What's your workout routine?

[Gurbir23]

A message to all girls. Please stop assuming that if you lift heavy, you will become manly and pectoral muscles will replace your boobs. No, this will not happen, unless you're taking testosterone ( male hormone), you WILL NOT LOOK BULKY. I try explaining this to girls and yet they still go oh no, i dont want to look manly, so they grab 5 pound dumbells, swing them around and then spend an hour and a half on the treadmill. Only reason female bodybuilders look the way they do is because they're taking test. I know chicks that squat two plates (ATG!) and look 1000 times better than those cardio bunnies spending two hours on the elliptical.

Girls who have no ass and would like an ass..... barbell squats, stiff legged deadlifts and goodmornings are your best friend.

 

[COMTONDAJATT]

Hmmm. got it. I guess what I meant by "tone" was building muscle mass, but not going so far as to define muscles and build "cut". and ya, ur right, I'm also thinking about bringing down body fat. I know what your saying about squats and such being important for jugni and such, as being a basketball player, we are constantly having to keep a lowered center of balance also, but how far is too far, where bulk will actually take away from grace and agility? Do you see that as a problem? I don't know for myself, but curious to understand...

its going to depend on the body composition and the goals of the trainee. i wouldnt advise someone to be on a serious strength training program while are doing something like competitive dancing. the goal is different.

lets take a hypothetical punjabi boy: 6 feet tall and 160 pounds who wants to get strong. id advise him to lift heavy 3x a week and eat around 4000-5000 calories a day to help him recover and in a few months he should weigh 190 and be much much stronger but if you put this kid in a dance routine he is gonna tire out in 5 minutes because he hasnt been dancing and is not conditioned to dance.

now lets say that kids goals are to be stronger but not at the expense of his dancing ability. i would have him supplement his bhangra with something that strengthens the type of dynamic ballistic movements that are in bhangra. something like kettlebell training would be a great tool since it involves swings, jerks, pulls and presses. plus it trains their aerobic and anaerobic pathways at the same time. its efficient and you can recover in enough time to dance as well. now instead of training being a detriment to this kid its going to enhance his dancing because his posterior chain is stronger, his hip drive out of a bethak is gangsta and he has the stamina and conditioning to go another round of practice. now he is not gonna be as strong as he could be if he was just lifting but who cares, thats not what his goal was.

i think thats how you should approach weight training if you are planning on dancing. be realistic about what you can achieve with the limited time and energy you have. if you wanna train for dancing the realize that the priority should be

1. practicing bhangra
2. practicing bhangra
3. practicing bhangra
4. some weight lifting to strengthen your body and contribute to your dancing abilities

 

[COMTONDAJATT]

A message to all girls. Please stop assuming that if you lift heavy, you will become manly and pectoral muscles will replace your boobs. No, this will not happen, unless you're taking testosterone ( male hormone), you WILL NOT LOOK BULKY. I try explaining this to girls and yet they still go oh no, i dont want to look manly, so they grab 5 pound dumbells, swing them around and then spend an hour and a half on the treadmill. Only reason female bodybuilders look the way they do is because they're taking test. I know chicks that squat two plates (ATG!) and look 1000 times better than those cardio bunnies spending two hours on the elliptical.

Girls who have no ass and would like an ass..... barbell squats, stiff legged deadlifts and goodmornings are your best friend.

yes. everything he said.

i would rather have a 130 pound strong girl with booty than a 105 pound cardio bunny any day. <3

 

[T-Pardesi]

Hmmm. got it. I guess what I meant by "tone" was building muscle mass, but not going so far as to define muscles and build "cut". and ya, ur right, I'm also thinking about bringing down body fat. I know what your saying about squats and such being important for jugni and such, as being a basketball player, we are constantly having to keep a lowered center of balance also, but how far is too far, where bulk will actually take away from grace and agility? Do you see that as a problem? I don't know for myself, but curious to understand...

