Train Consistent

[peakvmc]

so with this whole thing there are some strict guide lines to follow if you desire the results!
First as you already know you are at a plateau which means your body no longer is responding to the workout, so you have to introduce a workout system called muscle confusion, where you switch your workouts and pre set weights every week forcing heavy gains. Here is a sample workout that i started wit. MOST IMPORTANTLY KEEP A WORKOUT LOG WITH WORKOUTS AND WEIGHTS.
MONDAY: BACK AND CHEST
TUESDAY:BIS AND TRIS
WEDNESDAY: LEGS AND ABS
THURS:BACK AND CHEST
FRIDAY: BIS AND TRIS
SAT:LEGS AND ABS
1ST AND 2ND WEEK: HIGH REP 30X4 LOW WEIGHT
3RD AND 4TH WEEK: LOW REP 8X4 HIGH WEIGHT
This form of working out is called modified compound supersets. let me explain
say; MON BACK AND CHEST-bench for chest and rows for back- so you start benching say 135lbs for 30 reps and then right when you get done switch to rows 30 reps. this is one set and you need to perform 4 sets. mind you this is only 1 workout for 4 different work out you will do on MON and THUR. quick example-
bench and rows 30x4
dumbbell fly and dumbbell rows 30x4
dumbbell press and lat pull down 30x4
chest press and pull ups 30x4
this is one workout for chest and back heres the science behind all the madness.
when you start exercising say chest your chest fills with lactic acid forcing blood and water out an filling with acid which is where you get the burning sensation and muscle fibers are being broken to eventually heal and be bigger. while the chest is getting full of lactic acid and your getting tired you finish your reps and switch to back and onto a whole different group of muscles. chest and bis push back and tris pull. so you follow the workout routine once you hit 30 chest do 30 back- and this is whats happening. your tricking your body because its tired and full of lactic acid but your working a fresh and entirely different muscle group so then the lactic acid moves and allows water and blood into the chest and goes into the back muscles allowing the chest to recover quicker and allowing you more pumps. the most important thing to take away is those mirrors are there for you to watch your form use slow and rhythmic movements and focus on squeezing your abdominals your entire workout. this will live you full of blood and looking hard for the ladies.
2nd is the importance of the morning run and the diet. let me break it down-your body is full of fats you see them as love handles or in your ass. these fats are known as triglycerides moving freely throughout your body. now when you sleep and then eventually hit REM (rapid eye movement) you body is in its purest from of being anabolic and the anabolic window is open for a minimal amount of time. while you sleep your triglycerides bond together. when you awake these fat molecules slowly separate. to kill these you must do cardio in the morning run jump rope do jumping jacks whatever. because if you wait or eat your body will not consume the triglycerides but use the food you ate instead. it is very important to watch what you eatno junk food no soda. plan your meals and NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN CONSISTENCY NOTHING. you can do this plan or that one and get good results but none that will last if you stop or skip workouts you must stay consistent.
to get that totally ripped look i suggest to eat nothing that has more than 10% fat and stay away from saturated fats. eat chicken or tuna and try to spread load your meals throughout the day. 150 carbs a day is a good idea also.

[tommmoe]

repped!

good read

[iTh3_Riddler]

Good Guidelines to follow. Was a very good read

[justinnnnn]

2 days of biceps and triceps in 1 week? Thats pushing it.

[Jerevin]

-Peakvmc,

I agree with the greater majority of this. It's pretty basic common sense. Though, I think you were trying to point out that mixing up a routine is a good idea to keep gains, and blast plateau.

Agreed, if the super simple split method (Chest-Tris/Calfs-Abs-Traps/Back-Bi/Legs/Cardio) has caused a plateau, how about you do a full body or just keep mixing it up. Few people on this forum deviate from the standard split, and when you express a split they do not recognize, they dislike it immediately.

One thing I do not quite get is your science for the no food after you wake up thing. Immediate cardio upon waking up in order to eat free fats? Really?

Wouldn?t a small, light meal, say a piece of toast and a pre-workout drink like NO-Shotgun prior to hitting the gym 30mins after waking up do the trick? I am seriously curious about this because it seems like a contradiction;

1.) Eat after waking up to break the catabolic fasting and provide energy throughout the day.
2.) DO NOT eat after waking up, instead do some HI cardio to eat up all the free floating triglycerides.

I?m just a little unclear on the science.

[achapman]

Great read!

[hema456]

thank you

[MMA.All.The.Way]

2 days of biceps and triceps in 1 week? Thats pushing it.

I would say so tbh
Atm im doing:

Mon - Chest / tri / abs
Tues - Back / Bi / forearm
Wed - Delts / Tri / abs
Thurs - Legs / Bi /forearm
Fri - Chest / Delts / abs

with the emphasis on arms, chest & abs.

It's been working fine for me, hitting it for 6 weeks before i hit a push / pull split.

OP: nice read, repped.

[MaxEnergy]

Excellent

[flyrich]

consistency is the key but i dont know about chest and backcon the same day

[showgirl23]

good read

[chriskiosses]

cool

[rwells81]

I agree a workout log is a way to go. I did not start with one and now that I have one I see what I need to do to make the results possible. Great read here.

