Training Questions and Answers
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Question

hello lee,

im pretty skinny , a little cut , and ive done your 12 week routine, but now i need something else...should i have a 4 day routine or 6 day workout routine?

Answer

For bulking up I wouldn't suggest that you do a 6 day a week routine. You need to give your body time to rest and grow in between your workouts. I find that most people make their best size gains when training 3-4 days per week. I'd suggest that you follow this rotine for the next 6 weeks http://www.leehayward.com/bodybuilding_workout.htm

And after that you can go back and repeat the 12 week program again and try to beat your personal best lifts from the first time through.

Question

Dear Mr. Hayward,

I am not real sure if this goes to you, or someone else, but I have a serious problem. I am in the U.S. Navy and I am training to become a diver. I swim and do all the cardiovascular work that goes into this training. The problem I have is I want to continue to weight train as well, but am having a difficult time with it. I have been weight training for well over 10 years now and I use to play football, so all I have ever trained was for size and mass. Well now I just want to train for strength and not mass, but I think this must be a sin for lifting because I cannot find one thing on just training for strength. If you could please help me out with this and give me some ideas I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you,

Josh Holder

Answer

Hi Josh,

The thing that determines whether or not you'll gain size or not is your diet. If you consume more calories then you burn off you'll gain size. If you eat maintenance calorie levels then you'll maintain your size.

In sports like Olympic weight lifting and powerlifting there are lots of lifters who try and stay in a certain weight class by dieting to maintain or lose bodyweight, but they still train hard in order to get stronger. The actual training routine doesn't really change that much, the main change is their diet.

The reason you haven't found a workout program for gaining strength, but not gaining bodyweight is because you can follow pretty much any weight training routine as part of a weight maintenance plan, a weight gain plan, or a weight loss plan simply by altering your diet.

An easy way to maintain your bodyweight is to eat lean protein, vegetables, and / or fruit with all of your meals. But only eat starchy carbohydrates after you workout. This will cause your body to burn more bodyfat for energy and allow you to maintain your bodyweight. This is obviously in addition to avoid eating junk foods and processed foods (except for the occasional treat once in a while).

Question

Hey Lee.

I really enjoy reading all your articles. They are very helpful. I know you probably get about 100 of these a day so I'll get to the point. Football season just got over so Im ready hit the weight room. My main goal this off season is weight gain. While I am lifting, what is the best style of workout to put on weight. Low reps and more weight or less weight and more reps or a combination??? Also which brand of creatine do you think is the best.

I really aprreciate your help.

Thanks
-Kyle

Answer

Hi Kyle,

A combination of high rep training and low rep training tends to produce the best results. High reps will work the slow twitch muscle fibers and stimulate growth hormone production. Low rep training will work the fast twitch muscle fibers and stimulate testosterone production.

I have a great 12 workout program that you've probably seen it if you've been browsing around on my site for any length of time. This program uses both low rep days and high rep days to maximize muscle gains. This is a great training program to follow. Every single person that I know of who has used this program has made impressive gains in both size and strength.

As for creatine I personally use pure creatine monohydrate powder (such as this one: http://www.leehayward.net/details/shop/MM-015). Mix a teaspoonful of creatine with a protein drink, water, or with a sports drink like Gatorade, etc. Take this twice per day. Despite all the marketing hype around creatine one brand is really no better then another. Once you top up your body's creatine simply taking 1-2 teaspoonfuls of creatine monohydrate daily will maintain the levels of creatine in your body and allow you to reap the benefits that creatine has to offer.

I suggest that you download and read The Creatine Report. This will answer all your creatine related questions.

Question

Hey Lee,

Joe Wood here. I was just wondering which amounts of reps is best to do to gain muscle mass, as im just starting to build my muscles up and i am getting advised from one friend to do reps of 8, others 10 and others saying 12 - 15. I was just after your opinion on what is the best to build bigger, stronger muscle mass.

Cheers,
Joe

Answer

Hi Joe,

There is no "right" or "wrong" number of reps to do. But since you are just starting out, keep it simple and do sets of 10 reps for each exercise.

After you have several months of consistent workouts under your belt and you get more advanced you can experiment with different rep ranges.

Question

Lee,

I really like the 12 week workout routine, I plan on starting next week. but my question is you tell us how many reps and set, but how would someone like me know how much weight to start with or use? I'm new to weight training. I'm 29 years old, 5'11" and weight 175LBS. I'm in pretty good health, I'm an active runner but want to add more body mass and weight.

