a new beginning -- and a trainer!

[massingUP]

Hey all,

I know I?ve been absent from the discussions here for a while, and while there are no excuses for that, there are a few reasons: including my move back to Toronto, a new job, a new apartment and a trip to Alaska? But it?s a new year now, and time to get back to some other worthwhile projects ? like building muscle!

As some of you may know, I?ve been lifting pretty seriously for about 8 years and I?ve gained about 45# in that time. In fact, I gained most of that weight in the first 5-6 years, and I?ve been pretty much stuck at 220# for the last 2+ years. I?ve continued to make some progress ? bringing up my shoulders a bit, losing a bit of bodyfat ? but I haven?t done much real growing.

And so with my new city, new job and new apt under my belt, I?ve decided to make a new start in the gym as well ? I?ve hired a trainer.

This is something new for me: I?ve hard workout-partners in the past, and for the last while I?ve been training mostly on my own. But I?ve always thought about hiring a trainer and now that it?s financially viable for me to do so, I?m giving it a whirl.

At any rate, this is going to be a thread for me to report on this particular project ? to talk about his recommendations, the workouts themselves, the interpersonal politics of working with a trainer, and (ideally) the resulting gains.

Feel free to read and to chime in. I don?t know how often I?ll be reporting, but there will certainly be a flurry of posts in the next few weeks as we start to work together.

-- James / massingUP

[massingUP]

Okay, here are a few details about the first steps. (Warning ? long post.)

I chose this particular trainer ? I?ll call him E. and he?s a straight guy who trains a few other people at my gym ? for a few reasons.

First, he comes very highly recommended by a few different guys I know, including some people who I?ve seen make some impressive changes in their bodies over the last 6 months. Specifically, he has a great reputation for being big on working efficiently in the gym ? getting the most out of every rep and every set. Which is exactly what I need.

Second, I?ve watched him train his clients and he really pays close attention and works them hard ? no chatting on the cell phone while his client does squats with really BAD form.

Third -- and I didn?t find this out until after I?d already decided to approach him ? he?s actually a former competitive bodybuilder and a former Mr. Canada. He doesn?t look at all like a competitive BB-er right now ? he?s in great shape, though: maybe 180# at 5?8? ? but I gather used to compete around 240# and at one point he had a promotional contract with ProLab, etc. He doesn?t compete as a bodybuilder anymore, but instead he does triathlons ? so he?s tight and lean instead of HUGE. But he clearly has a great deal of experience and some great skills.

We started with a consult session. He asked me to bring my training log and my dietary log for the previous week, so that he could look at what I?d been doing recently. And after talking a bit about goals ? my primary goal right now (surprise, surprise) is MASS, followed by muscle density/quality, strength/endurance and eventually cuts ? he took me into a pvt room and got me to strip down and throw a few poses for him so that he could look at my physique. ?The body doesn?t lie? was his comment. It was interesting and a bit disconcerting to have my body scrutinized so intensely. I did a double-bi shot, some side chest shots (with some coaching on his part) and then a back double-bi and he had this deeply analytical look on his face. It?s not often that someone looks at you so closely, and it?s VERY rare indeed that you get to watch someone look at you that closely. It gave me the tiniest taste of what it must be like to be on stage in a BB-ing contest. Intense.

At any rate, his initial observations were that I?ve got a good base and that I?m doing well in lots of areas ? but that there are some significant changes that need to be made to get me growing again. He said that as someone who has lifted seriously for quite a while, my body will have become very ?resilient? to training and so we will have to really shock it to get it to grow.

One of the big things is diet. I currently eat 7x/day and get about 250 grams protein a day, and probably 3000-3500 calories. E has told me that that is a good maintenance diet for my current size, but that I should take both my protein and my caloric intake up significantly to grow. We?ll see how much more I need, but I?m going to start by taking each meal up by about 15-20 grams. So I should be getting closer to 350-400 grams protein a day.

