Korean Job Discussion Forums

[dharma bum]

i'm looking to regain some of the weight that i have lost during my time in korea but have run into a problem in trying to do this in a healthy way. mainly, the sites i've read have all recommended lifting weights - and i have a powerful aversion to weightlifting as i find it tedious and got burnt out on it while in college.

with that said, although i'd rather keep in shape in other ways, i'm willing to do a minimal amount of weightlifting 2 or 3 times a week for the sake of weight gain. what i'm wondering though is what would be the best way for me to supplement aerobic exercise (swimming) with 2-3 weightlifting exercises a couple of times a week to give me greater gains in my thighs and arms. i was thinking of just doing squats and then hammer/preacher curls (or possibly military presses instead of the curls?) in the weight room but then i'm wondering if i'll just be wasting my time with the squats since i won't be doing any other exercises focusing on the legs. what do you guys think? is trying to do this going to be worthwhile or do i need to go all out on the weight training? also, is swimming going to help me build/define muscle at all?

[Cornfed]

You will not be wasting your time with the squats. Full range of motion squats are a very good exercise. If you must limit yourself to three execises then you should choose compound exercises that work the whole body. Say, squat, bench press and bent row. Or perhaps that combo on some days and some other push-pull-legs combo on other days (say dead lift, chin-up and military press or whatever). Working small muscles like the biceps in isolation like you are planning will leave you unbalanced and prone to injury.

Swimming will help you gain muscle to a point but without supplementing it with weights your muscles will be fairly small and floppy. Three half-hour weight sessions a week with heavy, compound exercises can make a big difference for some people.

[dharma bum]

alright, so scratch the curls and go for bench/military presses instead... what about the swimming? do you think it's going to do anything or will i be wasting my time in terms of muscle growth?

[cdninkorea]

I can't comment on the swimming but if you want to build granite hard muscle, focus on compound exercises with heavy weights and low reps. Two or three times a week is enough.

I like to do deadlifts, squats, bench press, bent over barbell rows, and stiff legged deadlifts. Four sets each exercise at a rep range of 1-4.

Keep in mind that doing heavy weights with so few reps won't make your muscles bigger; it will make them harder, like steel, and stronger. If you want bigger muscles, do reps between 8-10 or so.

[Pink Freud]

If you are serious about gaining size, I'd suggest checking out Bryan Haycock's HST Hypertrophy-Specific Training. All over google.

That said, cornfed is spot on with his advice.

If I were going to limit myself to only three exercises I'd go with squats, deadlifts, and wide-grip overhand chin ups, which will work your arms, but also your upper back and shoulders, and your core if you are careful with form. I'd also go with push-ups, weighted push-ups and incline push-ups over presses as these will also engage your core.

I'd also try to avoid using straps for deadlifts and on the chin up bar. Improved grip strength and BIG forearms.

Peace.

[mission_weasel]

There are many factors that contribute to maximizing muscle growth and reducing body fat including genetics and your body type.

The swimming will burn lots of calories and reduce your overall body fat while toning the muscle that you have without any size increase. In fact, lots of cardio like swimming or running will cause you to loose muscle because the body uses up the muscle for energy during intense cardio sessions.

To increase muscle mass and size a proper diet is most important. You have to be eating a lot of clean foods with enough protein to support muscle growth. Brown rice, sweet potatoes, green veggies, lean chicken and tuna. You should consider getting whey protein powder an taking one scoop 15 minutes before a workout and 2 immediately after.

If you are going to go to the gym 2-3 times a week give yourself 48 hours of recovery between each session. Hit the weights hard while you are there focusing on compound lifts like bench press, power cleans , dead lifts, squats, and pullups.

A good full body work out might look like this:

Squats - 3 sets of 8 ( the last rep you can barely push the weight up i.e. to failure.)

Bench Press - 3 sets of 8 ( to failure)

Power Cleans - 3 sets of 8 ( to failure)

Dead Lifts - 3 sets of * ( to failure)

Pull ups - as many as you can do 3 sets

* If you haven't been lifting already start light and work your way up heavier and include a warm up set and proper stretching to avoid injury.


If you want to put on some muscle in a hurry there is no way to get around the weights. There are a variety of ways to make weight lifting routines more interesting by varying the lifts you do if you find yourself in a rut. At this point I think light swimming would be OK but too much would be counterproductive to muscle growth.

[beast]

Bottom line is this: In your case, you can go for one of two great body types. A. The big guy. B. The ripped guy
Since weightlifting is not your thing, why not go for the ripped guy look. Swimming will do that for you. Perhaps getting the Michael Phelps look would be easier for you. Swim, eat right, do lots of sit ups and you'll look great. Some people like me have a really hard time getting that look, so we go for the big guy look and spend our time doing squats and bench. You sound like you have the DNA for the ripped guy look. Focus on that.

[dharma bum]

Thanks for the help guys. You've given me some great ideas and I'm going to try several of the suggestions out to see what works best for me. Specifically, I want to see what squats and pull-ups do for me as I've never really done either much in the past. Any tips on form, etc., when doing them though?

Also, to beast, I think you're right. I don't think I can ever expect to be a huge, ripped guy (at least not without steroids), so I'm going to try to keep my goals in that direction limited and focus more on putting on some weight while keeping decent muscle tone.

[mission_weasel]

You can youtube search any of the above exercises and there are a thousand knuckleheads that would love to show you EXACTLY how its done. Just search "squats proper form" or whatever. I doubt you will find a squat rack in Korea but if you do let me know. The best alternative to squats would be leg presses on a machine.

Also if you don't have a naturally large build you don't have to worry about putting on scary amounts of muscle. Even those guys work long and hard to look the way they do. A moderate amount of weight lifting a few times a week won't usually achieve those kinds of results, especially in the short term.

Just start lifting and see how your muscles develop and adjust your routine based on the way your body changes. However stay consistent with whatever you do for a solid 4-6 weeks, which is when you will really start noticing a difference. People with a smaller frame generally will just start to look cut and muscular as opposed to freakishly large.