Guest guest Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 I was surprised to hear about the wife getting big from working out for a few months. I have been TRYING to bulk up for a few YEARS and my progress is very slow. I am in my fifties and female. I am a cyclist but to want build overall muscle to look better. I am 5'7 " and weigh 130. My muscles are hard when flexed but don't show much when not flexed. I do resistance work every morning alternating lower and upper for about 20-40 minutes (free weights, squats, pushups, deadlifts, etc.) I ride my bike about 80-100 miles a week, usually 2-3 times after work for an hour with long rides on the weekend. Lately I have been doing a 3 week cycle for upper body - 3 12 rep sets one week, 3 8 rep sets the next week, 3 3 rep sets the next, then back to the lighter weights. Rosemary mentioned the 8 rep range is best for bulking - should I just do that or stick with the periodization? Doss Boerne USA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 Here lies your problem. It is EXTREMELY difficult to put on mass while you are doing so much cardio. That is why you dont see 200+ lbs. marathon runners. It doesnt happen and if it does I have never seen or heard of it. If you really want to start putting on some mass you will have to reconsider the mileage that you are putting in on the bike. Also working out everyday? It can be done but you have to have it structered so that it will help you with your goal and not hinder. Some things to consider: How much do you really want to bulk up? How important is riding the bike that often? Do you race? Why do you want to put on lean mass? Do you just want to be bigger or is there a goal in mind, ie sports? Just some things to think about. Happy Easter! Greg Albuquerque NM USA > I was surprised to hear about the wife getting big from working out > for a few months. I have been TRYING to bulk up for a few YEARS and > my progress is very slow. I am in my fifties and female. I am a > cyclist but to want build overall muscle to look better. > > I am 5'7 " and weigh 130. My muscles are hard when flexed but don't > show much when not flexed. > > I do resistance work every morning alternating lower and upper for > about 20-40 minutes (free weights, squats, pushups, deadlifts, etc.) > I ride my bike about 80-100 miles a week, usually 2-3 times after > work for an hour with long rides on the weekend. > > Lately I have been doing a 3 week cycle for upper body - 3 12 rep > sets one week, 3 8 rep sets the next week, 3 3 rep sets the next, > then back to the lighter weights. Rosemary mentioned the 8 rep range > is best for bulking - should I just do that or stick with the > periodization? > > Doss > Boerne > USA > > > > > Modify or cancel your subscription here: > > mygroups > > Don't forget to sign all letters with full name and city of residence if you > wish them to be published! > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 Doss wrote: I have been TRYING to bulk up for a few YEARS and my progress is very slow. I am in my fifties and female. I am a cyclist but to want build overall muscle to look better. **** Oh, girl, I emphathize! It took me years to add muscle mass and here's this woman who has only to look at a barbell and on it goes. I have no doubts that she has packed on as much, if not more, muscle in 6 months than I have in 14 years! I have two friends like her; they are always complaining. About what?, I wonder! I offer two suggestions. About four years into my lifting life, I was told by a very knowledgeable trainer after he looked over my workout schedule, to cut my cardio down to not more than twice a week. And when I did do it, not to aerobicize myself into a frenzy, which is what I was doing. As soon as I cut the high impact step classes and just took a couple of leisurely walks on a treadmill, I started to gain some muscle mass. It still didn't pile on like the woman we've been talking about, but it did go on. Since you like to bicycle, and you're doing quite a lot of it, this might be the problem. However, bicyclists usually have terrific looking legs and you're not underweight for your height. So if you're not over fat, then you already have quite a bit of muscle mass. In order to lift and cycle and add mass, you will have to make sure you're eating enough decent calories to allow your body to build the infrastructure it needs to manufacture the extra muscle. This is a calorie expensive process that Mother Nature is not nearly as concerned about as those of us who would like to add more muscle. As far as Mother is concerned, you have all the muscle you need to go on bike rides, so what more do you want? Stuffing in more food is not always an easy thing to do. People who have to watch their calorie intake think that those who need to overeat are lucky, but it can be an uncomfortable situation. Then you have to hit a happy medium so that you gain muscle without the fat. I suggest you start keeping a food log as to exactly what it is your're eating (if you don't already know this). If you feel satisfied