The other big thing will be to tweak all of my exercises and routines to try to get the most out of each rep ? to be very conscious of every rep, to do each exercise with great mindfulness. We started with a leg workout yesterday and he had me make some small changes to my stiff-legged deds, lying leg curls, leg presses, etc that made things feel VERY different. I?m certainly sore in a whole new variety of places today, that?s for sure.

At any rate, I?m enjoying myself so far. And I?m looking forward to the next session. And to the next 10# of gains? <g>

Stay tuned!

-- James / massingUP

[wbhunk]

Excellent, James! I am definitely looking forward to hearing about the great progress you're making.

[arpeejay]

<-- what Dan said...!

xoxo

richard

[jco2007]

Hey MassingUP
Really interesting read, looking forward to your observations and opinions.

I guess it must be exciting to be standing on the edge of venturing into new territory.

thanks for posting.

[CanadianGordon]

Awesome man! Keep it up. You're a big guy already, and you're gonna grow!

Make sure you take progress shots.
Where do u workout in Toronto?

[massingUP]

Thanks for the support guys -- I've already bored my friends by going on and on ad nauseum about the whole trainer thing, so I figured I'd dump all of my muscle-geek enthusiasm here where I knew you'd understand. *chuckle*

Actually, it's kind of funny. Since I started talking about hiring a trainer, I've had two different friends ask me "why?" on two separate occasions. And when I said "I want to get bigger" they each laughed and said something along the lines of "How could you get any bigger?" or "But you're already plenty big" etc...

It's funny how we each have our own definitions of big. 'CAuse in my mind I'm certainly not there yet.

But the good thing about working with E is that he understands the drive for size. And judging by how SORE my legs are right now after our first workout together, I'm guessing he'll be a great resource to help me GROW.

Anyway, more updates to come.

-- J.

[CanadianGordon]

Sweet man. My friends were the same way when I said I hired a trainer.

Some people can't understand that we need the help because we want to lose the weight, or gain more, or not hurt ourselves in the gym...
Can't wait to see how big you'll get man.
G.

[optimusx]

Can I comment on your avatar massingUP? One word... THICK! You're already pretty big... kinda scary thinking of what that trainer is going to do to you... for all we know you're going to end up 260 solid by next year this time... you're going to scary away all of us smaller guys

I think it's awesome that you've found a trainer that you think is going to help you get over that plateau. I probably need one myself, but I suck at asking for help. Keep us posted!

Scott

[Mdlftr]

Massing up,

Good for you for taking that next step! I've worked with trainers and had very good experiences. I was coming back after surgery and injury, so I think my goals were more rehabilitative than straight mass building.

Having someone in your corner like that, who shares the same goals you do, is a great thing to do! You have your goals to reach, and your friends may not understand them, but that's irrelevant--you want it, and we all know that feeling!
'
Good luck with the next 30# Of muscle! [I guess that means your 'new base' will become 250#--right up there with Optimusx!] GO, man!

Mdlftr

[ethernet_jock]

right on massing!!! I can't wait to see you with even MORE muscle... you're already incredibly great in my book.

I hate that question "why?" when asked "why do you need to get bigger?". My wife used to ask that question when I first started lifting because I think she was intimmidated about the idea of having a stronger husband and worried that I would become too self-absorbed. I hated it. I have an incredibly long way to go before I look nearly as good as you or most of the people on this board but I'm working on it and I'll get there.... I love the gains and the attention I can only imagine that people asking "why" are probably jealous of you already and can't stand the idea of being even more jealous... hehehe.

Keep it up!!

sending you some positive vibes from an old acquaintance Keep up the good work big guy!

[Marco_ukmus]

Yes, your username suits you well massingup! Like ether said, your already big!

Yeah I would agree that the conception of what each person thinks is big various from person to person. For instance, compared to me, your big now! And by the time your done (if you ever stop growing ;0) you'll be a freak (term used in a nice way), that is of course being if i have not turned into a freak myself in that time, hehe :0)

I have had the question "Why do you wanna get bigger" but to me a few times lately, the difference being that your already "big". At the end of the day, its up to you what you wanna do with your body, and frankly none of their business. I mean why is it that people need to ask such a question when its basically self improvement (obviously your not going to explain about the depths of the muscle fettish), surely thats a no brainer... I guess prehaps they are just curious. Anyway, keep pumping up!

