Hi, I have been lifting weights for a solid year now, and have put on about 20 lbs of GOOD weight. I still lift about 5 X per week, but am finding that I am reaching this flat on certain things.

1. Does anyone have any good, muscle-building exercises I can do to sort of keep my body guessing. I train mostly with free-wights, so please keep that in mind.
2. As a physician that specializes in weight loss and in performance for athletes, its possible to enhance your lean weight if you make a true lifestyle change. Which it seems you are well on your way to doing.

   1. First , you must eat often. AND IT HAS TO BE NUTRITIOUS NOT JUNK you want to gain muscle not fat right? Another way to look at it..You can't build a temple out of mud right? three sensible meals with 2-3 supplemental meals. .. (see #2 below) So no refined sugars( no pop candies cookies etc) minimal refined grains (whole grains in bread and pastas etc) whole grains have much higher fiber content, greater vitamin content and digest slower to blunt the carbohydrate release into the bloodstream. Protein is essential. Lean meats, especially chicken breast, turkey breast. and fish, baked or steamed not fried. Extra meals should be high protein low carb low fat such as a protein shake. (there are many on the market that are not too expensive) Vegetables should be consumed at least 5 times a day water should be consumed aggressively 6-10 glasses a day. Bodybuilders that are trying to gain weight use whey protein shakes in bewtween meals to provide muscles with the building blocks they need to GROW!! They are not expensive I get my whey protein powder at sams Club for 22 dollars for 6 pounds. thats enough for 3-4 month at least. You can add fruit to it and blend it to make it a tastier.

   2. RESISTANCE TRAINING is KEY that means WEIGHTS or sit ups pull ups chin ups and dips. Muscles only grow when they are pushed near thier maximum ability. It sounds like you are already doing this but it is important to push your muscles to failure when you lift, then give them the building blocks and the time to recover.

   3. Supplements provide an edge. Omega 3 fatty acids are very important!! I also use creatine, Protein supplementation, a GOOD multivitamin a day and Prior to work out I use L-arginine which is a precursor to nitric oxide and helps increase blood flow to muscle. I have recently added amino acid supplementation post workout

   You have to make real lifestyle change and truly eat better and apply forces to your muscles that Will make them get bigger. Looks like you are on your way to that. any other questions? email me at vita_min_md@yahoo.com
   Doc

3. I am just looking for tips, or even a good muscle-building program that is different than your everyday curls and bench presses.
4. Some people decide they would like to concentrate on developing maximum strength. Generally speaking, strength is a function less of muscle size than of connective tissue (tendons and ligaments) strength and the ability to recruit a maximum number of muscle fibers on each lift. To develop these qualities, it is necessary to do basic exercises for each body party; do five to eight total sets per exercise, using very heavy weights; and perform low repetitions of each set, in the range of one to three reps following a thorough warm-up.

   To achieve this type of warm-up and low-rep training, use a set-rep system called pyramidding, in which the weight is increased and the reps decreased with each succeeding set. Here is a typical pyramidding scheme (100 percent maximum is the highest weight with which you can do one strict movement in any exercise):

   Set
   1 8 reps 50%
   2 6 reps 65%
   3 4 reps 80%
   4 3 reps 85-90%
   5 2 reps 90-95%
   6 1 reps 95-100%

   Using this pyramidding scheme, here is a good powerbuilding routine that you can do three times per week. Pyramid the sets and reps for the exercises marked with asterisks.

   Situps-> 2-3 sets->25-50 reps
   Squats*->5 sets ->8/6/4/3/2 reps
   Stiff Legged Deadlift*->3 sets->8/6/4 reps
   Barbell Bent Rowing*->5 sets->10/8/6/5/4 reps
   Upright Rowing*->3 sets -> 8/6/4 reps
   Bench Press*->5 sets->8/6/4/3/2 reps
   Military Press*->3 sets->6/4/2 reps
   Barbell Curl*->3 sets->8/6/4 reps
   Lying Triceps Extension*->3 sets->8/6/4 reps
   Barbell Wrist Curl-> 3 sets-> 10-15 reps
   Seated Calf Raise->3 sets-> 10 reps
   Standing Calf Raise->3 sets->15 reps

   Be sure to train to fail.

5. if anyone has any good tips, please let me know! Thank you very much.

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