weightlifting for building mass what rep range?

Jorvik · Jul 8, 2003

Rep range: 5-8. Shoot for something that you can do yourself to failure at about 5-6, then get a couple forced reps with a spotter. Increase your number of sets as well - 3-5 sets. You're going to have to go down in weight as your sets go on. Start off with a warmup set (included in your total set #) that you could do 10-15 times, do that for 5 reps.

Keep protein very high. www.proteinfactory.com if you want excellent yet very affordable protein. Creatine will help you build mass as well, I recommend Cell Tech, **** is awesome. If you find yourself getting the squirts, back your creatine consumption off a couple grams.

Jorvik · Jul 8, 2003

My workout doesn't do exactly that, but it does split up the workouts. I have a chest day, then a quad day, then a back/calves day, then an arms day, then a shoulders/hamstrings day. This is different than the usual back/bi, chest/tri, and legs workouts that most people use. This way I can have a full 5 days of workouts during the week, working most muscle groups (especially upper body) multiple times. Ideally you should have at least 36-48 hours rest between your same muscle days. You should be all set.

bbmj · Jul 10, 2003

if by mass you mean you want bigger muscle size, the 10-20 rep range is actually best for muscle hypertrophy(growth), but i think that if you go heavy, and i mean heavy, on all the exercises you should be okay with most rep ranges. also you will never get any bigger if you are not taking in enough calories, you might try to drink a gallon of chocolate or regular milk a day, and increase the portions of all your meals. as long as you work hard you will get bigger, now stronger that is a whole nother post, but if you want i can expand
charlie

bbmj · Jul 11, 2003

i am a competitive powerlifter now, so i dont really follow a standard program like i assume yours is now, but back in my wanna be body-builder days, i found that this worked best for me
chest - as heavy as possible 6-8
back-heavy8-10
biceps-heavy 6 reps, or 10-12
tris heavy 10-12
legs- didnt train consistently, but i always got good results no matter what the reps are

if you are interested in getting strong, or even just getting a ton of good ideas for exercise I HIGHLY RECCOMED GOING TO ELITEFTS.COM and reading all the articles and reading the Q&A, it is run by a group of pro powerlifters using a very good system, based on the russian conjugate sequence system, needless to say, if you read and put to use what the dudes there say you can get scary strong, and the size will just come along with it
if you have any questions about what they do i will expand, just let me know,
charlie

KrusteeButt · Jul 17, 2003

Just a thought:
In the "Body For Life" program, the workout that he uses quite a bit is as such:

For each body part -
1st set - very light weight (50-60% of your typical max), 12 reps. Intended to warm up/stretch muscle group.
2nd set - increase weight sligthly, 10 reps.
3rd set - increase weight...this should be getting tougher...8 reps.
4th set - increase weight to about 90-95% of your max...6 reps. This should be at the point that pushing out the 6th is pretty darned hard.
5th set - drop weight to around weight of 2nd set, try to push out 12 reps.
6th set - change exercise completely, but stay within muscle group...for example: sets 1-5 bench press, set 6 butterflies. 12 reps.

The important part of this is that you don't rest for more than 30-45 seconds between sets; that's usually just enough time to change the weight. By resting such a short period of time, you'd be surprised at how hard that 4th set is...speaking of which, a spotter is always the safe route, we all know that. But considering how much your muscles will be burning and how heavy that 4th set is, a spotter really should be there for that 4th set.

Anyhow, that's what he recommends for each muscle group. Your workouts will actually go a lot quicker and still be quite effective. After a few weeks change it up so the muscles don't get used to it.

Just my $0.02. I started doing this workout a few months ago and I've increased my max weight significantly. I know it all depends on the person, but for me this one has really made the most noticeable advances.

Jorvik · Jul 17, 2003

I found that by doing 4 sets of 5-8 reps REALLY helped increase both my mass and strength.

I still adhere to the tried-and-true, lift a lot and eat a lot, get bigger and stronger regardless of your workout routine.

Jorvik · Jul 18, 2003

Originally posted by rbx
with 4exercices and 4set of 6-8reps for each bodypart,i will only restart my routine on the following monday..
(i was thought to train a bodypart no more then once per week for mass purposes)

My workout goes like this

Monday-Chest
Tuesday - Quads
Wednesday - Back and Calves
Thursday - Arms
Friday - Shoulders and Hamstrings

2 day rest.