Al

Answer

Hi Al,

There is no way that I could accurately list the weights that people should lift because we all have different levels of strength. But you should use weights that make you work hard to complete the required sets and repetitions. It will take a bit of trial and error to find out the exact weights that you'll need to use for each exercise. When starting out it is best to error on the side of lifting too light and increase the weights overtime, rather then lifting too much and risk injuring yourself in the process.

Question

Lee,

I am wondering about what combination of ab workouts, will show the best results. I currently do crunches, situps and some leg raises (lying flat and lifting your legs about 6 to 10 inches and holding).

I am trying to increase strength in the abs. I am trying to meet a standard. I have about 4 months before I have to take a physical agilities test and I want to be able to pass with flying colors. The test consists of doing 42 situps (military style) in less than minute, 27 pushups (less than minute) and 1.5 mile run. I can do the situps (but it is a struggle), and I want to be able to have the confidence and be able to knock them out with no worries. I want to know what is the best way to increase strength in the abs.

I currently do a few sets of the above exercises and just add a few more repititions weekly.

I appreciate your expert advise.

Thanks in advance

David Venturini

Answer

Hi David,

I have some great ab exercises outlined at: http://www.leehayward.com/exercises/abs/index.htm

One of my favorite ab workouts is to do 100 total reps of decline bench sit ups. Do a set of as many reps as you can do, rest a minute, do another set of as many reps as you can do, rest, repeat, etc. until you have completed 100 total sit ups.

You can alternate decline bench sit ups with the military style sit ups (i.e. one workout do decline, the next do military style). By regularly doing 100 total sit ups during your ab workouts you should have no problems doing 42+ in a single set for your physical agilities test.

You can also do the same set and rep pattern for the push ups and do 100 total push ups to help build up your strength and muscle endurance. What you’ll find is that each workout you’ll be able to get more reps on the first set. And overtime it will take fewer sets to complete the entire 100 reps.

Question

Hi Lee,

I received an email about static contraction training, can you give me an understanding as to what is the difference between conventional body buidling and SCT, and why there are claims that you can gain more by spending less time and money.I really look forward for your guidance.

In addition can you recommend a good abs work out from your web site, which covers training from beginner to advance level.

Regards,

Ahmed Hussain Abbas

Answer

Hi Ahmed,

There is nothing wrong with doing some heavy static contraction training in the strong range of motion in addition to your regular workouts. It can help increase your strength, but I wouldn't recommend that you just do that for your entire workout by itself because it will not continually build real functional strength over the long term.

If you just did heavy static contraction training by itself you would get stronger in that position, but the strength would not carry over into a full range of motion lift. You need to use a variety of training methods to maximize your muscle and strength gains. That is why I recommend changing up your workouts every six weeks or so.

Obviously, the promoters of static contraction are going to say that static contraction training the best thing since sliced bread and that it is the best way to train for strength gains, etc. But the fact is that there is not a single elite powerlifter who trains the way SCT recommends because it doesn't build real strength through a full range of motion.

I followed the static contraction program myself a few years back, and while I certainly did get stronger in my top range of motion, the strength gains did NOT carry over into my full range of motion lifts.

Question

Hi Lee,

My name is Colin Noseworthy, Ive just started going to the gym and I am really into it. I love your site and was thinking about getting a copy of your video.

But anyway my question is, At the gym should I concentrate on a body part each day, such as chest Monday, Biceps Wednesday. or should I combine them a little bit a day?

I would be greatly appreacated if you could write back, if I was gonna get an answer anywhere it would be from you.

Thanks.
Colin

Answer

Hi Colin,

I personally prefer to combine bodyparts. One of my favorite workout splits is:

Workout 1:
Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps

Workout 2:
Back and Biceps

Workout 3:
Leg and Abs

Working out every second day will give your body time to rest, recover, and grow between workouts.

So do workout 1, then take a day off, do workout 2, then take a day off, do workout 3, take a day off and then repeat the cycle.

Question

Lee, does the eccentric portions of lifts work the fast twitch or slow twitch muscles?

Josh Horwitz

Answer

Hi Josh,

Heavy weights and low reps work mainly fast twitch muscle fibers.

Lighter weights and higher reps work mainly slow twitch muscle fibers.

This applies to both the concentric (lifting) and eccentric (lowering) portions of the lift.

Question

Hi Lee my name is Andrey. I have ordered your weight training dvd set from you and I really enjoyed them. I have some personal question. Before I had problems with my right ankle and now when I work my calves my right one is way weaker and smaller then my left calve. Is there something I could do to make my right ankle bigger? Also another similar thing with my abs they are not the same size one ab is bigger then the other. Is there something I could do to make them the same? Please write me back.

