For BG fitness fanatics, a question..

[Diamicles]

Sorry if this has been brought up before in the thread, but how do people spend one-two hours in the gym, every day? Everyone I talk to is like "ya bro, just hit the gym for over an hour, feels good man", are these people full of shit or just wasting time? Or am I not doing enough?... which is in fact my main question:

How many sets do you guys usually do in a day? For example I pair biceps/back in one day, usually do 8 bicep exercises, 10 back exercises (6-8 rep), and that will take about 30 minutes total. I don't see how I could possibly squeeze out twice that amount of time, unless I'm vastly underdoing the amount of sets I should be.

I am seeing good results since I started bulking this summer, but it makes me wonder if I could be seeing better results if I were spending more time/sets than i am now.

I'd say the people that are doing that are either hardcore competitive bodybuilders, or the lame assholes that take 25 minutes to do 3 sets of bicep curls.

If you're efficient, you can get a full body workout done in about an hour.

[Osede]

How many sets do you guys usually do in a day? For example I pair biceps/back in one day, usually do 8 bicep exercises, 10 back exercises (6-8 rep), and that will take about 30 minutes total. I don't see how I could possibly squeeze out twice that amount of time, unless I'm vastly underdoing the amount of sets I should be.

When I do weight lifting, I will do 4 set of 6~8 reps, and usually total of 3-4 workout. Depending on which body part I'm doing, and how many ppl in the gyms. I think the difference maybe I would spend more time to rest in between the reps, like 2-3mins. Especially during my pylometric day, 3 type of workout may required 45mins, when its requires to do 5 set for each workout (this exclude the pylometric part, only the weight lifting in pylometric program). But usually I will try no to spend more than 45mins when I am doing upper body workout.

However, when I include my abs part + some cardio, it would spend another 30 to 35mins more, 10min on abs, 20~25mins on cardio.

[tyven]

I can get an insane chest and back day done in about 40 minutes. Shoulders and arms can take a lot longer though cuz i can go harder better faster longer stronger

[Weiing]

I'm more about efficiency... so my lifting is usually 40-50 minutes with rest included and 15-25 minutes for HIIT sessions. Working smarter doesn't mean you're not working harder. Length of time means nothing in terms of result, unless they are hardcore bodybuilders or something. Otherwise, I stick with compound/full body movements as much as possible.

[Venga]

When im doing a workout ill group: Back, Biceps, Legs, Abs // Chest, Triceps, Shoulders, Abs.

Ill rotate these each time i go to the gym, usually 3 times a week.

However, im more about getting toned rather than built. I do 3 different work outs for each muscle, 3 sets of 12 reps.

How does that sound??

[Meat]

i lost you at toned

[BerenTebogo]

I do 30-1hr of cardio before I do anything with weights but I only do the gym 3 days a week, so yeah.

[tyven]

you should do cardio after weights

[tyven]

i would explain that better but i am not good with the terms and the science and the know how. it has something to do with glycogen stores and burning fat and breaking down muscle and shit. you can goggle it if you dont trust me

[BerenTebogo]

I know it's better, but it's really hard to do an hour of cardio after a full ~45-60 minute leg set, lol, and the cardio is more important to me than the lifting so I make it a priority.

[BerenTebogo]

And yeah iirc it's something to the effect of the cardio exhausting all your glycogen and fat stores so that when you start your lifting your body sometimes has to resort to cannibalizing some muscle tissue for energy if you burn off all reserves of fat / sugars.

Edit: I should mention that I eat a roughly ~600 calorie breakfast every day at 6:30AM and I never go to the gym later than 9:30am - noon window. On average (in terms of cardio / lifting split days - my cardio only days I burn like 8/900 cal) I will burn around ~450 from cardio before lifting. So the degradation of muscle tissue is incredibly infrequent, if it happens at all (I haven't had any issues really since I'm not looking to build muscle mass, rather just trying to stay skinny and fit).

[Omnipotent]

I stopped going with friends to the gym, and now I just befriend all the "locals" I see for spots need be. My pet peeve is friends who talk to much in between sets so my normal 1 hour solo session @ the gym, takes 2+ hours because they take forever to do their set because they want to talk about sports or whatever. I am all for talking during a workout, just stay on time in between sets and stop increasing the time I spend @ the gym, because the gym is an awful place to be after working 8-5.

/rant off

[BerenTebogo]

I stopped going with friends to the gym, and now I just befriend all the "locals" I see for spots need be. My pet peeve is friends who talk to much in between sets so my normal 1 hour solo session @ the gym, takes 2+ hours because they take forever to do their set because they want to talk about sports or whatever. I am all for talking during a workout, just stay on time in between sets and stop increasing the time I spend @ the gym, because the gym is an awful place to be after working 8-5.

/rant off

ipod and ignore everyone > that nonsense.

Real question though: I stretch the shit out of my legs before every workout and never have any issues with cramps / pulled muscles, etc. I'm extremely careful when it comes to my legs, but as far as my upper body goes I'm at a loss for more than 3-4 stretches for my arms / back + bar stretches / ~50 jumping jacks (just to get my body warmed up). It's aggravating because while I never injure my legs, I sometimes leave the gym feeling like I /may/ have pulled something in my shoulders or aggravated my still-not-fully-healed back injury.

If anyone has good upper body stretching routines I could definitely use some. I already take ~15 minutes or more before working out to stretch so adding any amount won't bother me.

[Omnipotent]

Hold a 10 lb or 5 lb weight like his arm is, and rotate your shoulder down and up. Works well for a "tweaked' shoulder.

http://bp1.blogger.com/_2rEgpXKIT7g/...0_midpoint.jpg

[BerenTebogo]

Any good ones for back besides "bend over and touch your toes / grab the backs of your ankles" etc?

[Meat]

http://www.defrancostraining.com/ask...ge006_0000.jpg

[Hyan]

I do these for my back, not sure how effective they are but might be worth trying at least.

http://www.pakkotoisto.com/attachmen...09-veny-1-.jpg

http://www.pakkotoisto.com/attachmen...09-veny-2-.jpg

http://www.pakkotoisto.com/attachmen...09-veny-3-.jpg

[BerenTebogo]

I'd do her for my back too. But really, I'll try those out on Saturday, thanks.

[Omnipotent]

I'd do her for my back too. But really, I'll try those out on Saturday, thanks.

HAHA, thought the exact same thing before I read your post. Also: for your lower back, do a similiar machine only reverse and those are decent ways on stretching your back.



http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:f...extension1.jpg

also I get on one of these, lay down all the way and just try to do "Mrs. teapot" action while full extended to stretch my back.

http://www.nautilusgsa.com/products/...Wt/AbBench.jpg

[Caiyuo]

I thought conventional static stretches were shown to be worse prior to workout and more something to do as a morning routine or some such? I swear I thought there was a discussion about this not that long ago.