If you are a BODYBUILDER, answer me this...

[nacius]

Ok all you bodybuilders out there... answer me this:

You don't want to overtrain, so you say you go to the gym like 4 or 5 times a week. Then you do some cardio like 3 or 4 times a week. You also say not to spend more than 90 minutes in the gym each time.

Is that all you have to do? There is no secret??? Just 4 or 5 hours a week dedicated to weight training and eating right? I don't know, that seems to little to me. You look at athletes like swimmers who spend 3 or 4 hours a day in the water, even gymnasts spend 3 or 4 hours a day in the gym. Am I missing something here?

 

[bignate73]

get in, stimulate, go home and grow. thats it. if you are a GOOD bodybuilder, you know how to train yourself effectively and efficiently. there are many that spin their wheels for 2 hours + on just weight training alone though.

 

[edgecrusher]

When an athlete trains for hours at a time, generally much of that time is spent honning, and refining there skills. When a bodynuilder trains, they ae looking strictly to get bigger and stronger, by any means necessary.

Plus one other fact you will notice, is pound for pound bodybuilders are much larger then any other athletes out there. Especially when you consider the condition theyt get themselves into. i.e. Ronnie Coleman 258@2-3% bodyfat, while someone like Ray Lucas is 260 at probably double digit bodyfat.

 

[ragin']

good answer, big nate. you dont grow in the gym you grow out of the gym. yeah, sure... swimmers, etc. may spend hours a day doing what they do, but, the purpose of the time they take is to meet a certain goal. it doesn't take hours every day to tear the hell out of your muscles...

 

[The mann]

it's kind of like sport specific...image if you trained for 3-4 hours aday......guarentee OVERTRAINING...ragin' and edge crusher put it well.they go through more drills,moves, not breaking muscles down..........you'll onlt grow out of the gym.

 

[Bozzo]

I agree with everyone else. I use to train with weights 5-6 days a week for 1.5 hours a session, and I got very poor results. Now I train 3-4 days a week for an hour max, and I'm making great gains.

 

[bignate73]

interesting. ive heard about super slow reps before and their benefits. again, not for each workout but good for a little while as a new stimulus. good read.

 

[Phemomena]

remember, gains are made out of the gym, as your body repairs itself and grows... getting the proper amount of rest is probably the most important (and overlooked) aspect of bodybuilding... i honestly put diet second... if you aren't fueling your body properly you wont be able to perform in the gym... time spent in the gym is obviously important, but it really plays a small part time and effort wise to all the other stuff that one does...

because of the stress and damage placed on muscles when training them (not injury, but the process by which muscles actually grow, i.e. through small tears that are repaired), bodybuilding doesn't not follow the 'more is better' attitude... obviously higher level 'pros' probably spend more time in the gym working on their physique, they also spend more time and energy planning their anabolic cycles which support this activity...

as for cardio goes... when calories are burned, not all are from fat... muscle is burnt along with that fat... therefore there comes a point where cardio is counterproductive (i.e. the body is burning more muscle than fat), so there goes the 'more is better' attitude on that unless you have muscle to spare..

competitive athletes can do what they do because

1) they're routines are not as demanding on the muscle structure as bodybuilders, thus physically it is easier to do this

2) they are getting the rest they require (many competitive athletes do just that and have scheduled naps in their days, many bb have day jobs and cannot fit this in (although more and more are sponsered now and training in more an 'athlete fashion)

3) they are gentically gifted and/or chemically enhanced

well, i've rambled on enough... off to bed for me... need my rest

 

[bignate73]

i only take issue with one thing phenomena

#1

competitive athletes have DIFFERENT programs then bbers. not any more or less demanding, actually i think it could be more demanding. chances are they are working for endurance and so they dont do strictly work for hypertrophy. its not really accurate to compare the lifestyle of a bber to another type of competitive athlete. we train and then use the time AWAY from the gym for our gains. granted, other athletes need rest too, but the more time they can train the more competitive they will be in their sport.

 

[Phemomena]

true... the wording came out wrong, i just basically meant that they aren't putting the same massive amounts of stress on their muscles than bbs who are lifting multiples of their body weights... (competitive atheletes also generaly spend time in the gym, but you'll find that they almost always stick to the 60-90 min rule too)

and yeah, they are putting their bodies through a lot, thus point number 2 when i see athletes training schedules you always see something like 2-4 nap or they are in bed by 8 or something crazy...