6'2"
Waist - 36"
Arms" - 17"
Forearms - 15.2"

I will go as far as i can gain size naturally and maintain it for as long as possible.

Dont know the fat percentage. Have'nt gone to the Gym from past a week, but will start from monday onwards.

Vikram and Shan2anu and others, since i am fasting, so no meal the entire day until sunset, since i will be starting my workout from monday at 9.30 in the night. My schedule right now is, eat little fruits and pakodas at Sunset (when i break my fast), rest for an hour eat little before going for prayers, come back and then gym. Post workout is eggs, milk, and little food like roti, and whatever is cooked. Bed time, then morning 4.30 wakeup , at sunrise is rotis with Tea, boiled eggs, milks and oats, little sweets.

What workout should i follow, 4 days a week or 6 or 7?? should i go for full body circuit training and rest next day or cardio or two body parts??

Well, i think you should workout for 3-4 days a week and concentrate more on cardio. A friend of mine has been working out for close to 9 years now and every time he has to fast, he uses that period to cut down on body fat. It's worked well for him.

Shan2nu

[SohailPistawala]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

I'l be completing my first year of bodybuilding this 13th. Gave up supplements 6 months ago, reason being that the size you gain from supplements will only stay as long as you're willing to take them. The moment you stop, your body goes back to it's natural size.

So the question for me was, how long do i keep spending that much money and for what?
Shan2nu

In My 4 years of training i have never taken a spoon of Supplements, All natural way!! LOLS

[Shan2nu]

I know we're not talking steroids here but i thought this article might interest a few of the memebers.

Daniel Risi Natural Bodybuilding Homepage

It's amazing to see how these guys transform their bodies between competition and offseason.

Look at Arnold when he went off steroid cycle during his offseason, he just tuned into a regular guy.

Frankly, thats how everything from steroids to supplements work. It's like using NOS in a regular engine, it's only gonna be powerful as long as there's supply.

Shan2nu

[harry10]

Originally Posted by Shan2nu

I know we're not talking steroids here but i thought this article might interest a few of the memebers.

Daniel Risi Natural Bodybuilding Homepage

It's amazing to see how these guys transform their bodies between competition and offseason.

Shan2nu

Really amazing article. What i wonder is didn't these guys had any After effects of the steriods!

[s0uljah]

Originally Posted by harry10

Really amazing article. What i wonder is didn't these guys had any After effects of the steriods!

There's bound to be after effects that most of them are aware of when they start. Unlike here in India the BB'ers of the West are continuously monitored by doctors who also give them PCT (Post cycle therapy) to minimize the unwanted effects of AAS.

[given2fly]

I am looking to gain weight. My height is 5.10 / 11" (not sure) and weight pretty much around 58 KG something. Currently, my exercise regime says 0, but looking to start working out and cycling once I complete my currently pending transfer to Pune.

Any tips from seasoned folks will help a great deal. Not looking for quick fixes but would love to do it the natural way.

PS : Going through the tips already offered.

[jassi]

keep your cardio sessions (jog/cycle) low - only to the point of maintaining cardiovascular endurance
to gain weight you need to lift weights - make sure you start of light and get the technique for any exercise right and then slowly graduate to heavier weights. Make sure you have a good instructor to guide you on technique Its never too late so take it easy and in time you will get the exercises right - don't go too heavy too soon as then you risk injury and end up learning the hard way!!

A simple workout - 3 days a week go light get the form right
Chest, Lats and abs - day1
shoulders and arms (biceps/triceps/forearms) - day2
thighs, calves and lower back - day 3

Then once you are ready to move on - add heavy days and spread it out to 4 days a week and add some cardio
day 1 - chest and abs
day 2 - lats and biceps
day 3 - shoulders and triceps
day 4 - thighs, lower back and calves
Out of these 4 days, once a week, make one day a heavy day, and on one of the light days do cardio.