Marc

[massingUP]

Hey all,

Well, time for another report from the new and uncharted land of trainer-ing....

E and I have had two workouts together now and I'm really enjoying his approach. Of course, some of the advice he's giving me is stuff that I have heard and even utilized before, but it's amazing how much more I'm paying attention now that I'm paying $x/hour for the advice. *chuckle* Sometimes I think that is one of the important elements of the trainer thing -- the fact that it costs money means that I'm more likely to really commit physical, psychological and nutritional resources to the project in a BIG way.

But, to be fair, we're also doing all sorts of things that I haven't done before: including "forced negatives" -- which are GREAT! For example, during my bicep workout the other day, we finished with seated cable-machine preacher curls. We stacked the weight pretty light and I would do a nice smooth positive rep, which wasn't very hard. But then when I was going into the negative, he would apply significant downward pressure on the bar, and I would have to resist him for a good solid 5-7 count. And then he'd release and I'd lift the light-ish weight in a positive rep and he'd again pull down on the bar while I would resist him with all my might.

The real advantage to this kind of thing, imho, is that I'll work WAY harder to resist a human being than I will to resist a chunk of metal. I get all worked up and get a KILLER pump out of it. And afterwards, I'm deeply sore for days and days on end -- wooohoo! We've done that for biceps, for hamstrings, for lats, and I'm really loving it as a stategy. A great way to overload the muscles.

Anyways, I *am* gaining size -- currently up to around 224#, which is a a gain of about 4# in the last month or so since I jacked my protein up. Of course, some of it is certainly fat... But I'm trying to accept that as the price of growing the mass right now... Bad timing for my trip to FL in 3 weeks, but ah well. I'll pass myself off as a beached whale...

Okay. Time for bed here. Hope y'all are doing well.

-- J.

[ethernet_jock]

I don't think *ANYONE* would mistake you for one of the common fat beached wales on the beach in Florida.

Wow man.... keep it up!

[brent]

It's great to hear that you are getting a great workout from your trainer. I'd love to try the forced negatives thing myself, but my job is very physical, and I have to save my strength for that too. This spring I'm thinking about looking for something lighter, where I can focus on my training...

Great to hear about your trainer being effect James. To avoid the "beached whale" thing, you might want to think about a spray-on Mystic tan?

[massingUP]

Hey guys,

Another report from the land of trainer-ing.

There's an arm-chair definition of insanity out there that says that madness is "doing the same thing over and over and over again, while expecting a different result." And I've been thinking about that fairly often since I started working with E. Because I've been doing a lot of the same things for the last year or two, but wondering why I've been stuck at the same size...

As I reported earlier, one of the first things E. did when I signed up to work with him was to look at my diet and tell me I needed to increase my protein intake by about 100 grams a day. Now I've been told that before, but I always somehow wound up back at my typicaly 250-300 grams a day. But since I'm paying for this advice, I figured I might as well follow it -- so I dutifully added 20-30 grams to a few of my meails. And we've added some new lifting techniques to increase intensity.... And lo and behold, when you make a real change to your situation, the results turn out to be different.

In the last month I've gained about 5#. Woo. And while some of it is certainly fat (one doesn't really gain 5# of lean muscle in a month -- or at least I don't), I'm also fairly clear that some of it is muscle. My chest is feeling thicker and bigger and I'm seeing a bit more width in my shoulders. And even better, I'm feeling very energized by/during my workouts -- lots of endorphins flowing and lots of enthusiasm for GROWING, which has been kind of lacking for the last while.

So at this point, about a month into the training thing, I'm very much enjoying it and there seem to be some results to report. So stay tuned...

-- J.

