Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Health & Body › Building muscle vs toning muscle
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Building muscle vs toning muscle

post #1 of 86
3/29/07 at 2:36am
Thread Starter 
Hey everyone,

I'm pretty new at working out, but I do have some muscle. I'm 6 feet 145 lbs, but I have very thin skin and almost no fat, so the muscle shows through pretty well (aka, I don't look TOO scrawny).

Anyway, I was wondering how I should be working out to gain some muscle. I heard that to gain weight you should do like 5 reps of really heavy weight rather than 10 reps of lighter. Is there any formula that you guys know of that's good for gaining muscle instead of just toning?

Also, how much am I going to have to eat to gain this muscle? I have a prety small stomach and get full easily, but I have some protein powder to help me out =).

Thanks a ton, I really appreciate it.
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 86
3/29/07 at 2:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jaustin View Post
Hey everyone,

I'm pretty new at working out, but I do have some muscle. I'm 6 feet 145 lbs, but I have very thin skin and almost no fat, so the muscle shows through pretty well (aka, I don't look TOO scrawny).

Anyway, I was wondering how I should be working out to gain some muscle. I heard that to gain weight you should do like 5 reps of really heavy weight rather than 10 reps of lighter. Is there any formula that you guys know of that's good for gaining muscle instead of just toning?

Also, how much am I going to have to eat to gain this muscle? I have a prety small stomach and get full easily, but I have some protein powder to help me out =).

Thanks a ton, I really appreciate it.

Figure out what your maintainance calories are, then eat more than that. 500 calories more than maintainance means that you'll gain at least 1 lb a week if you put in the weight work, but 1000 may be safer.

There's a lot of debate over what rep range causes hypertrophy, but I would start with a traditional workout where you work each body part once a week with three lifting days, with something like 3 sets of 10 reps, until your lifts are pretty substantial, before you focus on more "exotic" workouts.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 86
3/29/07 at 2:54am
Thread Starter 
Here's an idea of what I do... please tell me if it's good for now.

Bicep curls: 3 sets of 10 reps with a 45 lb bar
Bench: 3 sets of 10 reps at 95lbs
lat pulldowns: 3 sets of 10 at 75 lbs
shoulder shrugs: 3 sets of 10 at 45 lbs

Don't know the names of these ones:

shoulder thingy where you lift your arms straight out from the sides: 3 sets of 10 at 12.5 lbs
machine with a pulley on either side where you stick your arms out from your sides at 90 degrees then pull forward to meet in front of your chest (arms stay straight the whole time): 3 sets of 10 at 35 lbs on each side
forearm excerside
and a substantial tricep exercise (my triceps are good)
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 86
3/29/07 at 3:00am
Nah, you need to do compound exercises, and you definitely need more leg work in there. Your workout has too many isos. This is just something I threw together quickly but it's not a bad split.

Your breakdowns should be something like:

chest/shoulder day

3 x 10 bench press
3 x 10 dumbell fly
3 x 10 incline dumbbell press
3 x 10 shoulder press

legs day

3 x 10 squat
3 x 10 deadlift
3 x 10 calf raise

arms/back day

3 x 10 bicep
3 x 10 lat pulldown
3 x 10 bar dip
3 x 10 row

Quote:
Originally Posted by jaustin View Post
Here's an idea of what I do... please tell me if it's good for now.

Bicep curls: 3 sets of 10 reps with a 45 lb bar
Bench: 3 sets of 10 reps at 95lbs
lat pulldowns: 3 sets of 10 at 75 lbs
shoulder shrugs: 3 sets of 10 at 45 lbs

Don't know the names of these ones:

shoulder thingy where you lift your arms straight out from the sides: 3 sets of 10 at 12.5 lbs
machine with a pulley on either side where you stick your arms out from your sides at 90 degrees then pull forward to meet in front of your chest (arms stay straight the whole time): 3 sets of 10 at 35 lbs on each side
forearm excerside
and a substantial tricep exercise (my triceps are good)
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 86
3/29/07 at 3:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jaustin View Post
Here's an idea of what I do... please tell me if it's good for now.

