Physical Fitness for Skinny Guys

[bojangles]

Beadwidow,
I am not going to get into a pissing contest over this. The question in the beginning was simply how does one increase upper body strength or gain muscle mass? To which I offered my advice based on 15 years of experience as a personal trainer. You can discredit my CanFit Pro certification based on how many hours it takes to complete if you wish. However, the fact remains that training to muscle failure does work and if it didn't...I would have been out of work a long time ago. The principle has been around for years because IT WORKS!. There are many different ways to train with weights and you will get different results depending on how you train with them.

Sorry, but you lost me on your rant when you tried correlating weight lifting to suntanning. I didn't know that you coud suntan to failure. ???And when you stated that in real life situations such as digging with a shovel, you would not need to do this to failure...well... NO SHIT SHERLOCK! We are talking about building muscle mass here, not digging trenches!

If it makes any difference at all...which I am sure it doesn't...I have numerous credentials in the fitness industry. You asked me what credentials I had as a personal trainer and I figured giivng one that you may recognize might help you out but obviously because it took me 25 hours to complete, this one is not up to your standards.

Bojangles

 

[bojangles]

LittlePammy,

I think it's great that you are a competitive body buiilder and a woman to boot. One of my best friends who is also a female used to compete as well. Just wondering if you competed in Northern Ontario at all? I loved going to her shows and when the competition was over we'd go out for ice cream because she deprived herself of all the "goodies" for so long leading up to the competition.
Unfortunately there are alot of Personal Trainers out there who do not practice what they preach giving those of us who do a bad rap. I also agree with you that taking a week long course does not make everything you learned set in stone or the only way to do things. I am a pretty open minded person and am always willing to learn new concepts. Afterall, things are constantly changing in the fitness industry.

Bojangles

 

[DogOfWar]

Beadwidow,
I am not going to get into a pissing contest over this. The question in the beginning was simply how does one increase upper body strength or gain muscle mass? To which I offered my advice based on 15 years of experience as a personal trainer. You can discredit my CanFit Pro certification based on how many hours it takes to complete if you wish. However, the fact remains that training to muscle failure does work and if it didn't...I would have been out of work a long time ago. The principle has been around for years because IT WORKS!. There are many different ways to train with weights and you will get different results depending on how you train with them.

Sorry, but you lost me on your rant when you tried correlating weight lifting to suntanning. I didn't know that you coud suntan to failure. ???And when you stated that in real life situations such as digging with a shovel, you would not need to do this to failure...well... NO crap SHERLOCK! We are talking about building muscle mass here, not digging trenches!

If it makes any difference at all...which I am sure it doesn't...I have numerous credentials in the fitness industry. You asked me what credentials I had as a personal trainer and I figured giivng one that you may recognize might help you out but obviously because it took me 25 hours to complete, this one is not up to your standards.

Bojangles

That article is by a very well known name in the bodybuilding world. I didnt write it. IF MUSCLE FAILURE WORKED THE 16 YEAR OLD KID WHO ONLY DOES BENCH WOULD BE HUGE.

 

[bojangles]

I am not discrediting the article. I am simply stating that training until muscle failure DOES WORK and it is not a "surefire way to cause injury" as you had earlier stated.

The 16 yr old who only does bench is not huge for a number of reasons...the main one being that he/she is not fully developed yet. That is why weight training is not recommended while one is still in the growing phase...."Prostar!"

Bojangles

 

[Canadian Sig]

Keep in mind that it is slightly more difficult to gain mass when your unit has you doing and hour of heavy cardio each day. You burn way more calories than you can eat. Just $0.02 

 

[bojangles]

Good point Canadian Sig.

Bojangles

 

[NiTz]

I'm not very experienced with bodybuilding (only a year) but I found out that having a training partner to spot you on your sets until failure (like he must help you to COMPLETE the last rep) has always worked very well for me and my partner. As we did also increase our weights slightly week by week, and used the proper form for the reps, I assume that they all are the reasons why we progressed so much.

And kids can't be huge at 16, they're not grown yet. Plus, I don't know if that is true but I observed many of my friends who were weightlifting at high school (15-16 yrs old) stayed relatively small guys. None of them is more than 5'5". I wonder why is that  ???  I heard that because they were bodybuilding so yound, they stayed small... Don't know if that is true.


just my 2 cents

Cheers!

 

[bojangles]

I don't know if weightlifting at a young age would hinder your growth or not. Hey, maybe that's what happened tome  ??? I am 5 foot nothing.

Bojangles

 

[BDG.CalgHighrs]

To add to the advice already posted:

On courses there is seldom time to hit the gym in such a fashion as to put on weight or keep what you have. The PT you get tends to be high-repetition exercises which are not conducive to bulking up any. Let this add up over a month or two or three, and you can end up losing alot of strength. So to help yourself out, there are two things you can do. The first is to find some low-rep body-weight exercises that work for you. Here's a few ideas: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/mahler57.htm. The second thing is to darn well shut up during meals and shovel.Sure you might look like a pig and come off a bit anti-social. Who cares?

 

[DogOfWar]

I don't know if weightlifting at a young age would hinder your growth or not. Hey, maybe that's what happened tome   ??? I am 5 foot nothing.

Bojangles

Well Bojangles. Weight lifting has been shown to close the growth plates prematurely. Because lifting ups your testosterone even farther. An excess of test and stress is why the plates fuse.