[arpeejay]

At this rate you'll be 275 lbs. by Xmas.

xoxo

Richard

[CanadianGordon]

Keep it up man. I'm the same way, I know I'm growing, it's just hard to tell on the scale. Muscle replaces fat and bam before you know it you've grown.

[glammaman2000]

lifter should review their routine approx.every 3mo.you have to change the stresses on the muscle.you have to give a routine enough time for you to increase poundages,but you also have to recognize when you are no longer moving forward.

[massingUP]

Glamma:

Yeah, I was making those kinds of typical change-the-workout changes on a regular basis. Changing the bodypart-split of my routine; changing the rep ranges; changing weights, etc. But I think I was needing some MAJOR changes overall -- entirely new techniques, a major shift in diet, etc. It certainly seems to be making a difference, anyways.

And speaking of which:

New PERSONAL BEST on leg press tonight -- 8 PLATES on each side for 4 reps. And if my right knee weren't feeling a bit funky already, I'd have been able to do more. So I'm very happy about that.

Onwards and upwards!

-- James

p.s. Glad to hear you're growing as well, Gordon! We canucks have got to stick together on here...

[brent]

James, I'm glad that the trainer thing is working out for you! You've been at one point for a while now, but I think that was in preparation to explode with growth now. Enjoy it!

[massingUP]

Hey all,

Thought I'd stop by to update what's been going on.

When I last reported, I was training regularly with E, and it was going very well. New mass, new strength, lots of progress.

Well, these things don't last forever. *chuckle* Given a few other financial commitments -- damned taxes! -- I had to take a month off from the personal trainer and spend that money elsewhere. And during that month I also had to do some travelling for work -- and so the gains started to slow down. And then when I started back up with the trainer again, I managed to strain my left rotator cuff slightly, which meant I had to take some time off from upper-body workout altogether. It has improved a great deal, and I'm back training again, but it's taking a while to heal. So I'm trying to be careful. *sigh*

Still, I have been managing to have some great workouts through all of this. The sessions with E are incredible and tonight I had one of the best leg workouts of the last few months. So I'm trying to stay positive about it all. And while I'd love to making the kind of strength gains that Corwin is making (woof!), I'm happy enough with the workouts I'm having.

And when I'm back and fully functional -- watch out!

- J.

[muscle_mastah]

Sorry to hear about your shoulder injury. I'm currently suffering the same. It was sore earlier, I sort of ignored it and now it's really suffering after pushing it too hard. Now pretty much any upper body work is light recoupative work instead.


I'm sure once that heals up, you'll be back on track to getting huge again. I know I will be.

[brent]

James,
I'm really sorry to hear about the rotator cuff, but I thought that the reason for paying trainers so much was that then you wouldn't have to wory about injurries. I hope you are better soon, but the shoulder does take a LONG time to heal.

Take care.

[ottomun6]

Looking good there James!
Glad to hear that your shoulder sounds ok. I assume that your trainer knows about keeping your benchpress and shoulder training spaced apart. (to allow the delts to rest).
Anyway, goodluck and be careful there bud.

[massingUP]

Well, another update on the trainer/training front --

My shoulder is pretty much healed, and I've been back to enjoying the trainer thing for the last while now. In fact I've been liking the work we've been doing and have been making some good gains. I'm leaner now than when I started and weight is about the same -- and both my friends and my mirror tell me that I'm looking bigger. All good so far.

But because I'm a musclegrowth-forum kind of guy, I want more. More muscle and more training -- I love the kind of intensity I get when I work with a trainer, and I just want MORE. <g>

So while I've been working with the trainer once-a-week for the last while, I want to take it up to twice-a-week. But since my guy E was expensive ($70/session -- which doesn't seem too bad for a guy who is a former Mr. Canada, but is still expensive all the same), I just coudln't afford to do that. And so I started looking around to see if there was someone else I might want to work with who would be a bit more reasonable, price-wise.

At any rate, after all sorts of back-and-forth, I've found a guy who does some very interesting stuff, who's both intense and creative, and who is really big on core strength and mind-muscle connection -- both of which are weak areas for me.

