What is the best weight lifting program to build muscle?

Question

I am a 40-yr old male that is trying to get back in shape. I have been a desk-jockey for most of my life, but my best sport has been tennis when I was about 50 lbs. lighter.

It has been a while since I did weight lifting as a form of exercise & my typical routine is as follows. Go to a machine, lift a challenging weight for 3 sets of 12 reps. If I get to 18 reps on the last set, then I bump up the weight...Is this a good workout or is there a faster way to build muscle? Is one/two set(s) with a heavier weight the way to go?

Answer 1

Your work out routine is a good start and 12 reps is good for bodybuilding. If you want to bulk up faster once you are in good condition, you can lower the reps to between 8-10 and add more weight or even go as low as 6-8 reps but anything below 6 is mostly strength work.

Answer 2

I found some great muscle building tips from the site http://fitness4u.sitesled.com .  There are tips form the top fitness trainers.  There are also some good downloadable free ebooks.  The no-nonsense muscle building is a great program that I used.  They really give you what you need to gain muscle without supplements.

Good luck, Don't give up.

Answer 3

Make sure you have a clean bill of health before you start a new exercise regime.

If you want to focus on lifting weights (just as effective and more fun than cardio) then I suggest you focus on exercising your core.  What does that mean?  It means doing exercises that work all/most of your muscle groups all at once.  You can also set your rep/set range for your goals... For bigger muscles, do more sets at lower reps (10sets, 3 reps, heavy weight) and for more toned/stronger muscles do more reps at fewer sets (3 sets, 10 reps, lower weight)  All exercises should be completed using the following guidlines (Set weight so that you are giving 90% effort on the last rep of each set...basically you could only do one more rep before muscle failure.  Rest two minute between sets...  Drink a sugary hi-GI beverage while working out for energy...grape juice works well.

Some examples of core exercises:

Bench press - Works your chest, biceps, triceps, forearms, shoulders, stomach muscles.

Squats - Works your Quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves,  shoulders, forearms, back, stomach muscles.

Deadlift - Works your lower back, upper back, forearms, shoulders, quads, hamstrings, calves, chest, stomach muscles.

Pullups - Works all of arm, upper back, stomach, shoulders.

The point is to work your CORE...you are using many muscles for each exercise and skipping the micro exercises (like bicep curls, stomach crunches) for something that benefits multiple muscles groups at once.  You will expend AWESOME amounts of energy completing a workout of this nature every 2-3 days and you will find yourself getting stronger, losing weight and feeling better very quickly.  There is nothing wrong with continuing a regime of this sort for years or your entire life.

For more information about fitness, weight lifting, nutrition, etc... google Testosterone Nation... They have tons of info and thousands of members posting in their forums.

Good Luck.

Answer 4

You should start with a trip to the doctor and get your cholesterol level assessed and have a stress test to determine if your heart is healthy enough to jump back into a routine like that.

If you are 50 lbs over what you were, and that means 50 lbs overweight, then you may be better off doing cardio alone as a way to jump back into things. Run, or do other cardio, in the morning for 20 mintues each day, and after a short while you will be thinned back out, and you will feel good about being back in a gym, and be energized to do the weights. You also will "see" yourself, and you may need only to tone your muscles rather than bulking out.

Answer 5

Go to the doctor and ask advance from him about what you can do. And then get a personal trainer to help you.