This routine was given to me by a US Marine Bodybuilder. He took it straight from www.oo-rah.com (kickass site). I've been on this routine for about 2 months and have gotten noticably bigger. It actually isn't a pure mass building routine, more of a pure get-fvcking-stronger routine. I was on the SAIS Mass Building routine for about 4 months just prior to this new workout. That one didn't really give me too much mass. I've only got about 2 years of lifting experience, but I've been talking to guys at a hardcore gym here in Boston, and now Marines, and have gotten a **** load of knowledge from those guys. The guys who lift at hardcore gyms are usually the best to talk to about this stuff. I'm just a buck ninety amatur, those guys REALLY know their stuff.

toughguymagee · Jul 30, 2003

I have used the bigger faster stronger program and it works really well. Its a good over-all, sport designed workout.

http://www.biggerfasterstronger.com/

bbmj · Jul 30, 2003

bigger faster stronger is a good program for a beginner, but since it is a progressive overload program, there is no way you will be able to continue for a long time without hitting a plateu that you wont be able to overcome, this is because the central nervous system cant handle loads of over 90% for over 3 weeks, and lift at 90% or above after 3 weeks will lead to overtraining, no matter how little of what else you are doing, the key is to change the maximum effort lift every 3 weeks or less, rotate at least 5 different lifts that all work the desired area but in diffent ways, for example for the legs, lowerbody, one week do deadlifts, 2or 3 weeks later, do goodmornings, then do low box squats, then front squats, for hte bench a similar rotation should be done using ,board presses, pin presses, reverse band bench, carpet presses, cambered bar benches, incline and decline benches, for all of hte minor groups you should hit them after doing the max effort work, but using moderate weight and reps, this is known as the westside method which had produced 3 1000+ lb squatters, and 30 or so 800-900 lb squatters, and 4 700 lb benchers, and countless 500-600 lb benchers, you can find more info at westside-barbell.com, and elitefts.com
i have no affiliation to them, other than i have and do use their methods and know that they are bar none the best method out there, all backed by science and huge lifts,
check it out
charlie telesco

mr_dove · Aug 19, 2003

There are obviously many different viewpoints about how many reps to do for your workout. The one rule that is fixed and set in stone is:

less reps=power
more reps=endurance
middle ground=mass

I've been doing weight lifting on and off for about 12 years. The most common rep range is 8-12.

Jorvik · Aug 21, 2003

On a whim, I bought Arnold Swarzenegger's New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding.

GREAT BOOK. Really has some good techniques for "shocking" your muscles to encourage the greatest growth. You have to live with the fact that you'll never have the body that the guys in the photos have without juicing 24/7

.

A very good section on breaking down excercises.

I'm going to start doing a workout similar to his advanced program, only with more emphasis on multi joint power exercises.

bbmj · Aug 21, 2003

okay, i know im reallybeating a dead horse with this but if you are truly interested in getting strong first, and big second, follow the westside barbell principles, i guarntee that you will get stronger than ever before, adn with strength comes the muscle, which would you rather be, big with no strength, or medium, and really f@cking strong. go check out westside-barbell.com, or elitefts.com, and you will see what i am talking about 1000lb squats by 220lber, 733 bench by a 215lb man, the results speak for themselves,
charlie

Grimey · Aug 24, 2003

I use the pyramid method that some one already mentioned. Starting high reps and working low. When I use it I work alternate muscle groups in sets. Say I'm doing bench, I do a set of rows after. So I do my first set of 12 reps of bench, then first set of 12 reps of rows. 2nd set of 10 on bench, then rows... I fell much better when doing this and more balanced through my work out.

After a while of that I pleateu and really couldn't go up much more. I went to a system where I did 2 days a week low reps, high weight, then 2 days a week high reps, low weights. Once I got to this point a felt really good, my speed improved allot as well.

The biggest thing I found that helped that with my training was lifting with friends. I used to lift with my 2 best friends, both competive kick boxers/grapplers, and they would just kick my ass starting out. But I had so much energy when lifting with them. With them I could put up 285 on my heavy set of bench, without them i could only muster 250. Something about your best friend calling you a wuss and promising not pick up on a spot unless you could finish the rep seemed to motivate me.