It will take some time, have patience. I remember I used to work out 10 yrs ago at 18 yrs of age and 50 kilos body weight. It took me 5 years to get to 63 and another 5 to get to current 72 kilos

Lastly eat well, have a good carb breakfast, nice carb lunch, evening milkshake (use your imagination on healthy ingrediants) post gym and a light protien dinner. Add some green veggies whenever possible.

Thats it !!

Originally Posted by given2fly

I am looking to gain weight. My height is 5.10 / 11" (not sure) and weight pretty much around 58 KG something. Currently, my exercise regime says 0, but looking to start working out and cycling once I complete my currently pending transfer to Pune.

Any tips from seasoned folks will help a great deal. Not looking for quick fixes but would love to do it the natural way.

PS : Going through the tips already offered.

[pranavt]

Ahh, one of the few threads where I can really share my "knowledge" and experiences...

Lost ~45kgs (from 127.7 kg to 82.5kg) in the last year and 3 months with a safe diet and marathon training. Couldn't run more than about 200 metres when I started. These days, I can run a half-marathon without getting exhausted. About 7 months ago, when I was getting close to my final weight-loss goal, I took up marathon training to build up an insane amount of endurance. Used to wake up at 4.45 in the mornings and run for about 2 hours non-stop everyday.

Once I had built up enough endurance and got my bodyfat % low enough (3 months ago), it was time to hit the gym and concentrate mainly on building/strengthening up my muscles. I lost my final 12 kgs in the last 4 months doing nothing but heavy weight training 6 days a week. I'm now at ~82kg, and at 6' 1", one of the fittest in my gym.

Since I seem to have a lot of free time, I myself handle my diet and weight-training routines, and have been doing so for over a year. A few people in the gym and a few overweight friends consider me their inspiration. Had they known how easy it was for me to do this, they would be amazed. Because unlike most people who do fancy diets for a few months and then give up and start eating like mad, it was a complete lifestyle change for me. To this day, I cannot eat the kind of food I was used to about 2 years ago. Simply cannot put it in my mouth without my brain sending me big bad warning lights . Plus, the high that you get from doing good things to your body cannot be got from anything else. And there's no conscience to stop you since you're fixing your past mistakes. Finally, I'm a big believer of the quote in my sig and follow it religiously in all my endeavours. Planning on getting it tattooed on my wrist/forearm in the future...

These days, I go to Talwalkar's gym at Malad (W), Adarsh area (any t-bhpians I've missed?) every evening. My diet is decided by me (lot of proteins and moderate amount of fats, less carbs, about 2.5k calories everyday), is changed by me every month. Same with my workouts. I've been taking protein supplements for the past 3 months (Optimum Nutrition Whey Protein before, currently on Dymatize Elite 12 Whey protein). Will go back to Optimum Nutrition once I'm done with the 5lbs of crap-tasting Dymatize lol. Also started trying Creatine (imported from biotest labs, us) about 2 weeks ago.

Even though I'm just a normal guy, I believe that I know more than most of these so-called fitness trainers and dieticians who watch over others at the gym. Would love to help out anyone who needs help/tips related to fitness/diet/etc. Cheers! cheers:

[jassi]

Originally Posted by pranavt

Even though I'm just a normal guy, I believe that I know more than most of these so-called fitness trainers and dieticians who watch over others at the gym. cheers:

agreed - i have learnt this over years, that theres very few instructors who understand things and on the other hand theres very few ortho docs who understand sports injuries. I am glad in my first 2 years I had a very good instructor and then on for the last 8 yrs I have been on my own.
Your body is like a car, you can give it to a mechanic and pray he makes it right or you can laern the internals yourself over time and best understand and take care of it!!

[ex670c]

Day 1 - Lunges - Abs - Chin-up (Lats) - Push-ups - Head Stand

Day 2 - Dead lifts - Abs - Inverted push-ups - hand stand push ups- neck bridge

Day 3 - Pistol Squats - Abs - incline tricep-push ups- pull-up (Biceps)-neck hangs

Repeat Sunday Rest

1999-2004 is used to do a lot of power-lifting type of work out

Day1 - Legs (Quadriceps) - Lats - Neck (Trapezius)- Fore Arms - Abs

Day2 - Legs (Calves) - Chest -Triceps - Abs

Day3 - Legs (Hamstring) - Shoulders - Biceps - Abs

Repeat with sunday rest.

