What is to much?

[basscat]

For example: On my chest work out days I usually do the following:
Flat bench-warm up with 1 set, 50% of max wide grip.
-3 sets of 8-10 going up in weight with every set.

Incline-3 sets of 8-10

Decline-3 sets of 8-10

Dumbell flys alternated with machine flys on different days.

Then I do some dips and tricept work.

Do you think I should be doing the flat bench the same day I do incline and decline or should I alternate them from week to week?

Should I do tricepts on the same days I do chest since a chest work out works the trisepts also.

I can say that I am having some pretty good results in size and strength but I am woundering if I could be doing it a better way to get better results.

What are some of your opinions?

[Darkhorse]

Well, if you're seeing progress just stay the course.

Do you think I should be doing the flat bench the same day I do incline and decline or should I alternate them from week to week?

Keep it the same. I'm assuming you're working each muscle once a week. You could probably drop the declines and keep the dips.

Should I do tricepts on the same days I do chest since a chest work out works the trisepts also.

Back when I was doing a weekly split, I preferred doing a push/pull split. If I was to do triceps after chest, they are already fried. I liked doing them with my shoulders because they were more rested and you get the benefit of working them 2 days (directly and indirectly) But, if you see results, I wouldn't change.

It would be wise IMO to change your rep range every once a while. 8-10 is great for hypertrophy, yes, but you also should be dropping the reps as well to 5-8. This also is great for hypertrophy with the added benefit of strength.

[basscat]

What is IMO and what does hypertrophy mean?

If I drop some reps should I increase the number of sets or stay with 3 sets but only doing 5-8 instead of 8-10. What is the benifit of doing this?

[Darkhorse]

What is IMO

in my opinion

hypertrophy

cause microtrauma to the muscles resulting in growth.

If I drop some reps should I increase the number of sets or stay with 3 sets but only doing 5-8 instead of 8-10. What is the benifit of doing this?

Sure you can. The benefit of dropping the reps is two fold. First, it will allow you to lift heavier weights resulting in more strength...More strength can equate to more mass. The other benefit is change. You never want to stay at a certain rep range forever. A good read about this can be found at T-Nation called pendulum training. That's why I recommend a linnear periodization workout. What I mean is simply switching up the reps every 2-3 weeks like HST does. Try 2 weeks of 12 reps, 2 weeks of 8-10 reps, then 2-3 weeks of 5's. You'll benefit a ton more than doing the same thing.

To answer your other question. You definately want to try and keep the total volume the same (ie. reps/sets) This could mean simply:
3x8
4x6
5x5
6x4
ect.....See, they all add up to around 25 total reps per exercise, you follow?

[basscat]

0311,

Thanks for your input.

[BG5150]

Just a note for everybody:

Muscles get "bigger" in one of two ways: hypertrophy and hyperlasia.

hypertrophy increase in muscle size due to larger cells

hyperplasia increase in muscle size due to more cells

[Darkhorse]

Hyperplasia is preferred to hypertrophy because it's permenant compared to hypertrophy. Muscle hypertrophy is temporary which blows ass. It's also harder to maintain because you need to constantly and consistantly load your muscles. When training stops for long periods, hypertrophy will start to waste away. :(
And Yet...Hypertrophy still rules!

[lekcie]

So basically to get bigger you should try to keep your reps to a maximum of 12?

I usually keep the number of sets to 12 no matter how many exercises I am doing and the reps from 8-10 and 6-8. If I do 4 different exercises then I’ll do 3 sets each, if I do 3 different exercises I’ll do 4 sets each etc…

I recently joined the gym again and the personal trainer told me that I should be doing from 12-15 reps for maximum grow, but I really do not think this is truth... Can anyone show me the light here?

[Darkhorse]

That trainer is full of shit.

The "high rep" training [around 15 reps] is only there to prepare joints and tendons for future heavy loading [3-8 reps]. Flushing tissue with lactate stimulates angiogenesis and stimulates tendon growth. (Hunt TK, Hussain MZ. Can wound healing be a paradigm for tissue repair? Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1994 Jun;26(6):755-8.) The 15s are designed simply to flush all tissues and joints (as far as possible) with lactate to encourage angeogenesis for blood flow and tendon growth to better endure subsequent heavy loads
- Bryan Haycock

That's the science you should print up and show him so he doesn't continue to think that way for the good of all mankind.

Now, you can see some gains off of those high reps, but NO, they are not optimal for maximal growth. Collectively, I'd say 5-10 reps with no more than 12. Remember that a "good burn" doesn't cause growth any more than feeling sore does (DOMS). Both are pretty popular myths though. IMO, I think it's a good idea every once in a while after heavy bouts of lifting in the 5-8 range to step back to a week or two of 15 reps to help alleviate your joints/tendons of that stress.

Alot of personal trainer's don't know a whole lot about heavy weightlifting. Most of them specialize in health and fitness. Disclaimer: I did say alot, not all. Two trainer's at my gym are shit hot and huge (naturally) while the rest spend the majority of their time on cable crossovers and dumbbell kickbacks There was one on this website that swore that CEE was nothing more than a longer name for dicreatine malate :eek: . The only way I could convince him after he started arguing with me was to provide definitions and a long list of research he could look up on his own. Christ!

[lekcie]

Thanks a lot 0311.. That is exactly what I thought, when he told me that stuff, I asked him over and over.. Are you sure? the answer he gave me was "Yes I am sure, unless you are on steroids you will have to work hard like the rest of us and do a lot of reps" which made no sense to me, because in my early days when I started to go to the Gym, the person that was my mentor was a real body builder (a professional) and that is the way he told me it should be done 6 to 12 reps depending on how you feel, what muscle you are hitting and how many exercises you are planning on doing. Bye..