12 ounces at a time works for me. And I don't have an ounce of fat on me.

I have a bowflex at home. I love it. It'* important to NOT have a routine if you want to build muscle & strength. I work different body parts on different days to keep my body off balance.I may bench on Monday the one week, then Friday the next, then Saturday the following, etc... Currently, I'm benching 370 lbs. I rotate my bench work-out. One week I do a warm-up set then do five sets of five as heavy as possible then a cool-down set. The second week I do it pyramid style. That means starting low to high,then to low again. The low sets have high reps and decrease as I get higher, then the opposite on the way back down. For curls I do different types of curls. Single arm dumbells, two arm barbells, preacher curls with a curved bar, and one arm preachers to isolate the bicep. During my bench and curl workouts I don't do extra stuff. I just keep it on target. Other weeks I'll not bench or curl and instead focus on lat pulldowns, tricep extensions, fly'*, or pec-deck, rows, and other exercises I don't normally do usually once every 4 or 5 weeks(for the whole week). Why? well, because I'm a strength trainer or a "weight lifter." If you want to be strong and be ripped everywhere then you need a more rounded routine. I find it too hard to do both at once. I'd rather spend the fall-spring doing strength, then spring through fall work on getting cut up(defined) this way I'm maintaining muscle in the warm season and not so focused on getting bigger... just more ripped!!!

Good lower body exercises are biking, walking, jogging, hiking, pushing your car around on a not heavily used street(need another person ) crunch style situps, etc...

It'* important to push your body... to tear the muscles. That'* what get'* you gains. If you don't get sore the next few days after a work out, then you haven't pushed it far enough. When you tear your muscles, the body repairs them and adds more to "keep it from happening again." This is how weight and strength gains work. Don't confuse soreness with hypertension or other injuries. I'm not talking about pulling stuff all outa wack, but a ripping of muscle tissue. As the poster above noted some work out and get nothing. They probably aren't pushing it enough, or are trying to do too much and not getting enough rest for the body to heal. There are, of course, other factors.

The one supplement that is very good to use, aside from a daily vitamin & mineral formula(which is a must), is Creatine. Most users gain 5-15 lbs of muscle and up to 50 lbs of bench gain in the first 6-8 weeks. I used Creatine for a year then slowly lowered to just an occasional use. I've lost nothing, actually I've gained. So it'* real muscle gain.

What is creatine and what does it do? It is a natural substance found in foods especially meats. It is an essential part of your body, not a synthetic drug thingy....like steroids. Your body uses creatine to hydrate your muscles and enable better absorption of proteins. It also is used by your body for short-term energy causing you to have more explosive power and get better use of your workouts. It'* best taken with a sugary drink or such because you need an insulin response to get it into your cells. This is why, potentially, diabetics, and those on Atkins type diets can be low on creatine since there is too little sugar in the blood.

That said, proper rest, exercise, nutrition, and sense of well being(undo stress is a problem causer). It'* also good to have a "workout buddy."

Anyway, I hope that helps. If you or anyone has any questions or clarification, please let me know. I'd be glad to help.

My routine works, but I need the strength, not necessarily the tone. Then again, being a chick and all, my muscles just don't show real well.

Aaaanyways, I alternate my upper and lower routines when I lift, and make sure to do at least 20 minutes a day of cardio exercises. My routine:

Mon: Upper weightlifting, 20 min cardio (treadmill), crunches and leglifts
Tue: Lower weightlifting, 20 min cardio, crunches and leglifts
Wed: Both upper and lower weightlifting, 20 min cardio, crunches and leglifts
Thurs: Upper weightlifting, 20 min cardio, crunches and leglifts
Fri: Lower weightlifting, 20 min cardio, crunches and leglifts

Aaaaand the weekend off of lifting, but I still do the crunches and leglifts.

The crunches and leglifts made the biggest appearance difference for me. They reduce double chins and tone the tummy. I tend to take it kinda easy on those because I am of the personal opinion that 6 packs are UGLY.

Well I weigh 120 lbs, and im doing about 100 lbs free weight bench press right now. 6-7 reps and 3 sets. I have found after doing on and off weight lifting, I cant get my body to really hurt the next day anymore no matter how hard I try. Its weird. And I see visual difference, but the weight isnt getting any lighter. When I was doing bicep curls with a bar and 45 lbs, I was seeing gain in my arm, mainly with my veins now showing down my arm, but the weight again isnt getting any lighter. I dont know if its because im not fully through puberty or what, but I just find gains hard to come by in the weight standard. I also found that my forearms got bigger from the bicep bar curls, alot mroe than my biceps, which is also weird. So I dont know what to do.

I dont agree with supplements, Id rather be all natural. i drink about 5 glasses of milk a day, and I eat a crap load of protein so im good that way.

You may want to hire a personal trainer for a session or three to help ensure your form is correct. Also you may want to think about taking a multi-vitamin every day to ensure your body is getting all of the correct nutrients. It will also help you remain alert.

I agree. Unless one is getting 6-8 servings of fruits and vegtables(fresh), plus a lot of whole grains, then you're not getting everything you need. People think that if they get say...100% US RDA of vitamin C then they're doing great. But that number is the minimum your body needs, not what it can handle for optimal health.

There have been studies shown that say we could save billions of dollars here in America on health costs if eveyone took a multi-vitamin. Another test showed that children who took a multi were scoring around 20 points higher on their non-verbal IQ test scores than those not taking a multi.

It'* food for thought. In a perfect world we would get everything our bodies needed, and more, so we would be very healthy with the food we ate. But let'* face it. Processed foods, snacks, and preservitives among other stuff is mucking up our bodies.

Some more food for thought. Not having the proper ammounts of vitamins increases chance of sickness and disease, quickens the aging process, and hinders clear thinking. The list does go on.

I'm going on 36 now. I find gains easier now that I'm getting older. You may have a valid point. When I was younger my metabolism was running in overdrive. I too found it hard to pack on muscle. Just don't give up. You're doing a good thing. Just do what you can and don't beat yourself up over it. Being healthy is top priority than how much you bench. I have a friend named Tannen. He is 6' and up till recently weighed around 145-150 lbs. Finally... now that he'* thirty his starting to gain. He'* up to 170 now! It may have something to do with his wife'* good cooking!

I just want manly arms, and no saggy man *****, like when I worked construction. Getting close to 40 is starting to show....

If you're still going through puberty, for the love of God, quit the weight training and heavy exercising It'* been proven to stunt growth, and will also give you back and joint problems later in life! MILD exercising and MILD weight training are best!

Take it easy, don't overdo it!

:?

120lbs?

weight: 180ish
height: 6'3''ish

and yea... I'm not built but, I try to work all the muscle groups all in the same time frame. First starting out with some running, then moving to the weights. I dont know if thats good, but ive done it for a long time. Ive been tempeted to buy a bowflex extreme just for the free video