Posted: 3/4/2005 11:03:38 AM EDT
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I've been attempting to find a list of what muscles are worked by which combo exercise, and not getting lucky. What muscles are worked by Pushups, Situps, Pull-ups, and Chin-ups? |
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What in the world is a "combo" excercise? 
 (Getting out of the small fry range will almost be a miracle though!) Get into compound excercises(bench presses,squats,dead lifts,etc) and forget the isolation ones(curls,leg extension,tricep extension,etc). Then of course,you need to eat several meals a day and plenty of prot and carbs.You aer a "hard gainer" so you need to increase your caloric intake by A LOT! The one advantage you have is that with your low body fat content (5% i would guess),whatever muscle you put on will show. A ripped body will look bigger than oe with an equal mass buried below 20% fat 
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These are some of the things I have heard/read (no proof) that might be helpful: -Take 1000 mgms of vit C/day -Thake 3-5 gms of glutamine after the work out(in a protein shake is good) -Take sodium bicarbonate to decrease lactic acid produced while excercising The ones I can tell you from experience that work are: -Do not overdo your training (too many sets,too heavy,too long,etc) -Give your muscle groups at least 2 full days to recover . preferably 3-5 days after an INTENSE workout |
ETA - is there a way you can tell you are overdoing it when you are in the middle of a workout? There has been more than once when I've EASILY been able to hit several reps/sets of pushups or situps, but then next day I feel like death warmed over. And for the next week. I have a tremendous capacity inside the workout, and I find myself stopping when I run out of time, rather then out of strength, etc. And then I pay for it. |
I've trained several guys that were like that. They were all making the same mistake. They weren't working nearly hard enough. By hard, I don't mean time. I mean effort. Put more weight on the bar when you do squats or try to do more reps at your current weight. If you're putting the effort into the set that you should, you shouldn't feel like doing more. If you do it right, a couple of warm-up sets and a set of 20-rep squats should leave you ready to go home.z |
glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in muscle,and it is supposed to help you recover. You can't tell in the middle of a work out,but if the next 7 days you can't move your worked muscle ease back the next time.I am afraid zoom is right and you are not working with weights heavy enough (should be able to do 8-12 reps with them,not 90 reps) and you are building up lactic acid in industrial quantities.  get your weights so that you are working at 70-80% of your 1RM |
Nutrition is probably the greatest help to recovery. I lifted for years without progress due to poor diet. Make sure you get protein and carbs into yourself within an hour after working out. A post-workout drink is probably the best way to do this...just make sure it has plenty of carbs. As for the soreness, work through it. Just vary the intensity of your workouts, dont do 2 heavy workout days back to back. Changing what specific exercises you do will help as well. |
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Thank you folks - this points me in new directions I haven't been before. The exercises I have done in the past were pushups (standard and elevated, will incorporate onehanded and wide) and situps, where I could easily do 5 sets of 10 with a minute rest, all at home. I could keep going for a while longer with these, if I chose to. I haven't used weights until recently. Right now, I don't have the equipment for squats, and I don't readily have access to it. I can look around and see if I can fabricate a suitable replacement. |
Get some dumbells. Check ExRex for Dumbell squats. I do em all the time since I don't have "squat equipment" either. Just make sure you get the technique right. You can also do body-weight, one-leg squats and deadlifts, but they are pretty difficult. |
Try something like active recovery. Workout hard one day. Take the next day off. The following day (2 days after the workout) do some light work on the same muscle groups that you originally worked. Nothing heavy, but with high reps. It will hurt like hell, but you will feel much better when you finish. You will find that this helps your muscles get stronger too. |