Hey NN...good to hear from you bro! Glad to have you back, or at least, even if it's once in awhile

Falc

By the way, what rep ranges do you guys find optimal for building strength and lean mass?

Personally, I've had the most success with a set progression like such: 7, 5, 3, 3, 5, 7 (starting at 80% of my 1 rep max, then 85%, then 90% and back down).

An ex [pro showed me a routine where one or two compound exercises for five reps a week,(bench or squats) and the rest from the 8-10 or 12-15 range( conc. curls, laterals ) give a bit of strength and size( depending on your diet) but a lot of shape to your muscles. Ive been on for three years and your muscles look bigger because they're rounder. Not huge gains but I stay about 220 and lean all year

While that might be nice aesthetically, I prefer to gain both strength and size. The truth is, you'll never get bigger if you don't continually progress in one of a few ways:

1) The volume of work done in a period of time
2) The number of reps done with a certain weight
3) Increasing the weight used
4) Increasing the total tonnage per body part

quote:

The truth is, you'll never get bigger if you don't continually progress in one of a few ways:

1) The volume of work done in a period of time
2) The number of reps done with a certain weight
3) Increasing the weight used
4) Increasing the total tonnage per body part

Nicely said dhuge!

Falc

Good points, dhuge!

I can tell you, personally, while the routine is ultra-important.........I believe diet is nearly equally important. Some of the best gains I've ever had were when I was eating right with a caveat on being sure to get the necessary amount of Protein my body needed. As proof..........before laying off about 8 months or so ago, I was putting up as much or more weight than I did in my college days at double the age (I'm 40). I'm convinced it's diet related.............I guaranteed you my diet was anything from perfect while going to college!

Build the routine to achieve your goals (tone, mass, whatever) but be sure you have the diet to get you there!

quote:

Originally posted by hairbank:
Good points, dhuge!

I can tell you, personally, while the routine is ultra-important.........I believe diet is nearly equally important. Some of the best gains I've ever had were when I was eating right with a caveat on being sure to get the necessary amount of Protein my body needed. As proof..........before laying off about 8 months or so ago, I was putting up as much or more weight than I did in my college days at double the age (I'm 40). I'm convinced it's diet related.............I guaranteed you my diet was anything from perfect while going to college!

Build the routine to achieve your goals (tone, mass, whatever) but be sure you have the diet to get you there!

You're right. It's been said that the only variable that should change based on your goals (gain muscle vs lose fat) is your diet and not your training. Lift hard, then eat depending on your goals.

Perhaps it's different for everyone. You shouldn't discount a workout routine entirely or dismiss whjat works for others just because what works for you isn't the same. For example, so far I have gained 30lbs of muscle over about 2 years with the routine described by dhuge as "this is bullshit" a few times (went from 145 to 175) so maybe it's not completely ineffective.

In the end, it's all exercise and exercise is a good thing in any form. What people should try is a few different exercises and then judge results. There's lots of good advice here from everybody, enough so that people can try a routine for a few months and then try another if they get bored. We should definitely keep this thread alive