its going to depend on the body composition and the goals of the trainee. i wouldnt advise someone to be on a serious strength training program while are doing something like competitive dancing. the goal is different.

lets take a hypothetical punjabi boy: 6 feet tall and 160 pounds who wants to get strong. id advise him to lift heavy 3x a week and eat around 4000-5000 calories a day to help him recover and in a few months he should weigh 190 and be much much stronger but if you put this kid in a dance routine he is gonna tire out in 5 minutes because he hasnt been dancing and is not conditioned to dance.

now lets say that kids goals are to be stronger but not at the expense of his dancing ability. i would have him supplement his bhangra with something that strengthens the type of dynamic ballistic movements that are in bhangra. something like kettlebell training would be a great tool since it involves swings, jerks, pulls and presses. plus it trains their aerobic and anaerobic pathways at the same time. its efficient and you can recover in enough time to dance as well. now instead of training being a detriment to this kid its going to enhance his dancing because his posterior chain is stronger, his hip drive out of a bethak is gangsta and he has the stamina and conditioning to go another round of practice. now he is not gonna be as strong as he could be if he was just lifting but who cares, thats not what his goal was.

i think thats how you should approach weight training if you are planning on dancing. be realistic about what you can achieve with the limited time and energy you have. if you wanna train for dancing the realize that the priority should be

1. practicing bhangra
2. practicing bhangra
3. practicing bhangra
4. some weight lifting to strengthen your body and contribute to your dancing abilities

+1 wow - boo yaa... nicely said.

 

[angad50]

Does anyone know a good routine for bulking that i could find online or something?

some questions before i give you an in depth answer.

how old are you?
how tall?
how much do you weigh?
how much do you want to weigh?
how much time you have per week to train?
what equipment do you have available to you?
what is your previous weight training experience?

I'm like 6 feet tall 165 lbs. I'm trying to hit about 190. I'm gonna have a lot of time on my hands over winter break so that won't really be a problem and I have a gym membership so I have access to a lot of different equipment. Is there any guide that is in depth to the point that it tells you what to eat as well as a workout routine.

 

[COMTONDAJATT]

I'm like 6 feet tall 165 lbs. I'm trying to hit about 190. I'm gonna have a lot of time on my hands over winter break so that won't really be a problem and I have a gym membership so I have access to a lot of different equipment. Is there any guide that is in depth to the point that it tells you what to eat as well as a workout routine.

http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-2nd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp/0976805421/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291259260&sr=8-1

this book will become your bible. you can illegally download a torrent with the pdf and instructional videos detailing the lifts. if you find it helps you, help the dude out and buy a physical copy. if you cant find it online let me know ill send it to you.

what is your diet like right now? also how much do you like milk? you need a calorie surplus to gain weight and recover from heavy lifting and the best and easiest way to do that is to drink a bunch of glasses of whole milk during the day. its about 160 calories a glass but when you have like 4 of them it adds up and can become your caloric surplus. good thing about whole milk is that its a nice balance of fat, carbs and protein. dont get hung up on taking protein shakes and getting a certain amount of protein because drinking enough milk should take care of it.

the book will go more in depth on whats the program is but to give you an idea it goes like this

workout A
squat 3 worksets of 5 reps
(standing) press 3 worksets 5 reps
deadlift 1 workset 5 reps

workout B
squat 3x5
bench press 3x5
power cleans 5x3

so a workout week would look like this
Monday - workout A
Tuesday - rest
Wes - workout B
Thurs - rest
Friday - Workout A
Sat - rest
Sun - rest
Monday - workout B
so on

just a couple of pointers
- dont be afraid to start light. i know it might look stupid to be lifting an empty bar or close to it the first few weeks at the gym but its better to progress slowly and continue making progress for months rather than starting too heavy because of ego and stalling quick and having to deload and start over.
- first couple weeks you are gonna be able to get away with not always eating big but to put on lots of muscular bodyweight you gotta be willing to eat and not worry about putting on fat. excess body fat is relatively easy to reduce after you are big and strong. when you get to 190 around 40 percent of that added weight will be fat but its a good trade off to gain appreciable amount of strength and 21 pounds of muscle.
- dont underestimate the need for proper sleep and rest. remember that you dont gain strength and muscle from lifting, you gain strength and muscle from recovering from lifting.

read the book once over before starting and if you got any questions let me know ill be happy to help you.