Oh and makes sure to do some negatives until you can't manage enough strength to steer your car, then you know had a good workout.

ryn_v · Sep 4, 2003

"Just a thought:
In the "Body For Life" program, the workout that he uses quite a bit is as such:

For each body part -
1st set - very light weight (50-60% of your typical max), 12 reps. Intended to warm up/stretch muscle group.
2nd set - increase weight sligthly, 10 reps.
3rd set - increase weight...this should be getting tougher...8 reps.
4th set - increase weight to about 90-95% of your max...6 reps. This should be at the point that pushing out the 6th is pretty darned hard.
5th set - drop weight to around weight of 2nd set, try to push out 12 reps.
6th set - change exercise completely, but stay within muscle group...for example: sets 1-5 bench press, set 6 butterflies. 12 reps."

that is freakin impossible..especially the 4th set part... if u can do 6 reps of 90-95% of ur max then u need to re-max...
What u said about arnolds book..."shocking the muscles" is true...that's the way to cause growth. And anytime u get into too much of a routine ur muscles won't get "shocked" and u'll get less and less results per workout. And all the coaches at my school used to say that as long as u wait one day between a muscle group....ur good, = don't bench 2 days in a row....but everyother day is fine. PEACE

bbmj · Sep 4, 2003

holy sh!t, nobody listens to me here, but i am going to preach on anyways, i have tried and used all the above mentioned things, i have arnolds new encyclopedia of bodybuilding and have read the whole thing, i have read and tried the body for life program and i did lose fat, i didnt get any stronger, the westside method speaks for itself, the coach louie simmons is 53 and squats over 900 lbs, and has remained in the top ten rankings for over 20 years. the methods are based off of the soviet system, which has produced some of the most dominant strength atheletes in the world, look at the u.s's olympic lifting team we suck because of our training methods, look at the lifting teams of eastern europe and the rock because of the training. at least go and check out what im talking about, at elitefts.com, cruise the Q&A, read the articles, it is all free, and you can only get stronger and smarter by implementing there methods, for your bench you might check out metal militia ,at www.metalmilitia.net, some crazy strong dudes over there too, i guarntee you that you try either of these methods and stick with them, that you will see gains that you never saw before, and see how wrong everything else you had been doing was
rant/preaching over
charlie

Jorvik · Sep 4, 2003

bbmj-

I see where your frustrations come from. I've read just about all the articles on elitefts.com and starting to implement them into my workouts. I'd actually like to go to a gym which uses the westside method so I could get pointers on form and whatnot. None in my area, and after November, I won't be lifting reguarly for quite some time.

I wish I could just lift, but I've got to keep my running ability high for the Marines. This means every day I'm out pounding the pavement 3 miles minimum.

bbmj · Sep 4, 2003

jorvik, im glad that you actually took the time to check some of the stuff there, did you read all 4 of the 8keys aritcless, cause they spell out how to do everything, to see some videos of a lot of the westside stuff, go to www.growordie.com and check out some of the training journals, because they have lots of videos in them
charlie

bbmj · Sep 4, 2003

yo jorvik check out some of the past questions on the Q&A if you do the search and type in marine, and read the question by dan on 7/23/01, also search military, and read the question by jason on 7/30/01, and james' question on 3/25/02, lastly go to the sports specific esction of the Q&A and scroll down and go to the second page and read carls question on 8/23/03, all these should give you some info on how you can combine westside and thr military
charlie

Jorvik · Sep 4, 2003

Originally posted by bbmj
jorvik, im glad that you actually took the time to check some of the stuff there, did you read all 4 of the 8keys aritcless, cause they spell out how to do everything, to see some videos of a lot of the westside stuff, go to www.growordie.com and check out some of the training journals, because they have lots of videos in them
charlie

That site ****ing rocks. Its one thing to read about form, its another thing to see it. Whenever I do a new exercise, I try to videotape it so i can spot my form. The Personal Trainers at the club i work at are worthless, and the two powerlifting marines got shipped off to Oki with their reserve unit.

I never checked the Q&As, I'm perusing them now.

