Alright, then I'll just keep pluckin' away and hopefully in a month or two I'll have some progress pics to show all of you. Any suggestions on brand of protein shake mix? I went into GNC to pick some up and had no clue what to buy. Some were $20, some were $45. Other than protein per serving I didn't know what to look for. Sooooo, instead of wasting my money I thought I'd ask all of you first. Any suggestions? Oh, any cheap online sources for protein mix?

~ Cori ~


P.S Do you know of any good bodybuilding sites where I can find out more info about BB? Especially for beginners

Here's a suggestion. When I worked w/ a personal trainer, he had me do this and it saw results rather quickly.

Make your Mon and Tues your heavy wt./low rep days and Thur. & Fri. lighter wt./higher rep days.

On heavy days, you use the heaviest you can handle with only around 6 reps. if you can do over 8 without much strain, you need to increase wt. Rest 2 full min. between sets. Do 3 sets. Each set you should be ~ maxed out by 5-6 rep. Last rep- push it out and make yourself do one more rep than you think you can do. This kills!! You can't do as many dif. exercises on these days. Hit the major ones- Squats, lg. press, dead lift, bench press, etc.

Light days, drop the wt to where you can do 12-15 reps comfortably. Only rest 30 or so sec. between sets. These days you can get more in.

Mix up the lifts you do from week to week to keep the muscles well worked.

On cardio days, do interval training. ex- after warm up, sprint for one min. and walk for one min, etc. Next week, sprint for 2 min. , walk for 2. Intervals really help burn fat and raise metabolism for up to 48 hours afterward.

Hope this helps. -Phat

Great post Phat - I imagine this works best with the CKD refeeds as well. It's similar to what I did when I did CKD a couple of years ago (and I may do it again. Not a slam, by ANY means!)

I currently do my heaviest workouts the days after my little carb-ups. I do two carb-ups a week: Sunday night and Thursday night. Monday is quad night, and Friday is back and bis. This way I have the most juice for them.

I think with TKD, perhaps alternating heavy and light might work well because you let your body recover a bit.

Optimuim nutrition 100% whey. about $30.00 for 5 pounds
Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry.
Low carb. no fat.
JAg

hey ya'll !!! just wanted to thank you for all the input!! ive been doing atkins for 7 months and have lost 88 pounds on it! i started lifting BFL style just recently and am happy to say i am on week 5 and really getting addicted to the lifting AND cardio days!! im loving these workouts!! i also find a protein shake after the workout to be very energizing and i always eat some protein and a few carbs before lifting too....i havent had a problem with feeling weak or anything and i have been able to increase my weights at a pretty good rate i think! i am by no means ANYWHERE near the great shape that any of you are, but i know in time if i keep it up i will be!! BUILT...you look freakin awesome!! i am really impressed sweety!! keep up the great work! i guess i need to research this TKD stuff huh? hahahaha



well anyway, just wanted to thank you all!! have a great evening!

Wow, thanks Pammiejoe! I must say, I am VERY impressed with YOUR progress!

I know somebody at my gym who did BFL and really liked it. I'm glad it's working for you too.

Sounds like you're well on your way.

TKD isn't that complicated: it's basically just Atkins with some fast pre-lifting carbs on lifting days. Just another variation on a theme. If you're okay with the carbs in BFL, TKD might not be necessary for you. But hey, if you get stalled or want to give it a try, it's an easy thing to do. Easy to back out of if you don't like it, too. Just drop the pre-lifting carbs. I do think CKD is probably more effective, but the long carbups always made me nervous...you know what it's like to worry about stuff like this I'm sure. Totally deadly workouts the first couple of days after carbup though!

Cheers

-Built

I got a chuckle from that. I'm definitely not one of the "any of you" right now. Last year I "worked" more at building flab than muscle!! I'm kicking myself now. But if we both stick to it, we can look like Built real soon.

Great Pic, by the way, Built. What definition and a tiny waist, too!! What do you do for back exercises.

