I've been doing a push pull routine working each body part once per week as recommended here. i don't feel like i'm seeing muscle building gains, i just feel like i'm maintaining the muscle that i have. How long does it take to see muscles getting larger? I've serioulsy increased the amount of protein i've been eating and thought that would help but so far, not seeing a difference
also, does anyone notice they tire a lot quicker when lifting? i used to be able to do cardio for an hour with no problem. since i started lifting i'm pooped after a half hour! 40 mins is the most i can squeeze out. Plus my appetite has seriously increased since i began my lifting program also. I have to eat every 3 hours or my belly is mad at me!! Anyone with me on this??

Are you doing weekly body measurements or photos? You should be seeing gains in about 4 to 6 weeks, but they're more obvious if you're taking rigorous measurements.

Appetite gain is normal! It's a sign your body is building itself up as intended. It's also why proper food intake is so important -- you should be taking in a lot of protein true, but you should also be taking in enough carbs to keep yourself fueled. 60-30-10 or 50-30-20 for carb-protein-fat intake ratios are popular bodybuilders' dietary guidelines.

Be careful not to combine a fat loss goal with a muscle building goal! The first requires a calorie deficit and the second requires a calorie surplus. If you've been eating to lose fat so far, you need to switch up to a muscle gaining diet instead, which naturally means eating more calories. You should make it your goal to maintain body fat percentage during this time (it may even go up a little).

It's natural to have less energy for cardio if you're now lifting weights seriously, but look into your calorie intake to make sure you're not eating for fat loss when you're trying to gain muscle.

How is your weight progression going? After the first few weeks of getting used to the exercise forms, you should be increasing weights every week or every other week by 2% to 5% or 2.5lbs to 10lbs depending on the exercise. Beginners naturally make the fastest strength gains -- you should be slowing to <2% gains every other week after a half year or so.

I know there's a lot of different info out there, but if we're talking body building, the recommendation is going to be for high protein, lower carb, moderate fat. Like 40-30-30, but the 40 is protein.

On the note of decreased energy - it could just be getting used to the program, or you could not be eating enough. Intense weight training is going to really fuel your metabolism and your body is going to want to EAT.

Good luck, and keep up with the progressive loading and let us know how it's going. Should take a few weeks to adapt a little and start actually feeling stronger.

I think I've been eating for muscle gain! Here's my schedule:
7:30 am breakfast: Dannon yogurt w/ 1/2c cottage cheese, fiber one, and bluberries or strawberries mixed in
10:30 snack: kashi granola bar
1 pm lunch: usually a large salad w/ beans and egg whites or a sandwich with small salad and egg whites, and always an orange
6:30 dinner - usually consists of a vegetarian source of protein with vegetables and a serving of rice/pasta/bread (1 or the other, not all 3!).
8pm: treat of a couple spoonfulls of peanut butter or a fat free jello pudding cup with a spoonful of fat free coolwhip.

I work til 4 and head straight to the gym which is why there is no food between 1 and 6. Anything you see that I can change or do differently??

Also, I'm currently following a lifting routine I found in Oxygen Mag and it changes every 2-3 weeks. I'm working the same body parts but the exercises for the body part are changing. I really like it so far so hopefully i'll see some strength/muscle gains!

I'm currently doing 12# bicep curls, 12# shoulder presses, 15# chest presses, 8# lateral raises - all using free weights. How much higher in weight should I expect to go? I don't usually see women lifting much more weight than that.........

Oxygen is probably the best fitness magazine you can get for women, in my opinion. (Men's Health, for men.) So the routine is solid, in all likelihood.

Most of the time, you lift as heavy a weight as you can manage without severely compromising your form. You should be able to do 3 sets of 6-8 reps each. If you can do a full 8 on your 3rd set, you probably need to up your weight for that exercise. Variations can recommend as high as 15 reps, but I personally wouldn't recommend more than 10 reps unless you have an injury that requires you to use lighter weights.

This is the only guide I've found that lays out concrete weight lifting performance standards. Those are 1 rep maxes, so you'll need to use the 1RM calculator to see what you come out to.

I only rank as Novice in most, and Intermediate in one or two -- but it gives you something to shoot for!

You're eating great! It's actually making me hungry reading your meal schedule

You could add a protein shake or bar in before or after your workout if you wanted as well.



Go up every week in weight. What Itadaki said about determing the weight is perfect - your last rep in your range should be such that you could not do another with perfect form. It takes time to get used to determining what weight that is, but it will get easier as you get more accustomed to the lifts.

Love the chart, btw... Is it wrong to expect to be in the Elite category for everything?? (of course I'm not, I'm Novice-Intermediate, but I will be!)...

Elicia, your diet is great but your lifts are askew if your goal here is to train to build mass. Your focus needs to be on compound lifts with much heavier weight rather than isolated dumbbell exercises. Right now all your lifts are concentrated almost entirely in the chest, shoulders, and biceps.

Do you do any legs? Lunges, cleans, deadlift, squat. These are the exercises that build muscle across your entire body.

I do! There is a lower body day that includes walking lunges, squats, side lunges, and deadlifts. The program calls for 3 weeks of 3 sets, 10-12 reps, then the next 3 weeks at 3 sets of 8-10 reps. I guess I should try to increase the weights and decrease the reps to 6-8 as Itadaki mentioned and see where that gets me..........

By the way - thanks everyone for your suggestions. They are all so helpful. I only wish I had friends this knowledgeable in weight training to work out with, that would make life so much easier!

In conjunction with this site, that is the single biggest reason this has all stayed so exciting for me.

There is a lot of good material in here.

Great posts everyone.