So I'm about to start working with him twice a week -- and since it turns out my old trainer E was just about to raise his already-expensive rate (from 70 to 80+ per session), the cost of twice-a-week with this guy isn't that much mroe than once-a-week with my old guy.

At any rate, I'm hoping that this will accelerate the gains I'm already making. And that's the update for now.

-- J.

[optimusx]

Good to hear that you're healing up well. Leaner and keeping the same body weight is definetly an accomplishment you should be proud of! I think that's probably one of the harder things to do. There's nothing wrong with wanting more muscle

$80/hour for your trainer?!?!? Ouch. I'm guessing that's Canadian dollars, but sheesh.. that's still expensive (then again I've never had a trainer, so what do I know.. ) Either way, the trainer has obviously done his job since you're growing and working through an injury. Hopefully this new trainer will give you additional insight into training and before long you'll be freaky(ier)


Scott

[CanadianGordon]

$80? Ouch. I was only paying $60 for mine...

[brent]

James, I'm glad to hear the shoulder is better, and that you are getting results. Cdn $80 is a lot of bread, or a lot of fun on Robson St. in Vancouver BC... (Pardon the fact that I'm from the west, unlike most of our Canadian members.)

Good luck with the results!

[davesplitter]

Hey James,

About 2 years ago you graciously resonded to an newbie e-mail from me about cardio and musclebuilding. Thanks--you rock! I think you should really keep in mind that you are tall and slim genetically (but you haven't looked it for several years). When you find a new trainer, make sure he has built HIS muscle on a similar frame to yours. You might get pushed to that new level faster and safer. Just a thought. I notice your posts because you are tall like me, but you are WAY!! ahead of me (20#) in muscle---so I listen to what you say. You are also an interesting guy as well. Keep growing---you inspire me for sure!!!

Dave

[massingUP]

Originally Posted by davesplitter

Hey James,

About 2 years ago you graciously resonded to an newbie e-mail from me about cardio and musclebuilding. Thanks--you rock! I think you should really keep in mind that you are tall and slim genetically (but you haven't looked it for several years). When you find a new trainer, make sure he has built HIS muscle on a similar frame to yours. You might get pushed to that new level faster and safer. Just a thought. I notice your posts because you are tall like me, but you are WAY!! ahead of me (20#) in muscle---so I listen to what you say. You are also an interesting guy as well. Keep growing---you inspire me for sure!!!

Dave

Dave,

Great to hear from you and it sounds from your profile like you've done some damned impressive work over the last couple of years! Wow... Hope that my email of so long ago helped contribute in some small way to your growth.

As for my own with this new trainer, I've got high hopes and some early evidence of effectiveness. I've never had my delts pump up so big when I train them, and that's a HUGE goal for me. I've been trying to get some mass in my shoulders for years, and so I'm excited about the prospect.

At any rate, I posted some new pics on BM.com (#707) this weekend, so feel free to check em out and see where I'm at these days. I'm planning to use them as "before" pics and see where I'm at in September...

And in the meantime, keep growing stud. I want to see you at 220! <g>

-- James

[davesplitter]

James,
Seriously, you've got me thinking about hiring a trainer! I'm gonna do it! I guess you'll be 240#when I'm 220#!

Dave

[muscle_mastah]

The right trainer I'm sure can help you a lot as much as a great workout partner. Both, it seems to me can be hard to find.


Good luck with the sessions MassingUp.

[davesplitter]

James, nice pics---you should post them as 'befores' and let us know some specifics on what training and diet stuff you're doing right now. Kind of a summer challenge kick off thing. BTW was 1 session a week with the trainer good at first or have you always wanted to do 2 per week?
Keep pushin'
Dave

[massingUP]

Originally Posted by muscle_mastah

The right trainer I'm sure can help you a lot as much as a great workout partner. Both, it seems to me can be hard to find.


Good luck with the sessions MassingUp.

