[DEADn]

Lately I have been up and down with my workouts because of my hours at work. Just makes it impossible to have a good workout. Because of this I think my size has suffered a bit. Even my wife, last night as I was shaving, saw my right arm and said it looked smaller. It has been a week since I worked out.

Granted I have not been able to take in as much protein as I should though I have taken in some during the week. Is there a key to keeping and maintaining size when I am in an up and down mode with my workouts?

Back in June I lost alot over the course of a month because I had to go to a chiropractor for about 6 weeks. I dont think my protein intake was as high as it would have been had I been on a normal workout schedule. Is the continuous intake of protein the key to this ?


JOhn

[dero_hawk]

well im not an expert but if u are eating a good amount u can be ok, but the key is to workout to help sustain size. if u plan it right u can get a great workout in under an hour. but even if u don't have time for that just do some simple exercises to help out.

[Rocky]

I'm in a similar situation regarding work - 7 days a week shift work! Great!
The key (for me anyway) is to make sure you keep your eating schedule as regul;ar as poss (I eat every 3 hours) and try and stick to a schedule as best as poss. Even if I'm tired, I try and get at least something done. Sometimes it may mean splitting a session into 2 days (I do 2 muscle groups per session every other day), so maybe on Leg and shoulders day, I'll just to shoulders and then the next day just do legs to try and stay as close to my schedule as poss.
Don't worry about missing one workout every now and again (as long as it's not too often) and sometimes it's worth missing out an entire session and doing your next one when you should, rather than pushing everything back. Remember - don't train if you REALLY can't get into it as you're more at risk of doing more harm than good.
Keep eating, making sure you take in enough protein and carbs to sustain you, and do what you can to keep to a routine. As Dero Hawk says - it may be a case of doing a different routine that allows you to do it in a shorter space of time!
Good luck man! Hope you get back on track!

[DEADn]

Last week I only had about a good 2 hours each day from the time I got home to the time I had to go to bed. My diet suffered a bit also as far as getting enough protein in me just to keep my size up. What puzzles me is the amount of size I could lose if I have to stop for a month. ie, back in June when I stopped for a month for a chiropractor my biceps measured a little over 15 3/4" and when I got back to weightlifting, maybe about 6 weeks later they were down about 1/2 inch less. It took me a few weeks to get them back up once I started up but then again my protein intake wasnt as high as I normally would have it also.

John

[beach body boy]

eat big , push some weights

[DEADn]

I think the answer is that when you are not working out your size will eventually go down. Even if you eat ALOT youll get more fat size then muscle. I am finding this out while reading various articles.
It parallels the point that when you are weightlifting and you stop for a while your strength will dimish a bit. That really stinks!!!!

My workouts in the last few weeks have been touch and go. I go for a couple of days and then another couple of days I cannot because of long hours at work OR I end up having to do something at home that takes up too much time. Most of the time it is the work deal.

John

[PUMBA]

If you can only train here and there you need to utterly smash the muscle and have nothing left.

Eating more protien without training is the same as eating any other excess calorie you will get fat.

Need a balance, You only need a very big 30-45 minutes in the gym Good Luck.

[Rocky]

If you're really struggling to get to the gym regularly - rather than doing x amount of muscle groups in a session, try hitting everything with an all body workout so you won't be missing anything over and over again due to lack of regularity. Try:

Squat, deadlift, Bench press, chins (or rowing), military press, bicep curl, close grip bench press, calf raises.

Although it's only one exercsie per muscle - because they are such big multijoint exercises you'll be incorporating a lot of secondary muscle s with every lift, so in this routine for example, although there is only one specific back exercise, you're actually working the back in squat, deadlift and it acts as a stabilising muscle in all of the other moves aswell. Give it a try - and as Pumba said - give it hell and it'll mean you don't lose much if anything of the mass you currently have - you never know - you might even gain from it depending on just how often you get to train!
Good luck.

[fahad]

here is a quick workout 4 DA FITNESS PEOPLE: http://www.muscletech.com/TRAINING/L...xercises.shtml ...........

[DEADn]

Yep, I suppose the answer to my question is to hit the compound exercises even if I can only do 1 or 2. Last week for 3 days it was impossible simply because I had to be up at 3pm to be at work at 4am and didnt get off work til after 5pm and then back to bed by 8pm. I didnt do anything there because I didnt want to take a risk of getting sick. I have been taking Ester C for the past 2 years 500mg and I have never been sick yet. Good stuff there.

I will be cramming this week with my workouts as well. Will have to do only the compound ones.

Thanks
John

[deadman315x]

8 hrs sleep

[DEADn]

8 hours sleep.....exactly.

I am going to spend this week and next week doing more of the compound exercises because I do not know what to expect from work until after the new year. Then my plan is to get BSN cellmass and work on all out mass.

John

[Rocky]

Good luck to you man. Hope you get some kind of regularity to your workouts and get that mass on!