 

[Navi Sandhu]

i gained a lot of weight my senior year of college (way too much late night pizza after bhangra practice)...I wasn't fat and chubby or whatever, but I really liked the boost I got as far as my stage presence after putting on about 10-15lbs. I made sure that I could do my routine all-out of course...


As far as routines go, I swear by the compound routines set forth by "The Truth About Six-Pack Abs" (you can download it for free on torrents). The advice he gives is consistent with whatever I've learned so far in med school and physiology...And it makes sense

Govind sir - Can you elaborate on your stage presence after you gaining 10-15lbs? What do you mean & how does gaining some weight make you look better on stage?

 

[Govind]

i gained a lot of weight my senior year of college (way too much late night pizza after bhangra practice)...I wasn't fat and chubby or whatever, but I really liked the boost I got as far as my stage presence after putting on about 10-15lbs. I made sure that I could do my routine all-out of course...


As far as routines go, I swear by the compound routines set forth by "The Truth About Six-Pack Abs" (you can download it for free on torrents). The advice he gives is consistent with whatever I've learned so far in med school and physiology...And it makes sense

Govind sir - Can you elaborate on your stage presence after you gaining 10-15lbs? What do you mean & how does gaining some weight make you look better on stage?

well...i was one of the shorter guys on the team (5'10") with most of the guys being 6' or taller...and I just felt like i was rounded out a bit more, had more momentum going into moves, filled my uni up a bit better (it was one of those that falls really nicely on your body so if you're lanky, it really shows that you are). Not to mention, I had a huge daari/muchhaan which definitely complemented the more heavy Punjabi build and my rather broad shoulders (which wouldn't have looked as good i feel if I were more lanky). I also like the way jhummar looks when a bit heavier guys do it properly. There's a certain oomph to it you don't get with lanky people who do it the same way :0)~

Clearly I have overanalyzed this LMAO and now you're going to laugh at me b/c you know how much time I spend looking in the mirror. RAWR! ~

ALSO, ditto to whatever ComtonDaJatt is saying you've done your research sir!...Totally agree with the post that girls think that if they even touch heavy weights they'll bulk up like whoa.
Bipasha, Priyanka, and my gf all worked out at my gym in India, and all of those girls (despite how slim and fit they are) do some serious squats and compound exercises with a fair bit of weight!

 

[COMTONDAJATT]

i concur with govind that larger rounder gabroos have an aesthetic advantage in punjabi folk dance routines.

 

[abhigames]

I work about 80-100 weeks, so going to the gym is hard...so I just manage to go about 4-5x a week for like 30-45 minutes at a time. I just split my days like chest and triceps, back and and bis, shoulders, and legs...and then any other days some cardio. I just start my routine with my liek 5-10 minutes of cardio to get the blood pumping, and then some days I end with some abs. I do 3 sets of 12 reps for most excercises.

During college, I spent a lot of time trying to build mass and get bigger, etc...and now because of my hectic work schedule, I just try to make sure I don't pu ton weight sitting in front of a computer all day. I have also heavily decreased my drinking...the combination of all this, work stress, and generally not as much sleep as I'd liek have led to lower weight....looking thinner and more defined. I think if I improved on the sleep, I would look happier as well.

