Anyone work out?

[Snip3r]

Well I started working out not too long ago...I do a lot of mild upper body. I played football my freshman year (varsity quaterback..only freshman at my school to ever do that) anyways. I never had to work out with the rest of the team, they let me watch...or run miles. But now I want to increase my size and get a nice shape and toned look. Im 6'3" 184lbs...I have a pretty thin build...athletic looking (I think) but I want to bulk up some more...my dad bought me one of those crazy *** work out gym things...and the onlything I do is bench press and standing curls...I can bench 160lbs (all the weight up there) I do 16 reps...then curling I do 50lbs 16 reps also...I haven't seen a big improvement. Dad has bought me all types of crap...creatine...whey protein...protein drinks...Im sowrried about taking them as I'd prefer to work for my body without 'helping'...

But my question is: Should I tone and cut what I have now..until Im happy...then eat like hell and work that off? Or would it be easier to juss work out a lot...and eat alot? Also any tips and hints about upper body would be nice...Thanks

[lordkovacs]

you have to eat a TON when trying to gain mass. creatine and whey and all that are decent for giving protein, but they won't do anything unless you are on the right program. What is your routine? how often do you work each muscle? i would suggest 3 - 5 exercies for each muscle. And, for someone that's trying to put ON weight, you can't be on a low or no carb diet. the whey/creatine are good, but you have to have some carbs to go with them. here's my current routine to give an idea...

sunday-chest
monday-triceps
tuesday-off day
wednesday-shoulders
thursday-biceps
friday and saturday-off

i do 30 min. cardio each work out day. remember also to eat protein (tuna, chicken breast, turkey, salmon, etc.) even on your off days.

to add mass, you don't want to to 16 reps. you want to do more weight less times. so, if you can do 16 reps of bench press, you want to be doing 180lbs. 8-10 times instead.
good luck... pm me and I can give you a few good weightlifting sites.cheers,
MIKE

[operation_sssss]

Hey, fair play for working out, playing rugby for Gloucester and Wales (under 21 and 19 level) training has become a big part of my daily routine and the info mike has given you is top notch, i train to something like that rotuine but due to lack of time i'll do chest then biceps in one session then back and triceps in another session, this allows you to put a big influence on certain body parts, for example if you were doing chest exercises such as incline decline and flat bench your going to be working your biceps as well then by further isolatin exercises - curls, close underarm pulll ups, you can get a really good burn!!!!! (hope that made sense lol)
Like Mike said take on the protein big time after every session, but remember your body can only take on 35g protein at any one time any excess will be p*****d out or stored as fat. For mass building in the close season i'll take 3 protein shakes a day.
My mass building programme for the closed season is 6 weeks of doin every exercise for 5 sets of 8 reps then after cut it down to 6 sets of 4 if you want to improve strength, hope any of that helped and made some sense lol good luck and train hard but remember listen to your body if it does not work for you i.e routine, diet change it to suit your needs and you will see the benefits, take care
Cheers Will

[alan]

You can't just do chest and biceps only, you have to work on your back, shoulders and triceps to even your body out. Otherwise you will put too much mass on the front and your body will curl forward naturally. I heard that doing your legs are important too, someone told me something about that but it was too complicated and I have no idea what she was talking about, but I think you're fine because you are using your legs a lot from football anyways.
I will do chest, shoulders and triceps on one day and back and biceps on the other. Remember that you'll be using your triceps when you do your chest and shoulders therefore it's better not to do biceps on those days.

[lordkovacs]

doing legs is very important, however, if you are already involved in a very physical sport that uses legs, plus you do 30 min. of cardio almost every day using an incline, you can get away with not doing legs as a designated day. as I said, have one day for each of biceps, triceps, shoulders, and chest. The reason I do not include back in these days is that when I do shoulders and triceps I do exercies that hit the back as a secondary target muscle. HOwever, if you are trying to get into bodybuilding seriously you will need to include specific back and leg exercises into your split. good luck...any questions, pm me!
cheers,
MIKE

[sSNAKESs.com]

lifting my fork from the plate to my mouth... Does that count?

[lordkovacs]

hahah... jeff, i'm not so sure. i guess if you were to do that with a solid 24carat gold fork that weighted 20 lbs.... hmmm, you may be on to something. eat as much as you like, and gain muscle at the same time. maybe they can come up with heavier beer bottles too! cheers,
MIKE

[sSNAKESs.com]

LOL!!!!!!! Actually I innstall drywall for a liviing so I get my fair share of work out that way... but its all shoulders and legs and after lifting 3 - 4000 square feet of drywall a day I will be damned if I have to come home and do anymore exercise!!

[lordkovacs]

hahah... i guess you do build up an appetite though. perhaps your "fork system" could work then. have you thought about getting a patent on that? haha.. cheers Jeff...
MIKE

[sSNAKESs.com]

lol could prove great for both arms for those who use a fork AND knife or a fork AND spoon.. bwahahah!!

[SCReptiles]

You didn’t have to work out with the rest of the team? I have no idea what kind of ball they play in SC, but that would get you killed where I played. I was an all state in high school and a JCC all-American. Everywhere I played from grade school to college the QB worked out just like everyone else…I think your story is fishy. But, to your questions, if you are wanting to work out for football you need to strength train and concentrate flexibility so that you do not get muscle bound. Use free weights and not those silly machines. Use lower weights and higher reps. If you only want to bulk up, go buy Arnold’s book.

[lordkovacs]

yeah, I agree with chuck, free weights are better. reason being, you have to work your inferior body parts (if you are right handed, it forces you to use your left are for biceps curls...for example). Also, it forces you to use smaller muscles becuase you have to worry about balance. good advice chuck...
MIKE

[JeffT]

Just curious, how would you work out your chest? I have big arm, legs and abdominal muscels but cant figure out anything with my chest.

[lordkovacs]

do 4 exercises for chest minimum. here's what I do...

Flat bench press
Incline bench press
decline bench press
dumbell fly's

[hudson]

whatever you do don't forget your legs, there is nothing worse then seeing a guy with a sweet upper body and then looking down and seeing that he has scrawny chicken legs.

Kate