Thank you Lee.
your friend Andrey

Answer

Hi Andrey,

With your calve work you can do 1 leg at a time calve raises. This will force both the left and right sides to handle an equal workout and thus develop in proportion. You can also do an extra set or two for your weaker side to help it catch up to your stronger side.

As for your abs, that is just the natural shape and there is really nothing you can do about them except develop your abs more. However, don't let this discourage you because your abs will still look great when you develop them more and tighten the skin around your waist.

There are a lot of top bodybuilders whose abs are naturally un-evenly shaped. Just to show you what I mean, I have included an old pic of Frank Zane and in the pic you can see his left abs are different from his right abs. But they still look awesome!

Question

hi lee,

i have been doing weights now for a while and all my friends have told me that because i started quite young(13) it will affect my growth(this is bad because i play rugby, and height is important).

also they have told me that when im older my muscles will all turn into fat. my question is, is this true?

thanks,
peter

Answer

Hi Peter,

That is totally false, I started working out since I was 12 years old and it never affected my height at all. Muscle can not "turn to fat". They are 2 totally different things, muscle can not turn into fat no more then an apple can turn into an orange. People often gain fat as they get older but this is due to poor diet and lack of exercise, not from muscles turning into fat.

Question

Do you have any suggestions/articles on calisthenics or bodyweight workouts as a substitution for elliptical or cycling cardio which can be done at home? Getting bored with cardio plus I can add more muscle by doing calisthenics.

Thanks

Answer

Here is an interesting bodyweight workout that you can do at home. Just get a deck of playing cards and draw a card, if the card is red do that number of push ups, if the card is black do that number of bodyweight squats. Keep going until you go through the entire deck of cards.

So for example:
you draw a 9 of hearts - you do 9 push ups
you draw a 5 of spades - you do 5 squats
etc.
(Note: face cards are worth 10 and Aces are worth 11).

This is a very challenging workout. As you get better conditioned you'll be able to go through the cards faster and faster.

Question

hello mr lee,

i would pliz like to get some information from ur wisdom knowledge about improving my performance before i started weight training i could run 100 meters in 12.35 seconds but since i started training with weights i now run 100 meters in 15 seconds .so can u suggest sum old fashion training tips that can improve my aeclaration and improve my timing for 100 meters.and wat could have caused me to slow in runing.my muscles mass has growen bigger could this have caused me to slow down. i would be glad if u send a reply

alfaan

Answer

Hi Alfaan,

Have you been regularly practicing your 100 meter sprints on a consistent basis since you started weight training? If you haven't been consistently sprinting then that could be the cause for the slower time.

Weight training will actually make you faster provided that you also practice your sprinting. All top level sprinters include weight training as part of their training routines. Your legs can only move so fast, but if you are stronger you can travel further with each stride thus reducing your 100 meter sprint time.

Question

Hi,

My name is Lee also, and I'm a personal trainer. I just had a question about your routines. As far as I've been taught you can never work out your antagonist muscles the same day, ex: if ure working out ur biceps today, you wouldn't work out your triceps, since they are going to be fried already by the time u're done with your bi's, because they aid bi's during a bicep work-out, as secondary muscle mover.

Do you find it logical? or you have your own theory on this?

I'm just trying to get your opinion on it, cuz at this point I'm very confused when it comes to what's wrong and what's right.

thank you for your time,

Lee

Answer

Hi Lee,

There are no set in stone rules when it comes to working out. You can make progress with pretty much any kind of routine. Be it a split routine, total body routine, or what ever. Everything works, but nothing works forever. As long as you (or your clients) are making steady strength gains and progress with your workouts then keep doing what you are doing because it is working. But once the progress slows down, then it’s time to change thing up in order provide some new training stimulus to the muscles.

I have a good article / routine that you should check out at: http://www.leehayward.com/workout_programs/index.htm

Question

Lee, I'm 68 and took up body building 4 months ago and am really enjoying it, I would like to start doing the dead lift as I have read it's the king of all excercises but I'm a bit reluctant as two years ago I slipped two discs in my lower back, they went back on their own after 9 month and I'm fine now. Providing I do the dead lift correctly I don't think I would have a problem but I would be happy to hear what you think.

Ray.

Answer

Hi Ray,

As you know back injuries usually come about from lifting too much, too soon. So what I would suggest you do is add in 2-3 light sets of deadlifts with your back workouts. Even if you only start with the empty bar and just added 5 lbs. per week, this would add up to 300 lbs. within 1 year. If you progress slowly and give your body time to gradually adjust to the heavier weights you should not have any problems with doing deadlifts in your workouts.