Well I expect to be Elite some day. Always set big lifetime goals, and reasonable 3-month goals.

Sets and reps are a confusing subject. I highly recommend MadCow's Training Primer, especially "Is a Rep Just a Rep?". MadCow distills forum wisdom and backs it up with great professional references: Bill Starr, Glen Pendlay, Mark Rippetoe, and Lon Kilgore. Very well written articles.

ETA: Elicia, don't hop on the 5x5 just yet if you read through the MadCow site. I think 6-8 reps and 3 sets with heavier weights is better to stimulate muscle growth on your Oxygen program is all. Give your program a chance, then switch over after 8-12 weeks to shock your body into continued improvements. Bill Starr / Madcow's 5x5, MaxOT -- they're all good!

Beautiful!! Just beautiful!!



Hypertrophy is probably best between 8 and 12 reps though I prefer to keep it between 8 and 10. The ultimate is to fail on the 8th rep of the 4 set for me.

Now i'm confused!! So I should stick with the 8-12 reps for maximum growth? I tend to fail on the 8th rep of the 3rd set. The first set of 12 is fine, the second set hard by the last few, and the last set i struggle with, sometimes decreasing the weight. You both (Dean and Itadaki) have great ideas so now i'm not sure which one to go with! But I do know my legs are so sore from my workout yesterday it's painful to go up and down stairs. I can't even sit w/o letting myself fall down onto the chair......good pain, i love it!!

There is a lot of different information, and again boils down to what works best for you; which is tough to know if you're just starting out!

From what I've heard (based on anecdotal evidence) is that higher reps will result in greater gains in size, while lower reps result in greater gains in muscle density without as much gain in size. I am usually in the 4-6 rep range. This might be because you could increase the weight for 6 reps, but not for 12. I prefer to find the last rep of every set to be a challenge.

But I have good pain for sure today, and might have trouble sitting properly tomorrow as well (as it seems to be getting worse as the day goes on!).

yeah, you know when your legs are shaking before you even leave the gym you're in trouble! thanks for all your great advice dave - it is hard since i'm just starting out, but i'll just have to try it all and see what suits me best. i'm really looking to increase the muscle size, i want definition in my triceps (the biceps are coming along nicely!), abs, and need to build up the glutes! and this new routine has given me a new excitement for the weight room. i actually can't wait to get there everyday!

REEALLYYY helpful! I'm just starting weight training, and its hard to find good information.

Super set your squats with Smith Machine squats (feet slightly forward, get below parallel) - helps with glute activation and definitely a challenge.

Nice article Chris!! Variation, intensity and ample rest. Can't agree with you any more.

Shawn "Chev"
http://fitness102.blogspot.com
Check out my Boot Camp Workouts (WOD) for some variation

Elicia I don't know if it will help but here is what I was lifting this spring:

bicep curls 15# 2 sets of 10-12 reps
20# 1 set of as many reps as I can do, usually 6-9
shoulder presses 15# 3 sets of 10
I don't do chest presses I do bench presses with 80-95# 3 sets of 8-10
lateral raises, tricep kickbacks with 10# dumbells 3 sets of 10

squats leading up to about 190# (like a warmup set of 100#, then a medium set of 175, then 190)

I do lunges sometimes holding my 10# weights during my cardio workouts, when I finish a lunge i do a bicep curl then another lunge.

I was always hungry when I started lifting this heavy and packed on quite a bit of weight, about 15 lbs. I know my diet wasn't as good as yours! I should have been eating 150 grams of protein a day and I doubt I was getting 60, that really kept me hungry all the time.

I stopped lifting so heavy this summer because I wanted to lighten up for my martial arts test, jump spinning stuff. Perhaps its good to think of the reasons you are wanting to lift. I personally was doing it to hit harder and be tougher in general but I found it slowed me down and just made me feel heavy.

If you want muscles to show off and look good that is a whole different thing. Don't be afraid to lift heavy, grunt, blow, turn red, and sweat. I always thought the women in the gym were silly how they had perfect hair and nails and doing curls with 5# weights.

well thats my rant for the day ;)

WOW I just looked at that calculator thingy, guess I should have competed or something. I worked out in my college gym in a weightlifting class and was trying to keep up with the men (the only other girl in there was fluff)

Um, maybe a dumb question, but what's the difference between a press and a bench press?

I thought the difference was that bench presses are done on a bench with a long bar and chest presses are done with dumbbells. Am I wrong?

Lots of people call them different things.

Bench press is called that 98% of the time when a barbell is used but you'll have a few people call it something else (ex. press).

Some call using dumbells pressing, bench pressing, bench pressing with dumbells, etc.

Some call shoulder pressing, pressing.

Too many different names for folks.

http://www.shapefit.com/training.html is a link for alot of lifts with common names. People just sometimes shorten them (or make them up).

Both a normal bench press with a barbell and a bench press with dumbells is good tho

Press is the most basic form of "pressing". This is simply a person standing and "pressing" the weight overhead. It is also known as overhead press or shoulder press.

Any other sort of presses are modifications of the press. The most common one is the bench press, where you press the weight while lying on a bench. This one is often confusingly shortened to "press".

The unmodified versions of the exercises are usually assumed to be using barbells (except with exercises where using a barbell doesn't make sense). Using dumbbells is a modification.

Some examples for clarification:

Press - overhead/shoulder press using a barbell
DB press - overhead/shoulder press using dumbbells
Bench press - bench press using a barbell
DB bench press - bench press using dumbbells

Chest presses are similar to bench presses, but use a machine instead of free weights.

Thanks. I'm glad it wasn't a dumb question after all.