I used to take protein shakes and even took creatin for a little bit, as well as fat burners....you don't need to do any of that. If you're taking a protein shake...don't throw like 100 grams in there, I think your body can only process like 25-30 at a time, the rest you'll tutti out anyways. I generally try to eat a bowl of special k (with strawberries) in the morning, for lunch either pasta and salad, turkey sandwich, chicken sanwidch, rice, beans etc... (all less than 500-600 calories)...and then for dinner I usually have something in the heavier range (1000ish calories) but still trying to keep generally healthy ranging from grilled chicken breast and hummus, veggie falafel, chicken pad thai, chicken parm, vegggie sushi and chicken teriyaki, etc....the important thing for me is to order from a high quality restaurant (I only eat out cuz im at work for all my dinners), and make sure it tastes good as well.

Anyways, this is what I'm doing for now, but I'll probably change it up in a few months. I did P90x..for the complete 90 days sophomore year of college after I had put on something like freshman 40 lbs. I reduced 30-35 lbs through the program, so it def works for losing weight...but I'm sure the guys have said it before, that its probably not the best thing for bulking up etc.

I'm pretty happy with where I am now, but I guess I could be more defined and overall a little more athletic. Haven't danced in like months so, so I'm sure I'm out of it.

 

[Govind]

wow congrats Abhi...sounds like you were really disciplined doing all of that...

yea for cutting and losing weight in general (or for that matter, getting hte most out of your workouts), cutting the alcohol does wonders!!

 

[Gurbir23]

I work about 80-100 weeks, so going to the gym is hard...so I just manage to go about 4-5x a week for like 30-45 minutes at a time. I just split my days like chest and triceps, back and and bis, shoulders, and legs...and then any other days some cardio. I just start my routine with my liek 5-10 minutes of cardio to get the blood pumping, and then some days I end with some abs. I do 3 sets of 12 reps for most excercises.

During college, I spent a lot of time trying to build mass and get bigger, etc...and now because of my hectic work schedule, I just try to make sure I don't pu ton weight sitting in front of a computer all day. I have also heavily decreased my drinking...the combination of all this, work stress, and generally not as much sleep as I'd liek have led to lower weight....looking thinner and more defined. I think if I improved on the sleep, I would look happier as well.

I used to take protein shakes and even took creatin for a little bit, as well as fat burners....you don't need to do any of that. If you're taking a protein shake...don't throw like 100 grams in there, I think your body can only process like 25-30 at a time, the rest you'll tutti out anyways. I generally try to eat a bowl of special k (with strawberries) in the morning, for lunch either pasta and salad, turkey sandwich, chicken sanwidch, rice, beans etc... (all less than 500-600 calories)...and then for dinner I usually have something in the heavier range (1000ish calories) but still trying to keep generally healthy ranging from grilled chicken breast and hummus, veggie falafel, chicken pad thai, chicken parm, vegggie sushi and chicken teriyaki, etc....the important thing for me is to order from a high quality restaurant (I only eat out cuz im at work for all my dinners), and make sure it tastes good as well.

Anyways, this is what I'm doing for now, but I'll probably change it up in a few months. I did P90x..for the complete 90 days sophomore year of college after I had put on something like freshman 40 lbs. I reduced 30-35 lbs through the program, so it def works for losing weight...but I'm sure the guys have said it before, that its probably not the best thing for bulking up etc.

I'm pretty happy with where I am now, but I guess I could be more defined and overall a little more athletic. Haven't danced in like months so, so I'm sure I'm out of it.

Story of my Life. Went from cut like a statue high school wrestler weighing at 198 pounds to large, barely breathing, mound of fat at 238 pounds my freshman year. Freshman 15 aint got nothing on me.

 

[Raman Dholi]

^^ it's true..

 

[Jattstar]

is the 45 minute cap for workouts still valid? Does this only apply to strength training? I typically do cardio after strength training and its impossible for me to keep it all confined within the 45 minute parameter.

 

[KillaPunjabi]

P90x: will keep your stamina high because of the intense cardio. And you can choose to either get cut up(which i think is better if your focused on bhangra) which will still allow you to gain strength/weight, or you can go for major bulking in size and this can be controlled by the amount of reputations you choose to do.