Pammie- You are amazing!! 88 pounds- that's my daughter in a heavy coat!
What an accomplishment!! Keep it up and you will be Miss Universe!!

Off to bed
Phat

Oh, stop!



I'm still working on the bottom half, but it's coming along ever so slowly since I increased my leg workouts to do more heavy volume work.

I'll do a better job of this at some point, but here's my current routine.

Roughly, I do a 4 day split:
Monday: quads

3 sets of 10 squats with 25 lbs a side
then 5 sets of 15 leg press, 2 plates a side
then 2 supersets of sissy squats with seated leg extensions

Tuesday: Shoulders, chest and triceps
I do a LOT of rear delt work

Shoulder side raises, 12 pound dumbbells
Arnie presses: 20 lb dumbbells
lying rear lateral shoulder raises (face down on incline bench): drop sets with 8s, 5s, 3s
Face pulls
Bent over rear delt rows with 20 lb dumbbell

Chest: incline flyes with 15 lb dumbbells
incline chest press with 35 lb dumbbells

Triceps: overhead tricep extension, single 45 lb dumbbell - 3 sets of 6 or 8
standing tricep rope extensions - 3 sets of 8 with 30 lbs

Thursday: hammies!

leg press, but with toes off the platform so I press through heels - 3 or 4 sets of 10-12 with 2 plates a side
SLDL - (Stiff leg deadlift) - the bar plus a plate a side, 3 sets of 10
OR
the bar plus 25 a side, 4 sets of 12
Leg curls - three sets
back extensions, one LONG set, squeezing glutes at top of movement

Friday: back and biceps

Seated cable rows, 3 sets of 6 or 8 with 70 lbs
lat pull downs, 3 sets or 6 or 8 with 90 lbs OR assisted chinups, which I've been doing more of lately for pulling the lats out
shrugs - one long set of 10 or 12 with 105 lbs (it's the heaviest ez curl bar we have, and I'm too lazy to load up a bar to do more but it's not hard to go heavy with these)
Dumbbell pullovers (like barbell pullover, but with a single 45 lb dumbbell - looks like a dumbbell lying triceps extension, but with straight arms so the back does the work ) - 3 sets of 8


biceps: seated alternating dumbbell curls: three sets of 6 with 25 lbs a side
incline alternating dumbbell curls: three sets of 6 with 15 lbs a side
reverse bicep cable curls - use the overhead lat pull down bar, close grip, palms up, thumbs out. Grip, sit down, then pull down with biceps, then release slowly and let it back up.

Here's a site with videos for the exercises if you would like to figure out what the heck I'm talking about :http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

Oh, and I try to get out once or twice a week for a bike ride, and I walk a bit. I've decreased the cardio because I'm finding lifting works better for body composition.

Meant to thank you Jag for the link.

Cheers

Thanks for the link. I was scratchin' my head at almost all those names. I am just using the cybex machines and have never used free weights. Do you think that machines give you the same intensity of workout that free weights do? We have a weight room at the Y but I have to admit I'm a little intimidated because I'm not sure how to perform all the exercises. I started with machines so I could work on technique and gain muscle without worrying about dropping a weight on myself.
OMG, I started using GNC Pro Performance whey protein yesterday and today after my workouts and I can definitely feel it! I feel pumped up and energized after working out. I'm sore but not nearly as sore as usual. I upped my sets from 2 sets of 10, to 3 sets of 11-12. So far so good. I dropped 2 lbs in the last few days. Not sure if it has anything to do with the increased sets or just that I switched from total body weights every other day to alternating muscle groups throughout the week. Maybe it gives my body more time to heal a smaller portion of muscle. No clue, but if it works stick with it, right?


~ Cori ~

I know - it seems like a different language at first. That's why I included the link - you can look up the names and get little movies that show the movements.

You are progressing through this the right way. Moving from whole body to alternating muscle groups is a VERY good idea once you have conditioned yourself a bit, which is exactly what you have done.