[chasingpro]

a workout log is okay, but i like training by feel. i think that i utilize my energy more productively if i go into the gym open minded.

[andrewwww]

a workout log is okay, but i like training by feel. i think that i utilize my energy more productively if i go into the gym open minded.

This is true in a way..some people NEED a routine/log to follow or they will give up. I myself have been lifting for over 10years on/off. Now I go in the gym and go by 'feel' I hit each muscle 1-2x/week depending on my body's recovery, I do not have a set day for each muscle..my results have not stopped yet, make sure diet is #1. Just my 2cents put the time in and you can do your own thing once you feel ready.

[artmansg]

I would make sure you have your training days scheduled

[MortyMars]

Nice

[LorettaMartinez]

Great post!

[adiloh0]

I am following this workout routine and i believe i'll see results in the next 5 weeks. Thank you for your effort and sharing the idea

[VinnieGWannabe]

First things first, OP made a very well-constructed post there and I can see it only serves to try to help others.

But myself, I don't buy into all this muscle-confusion and body 'tricking' stuff. I believe we should work with our bodies and muscles, not against them. The body needs consistency, balance and progression from a training/dietary/recovery standpoint if the best is to be got out of it in terms of performance and growth.

Muscles are dumb. All they know is contract and relax. They don't 'know' what exercises we are doing to make them contract, and they don't care either. I don't even see that working muscles from different angles can really make much difference at all whatsoever. Contract them with as much progressively-increasing mechanical tension as they can safely handle for longer periods (volume) and they will respond the only way they 'know' how (for want of a better expression!)...with new growth.

As far as high rep training is concerned, I can achieve (if I wanted to) as much, if not more, lactic acid throughout a muscle with 20 sets of 5-7 reps (NOT done to failure as part of a high volume training protocol) as I could with 2 or 3 sets of 30 reps to failure.....with the added bonus that I have applied more mechanical tension on the muscle over a longer period of time. Training to, or near to muscular failure gradually over a relatively high number of sets (up to 35) with sub-90 second rest intervals will yield far better results than one, two or 3 really intense sets to failure going for the 'burn'. I know this because I am experiencing (naturally) the best growth of my life at aged 46 after trying everything else during the last 25 years.

In my view, muscle growth needs to coaxed and nurtured over the course of many sets in a controlled manner rather than forced over 1,2 or 3 'blasting all-out' sets. Added to this, the production of extreme amounts of lactic acid within a muscle is not a main contributing factor to anabolism within a muscle and I (myself) believe that in many instances, it could be counter-productive. Hence my reason for never training for a 'burn' anymore, but concentrating solely on a progressive SLOWLY BUILDING 'pump' over the course of multiple sets.

After conducting further research, I have also come to the conclusion that HIGH VOL/HEAVY WEIGHT training protocols with multiple sets that are NOT done to failure that target just one muscle group per day improve the specific muscle's androgen receptors both in NUMBER and SENSITIVITY, allowing more testosterone to bind to them, in their greater numbers. This, of course, means enhanced growth in that particular area, and the effect is seen to last for several days, hence the reason not to have to re-stimulate the area for several days. Improved androgen receptors in their greater numbers aren't going to suddenly disappear, dissipate or stop functioning overnight....testosterone will KEEP on binding to them in an improved manner for MANY days afterwards. All this business about a muscle starting to lose it's size and strength after 48, 72 (or whatever) hours is bull**** as far as I am concerned. It simply won't happen, provided it has been trained properly to begin with....and trained properly again next time around.

Between training sessions, a muscle (or more specifically it's volume) might become smaller (or even larger!), but only because of temporary changes in osmotic activity within the tissues themselves...ie changing amounts of fluids through fluctuating levels of hydration within the cells themselves. This happens largely due to exchanges of sodium and potassium, but it should be noted that prolonged OPTIMUM CELLULAR HYDRATION must be maintained if maximum muscle growth is to occur. Muscle tissue itself does not degrade/catabolize anywhere near as fast as many folk think if it is not trained for many days, at least not in healthy individuals with proper nutrition.

It's one thing not having ENOUGH free testosterone, but it's quite another to actually have enough, only for the androgen receptors to NOT be able to uptake/receive it to their full potential! This is something that high-intensity/low volume protocols can NEVER achieve (at least not to the fullest potential) and in fact, too much intensity and especially NEGATIVE/FORCED reps have been shown to actually desensitize and destroy androgen receptors, rendering them useless and counterproductive in creating new and enhanced growth. This affect can be overcome by using steroids, but the topic of this conversation is only really intended for the natural athlete. Negative/forced reps are like over-tightening a screw. It messes the thread of that screw to the point where the screw just turns and turns loosely without having anything to grip onto. Positive failure on the muscle in the last set of a high volume training program is ample.

Sorry to sound 'preachy' but that is not my intention. Just saying what is working for me. But one thing that IS for sure, in bodybuilding, up to a point EVERYTHING works!

As Lee Haney says, "Stimulate, don't annihilate".