Am I on the correct weights workout plan?

**Maximumbass88** · 10-09-2006 06:19 PM

Hey guys,

I've just signed up at my local gym and I've been doing the weight lifting plan the instructor set up for me for the past week or so...It consists of working all the muscles in one day and doing say 2x12-15 reps and after that doing some cardio...Tell me if I'm wrong but isn't that program for muscle definition or something? Oh yea and I'm going there 3 days a week or somein... Is the program I'm on going to get me muscle and size at the end of the day? (say 3 or more months down the line??) I know this is really a question for the instructor...but I just wanna see what you guys say

...also I've started up bulking...managed to put on 2-3lbs in the last week

Also I was reading this training plan called "Increasing Muscle as Quickly as Possible" (myfit.ca/fitnessprograms/viewprogram.asp?programid=41) on the myfit.ca website and it seems to suggest doing lower reps with more sets, why is this?

//M.B.

**Maximumbass88** · 10-09-2006 06:23 PM

also whats a decreasing pyramid & drop sets??

**NU_nutrition_TS** · 10-09-2006 06:29 PM

As a qualified instructor, that is the program I would have given a beginner of your age to do! You have to learn to walk before you can run! I don't think he will be inclined to change it much until you have done it for about three months. As a beginner, you should see some changes by then - it's after the first twelve months...that's when the hard grind starts!

I'm not a fan of very low reps...I don't see the point unless you want to be a powerlifter or olympic weightlifter! Reverse pyramids & drop sets are the same thing...aren't they? After a warm-up you do your first set proper with a weight that allows a lowish number of reps, then drop the weight slightly for the next set and do the same, or a slightly higher, number of reps, then drop the weight again for the third set...and so on.

**Maximumbass88** · 10-09-2006 06:34 PM

Quote

Originally Posted by NU_nutrition_TS

As a qualified instructor, that is the program I would have given a beginner of your age to do! You have to learn to walk before you can run! I don't think he will be inclined to change it much until you have done it for about three months. As a beginner, you should see some changes by then - it's after the first twelve months...that's when the hard grind starts!

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I get ya! arrggh its a long road ahead

**NU_nutrition_TS** · 10-09-2006 06:47 PM

Yup! But you will be learning all the way! It's easy to get carried away with BB magazine articles or what other people are doing in the gym, but once you've been training for a while you'll know what works for you and what doesn't...you may even be able to work out your own routines and diets. Read up on the basics and do the groundwork and it will start to make sense and fall into place...also, if you can team up with a sensible and reliable training partner that sometimes helps!

**Maximumbass88** · 10-09-2006 09:13 PM

hehe well one of the main reasons appart from getting fit is to meet new people and make new friends at the GYM!...Mens Health mag is the way to go! oohhh and don't forget FHM!!! Can't wait till I'm 18, will be aloud in the free weights room =]

**MartinM** · 10-09-2006 11:42 PM

Quote

Originally Posted by NU_nutrition_TS

Reverse pyramids & drop sets are the same thing...aren't they?

No, they're not

**jimmy_magix** · 11-09-2006 02:04 AM

Quote

Originally Posted by Maximumbass88

Mens Health mag is the way to go! oohhh and don't forget FHM!!! Can't wait till I'm 18, will be aloud in the free weights room =]

Lol. You have to be joking....

**NU_nutrition_TS** · 11-09-2006 08:38 AM

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Originally Posted by MartinM

No, they're not

Thanks for pointing that out Mart...I wasn't sure and in my own defence, it's been twenty years since I had to put any of this stuff into practice! I think the terms got used interchangeably at the gym I used...also, spotters were always referred to as 'catchers' [which is probably more accurately descriptive!] and routines were often called courses or 'curses'!

Anyhow...

Quote

Reverse Pyramid Training means reversing the conventional method for building muscle. Rather than beginning with the lightest weight and doing 10 repetitions for the first set you'll reverse the order and begin your first set with the heaviest weight you can handle for at least 6 repetitions - if your goal is increasing strength and muscle mass. For each succeeding set you will decrease the weight (pyramid down in weight, hence, the "reverse" pyramid) and increase the reps. Therefore, this system is done in reverse as others would normally do it. This is perhaps the most energy efficient and growth inducing system around. It has been around while but few people know how to utilize it correctly.

Source: Randy Herring, Bodybuilding.com

Drop sets: This is the most basic and yet brutal of all shocks! You begin by reaching failure with a weight, as soon as you hit failure, lessen the weight, and then continue the set until failure is reached again.

Example: Lets say you were to perform lat pulldowns with a 100 pound stack. If you reached failure at 12 reps, you would strip the weight down to 80 pounds and continue.

A single drop or descending set is when you lower the weight once.
A double drop or descending set is when you lower the weight twice.

Example: Lets say you were to perform lat pulldowns with a 100 pound stack. If you reached failure at 12 reps, you would strip the weight down to 80 pounds and continue to failure, and then lower the weight down to 60 pounds.

A triple drop or descending set is when you lower the weight twice [is that a typo? I would have said 3x given the above!].

Source: ABCBodybuilding