Is this good training for a skinny guy?

[ElGrizzle]

Hey, ive been training for a good month or two now. Lately ive been doing what I call power sets.

Where you use the max amount of weight for 10 reps, then add some more weight and do as many as you can usually 8, and then add more and do as many as you can usually about 6.

I combine this into the blitz cycle. ie.
day 1 - chest, shoulders, triceps
day 2 - back, biceps, forearms
day 3 - rest
day 4 - hamstrings, quads, calves.
day 5 - rest

then start over again.



Do you think the power sets I do for this blitz cycle is effective for putting on major bulk? Im a pretty thin guy, and have already done alot of strength and endurance training, so I can lift quite a bit for many reps and have alot of definition. Just wondering if these "power reps" are helping me put on bulk. I figured if its the opposite of "strip sets" (made for obtaining definition) then it would help me bulk up.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[ecto no more]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey, ive been training for a good month or two now. Lately ive been doing what I call power sets.

Where you use the max amount of weight for 10 reps, then add some more weight and do as many as you can usually 8, and then add more and do as many as you can usually about 6.

I combine this into the blitz cycle. ie.
day 1 - chest, shoulders, triceps
day 2 - back, biceps, forearms
day 3 - rest
day 4 - hamstrings, quads, calves.
day 5 - rest

then start over again.



Do you think the power sets I do for this blitz cycle is effective for putting on major bulk? Im a pretty thin guy, and have already done alot of strength and endurance training, so I can lift quite a bit for many reps and have alot of definition. Just wondering if these "power reps" are helping me put on bulk. I figured if its the opposite of "strip sets" (made for obtaining definition) then it would help me bulk up.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[/ QUOTE ]

This splits looks fine....but the results from your bulk will GREATLY depend on you caloric intake. How is your diet looking?

[book]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey, ive been training for a good month or two now. Lately ive been doing what I call power sets.

Where you use the max amount of weight for 10 reps, then add some more weight and do as many as you can usually 8, and then add more and do as many as you can usually about 6.

I combine this into the blitz cycle. ie.
day 1 - chest, shoulders, triceps
day 2 - back, biceps, forearms
day 3 - rest
day 4 - hamstrings, quads, calves.
day 5 - rest

then start over again.



Do you think the power sets I do for this blitz cycle is effective for putting on major bulk? Im a pretty thin guy, and have already done alot of strength and endurance training, so I can lift quite a bit for many reps and have alot of definition. Just wondering if these "power reps" are helping me put on bulk. I figured if its the opposite of "strip sets" (made for obtaining definition) then it would help me bulk up.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[/ QUOTE ]

That is a great split.

Also you are a bit off about your definition of 'power reps' and strip sets.

Strip sets are basically a great way of fatiguing a muscle in a unique way and should be cycled, just like cycling volume and intensities.

By power reps do you mean high weight low reps (3-5)? These most definately can put on mass, but I would still keep a majority of your work in the 6-15 rep range for size but including a few heavy sets of compounds early in your workouts will help a lot.

[klosey]

yes this is a good set but get calories up i like a 40-40-20 on bulking and cutting i use 50-20-30 (protein-carbs-fats)

[Adam Knowlden]

Can you possibly increase your frequency?

What days are available for you to train?

While you may be "a skinny guy", I do not believe you need minimal training. I would advocate higher frequency and increased caloric intake.

[ElGrizzle]

Im not taking an exact amount of calories, but I eat 6 or more times a day of high calorie, high protein, high carb food.

If its got alot of calories and doesn't have refined sugar, I eat it. I can eat alot too, so I dont get full easily.

When I get back from the gym I will try and add up how many calories I had today, and maybe you guys can tell me how many calories I should be eating for this kind of workout.

Oh, and BTW, the muscle juice powder formula I am taking right now hurts and burns my stomach like hell. It is a high calories formula like 1200 per 2 scoops. I found that just pure protein isolate never hurt my stomach. Could it be the high crystaline fructose that makes my tummy hurt?

ill be back on after my workout and dinner.


Oh btw, i work construction in the hot sun, so I burn hella calories throughout the day.

[thebarbarianway]

If you are burning a lot of calories already during the day than you will require a lower frequency of training for obvious reasons...

How many 'powersets' do you do per muscle group? How many exercises? If you are skinny your primary focus should be on 'strength'. Are you getting stronger? As long as your weights are going up with these power sets than the size will follow if you are eating enough quality cals...

How much do you weigh? How much do you want to weigh? This will determine your goal cals....I'm just guessing that you will need a minimum of 4000 cals on off days and maybe more on workout days...especially if you are in the sun working construction all day!!!

