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Weight lifters, strength trainers, and body builders. Raise your hand.

Tigerlily

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I do every other day pretty much, but I would imagine the more serious gym rats can get it up to like 5 days a week with problems. It's about listening to your body. I would take it slow early on.
I used to be a gym rat. Went to one gym in the am and the other in the pm. ;) I was super fit but injured my foot running. I am trying to work my way back to once a day M-F. I do miss my old gym but won't go back because I outgrew it. A friend of mine still trains there. Her classes are the best in town.
 

pure_mercury

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Feb 28, 2008
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In an update, I have blasted my delts into another time zone. It hurts to move anything but my fingers right now.
 

Tigerlily

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Ibuprofen and stretch out in bed and try not to move until morning.
 

Anonymous

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I'm very casual about it, but yes, I have a gym membership (accidentally gave me 50 years too many on it, hehe) and I lift weights there. I typically go about 3-4 times a week, though that'll probably become less regular when school starts again.
 

Venom

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I have a question. In the past, trainers have told me that I should only work out with weights no more than three times a week. That your muscles need a day to heal before tearing them up again otherwise working out will not be as effective. Is this correct?

most trainers do not know shit. it really is laughable how easy it is to become a "trainer".

they should of told you "it depends...on your training experience, protein and supplment intake. Also it depends on the nature of the exercise (deadlifts vs bicep curls), your volume per workout, your macro workout plan for the year, your micro mini plans you may have planned etc...."

they were taking the easy way out by telling you no more than 3 times a week. it really does depend. i had really good results working out full body 3 to 4 days a week...depending on where the everyother day fell...that included deadlifting from a deficit on every one of those days. it works for me because i work best with low volume and high frequency. i also did this as an intense part of a macro cycel...i obviously dont do that year round.
 

FDG

pathwise dependent
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Aug 13, 2007
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I've been lifting weights since I was 19 (now I'm 22), but I haven't followed a systematic program. I'm very constant in my habit, however I do not feel the need to become more muscular than I already am (I'm a mesomorph). I can bench around 180 pounds, deadlift around 250, and squat around 250 aswell (I don't go over these weights b/c I workout in my garage, usually alone, and I fear that using heavier weights could cause me sudden injuries).
 

mlittrell

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I work out five days a week.

Week 1 - I generally hover around 3 sets of 6 reps with a pump set of 25 after
Week 2 - I generally hover around 4 sets of 12

I rotate week 1 and week 2

Monday - Chest/Tricepts
Tuesday - Sprinting (Legs)
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Shoulders/Traps/Abs
Friday - Back/bicepts
Saturday - this is my day for hitting whatever wasn't hit during the week
 

Valiant

Courage is immortality
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Alright. I'm curious if there are any other people, guys and girls, that are lifting weights. It's hard to be on the body building forum and the MBTI forum all the time.

I hoping to find some lifters here that I can befriend :)
Alright! Where are you??

Formerly very fit :D Now i'm in a state of laziness. :D Used to weigh around 125 kilos (a little more than 275 lbs). I worked out for 2-3 hours 5 times a week.
Mixed martial arts 2 days, running/swimming/jogging etc 1 day, weight lifting 2 days. And a lot of food. Kept this up until I joined the army a couple of years back, then I hurt my leg a couple of months into recruit training and then I wasn't supposed to use my leg very much for six months. Then I lost a lot of weight and also became quite lazy. :D
 

Valiant

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I can bench around 180 pounds, deadlift around 250, and squat around 250 aswell (I don't go over these weights b/c I workout in my garage, usually alone, and I fear that using heavier weights could cause me sudden injuries).

Smart. It's just an opinion, but according to how I work, the mind gets stronger a lot faster than the body does. That kind of increases the chances of injury.
I did just that mistake once (in the beginning where the increase in strength is kinda rapid) and I had to pause for about a week. Being impetuos is kind of general to most ENTJ's I have encountered, so it might be a good idea to remain careful.
 

CzeCze

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I had my 2nd training session today and my trainer told me she prefers using medicine balls, body bars, etc. as opposed to traditional weight machines. She finds them more effective b/c of the 'greater range of motion'.

In the gym here in CA, space is limited so it's hard to spread out and use all the implements you need on the gym floor. It'st just a lot easier to use the traditional weights.

At my gym in DC it's much easier to set up shop somewhere so I might try those strength excercises out later.
 

kiddykat

movin melodies
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I do light-weight circuit training at least once a week; either that or pilates.
 

Jack Flak

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Jul 17, 2008
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I started weight training with my friend again this week. We usually do it until we get stronger, then quit until we're right back where we started....
 

sleepy

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Dec 6, 2007
Messages
536
No never, I don't want my body to be to bulky. Strive more for speed and agility if there is any exercise. Mountain walks, or some kind of fitness workout, have to be something funny. So the workout comes as a bonus.
 