90 days straight, 1 day off a week.

and the way the program groups the workouts, and changes it every four week works perfectly for maximum results.


my personal opinion after doing it: its a bitch, but oh-so worth it in the end.

It would be VERY difficult to "bulk up" using p90x. ALot of people have this misconception, but it goes against the logic of bulking up. For an individual to bulk, a caloric surplus needs to be maintained, so you need to be eating a greater number of calories than those being burnt off. P90x is a circuit that promotes the elevation of the heart rate and therefore, causes you to burn off an assload calories. Even if you reduced the reps to the 8-12 rep range, you still wouldnt be able to bulk up due to the nature of the routine. P90x works WONDERS if you are trying to cut, its awesome, ive used it before during wrestling but you cant use it for bulking.

For those that want to bulk up, try out Mike Rippetoes starting strength 5 X 5 routines. It focuses on compound lifts and lays your workouts for you. Its awesome for those that are new to working out.

As for my workout. I would like to do two days on, one day off, but school prevents that from happening. So i do a 5 day split, in which im doing a seperate body part each day. On mondays its legs, tuesdays chest, wednesday back, thursday shoulders, friday arms and core. Right now im cutting down, so i also incoroprate HIIT on monday, wednesday, and friday into my routine.

HIIT is the absolute best when it comes to losing fat and increasing endurnace/stamina/cardio. If anyone wants to know more, I can explain it further.

What you want to do is structure your workouts that put your largest bodyparts at the beggining of the week and smaller body parts at the end. IN addition, you want to alternate between push/pull to give your body at least 48 hours to recover. Remember, when performing compound excercises such as a flat bench, you're not only working out your chest but also your tris/delts.

Also, its a pet peeve of mine when i see big bulky guys with chicken legs. So dont just do the same old chest and bis routine 5 days a week. WORK THEM LEGS.

Throw in compound excercises, for strength, mass, compound excercises are your best friend. Squats, deadlifts, goodmornings, clean and jerks, power cleans, military presses...ect.

Lasly, unless your roiding up, you will never become big enough that it hinders your performance during bhangra. If you're bulking properly (clean) then your stamina shouldnt be too affected when puting on muscle mass.

Could you elaborate on HIIT plz ? and provie any links or sources
Hear many ppls opinions but what is the right way to do it. I heard it is very effective

 

[Mojo]

A message to all girls. Please stop assuming that if you lift heavy, you will become manly and pectoral muscles will replace your boobs. No, this will not happen, unless you're taking testosterone ( male hormone), you WILL NOT LOOK BULKY. I try explaining this to girls and yet they still go oh no, i dont want to look manly, so they grab 5 pound dumbells, swing them around and then spend an hour and a half on the treadmill. Only reason female bodybuilders look the way they do is because they're taking test. I know chicks that squat two plates (ATG!) and look 1000 times better than those cardio bunnies spending two hours on the elliptical.

Girls who have no ass and would like an ass..... barbell squats, stiff legged deadlifts and goodmornings are your best friend.

The Truth.


Personally, I use P90X. I have seen nothing but great results and just a huge improvement in my general fitness. I don't know about the whole "trim" vs. "bulk" idea, but I've definitely gone down in size. Ladies, do not be intimidated. It's a tough workout, but you won't get manly or big. P90X really helps build your general strength and stamina, which I find helps a lot with bhangra.


More specifically for bhangra, I do a lot of plyometrics. Plyometric exercises build your strength and stamina while helping you improve your agility, something that I've found helps a lot with bhangra. It's tough to get into it, but the results are well worth it. I also do a lot of squats with heavy weights to keep my legs strong. Trust me, your jumps and squats will improve dramatically and your ass will look great.


I usually work out about 5-6 days a week for at least an hour (not including bhangra practice), but when things get hectic I do reduce that number. It's not a failure to cut back when you need to. Any exercise is better than no exercise, even if it's not always regular.