[ElGrizzle]

ok, I will usually do about 3 exercises per muscle group (so totalling about 9 different exercises). with 3 power sets each exercise: so I will try and max out around 10 reps, then add 10 or 5 pounds, try and do 8 reps, add another 5 or 10 pounds and try to do 6 reps.

Well you see, I am one of those skinny guys that are already ripped and incredibally strong. I can lift more for longer than the average guy at the gym. Ive defiantly concentrated on strength at the gym before, which I have had alot of good results! I can just keep lifting more and more. Except with this blitz program I went on, because of the intense workout yesterday, today I could barely lift at all! I still got a good workout in though.

I weigh 140 pounds, and I always wake up about 5 pounds lighter, and then as the day goes by and I eat food I end up weighing 140 at night time. Ok just checked the scale, im 139. And im 6' at 19 years old (so im tall, and my metabolism is incredibally fast).

Last night I took high calorie gainer shake before bed, but i forgot to check out the results in the morning. I will do it again tonight and check again in the morning.

As for how much i want to weigh? Well, I want to get up to 150 pounds, and be able to keep that weight without having to workout. All though I wont stop working out (i love it too much), I seem to lose a small amount of body mass (because Im all muscle) when I stop working out. From there I want to get up to 165 ( so I can still be quick and flexible) I like to do yoga and meditation, so i dont want to be too huge!

Now, I am taking creatine before my workouts... definatly pumps me up more, but im not sure if its good for my health or not.

I take L-glutamine after workout, and I know thats good for me.


Oh, oh, one question. After the gym on the ride home I eat raisins, and then get a huge amount of dinner in me right away (well balanced with lots of protein, carbs, starches, and corn or salad). Do you think its better to have protein shake after the gym, or dinner? I find my stomach digests dinner better than my high calorie gainer powder. **** that stuff hurts my tummy I dont feel like eatin nothing after.


Alright, im seriously focused, I have been sticking to my schedule and I wont stop, You guys have helped me alot, I am getting motivated and determined more and more!

Kick (!@#$%^&*)! I want some major gains.

[ElGrizzle]

ooooh, do you think its possible to gain 10 pounds if I stick to this program?

Ok here is what I eat for breakfast....

7:00 am - bowl of high carb/high calorie cereal, with 1 banana, and about 2 tablespoons of hemp hearts sprinkled over top, topped off with rice milk.

10:00 am - can of tuna, banana, cup of raisins, 2 sticks of pepperoni, 1 can of orange juice, and sometimes chips

12:30 am - another can of tuna, 1 stick of pepperoni, another can of juice, 1 cup of nuts or seeds (pumpkin, and cashew usually), some dulse (seeweed with lots of vitamins), and about 1/4 cup of raisins.

4:45 pm - get home eat a huge bowl of quinoa with alot of olive oil, and take 5 grams of creatine then go to the gym.

6:00 - 6:30 pm - one large portion of salmon, chicken or steak, more quinoa or rice, with salad and usually a vegetable like corn or sweet potatoe. (these are all large portions (practically as much as a grown man can eat). I try to eat it slowly too so it absorbs nice.

8:00 - 9:00 pm - protein shake - 25 grams protein, 1200 cals.

I should eat something in that gap after lunch and the end of work. Maybe i should buy a box of protein bars (nice and convenient to eat while working).


How does this sound though, sufficient?

Oh btw, I drink ****loads of water all day.

[miker44]

just a couple things, when you refer to your power sets its actually a technique known as pyramiding up...you start with a weight for X number of reps, and then as you increase weight the reps decrease...if i were you id dump the weight gainer, your better off creating your own using low fat milk, whey, oats, and natural peanut butter.....as far as post workout, you should check out the window of opportunity article on this website it can be found under the nutrition tab (advanced nutrition)....creatine is a great supplement to take, you can read up further on it under the nutrition tab (supplement reviews).....also, i would DEFINITELY create a diet log where you write down each meal and its macronutrient content (protein carbs fats total calories) you can search for foods using nutritiondatabase.com or fitday.com for two examples....you might be surprised by how much your really eating, i know i was when i started doing this.....its a slow and steady process to get to where you want to be, im 5'5 and i started at 98 pounds, im now up to 154 with about 8% body fat....the key is consistency, find out what works for you and do it, day in and day out......for me, the golden rule is at least 1 gram of protein (shakes, eggs, chicken, steak, tuna, turkey, salmon etc..) per pound of bodyweight daily, ive been experimenting with the carbs (oatmeal, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, sweet potatoes, brown rice..etc) but i usually stay around 2 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight.....emphasize balance in every meal you eat, protein, carbs, vegetables....you might even want to get up in the middle of the night for a shake if you can