after each meal, try adding about 50-100 calories more animal protein to each meal. When you're talking meat or eggs, this isn't very much and it will also increase the fat; you need both to grow muscle. Allow yourself to become accustomed to that. When you do, then add another 50 calories of protein per meal. Watch yourself closely so that you don't gain a bunch of fat, although you will probably have to accept a slight fat gain along with the muscle because it's almost impossible to gain muscle without a bit of fat. If you feel after about six months or so that you've gained more fat than you wish, you can take a month and get rid of it, but again, you can't starve it off. It has to be done carefully so that you retain as much muscle as possible. Obviously this entire scenario is quite a challenge for people who aren't easy gainers. One thing to your advantage is your age. If you're not using an estrogen replacement, then you may have a naturally higher testosterone to estrogen ratio than formerly. This helps a great deal. I noticed that as I got into my 50's it was easier to gain muscle. In addition, small amounts of Norandrostenediol provided a good boost. This compound works especially well in middle aged women who have no contraindications or are not competing in events that are drug tested. These are not like swallowing multi-vitamins, so you have to use them judiciously. Rosemary Wedderburn-Vernon Marina del Rey, CA IronRoses@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 31, 2002 Report Share Posted March 31, 2002 I forgot to answer one of 's questions, i.e. about rep range. The answer to which way should someone train to achieve thus and so is difficult to answer specifically because everyone prefers something different and responds differently to the same stimulus. The best way might be to take a year to periodize so that you can experience different types of training. I would recommend reading Tudor Bompa's " Serious Strength Training, " which explains periodization very well. Dr. Bompa discusses cycling for various goals, i.e. someone who is interested in powerlifting would cycle differently than someone who is more interested in bodybuilding. Another thing you may find, or have already discovered, is that you prefer one kind of training over another, i.e. heavy weight/low reps, light weight/high reps, etc. The problems arise when you prefer heavy weights and few reps but injuries prevent you from training this way. We spent quite a bit of time talking to a number of people at the Arnold Classic this year about what changes people were making in their training as they got older. Most people who have trained for any length of time or who have been involved in athletics, suffer some kind of injury that can be easily exacerbated by some exercise or some method of training. This can be discouraging, but as we all agreed, it's better to be able to train than not train at all. As you get into middle age and beyond, you may still be able to train heavy, but you may not be able to do as many heavy cycles per year. Or, as in my case, I don't train heavy any more at all because if I do, I suffer the consequences of being ego-driven. What I use for strength are ladder type training. I do a lot of cable work now, where I used to be strictly a free-weight person. When I use free weights, I'm much more likely to head for the dumbbells than the bar. When I made the decision to back off so that I would be pain free and could enjoy life without knowing where my IT band was 24 hours a day, etc., I promised myself I would be content to simply maintain. After all, at 59, what did I expect? To my surprise, the light weight and 15-20 rep sets have really hardened my muscles appreciably and I actually added a little mass. All you can really do is experiment and find out what works best for you. Keep a log with more than just the number of sets and reps you did at a given workout. Make it a bit more like a diary and write down how you felt about a particular regimen. If something you did causes your shoulder to ache the next day, try to analyze the cause and write it down. It's easy to forget this sort of thing once the shoulder stops talking to you. Rosemary Wedderburn-Vernon Marina del Rey, CA IronRoses@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 1, 2002 Report Share Posted April 1, 2002 The new Dolfzine is on line at http://www.dolfzine.com with a compiled list of articles on Milk by Dr. Siff with some information that you haven't seen before. There is also an extended article on cooking by Rosemary Wedderburn Vernon who you know as a regular on Supertraining. In addition, there are articles by Dave Draper, Fred Hatfield, Sal Arria, Vince McConnell and Jim Ganley to name a few. There are some interesting articles on training women as well as step-by-step articles on getting ripped and manipulating calories. Please drop by and take a look. ron Ron Dobrin www.dolfzine.com New York City Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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