Jorvik · Sep 4, 2003

Those Q&As didn't really help with my issue, but thanks anyways. I'll try to explain.

The PFT (Physical Fitness Test) perfect score is 300 points. 100 points given for 20 pullups, 18 minutes 3 mile, and 100 crunches in 2 minutes. I have a perfect score right now. This would be awesome for a regular infantry Marine. Those guys in the Q&A mostly weren't 1st class overall fitness scores.

I do not want to be a regular infantry Marine. I want Force Recon. A perfect PFT is standard fare. I need to surpass the perfect PFT by a good margin. I need to excell at swimming as well. I am going to bust my ass to get into Force Recon. The reason that I'm lifting so intensly right now (other than because i ****ing love it) is that I need to be the best in my Platoon at boot camp. I've got the knowledge part down (94% in the ASVB test) so I'll rock in any classwork **** and I want to kill in the PT part of it too. I will kill in it, but I need to be the best.

I just can't train straight powerlifting right now. I need to have the cardio down, need to be agile, and need to have strength. I'm 70 inches, 195 lbs, looking at getting upwards of 200 when I go, and just get rediculously cut by the time I graduate.

I figure I'll train with the westside method for some things (bench, squat, dead), but I'm also finding good stuff about the Russian Spetznaz (Special Forces) strength training program. They actually shun the bench press. Claim its a "cosmetic" exercise. While I don't quite agree, as nothing else blasts your chest like it does, they definatly have the core, forearm, legs and back exercises down. Those are really the most important muscles for a soldier. Need to carry a pack and rifle all day every day, need to grip it, and you might need to rip some commie's head off.

What REALLY sucks is that I won't be able to lift reguarly for a damn long time. Parris Island - 3 months, back for 10 days after it. School of Infantry - 8 weeks. After that I will either be out in the fleet or hopefully at RIP, the recon selection process (8 weeks or more). After that, Recon School, (another 8 weeks if i'm not mistaken). After that i might finally get to lift some weights.

bbmj · Sep 5, 2003

well good luck, i still think that the westside stuff can be greatly applicable, because they too stress the important stuff as the core and the posterior chain ie hams glutes, low back, and upper back, as well as abs, and obliques as the most important muscles, which all lend well to running fast, and getting strong, you could probaly try something like a westside split, but drop the bench days, and do some of the other things those days, and then still keep the max efforts squat days, and the dynamic squat days, until you are no longer able, because it seems the squat days would still lend a lot of applicable strength to what it is you want.
on the other hand, i hope you make it into the force recon, good luck, and thank you for doing what you do, defending the country, and serving selflessly, thank you, and god bless
charlie

bbmj · Sep 19, 2003

yeah, so the westside guys, use a form of periodization called the conjugate method, which means you train multiple traits at the same time, ie, max strength, hypertrophy(growth), speed, and also since it is created for a powerlifter it uses 4 days, that are used to train the squat and deadlift, and the bench press, so two days are used to train bench, one of the bench days is called a speed or dynamic effort day, where you use about 40-50% of your max, and focus on moving the weight as fast as possible, you do 8-10 sets of 3 reps, because 3 reps is about how long it would take to perform a max lift, for the squat/deadlift, they also use a dynamic effrot day, where you squat onto a box, that should be just below parallel, you sit back, so your shins are perpendicular with the floor, and use approx 50-66% of your max and focus on lifting the weight as fast as possible, you do 8-10 set of 2 reps, for the other two days they are maximum effort days, where for the bench you chose a max effort lift that will help your bench but isnt a flat bench press, you can do a board press, pin press, floor press, reverse band press, etc, where you alternate the exercise every 2-3 weeks, and always try to break your record, after you perform the first exercise, you do something for hte triceps, 3-4sets 0f 6-15 reps, then an exercise for the back again same set and rep, then a shoulder exercise, and then some abs, all the same rep and set scheme,

i would reccomend you go to elitefts.com and read the articles that are called the 8 keys, all 4 of them, they should give you a better idea, and then check out some of the other articles,
i am very glad that you have started to look into the westside methods, they are barn none the best and i promise you if you do it correctly you will get stronger that you ever would any other way
charlie
if you have more questions i can help

weightlifting for building mass what rep range?

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