Question

Dear Lee,

I would just like to know if you can determine a good work out by the fact if the muscles you used during your lift becomes sore after a day or two of the workout? ex: you push yourself on bench and get alll your sets in and the next day your pecks feel sore when you strech them. Well thank you for reading my question and I would like to add the "Blast Your Bench" program is working great so far.

Sincerely,
Kramer

Answer

Hi Kramer,

Soreness is not an accurate indicator of progress. Generally, the better conditioned you are the less muscle soreness you'll get. Beginners tend to get sore the most, but advanced lifters hardly ever get sore from their workouts.

Judge your progress based on your strength gains. A stronger muscle is also a bigger muscle so if you get stronger with your workouts you'll also get bigger.

Question

Lee, I was looking at your 12 Week Workout Plan and was wondering if this is a good beginner's weight lifting plan. Also if it will lean me down (I'm female) or build me up. If I wanted something similar but for women and if this is not it, can you maybe point me in a direction to where i could find a similar plan?

Thanks!
Angie

Answer

Hi Angie,

You can follow the 12 week program. There is really no such a thing as men's workout or women's workout. Both men and women can follow the same type of workout because they both have the same major muscle groups that need to be exercised.

However, if you are totally new to weight training and have never worked out before then you would be better off following something that is a bit more basic, such as the routine that I have here: Bodybuilding for Beginners.

Whether or not you gain size or lean down depends mainly on your diet, not your workout routine. If you eat more calories then you burn off you'll gain size. If you eat less calories then you burn off you'll lean down.

Question

Hey Lee,

Great site, all the information and your comments are very helpful. I want to get serious about lifting and bulk up but I feel like I don't have time. Tuesday through Thursday, I work 8am - 10pm. Is 4 days n a row a week enough to see some real gains? Is there anything I can do in the 3 days I can't work out? Also, what kind of eating schedule do you recommend for working folks.

Neil

Answer

Hi Neil,

Working out 4 days in a row and then taking 3 days off may not be the ideal workout schedule. But it will still work. The most important thing for making solid muscle and strength gains is to simply be consistent with your training and eating.

During your days off from weight training you can do some light cardio. Even something as simple as going for a walk on your lunch break would help burn off some extra calories and speed up recovery from your weight training workouts so you'll be fresh and ready to give it 100% for the next 4 day training burst.

To help make eating a good healthy diet easier you should cook your food in large quantities so you have leftovers. For example, instead of cooking up 1-2 chicken breasts at a time. Boil up a big pot full so then you'll have leftovers for lunches, etc. Bake several potatoes at a time, cook up a big pot of brown rice, keep bagged salads on hand, etc. Then pack your food in Tupperware containers to re-heat for lunch at work. Having a meal replacement drink and / or meal replacement bar is great for a quick convenient high protein snack at work.

Eating right is not really that difficult it just takes planning ahead.

Question

Dear Lee,

I'm interested in purchasing a 'Hand Gripper' by Heavy Grips. I'm 16 my forearms are strong for my age but nothing fantastic what one would you recommend, and should you treat them like free weights e.g: 3 sets of 10 reps?

Kind regards
Josh Robinson

Answer

Hi Josh,

You should read the article that I have posted at: http://www.leehayward.com/gripper_manual.htm this will explain how to train with heavy hand grippers. To follow the routine that is outlined in the article you'll need 2 grippers, an easy one and one that is a bit too hard for you to close. So for you I'd suggest a 100 lb. gripper and a 200 lb. gripper.

Question

Hey Lee, I just wanted to know how you should do a 2 a day workout...like do you do the same excercises in the day and night or do u switch it up.

Answer

Generally with 2 a day workouts you would do 2 smaller workouts rather then 1 bigger workout. For example, lets say the only time you could workout was for a half hour before work in the morning and a half hour after work in the afternoon. You could split up a regular workout in half and do half of the exercises in the morning and half of the exercises in the afternoon. Generally you would train different bodyparts in the 2 small workouts. For example, if you wanted to train chest and back on one day, you would do the chest exercises in the morning, and the back exercises in the afternoon.

I'm personally not a big fan of 2 a day workouts, I'd rather just hit the gym once and have to workout done with.

Question

hello lee,

i was wondering about how many push-ups you should do to be equivelent to bench pressing, or a good amount of push ups to do to gain some muscle and a routine to go through.

Answer

There is no direct correlation between how many push ups you can do and how much you can bench press. This will vary from person to person, as there are a lot of factors involved such as bodyweight, muscular endurance, etc.

But if you improve your push up strength then your bench press strength will also improve as both exercises work the same major muscle groups.

I have a couple good articles that include push ups as part of a routine for increasing your bench press strength.
http://www.leehayward.com/bench_press_exercises.htm
http://www.leehayward.com/pushup.htm

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