Grayscale

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maybe someone who is into it can explain the benefits because i dont really understand them. what good is lifting so much weight?

i have tried a little of it but i didnt like it. if i do ever do anything with weights, it's smaller (under 50 lbs) with 15+ reps to avoid building unnecessary mass. past that, i just do climbing and that seems to work well, i havent gone over 210 lbs. and to me it seems like a lot of muscle would just mean more to carry.

this is from last year after the climbing season.. we will typically pack up to 70-80 lbs and sometimes a sled. actually, now that i think about it none of the really good climbers are particularly muscular, they just have strong legs and lots of endurance.

i guess im wondering, what sort of sports benefit from weight lifting? it seems like a lot of work for nothing
 

Simplexity

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You raise a couple of interesting and very valid points about weightlifting in general that I sort of struggled with when I first started out. I think understanding and learning a little about the fields that are related to the culture would help you immensely.

To sort of answer some of your questions you really have to have in mind what you are lifting for, different objectives greatly influence the methods you partake in in regards to weightlifting. Rock climbers do not necessarily need the explosive power that offensive linemen in football need therefore it wouldn't be wise for them to have a regimen that incorporates a lot of heavy lifting.

To give you a superficial answer one of the biggest splits you will see is explosive(power * speed of contraction) which is what most olympic lifters and dynamic athletes(linebackers, sprinters etc) strive for, and endurance(continual expenditure of muscles) which is what cyclist's and rock climbers need.

It gets a little tricky because a lot of the time it has to be measured in the totality of what your doing. For example I used to play right midfield in soccer which requires explosive lower body power to run, shoot and to fend of defenders while at the same time I needed endurance to maintain that explosiveness throughout the match. In terms of my training regimen I really focused on heavy lifting for my lower body to get that power but I couldn't lose sight of the fact that I needed a lot of endurance so I made sure that I ran long distances which can have a negative effect on your explosive power( marathon runners look like they do for a reason).

Finally, I wanted to point out that to truly be "bulky" takes an insane amount of dedication in terms of nutrition( steroids anyone) and lifting that most people will never attain, so the idea of getting too big needs to be stripped from your head.
 

Grayscale

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okay, that makes more sense. by the way i am referring to mountain climbing and not rock climbing (although i do that but im not limber enough to be any good :sad:)

i only played football when i was younger and obviously it wasnt something i took seriously, so ive never really played any sports where i could see a benefit. the closest thing is hockey but even then i figured the benefit would be negligible.

i can see how it could help adding "oomph" to someone like a linebacker, or as you said soccer kicking and taking off quickly. thanks for humoring me, i kinda always had a naggling suspicion it was a waste of time but i figured id ask someone who knew better. :)
 

Simplexity

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yup, glad I could help. I think a lot of times people are a little misinformed by the media images of pro athletes, diet fads, weightlifting schemes and just the the whole atmosphere of weightlifting. If you're interested in taking it more serious I would suggest reading up a little bit on nutrition and exercise physiology, frequent some bodybuilding forums, and in general just read up on stuff before you make a definitive decision.

I say that because it's hard to separate some of the values and opinions that have been peddled to you by so many other misinformed people and also the marketing BS that plays up on peoples lack of knowledge and expertise in the area. I think one of the biggest things though is just understanding that endurance and explosion concept and proceeding from there.

Also try and integrate some of your mountain climbing routines with your weightlifting ones for example I would imagine your back is key for that sport so work on back exercises with a focus on endurance, work on your grip by doing fore arm exercises and so on. Nutrition is very big in terms of making gains so invest a decent amount of time on that.

Heres a link to my bodybuilding profile, so you can sort of see people who are a lot more well informed than me and see just the general culture of weightlifting. Its a great site with lots of information that will get you started really quick.

Bodybuilding.com - Aimahn's BodySpace
 

wolfy

awsm
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Jun 30, 2008
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I've been lifting about 10 years now. Have competed in a few powerlifting meets. I work as a gym instructor. Usually train 4 times a week.
 

wolfy

awsm
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Jun 30, 2008
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I have a question. In the past, trainers have told me that I should only work out with weights no more than three times a week. That your muscles need a day to heal before tearing them up again otherwise working out will not be as effective. Is this correct?

You can train more often than three times a week. You could split your workouts into upper/lower and do each 2 times a week. You can also train your whole body more frequently as long as you are careful to vary your sets and reps for example Mon 5x5 Tue 2x20 Thu 3x8 Fri 2x12 . You have to be very careful about volume though.
 
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