Body Building & Length of Workouts

[Universal]

Peace everyone,

Is there a correlation between these two???
I know more than anything (even the way one eats), when it comes to gaining muscle mass, the answer is definitely through resistance training, whether its thru lifting weights or performing another resistance activity regularly.
My thing is, i'm concsiously trying to shorten my weight lifting, resistance workouts. I workout at a cardio pace when i do, at least i try to. Right now the workouts are about an hour and 15 minutes. I do a lotta different workouts and concentrate on arms, legs, abs, and back. I do about 2-3 exercises for each level.
Another issue of mine is that i only have two 20 lb dumbells, and i wanna increase to more weight soon, but for right now that's what i'm working with, and i must say that they work very well. However, for what my goal is right now which is gaining muscle mass (without upping my body fat %) what are some suggestions for the kinds of exercises, the amount of reps, etc. with just 20 lb dumbells.??

As always, i'd appreciate anyone's time and feedback..


PEACE
Universal

[tglasco4]

I believe there is a correlation. At least I have found it true in my own experience. 75 minutes seems a bit long. If you shorten the workout and make it more intense, I think you will gain more mass (all other things being equal). For example if you now do 3 sets of 10 reps for dumbell curls, try one or 2 sets of 15 with very strict form. If you do 3 sets of 50 pushups, try one or two sets with 60-70 with perfect form. Technique is at least of equal importance if not more important.

Peace..

Todd

[Universal]

Peace Todd,

Well, here's my thing. I always do a "warm-up", which is actually a lot more than a warmup. I do pushups at the start. I do one set of 120 to start with (60 regular pushups, then 60 diamonds w/ no rest in between). Then from there i do 60 more diamonds but these diamonds i aim to put my head inside of the diamond i create with my hands, which is a lot harder. The first set of diamonds i place my chese within the diamond.
Then after that, i do 60 more pushups on a decline with my feet on a chair.
From there i do 80-90 dips for my triceps using the edge of a chair (great routine!). And then after that i do 60 more pushups, but this time inclined placing my hands on the edge of the chair.

And all of THAT is my warmup! And takes about 10 minutes to complete. From there i do wall sits for my legs, and then i'll do ab work which takes longer than the pushups or the wall sits.

Mentally i feel that all 3 of those routines (pushup/dip sets, wall sits & ab work) are my "warm-up" (which is a hell of a lot for a warm-up, i understand that). All of that takes about 30-35 minutes in total to complete and includes no weights at all. Once that part is complete, then i'll figure out what to do with the weights.
Technique is definitely everything, especially with those pushups!! Its a great challenge.
Perhaps, shortening those warm-up routines will definitely shorten the overall workout. I would just need to incorporate a way to maintain a challenging, strict routine so that i won't feel as if i'm dropping off in any way by not doing the pushups & dips. I don't know, i guess i'll have to experiment.
Any ideas???

PEACE
Universal

[Universal]

Just finished one of my workouts a couple of hours ago. Feels great when you're done!!
And as i estimated, it took me about 10 minutes to complete the pushup/dip routine. A few more minutes to do 3 wall sits for a minute and 30 seconds each. And then i did my ab work.
Altogether it took me 37 minutes to complete all three.
After that i did 2 sets of bicep curls, 2 sets of squats holding the dumbells, 2 sets of a variation of bicep curls, 2 sets of shoulder work, and 2 sets of toe raises (another great exercise!). The whole workout this time totalled out to an hour and 10 minutes.
That's just to give you all a good sample of what i do along w/ the time periods, etc.
Any thoughts, suggestions , etc...???


PEACE
Universal

[tglasco4]

How about this: Do the pushup/dip routine, ditch the wall sits, and shorten (but make more intense) the ab work so that this part of the workout is 15 minutes........then do the 2 sets of bicep curls, squats, shoulders and toe raises........ditch the variation bicep curls. .....Do the exercises slow and make sure the muscle group is reached thoroughly and your form is flawless.

As you may know, last year I was doing hundreds of pushups.....but now I only do sets of like 15! Very slow and deep. I make sure my chest taps the ground slightly and my arms fully extend...I am really seeing great results from this.

Peace.

Todd

[Universal]

Peace,

Thanks for the suggestion.
I tried it out earlier today, and also last friday. What i did was cut out the wall sits, and i did the regular push ups and dip sets, then the ab work (which was still a bit longer than i intended it to be), and then did 2 sets of bicep curls, squats, calf raises, and shoulders.
Came out pretty good. It was just 60 minutes altogether.
I also did make slight changes to the technique for each push up variation. And it definitely felt different, and a lot more muscles were being extended. Can't stress enough how important technique is with exercises!
Thanks again for the suggestion. I'll continue to work with this and make slight adjustments to improve...



PEACE
Universal