if you're 12-15% BF at 160 lbs...you're either you're way off with your bodyfat...or you're NOT a hardgainer. If you severely overestimated your bf% and you're really around 5-6%...then you are probably a hardgainer

what is your height? if you are 5'5 or shorter, cutting first might be a good idea if you are 12-15% bf before going on an 8-month long bulk. if you are over 5'5 in height, then 160 lbs does not require a cut right away and you can stand to do a nice long bulk first and cut second.

secondly, don't attempt to train just arms and legs...keep your workouts complete and everything will grow.

see these resources:


http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=21269614&p=298006373

http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=21269614&p=298250196

http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=21269614&p=298250791

http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=21269614&p=304616466

please see the post above you for 4 quick links to various things including rapid fat loss.

basically cut all the carbs out of your diet, replace with fat and protein, keep your calories at -100 of your BMR, and do another 400-500 cal worth of exercise per day. drink at least 1 gal of water per day, take GAT jet fuel every morning and sometimes in the afternoon. Try l-carnitine (500mg) 3x a day on empty stomach and (+R)ALA 3x a day with meals. Do 20-30 mins of cardio every morning on an empty stomach. Also do 1 hour of strength training followed up by 30-45 mins of HIIT cardio 6 days a week (also performed on an empty stomach). But really the key is following all of this. Keep your carbs to 20g or less per day all from green veggies and peanut butter/nuts. No grains/fruits/sugar/potatoes/etc. Also keep fat content high, as this will fuel you. Keep your protein to approx 150g per day, and the rest should be fat.

always do cardio AFTER a workout for optimal fat loss. Also try to do HIIT cardio instead of just a straight pace. Sometimes it's beneficial to do 10-15 min cardio warmup, then strength train, then 30-45 mins of cardio HIIT. Doing cardio second burns the most bodyfat because of the strength training depleting glycogen stores and getting the body ready for fat burn mode

I have the same problem. A lot of this is genetics to be quite honest. Despite any routine I've ever done, my calves refuse to grow, even training them 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x or 5-6x a week. 5 sets, 10 sets, 50 sets...it never mattered. I even tried walking around on my toes everywhere I went for nearly 6 months and still nothing. Some people have extremely resistant calves for slow-twitch muscle volume and growth.

I can't really recommend anything except to keep experimenting if you have extremely resistant calves. Try high volume, try high weight, try frequency, even try staggering.

I could give you a dozen calf routines and none of them would be guaranteed to work

Gentlemen....please stop offering advice in this thread. Seriously. This is bad mannered.

If you would like to offer advice, stick to your own threads, or visit other people's question topics. However, keep in mind that this thread is reserved for me (and sometimes 7ds assists me) to answer your questions. This is not for anyone to come in and start answering people's questions.

By doing this it avoids confusion, misrepresentation, and bad advice.

please keep this in mind! thanks


edit:

also JK9116, i have no idea who you are or why you decided to come into my thread and start offering advice...but when you told someone to use a MEDICINE BALL to do pushups and so forth with....that was the final straw. Do you realize that a MEDICINE BALL is NOT an EXERCISE BALL? Medicine balls are WEIGHTED BALLS for throwing/catching and holding in your hands while making compound movements just as you would a dumbbell or barbell except with a basketball style grip.

Do NOT offer advice in this thread again...I don't want to have to go any further than that.

This post was edited by SKCRaynor on Aug 3 2010 07:31am

This is an interesting request. Medicine ball workouts are typically great for fast twitch building, but poor for muscle volume and general strength.

However, I will indeed give you a sample idea for explosiveness:


Mon/Weds/Fri = medicine ball days (at the beginning or end of strength routine...i prefer before because you aren't quite so fatigued)


Mon - Laying ball pushes (like a basketball pass, but laying down) - 5x10, front ball underhand throws 3x10, one-arm cross-body ball exchanges (sorta like playing catch with yourself across the front of your body), 3x10, and lastly standing overhead push throws (like you're passing the ball to the sky) 3x10.

Weds - arms outstretched holding the ball squats (literally hold the ball as far away from you to the front as possible while doing squats explosively) 5x10, lunges while elevating the ball from a lowered position to an overhead position with every lunge 3x10, ball jumps (hold the ball and explode up jumping as high as you can while thrusting the ball up as well as if you are going to slam dunk) 3x10.

Fri - Laying alternating ball crunches (twist your lower body to the right when the ball goes to the left during the contraction of each crunch) 5x10, decline situp ball throws (at the top or bottom of each situp, throw the ball straight up and lay back and catch it as you are either sitting up or laying back down) 5x10, and lastly hang from a bar with your legs and do hanging situps with medicine ball in hand at the top of each situp throw the ball up, catch it, and go back for another rep 3x8


why did you want to do these curiously?

Indeed 7DS is right. If it seems inflamed, try taking 500-1000mg advil 3x a day.

you need to be eating a fairly clean diet as with any sport. However tennis is very demanding and some people respond very well to a high carb intake for pre-exercise.

I mean what exactly are your goals here? if your current diet is giving you plenty of energy and you aren't overfat or having any problems...then keep what you have going the way you do. However, if you are having any difficulties in any specific area, please tell me so I can get a better idea of what I'm working with here.

you're welcome. I'm always happy to see positive feedback.

when im working out, i should eat like no carbs right, except for the days i try to do cardio or something?
it said somewhere to keep your carb to 25g per day but i dont know if that meant to someone else