Bicep curls: 3 sets of 10 reps with a 45 lb bar
Bench: 3 sets of 10 reps at 95lbs
lat pulldowns: 3 sets of 10 at 75 lbs
shoulder shrugs: 3 sets of 10 at 45 lbs

Don't know the names of these ones:

shoulder thingy where you lift your arms straight out from the sides: 3 sets of 10 at 12.5 lbs Shoulder Press
machine with a pulley on either side where you stick your arms out from your sides at 90 degrees then pull forward to meet in front of your chest (arms stay straight the whole time): 3 sets of 10 at 35 lbs on each side Fly
forearm excerside
and a substantial tricep exercise (my triceps are good)

By all means, drop this pedestrian routine and follow one with sufficient lower back and leg work. Drizzt3117's looks fine; you probably won't be able to do some exercises right away (i.e. v-bar dips), so find some decent alternatives (bench dips, assisted dip machine...) through which you can gradually build up your load.

Look around the forum and you will find tons of good information on both exercises and nutrition which is, at the very least, of equal importance. Starting out, you're at the stage where a merely decent effort would lead to substantial gains in most areas. Make good use of it!
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 86
3/29/07 at 10:47am
Take the time to stretch. You build a lot of muscle quickly, and you'll find yourself with all kinds of twitching pains from losing what flexibility you have now.

Also, chin-ups and push-ups are good to do to supplement your weight workouts and increase overall strength and endurance.


Back when I was doing heavy weights, I'd do reps of 10, 8 and 6 to failure. Negative resistance really helped too: focusing on the lowering part of the rep, rather than the lifting part.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 86
3/29/07 at 1:47pm
Or you could stop being such a little bitch. Eat big, lift big. In all honesty, when you are 145 @ 6', you don't need anything specific
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 86
3/29/07 at 2:16pm
Big reps and lots of aerobics, preferably hours, will tone your muscles nicely. For weightlifting I especially can recommend abductor and adductor machines for thighs. Just make sure you don't use too much weigth. Whatever you do, stay away from free weights, you can better target muscles with machines and they are a lot safer.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 86
3/29/07 at 3:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Buddy Love View Post
Big reps and lots of aerobics, preferably hours, will tone your muscles nicely. For weightlifting I especially can recommend abductor and adductor machines for thighs. Just make sure you don't use too much weigth. Whatever you do, stay away from free weights, you can better target muscles with machines and they are a lot safer.
You must be out of your mind. The OP's looking to gain muscle mass, in which case free weights exercise (especially the big 3: bench + squat + DL) is the best thing since sliced bread. His numbers are really low, increasing loads albeit gradually is a must.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 86
3/29/07 at 4:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by whacked View Post
You must be out of your mind. The OP's looking to gain muscle mass, in which case free weights exercise (especially the big 3: bench + squat + DL) is the best thing since sliced bread. His numbers are really low, increasing loads albeit gradually is a must.
Nothing beats the adductor machine. Nothing. Or 3 hours of good fat burning jog.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 86
3/29/07 at 5:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Buddy Love View Post
Nothing beats the adductor machine. Nothing.

Or 3 hours of good fat burning jog.
Should he wear leg warmers, tights, and a head band on his 3 hour jog?

Follow drizzt's plan, don't overdo it for the first few weeks, and eat. With your height/weight, you'll see gains pretty fast no matter what you do.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 86
3/29/07 at 5:40pm
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 86
3/30/07 at 1:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Buddy Love View Post
Nothing beats the adductor machine. Nothing.

Or 3 hours of good fat burning jog.

Excess cardio will cause muscle loss.

Do what drizzt said.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 86
3/30/07 at 2:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by knucks View Post
Or you could stop being such a little bitch.

Eat big, lift big.

In all honesty, when you are 145 @ 6', you don't need anything specific


wow.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 86
3/30/07 at 1:37pm
Jaustin,

You are 6' and 145#. Don't worry about maintenance calories, don't think about bicep curls. Do squats, deadlifts, bench, pullups, dips and rows. Those six workouts are the only things that should be on your mind. Eat as much as you can all the time. Think chicken, whole grains, and lots of vegetables. You have so much room for growth...don't get caught up in the small details.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Health & Body
Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Health & Body › Building muscle vs toning muscle