 

[Kush]

Gym fanatics,
What is everyone's workout routine outside of Bhangra?
The most prevalent questions to ask would be:
[list type=decimal]
[*]What is your goal that you plan to achieve from your workouts?
[*]How many days do you workout in a week?
[*]How do you structure your workouts throughout the week? (ie which body parts do you do on the days you workout?
[/list]PS: Is it possible to combine goals of bulking up while still maintaining grace in Bhangra or are they mutually exclusive?

since people are answering the rest of the questions i'll address the last one. My ideal weight is between 165-170, and i'm 5'10. Currently, I'm teetering between 180-183 after a 2 month bulking period, and i'd estimate i'm around 16-17% bodyfat (at my leanest i'm around 11-12). It is my opinion that i'm still pretty graceful, and as someone metioned earlier, the general broadness that being SLIGHTLY bigger brings creates a more dominant presence on stage (note: broadness =/= fatness). Though i plan on cutting down to the 175ish area again, i dont think i lost anything in terms of my ability to execute gracefully, so no, they are not mutually exclusive.

 

[Kush]

Oh ill also type a quick workout routine:

BULKING: Gym 4-5 days a week

Mon Back/Bis + Shoulders (monday is international chest day so theres always a wait for benches)

Tues Chest/Tris + Abs

Wed Rest

Thurs Shoulders/Legs

Friday Bis/Tris/Abs (Vanity Day... go into the weekend looking good)

Sat Rest/Drink

Sunday Rest or Run, depending on how much drinking i did saturday.

If anyone wants to know specific exercises/weight/sets, let me know, i'd be happy to type em up. I'll type my cutting routine as i finally settle into it. Bhangra practice is throwing it off, but for hte most part its 3-4 days of more expansive, overall body workouts + RUNNING/JUMP-ROPING/BASKETBALL/CARDIO. Been doing the 300 workout twice a week... 50 deadlifts in one go is a B*tch.

 

[COMTONDAJATT]

is the 45 minute cap for workouts still valid? Does this only apply to strength training? I typically do cardio after strength training and its impossible for me to keep it all confined within the 45 minute parameter.

no its not. i know bodybuilders and broscience proponents read a random study that said testosterone levels dropped after 45 minutes and extrapolated that to mean that you cant get stronger if you work longer.

personally my workouts last around 2 hours but the majority of the time is spent recovering between sets. for example

i get to gym
5-7 minute warmup on rowing machine
5 minute shoulder and hips warmup/foam rolling
10-12 minute warmups sets of squats
first work set of 5 squats - 40 seconds or so
10 minute rest
second work set of 5 squats
10 minute rest
third work set of 5 squats
....and so on with usually 2 other exercises(bench/deadlift or press/power clean).

when you start out on a strength training program you can recover quickly between sets but when you are putting on excess of a couple hundred pounds on your back then your body needs the time to recover because you are lifting weights that is ~85-90% your one rep maximum.

now lets say you are training in a typical body building scheme that calls for 3 sets of 8 reps or so. you wont be lifting 90% your one rep max but only around 60-75% that amount. this favors sarcoplasmic hypertrophy rather than myofibrial hypertrophy like sets of 5s would. since the stimulus is different the ability of the CNS and body to recover is much quicker and the average person can do the sets after maybe 4 minutes max.

so really the time spent working out depends on what the goal of the trainee is. dont think there is a cap on how much you want to workout. you can go above 45 and i recommend you do if you have the time.

and about adding cardio to a strength program. there is honestly no need and it will just get in the way of your goal. contrary to popular belief but running/treadmilling serves a limited purpose and if your goal is to gain strength you should be doing stuff conductive to that. if your goal is to continue to do bhangra with a strength program then your best bet is to eat a shit load of food and lift on days you dont do bhangra.

 

[COMTONDAJATT]

this might be useful