 

[DogOfWar]

The 16 yr old who only does bench is not huge for a number of reasons...the main one being that he/she is not fully developed yet. That is why weight training is not recommended while one is still in the growing phase...."Prostar!"

Bojangles

Wrong again. Look at teen body builders. Ive seen awesome physiques on kids that are fifteen, because they diet and train properly. As soon as they hit puberty their bodies are itching to grow.

 

[BDG.CalgHighrs]

Well Bojangles. Weight lifting has been shown to close the growth plates prematurely. Because lifting ups your testosterone even farther. An excess of test and stress is why the plates fuse.

Yes. It's what causes them to fuse. Why they actualy do it is beacuse the sponge-like growth plates at the end of long bones are vulnerable to stresses caused by things like lifting heavy weights. Baisicly fusing of growth plates serves to protect bones from excessive stress which could cause damage and even fracture.

 

[DogOfWar]

Yes. It's what causes them to fuse. Why they actualy do it is beacuse the sponge-like growth plates at the end of long bones are vulnerable to stresses caused by things like lifting heavy weights. Baisicly fusing of growth plates serves to protect bones from excessive stress which could cause damage and even fracture.

testosterone also plays a role.  The majority of excess estrogen in males comes from the conversion of testosterone to Estrodiol- your estros are what casuse the growth plates to fuse. That why teens who take steroids are short, because during steroid use there is a large amount of test that aromatizes into estrodiol causing "feminization"- another side to that in teens is premature growth plate closure.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3076703 thats mentioned in this article. Near the middle I think.

 

[BDG.CalgHighrs]

Wasn't disagreeing with you, BeadWindow. Just mentioning one of the reasons why physiology works that way. You are obviously way more current on this stuff than I am.

 

[DogOfWar]

Wasn't disagreeing with you, BeadWindow. Just mentioning one of the reasons why physiology works that way. You are obviously way more current on this stuff than I am.

And I wasnt with you! LOL I was agreeing and adding to your statement LOL!

 

[bojangles]

Wrong again. Look at teen body builders. Ive seen awesome physiques on kids that are fifteen, because they diet and train properly. As soon as they hit puberty their bodies are itching to grow.

HOw in the heck am I "wrong again" Beadwidow? I haven't seen one thread of evidence that anything I have said so far has been wrong. You are the one that is confused here. In the statement above you say that teen bodybuilders have awesome physiques  because they train and diet properly and then later you agree that it is not recommended at a young age because it causes the growth plates to fuse. Make up your mind. I simply implied that it is not RECOMMENDED to weight train before you are FULLY developed.

Bojangles

 

[BDG.CalgHighrs]

HOw in the heck am I "wrong again" Beadwidow? I haven't seen one thread of evidence that anything I have said so far has been wrong. You are the one that is confused here. In the statement above you say that teen bodybuilders have awesome physiques   because they train and diet properly and then later you agree that it is not recommended at a young age because it causes the growth plates to fuse. Make up your mind. I simply implied that it is not RECOMMENDED to weight train before you are FULLY developed.

Bojangles

Depends on what sort of weight training you are doing. 'Body Building' and 'Power Lifting' are not recommended for younger, less developed people. Hitting the gym and doing some supervised lighter lifting as part of a fitness regimen, however, is perfectly acceptable starting at adolescense.

 

[bojangles]

Depends on what sort of weight training you are doing. 'Body Building' and 'Power Lifting' are not recommended for younger, less developed people. Hitting the gym and doing some supervised lighter lifting as part of a fitness regimen, however, is perfectly acceptable starting at adolescense.

I agree with you 100%. In the beginning of this conversation we were specifically talking about training to muscle failure and body building ( or should I say "bulking up") to which I commented that it is not generally recommended to train in the regard until one is fully developed. I also taught martial arts and boxing for the past 18 years and we did have the younger athletes training with "lighter weights".

Bojangles

 

[BDG.CalgHighrs]

I agree with you 100%. In the beginning of this conversation we were specifically talking about training to muscle failure and body building ( or should I say "bulking up") to which I commented that it is not generally recommended to train in the regard until one is fully developed. I also taught martial arts and boxing for the past 18 years and we did have the younger athletes training with "lighter weights".

Bojangles

I think the whole arguement here is nothing but communication break down (probably exacerbated by the tone some people have taken in their arguments).

Having been one of the 'younger athletes training with the lighter weights' I will add that you still put on muscle mass, and weight. The other benefit to doing this type of lifting at a young age is that you get experience in the gym and learn proper technique. This way once you hit the adult-onset muscle mass phaze of growth, you have a good background in lifting which will let you start piling on the weight. Currently I do train to a point nearing failure and have had no problems, although I'd probably be doing better if I stayed out of the bars and did less of the good old 20oz bicep curls.

 

[bojangles]

I think the whole arguement here is nothing but communication break down (probably exacerbated by the tone some people have taken in their arguments).

That's the one downfall of using this medium to communicate. Things are easily distorted and the next thing you know...all hell breaks loose. Like most, I don't like being told I am wrong about something I am educated on. Then to top it off...for sarcasm sake being called "prostar"...what's the point in that?
As I mentioned earlier, I am a pretty open minded person and if you want to add your advice to something I have said or disagree with me on something, that's fine and well but don't be a jerk about it.

Bojangles