Workout advice - hypertrophy

[Urza285]

Hey there I've been on this health and fitness this for almost 7 maybe even 8 years now. Back in those days I was 294 pounds and currently I am 187.8 (lowest being 182.8 December 20th).

 

I've been spending the last couple months working on my muscle gain and before that it was mostly an unorganized mess of trying to hit general areas of the body with interspersed cardio. Now I am we'll organized writing down exercises, reps and weight. I don't do much cardio except for maybe once a week.

 

With all that said I am currently a 27 year-old male, 5' 11" weighing 187.8 currently. I'm wishing to get down to 175 and maybe even 170 if there is more to lose. I am fairly certain I could drop down to that weight, but I am also looking to fill out more as well. I am interested I yoga and might even take that up myself as well to help with other things going on.

 

The big question so far is this: can someone help explain hypertrophy a bit more in understandable terms. I am interested in using it for both muscle building as well as strength building.

 

One major concern was the rest times between sets when going for muscle building. I understand the the optimal repetition range for muscle building hypertrophy is 8-12. But again I'm not sure what the rest period between each set is and wether its very strict.

 

Next I would also like to train dually for both muscle building and strength. I understand that the aim for this would be sticking to roughly under 6 repetitions.

 

From a PT friend of mine he has been suggesting I do 4 weeks muscle building, 3 weeks strength, 3 weeks muscle building and 5 weeks strength.

 

Opinions, comments, etc?

 

Generally I'm interested I knowing is getting to 175 or even 170 possible? Why are the ideal rest times between strength and muscle building sets?

[Tim]

Probably should have posted it in the health/fitness section.

 

Also, Wiki is your friend. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_hypertrophy

[Kaida23]

Moved to Sports & Fitness. :)

[Sy_Accursed]

Hypertrophy isn't exactly complex. The basic of it is:

Use your muscles to their limits and you will gain a mixture of strength and muscle size.

 

To further break it down:

high weight low reps = strength

lower weight high reps = size

 

Eg being able to do 3-5 reps with a 20kg dumbell on bicep curls will build more strength than size. Doing 8-12 reps with a 15kg dumbell on bicep curls will be more size than strength.

 

In terms of rest between sets it basically ought to be until you feel ready to do another set; which is very much dependant on what weight you use etc. Personally I'd say aim for around a minute at most.

 

As for building strength and size what I've found works for me thus far is: Once a weight become relatively easy to do 8-12 reps with move up to a higher weight; if you do it soon enough the new weight will be heavy enough that you have to cut back your reps until you gain more strength. Doing it this way I've been upping the weight for my workouts maybe once every 1-3 months (depends on plateauing and how big the jump is) and found it means at first I gain strength then I gain some muscle size; then when I reach a point where I feel I don't really care to gain more strength I can just focus on doing a few more reps and a adding in sets to work on size.

[muggiwhplar]

I asked my professional buddy to describe hypertrophy in a nutshell. He said, "cell growth." lol

 

Generally when it comes to strength and size, you can't have your cake and eat it too. You focus on one of the two, and the other one will follow along with less results. In other words, if you train only to become stronger, you can definitely be sure that you'll look stronger eventually, albeit you won't look as strong as someone whose primary goal is to just look strong, rather than be strong. And of course, if you try to look strong, you'll end up being strong eventually too-- just not as strong as someone who doesn't care about looks.

 

In my case, I've always focused primarily on strength instead of size. If you really want to get strong, really fast, then check this out. After my gym membership expired, I began doing bodyweight exercises from home with that routine. Within three months, I could do a chin-up with one arm. Because of that, my biceps and lats got much stronger (and also more defined). After switching to this workout, I'll probably never go back to weightlifting/gyms ever again.

[Urza285]

I suppose strength then is what I'll aim for. My concern has been losing a lot of weight and not filling out though... I have baggage :P.

[Urza285]

Sooo annoying not knowing if I need to lose more fat or not...

 

Ill post some pics wen I get home from the gym and maybe some objective feedback will come. I keep telling myself I want to get down to the mid-170's and be muscular, but I'm not sure it's possible.

[Urza285]

So I guess the next question is... Should I focus my thoughts and efforts on continuing to burn fat? Or work of maintenance, build muscle and fill out? Currently I'm sitting at 184.8 lbs (2 lbs up from who knows what - I'm thinking holidays).

 

Here are some pics I gathered this morning (keep in mind I'm 184.8 down from 294):

 

 

 

[muggiwhplar]

Keep in mind this advice is coming from a skinny guy who's never been concerned with his weight, so take it with a grain of salt :P

 

 

I think it would be easier to just focus on one thing at a time. Your first goal should be to get down to a certain bodyfat percentage and/or bodyweight, and then focus on getting stronger or building muscle mass. In your case it's more a matter of diet than working out.

[Urza285]

Keep in mind this advice is coming from a skinny guy who's never been concerned with his weight, so take it with a grain of salt :P

 

 

I think it would be easier to just focus on one thing at a time. Your first goal should be to get down to a certain bodyfat percentage and/or bodyweight, and then focus on getting stronger or building muscle mass. In your case it's more a matter of diet than working out.

I've always wanted to find a free/cheap and accurate way of testing my body fat percentage. Honestly that's probably all it would take for me to see if I needed to stay where I am or lose 5, 10, 15 pounds.

 

From the picture you can tell I've lost a lot and I want to fill out in muscle. Some people seem to fill out in muscle and some fat. I would rather be lean and have just the muscle.

[muggiwhplar]

I use this. It may or may not be valid, but at least it's reliable.

[Urza285]

I use this. It may or may not be valid, but at least it's reliable.

I think you got the idea... I checked it out, but its got a lot of mixed reviews which doesn't do it any justice.

 

I kind of feel I'm about where I need to be with my weight. The issue is me not being tone and a body fat % would help validate things for me. To put the issue in perspective you grew up skinny and know the roundabouts where you need to be. Right now I'm trying to figure that out and a body fat measurement might help square things away.

[muggiwhplar]

Look into skin-fold calipers.

 

Also, http://www.4hourlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Estimate-your-body-fat-Eyeballing-It-Male.pdf

[Urza285]

I would almost like to estimate from those pictures I'm sitting at around 14-16 body fat. I guess not bad, but sub-10 sounds sexy... Yeah I said it lol. You are probably right on the diet too... I'm a very big eat on the go kind of guy, but almost always practice moderation and other healthy habits.

[muggiwhplar]

Keep a 12-pack of bottled water in your car as well as some peanuts. If you're hungry/thirsty while you're out, they'll prevent you from wasting money on unhealthy foods.

[Urza285]

I'm usually drinking a lot of water and coffee. I rarely have sugary beverages, but I do indulge in diet energy drinks and pop. Mostly water and coffee though.

[Conjexure]

i recommend you burn more fat, keep a consistent calorie deficit and you will be rewarded.