Started working out, started gaining weight

[Missdirected]

How do I tell if I'm cheating? I try to make sure to keep my back straight, especially for the chest presses because when my arms start to fail I have this urge to arch my back then lunge. Naturally I resist the urge and plant my feet more firmly, press my back into the pad and exhale my way through that rep.
Ber :lilbunny:

If you have worked to failure - stop. Don't keep doing more. Failure as they call it is good enough. Further, that could cause you to hurt yourself, big time. I used to do this when I would want to up my weights. Sounds like for now, for what you want, you have too much weight going.

The last couple should be slightly difficult but not before that. Unless, of course, you are moving up in weight.

 

[Green_Manelishi]

How do I tell if I'm cheating? I try to make sure to keep my back straight, especially for the chest presses because when my arms start to fail I have this urge to arch my back then lunge. Naturally I resist the urge and plant my feet more firmly, press my back into the pad and exhale my way through that rep.
Ber :lilbunny:

If you are bouncing or "swinging" the weight you are cheating as well as risking doing yourself an injury. If you arch your back (curls, bench press, french press, seated tricep extension with a dumbbell, etc.) you are risking an injury. I know some, myself included, who will occasionally pull their legs up off the floor and "curl them up" over their chest when bench pressing. That technique prevents arching but obviously that has it's disadvantages.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

If you have worked to failure - stop. Don't keep doing more. Failure as they call it is good enough. I used to do this when I would want to up my weights. Sounds like for now, for what you want, you have too much weight going.

The last couple should be slightly difficult but not before that. Unless, of course, you are moving up in weight.

Thanks Miss, check out Scuba Jerm's profile pic for an idea of what I'm shooting for. I want arms like that, nicely proportioned to body size but clearly "fit". Being built like Linda Hamilton in Terminator II is my "dream goal."
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Green_Manelishi]

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but I have to.

Muscle does not weigh more than fat. Five pounds of fat tissue will be of lesser density and more voluminous than five pounds of muscle tissue but they will weigh the same, yes that's right five pounds!
To make the statement correctly would be to write, muscle tissue is more dense than fat tissue.

Ber, get your fat percentage taken and get your body measurements. I believe they are a better indicator of training success than scale weight.

Oh, I should also point you to a pretty (I think) site. http://www.stumptuous.com
Krista kicks azz.

Good point. But you know what was meant. Is your suit a 'x' MIL or MM?

 

[Missdirected]

Thanks Miss, check out Scuba Jerm's profile pic for an idea of what I'm shooting for. I want arms like that, nicely proportioned to body size but clearly "fit". Being built like Linda Hamilton in Terminator II is my "dream goal."
Ber :lilbunny:

Right, and eventually you will lose the unwanted fat but then you will crossover and gain weight. As others have said that is muscle weight but you will be lean and tone. That is when you throw out the scale and just look at how great things are fitting. The actual weight number won't matter anymore.

 

[Missdirected]

If you are bouncing or "swinging" the weight you are cheating as well as risking doing yourself an injury. If you arch your back (curls, bench press, french press, seated tricep extension with a dumbbell, etc.) you are risking an injury. I know some, myself included, who will occasionally pull their legs up off the floor and "curl them up" over their chest when bench pressing. That technique prevents arching but obviously that has it's disadvantages.

Very true. You are stressing other muscles in the wrong way - and like he said, you could cause yourself and injury.

Ber, do you have a link to Scuba Jerm?

 

[_Bella_]

Good point. But you know what was meant. Is your suit a 'x' MIL or MM?

But to suggest that it's possible to gain four pounds of lean muscle mass within six workouts is just a little exagerated and points more to perpetuating a myth than facts. with that...it's time for me to go to the gym! :happywave

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Very true. You are stressing other muscles in the wrong way - and like he said, you could cause yourself and injury.

Ber, do you have a link to Scuba Jerm?

He's participating in this thread, I think he was one of the first to post. Has the Nemo turtle for an avatar.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Green_Manelishi]

But to suggest that it's possible to gain four pounds of lean muscle mass within six workouts is just a little exagerated and points more to perpetuating a myth than facts. with that...it's time for me to go to the gym! :happywave

Ber and I exchanged some PMs and that was discussed. My experience from the days I weighed myself every day was that weight varied from day to day, sometimes by more than a pound. As others have pointed out, more important (?) than weight is composition and overall fitness.

It's claimed though that this guy ... http://www.caseyviator.com/ did the following:

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH INTENSITY

In what may be the most famous month of workouts ever, Viator participated in what is known as the Colorado Experiment. For 28 days in May 1973, he performed a limited number of exercises, but with extreme intensity. A subsequent report said that Viator gained 45 pounds of muscle and lost almost 18 pounds of bodyfat, for a net gain of 63 pounds of muscle, but these results have been a source of contention ever since

and that's from http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0KFY/is_3_22/ai_n6108181

 

[Missdirected]

Ber and I exchanged some PMs and that was discussed. My experience from the days I weighed myself every day was that weight varied from day to day, sometimes by more than a pound. As others have pointed out, more important (?) than weight is composition and overall fitness.

Hey you, now I have Rob Zombie playing in my head :winky: Okay, off to clean my house.