I'm not including the exercises, there were quite a few variations.

Regards,

Arka

[pranavt]

Originally Posted by jassi

Your body is like a car, you can give it to a mechanic and pray he makes it right or you can laern the internals yourself over time and best understand and take care of it!!

Word man!

Anyways, my new splits I'm going to do from this coming Monday. I'm mostly into compound movements for the bigger/complex muscles and only do isolation work for smaller muscles like the arms...:

TUT = Time under tension, so for example, 1-0-4 = 1 seconds for the overcoming/lifting part of the movement, 0 seconds wait, 4 seconds for the yielding, lowering part of the movement. X = explosive, as fast as you can.

For compound movements, lift heavy with a TUT something like X-0-3. For isolation movements, moderately heavy weights with a TUT something like 2-0-5. You're not expected to put a stop-watch in front of you while doing your movements, but follow it roughly.

Chest + Shoulder - Heavy weights, TUT 1-0-3 or X-1-4 or thereabouts...:
Bench/Dumbbell Presses (Incline/Flat/Decline depending on my goals/weaknesses), Barbell/Dumbbell Military/Shoulder Press, Upright Rows, Decline dumbbell fly, Lateral & Front dumbbell raises

Legs + Lower Back - Heavy weights, TUT 1-0-2/3 or thereabouts. Watch your back during deadlifts and squats, you don't get a second chance if you mess up your back:
Pull-ups/Chin-ups, Deadlifts, Bent-over barbell row, Single dumbbell row/ Seated row on machine, dumbbell pullover, Squats (with barbell+weights), Lunges, Leg extension/curling, donkey calf-raise,

Biceps + Triceps. Moderately heavy weights, train to muscle failure (where you cannot do another rep at all), TUT something like 2-1-5 or X-1-6 (for explosive, try lifting HEAVY, upto 80% of your 1 rep max with someone's help and lowering the weight under extreme control without any help, do around 8-10 reps. DOMS - Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness will be very obvious, masochists will have a great time! ), Isolation exercises only.

I do light ab and forearms work on Sundays since they already get worked on during Back/Leg and Biceps work indirectly.

Cheers! cheers:

[jassi]

tut tut i am not into such microscopic stuff, but I am sure if I obsessed enough I would get there. Now only if I had enough free time to plan all this, but yeah you make a good point - I sometimes by instinct incorporate such movements into my workouts - its called negative reps concentrating on the reverse movement of the rep and from what I know its good for your ligaments - I used to do a lot of these in the forearm exercises during post recovery from torn ligaments in both my wrists (due to fall from bike)

[pranavt]

Originally Posted by jassi

I sometimes by instinct incorporate such movements into my workouts - its called negative reps concentrating on the reverse movement of the rep and from what I know its good for your ligaments

Yeah, negatives. You can get an insane amount of hypertrophy by doing heavy negatives. Didn't know about them being good for ligaments, never really been injured and hopefully the same in the future. As for TUT and stuff, hehe, I have a habit of going very deep into stuff that I'm interested in, at the cost of wasting a lot of time and pissing everyone around me off by spouting all sorts of informational crap that people don't want to hear

[jassi]

Originally Posted by pranavt

I have a habit of going very deep into stuff that I'm interested in, at the cost of wasting a lot of time and pissing everyone around me off by spouting all sorts of informational crap that people don't want to hear

that sounds like me cheers: only that i don't p*ss off people, well not that I know off I did not have access to too much of weights last 2 months so working on my max reps for body weight exercises - managed to get to 100 pull ups, 450 dips and 270 squats and similar numbers for other exercises - 1 exercise and 1 part per day though!!

[Shan2nu]

managed to get to 100 pull ups, 450 dips and 270 squats and similar numbers for other exercises - 1 exercise and 1 part per day though!!

Looking at those rep ranges u seem to be working towards muscle endurance more than size/strenght.

Shan2nu