Mastah --

Yeah, I'd almost be happier to find a great training partner rather than a trainer -- it'd certainly be easier on my wallet.

Still, I had a great partner back when I lived in Massachusetts, but even then I wasn't working as hard as I am now. I think this dynamic is working well for me: now we just have to wait and see the results...

-- J.

[massingUP]

Originally Posted by davesplitter

BTW was 1 session a week with the trainer good at first or have you always wanted to do 2 per week?
Keep pushin'
Dave

Dave,

The original intent was once a week, but the problem is that I'm a sucker for efficiency and intensity. And so when I realized just how good the sessions were, my regular workouts started to seem a bit lack-lustre. And while I can sometimes capture that intensity and hardcore attitude on my own, it's a bit spotty -- which is why I started to work with a trainer in the first place.

At any rate, now that I'm at twice a week with the new trainer, it seems to be a good balance. And I am getting killer workouts -- currently leaning out a bit, and we'll see how it goes when I shift back to MASS programs in another month or two.

-- James

[davesplitter]

James

I think however you make progress----- that's a cool thing! I'm happy for you and want to get more progress myself, so I'm starting with a trainer Monday. Thank you for starting this thread. It spoke to me.

I'm going to start my own when I get some pics during my 1st session next week.

Keep workin' ---and hope you keep posting too!

Dave

[massingUP]

Well, it's been a while since I posted here last, but I'm home having a quiet night after a pulse-poundin', endorphin-pumpin' workout, so I figured it's time for another update.

I've been LOVING my workouts with my new trainer, C, for the last couple of months. I've been working harder, sweating more, and having more fun in the gym than I have in YEARS. Working with this guy has really rejunvenated my lifting and I'm extremely happy with how things have going. We really work well together.

The goal over the last few months was to lean out and shed some fat and I'm pretty happy with how things have gone. I've lost about 15# in that time -- probably 10# of fat and maybe 5# of muscle which is more than I'd want, but overall the change has been good. We've been doing super-high-intensity workouts with lots of super-sets and triple-sets, high-reps, etc. My heart rate goes through the roof and my tank-top is dripping by half-way through the workout. It ain't pretty, by any stretch, but it works.

One interesting side-development is that I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on the changes in my shape -- which is both good and bad. I wish more people appreciated thick-n-bulky muscle, but it is kinda fun being a bit more svelte for summer. And while I certainly don't have what anyone would call abs, there are signs of life under the mid-section. Which is kinda fun. I feel a bit weird being under 215# (!!), but I do enjoy being able to SEE the muscle in ways I usually can't. So it's been an interesting experience.

As of last week, however, we've switched gears and I'm shifting back into gaining mode. I've started to cut back on the cardio and increase my calories. A few more carbs, some flax-seed oil in my protein shakes, etc. And the workouts have started to shift away from the high-rep sets into more low-rep stuff with lots of forced negatives, and drop sets. It'll be interesting to see if the trainer can help me reach my gaining goals as effectively as he did with the leaning-out goals. I want to gain 10# of muscle by Xmas. Wish me luck!

As a final note, I did something in the gym today that I don't think I've done before -- at least not in THIS gym. Trainer and I were talking about symmetry and I was commenting how I think one of my biceps is bigger than the other -- so he asked me to throw a double-bicep in the mirror so he could check it out. And after a moment's hesitation of self-consciousness, I thought "what the hell?" and I went up in a fairly respectable double-bicep pose, which we then critiqued. And while my arms aren't perfectly balanced, they're not as bad as I'd thought. And mostly it was just kinda fun to be posing in the gym. To break through that moment of thinking "I don't want these guys to see me flex" and just do it anyways. So that was good too...

At any rate, that's my story for now. I hope you're all having a great summer and enjoying life and lifting...

Keep growing!

-- James

[growing muscles]

Way to go man! Great news on all fronts. Keep us updated and I bet with the trainer you will make that goal. So, where are the progress pics? You know everyone will want to see! Keep on pumpin dude!