Style Pyramid

3 months of solid, regular free weight lifting?

I started lifting free weights on july 3rd....doing heavy bench press and curls in a pyramid style workout and have not yet missed a session.....however i feel the progress is slower than i would like, even though i never go more than 2 days without lifting, and i do always go up to my max. Is bodybuilding just not in my genes, or is 3 months not very long towards building muscle mass?

is bench press and curls the only exercises you've been working on? if you want to build then you will have to fit more into your workout than that. heres a basic workout plan:

monday - biceps / back
tuesday - cardio / abs
wednesday - trcieps / chest
thursday - cardio / abs
friday - legs / shoulders
saturday - cardio / abs
sunday - rest day.

the reason to leave a day inbetween, is that when building muscle, the recovery process is key. if you do not leave a day to recover the muscles you worked the day before, then you are counter acting the muscle building process - when you work out, the muscle fibers tear, then repair itself, thus expanding in the process.

also the reason i put the biceps back, tri's chest together etc, is that they are also secondary muscles being worked e.g. when you do the bench press, its also working your triceps, and when you do pull downs, your biceps are also being worked a s a secondary muscle group.

as for reps and sets, the standard is 3 sets, 8 reps. though you can do 1 set of 8 reps, then 1 set of 7, then a set of 6 to finish off. rest around 1 half minutes in between each set.

only use weight you are comfortable lifting, but still heavy enough to do the job i.e. dont lift huge weight if you sacrifice your form in the process. you should always have good form (lifting technique) to maximise the benefit of that particular exercise, and to prevent injury.

exercises can include:

biceps - bicep curls, hammer curls, concentration curls, pull ups.

triceps - dips, seated dips, close grip bench press, regualr push ups, kick backs, skull crushers.

chest - flys, bench press, incline bench press, diamond press ups, wide grip push ups.

back - pull downs, wide grip chin up, rows, seated rows.

shoulders - shrugs, lateral raise, overhead press, arnold press, rear lateral raise.

legs - squats (this also works overall body), deadlifts, leg press, lying leg curl, leg extension, standing / seated calf raises.

abs are the only muscle group you can work everyday. cardio is also important to warm up and down with. you can dediacte the next day to a longer cardio session.

you dont have to use the workout aobve ^^ its only a baisc plan that i use. you can search the net or ask a trianer at your gym on the right way to perform each exercise, as aswell as different workout plans, best diet for you etc. good luck

---

---