Moving away from the machines is the next step. While good for beginners, they don't hit the stabilizing muscles at all - that's why they can be good for physio - they work the muscle totally in isolation.

You WANT to work the stabilizers, too.

You will notice that it's harder to lift free weights than on machines - for example, if you can push 40 lbs on the shoulder press, don't be surprised if you have to go to two 15-lb dumbbells when you start doing military dumbbell press.

I would also start working on increasing the weight and going to somewhat shorter sets.

A good rule of thumb is to do 3 sets of 8 on most exercises. When you can do this and NOT feel the muscle the next day or two, (or not feel it very much), next time you do it, increase the weight increment and do 3 sets of 6. You will know it's time to increase this again when you can comfortably get through 3 sets of 8 again. Plus it's like a reward - you not only get to feel "cool" for being able to lift the next increment, but you don't have to do as much of it now that it's so heavy.

In terms of making the transition to free weights, do it slowly. Find something you feel comfortable with, something that doesn't seem too weird, like bicep curls or shoulder (military) press, and leave the others the way they are.

BBs won't offer help, because that is seen as rude. But they generally will help if asked - look for someone with a good body, and start by asking him or her how to do ONE of the machine exercises you are trying to replace. If you are lucky enough to have a freakishly large woman at your gym, ask her. Female BBs are notorious form-freaks, and this is exactly what you want. Women are also generally very happy to see another woman trying to get into lifting, and will often be very supportive.

Because you have the machine experience, you will have an idea of how much you can lift as you make the transition. Listen to your body. If you guess too light, you can always increase it the next time you are there. If you guess too heavy, well, we've ALL done that at some time or another...

I am SO glad you are lifting. Keep it up!

- Built

Hey, Built

I saw your pictures just now. Awesome!!! I tried to post a comment and it said I didn't have permission to. ??? Still learning about this site.

Of course, I just went out w/ a friend and celebrated cinco de mayo and had a few drinks for the first time in weeks. OOPS. But it was fun. Guess I'll have to do a heavy day tomorrow to burn off the extra carbs!! -Phat

Thank you Phat. Dunno why, unless the computer caught you while I was editing??

Anyway, I got this way lifting VERY heavy weights, and I wanted to let the ladies here know that women DON'T get big from lifting something heavier than a 3 lb pink dumbbell. And we don't get lean from endless cardio either. There are a lot of people out there who take steroids and get big, but lie about it. I don't take steroids. Women really can't get very big without them. No matter HOW heavy we lift. And I'm trying!

How did you start out built? How did you progress to where you are now? Have your goals changed since you started lifting? I've been lifting for 6 weeks now and my goals have already changed! Originally I was just using weight training to gain some muscle and was planning on running a 5k this fall. Now I'm not really too interested in that running business but sure am addicted to lifting! What do you mean by "heavy"? Just what you can push through 6 reps max? Other than protein are there any supplements that are "necessary" for bb's? Sorry for all the questions but thought I'd get them in before I went to bed Thanks for all the supportive help. It's been a great way to learn more about bodybuilding!

~ Cori ~

I'll answer as best I can:
I started at 170 fat and squishy about 3 years ago. Goals have changed - I LOVE having muscles now, so I'm always trying to make more. It's VERY hard to do that after the first year.
I used to run 10k 3x a week. That's how I grew to 170. Screw that! I don't run anymore. Killed my hips and knees, especially as I got so fat. Very different diet then though.
Supps: 15g glutamine spread through the day
6-15g fish oil
lots of protien, but we all get that here!
WATER.

I take other stuff, like vitamin C and coq10 and B vitamins, vit E, cod liver oil. But the fish oil and glutamine are awesome!

Trainerdan takes Branched Chain Amino Acids - I've PMd him on it and will report back.

SO GLAD to hear you're lifting!

Sometimes I take creatine, but usually only when I'm bulking because you really need an insulin spike with creatine. I love creatine though! I love bulking too, but I long for my abs toward the end...