Looking to gain mass... to circuit train or not?

[Azxster]

I just signed up for a gym membership and it is equipped with the STRIVE circuit training machines. I am wondering if this is a good idea to gain some weight or to stick with the traditional compound exercises that focuses on different parts of the body on different days.

What do you guys think of circuit training? I like the benefits of using machine since it is generally safer when you are working out alone. With the guided cable lines, it influences on proper form.

[w4x]

circuit training is usually for cutting

if you want to gain mass - eat a lot + work out your bigger muscles - quads,hams,glutes, back, chest then progress down to your smaller muscles - arms make sure to use heavy weights for mass

i find it best to start at a weight you know u can lift then increment the weight in small segments each time you work out that exercise to get linear growth

my preference is free weights for most exercise, the occasional cables because they also use stabilizer muscles, most machines do not. from some of my kinesiology friends, a lot of the motions that some machines make you go through are really bad for your back and joints.

[azn_dan]

just a few questions:

1) how much do you weigh? How tall? Do you find yourself skinny?

I would recommend you stick to compounds, like major ones.

Such as bench press, squats, deadlifts, cleans and what not, so you can gain muscle all around. Circuit training is used as a method to jump from one excercise to another quickly and has a bigger emphasis on cutting then gaining mass as the above poster has mentioned.

[poedua]

I just signed up for a gym membership and it is equipped with the STRIVE circuit training machines. I am wondering if this is a good idea to gain some weight or to stick with the traditional compound exercises that focuses on different parts of the body on different days.

What do you guys think of circuit training? I like the benefits of using machine since it is generally safer when you are working out alone. With the guided cable lines, it influences on proper form.

If you go to a gym and want to engage in training to maximize your results - " maximise full potential for training " ( i.e in terms of ' gaining mass ' ) - and the choice is whether to make free weights or machines as the foundation of your training - then free weights have an edge to the machines you find at the gym IMO.

One reason free weights are better has to do with the number of muscles you recruit to lift the weight. Lifting free weights works more than one muscle group at a time. So what happens is that with free weights you get resistance applied not only the target muscles you're working but on, but stabilizer muscles as well. Stabilizer muscles are the ones that help you stabilize your body ( keep it from moving ) and control ( i.e balance ) the weights your lifting.

So free weights will prompt more activity of the joint stabilizer muscles than a machine will. With a machine, the weight is stabilized for you and it's only the specific targeted muscle is dong the work. In my view, the more muscles you work in an exercise the better, so in this regard free weights are better.

Another reason is due to something related to the number of muscles you use , it's called a plane of motion. Weight machines usually only use single-joint exercises ( think isolation exercises ) and when they do that, the weight moves in a single plane - it's a fixed and pre-determined plane of motion. With free weights, the movement takes place in 3 dimensions because of all the balancing of the weight I already mentioned. And since ' real life ' day to day activity is in a 3-dimensional environment, free weights doing a better job of duplicating the ways you use your muscles in everyday life not to mention sports etc.

You mentioned " the guided cable lines, it influences on proper form " - I disagree. The unique of plane of motion you see on a given machine may not be the same as the plane of motion the person using it would ' optimally ' use. In most cases a person's body will alter a plane of motion in a free weight exercise to allow for the most efficient movement of a joint or muscle ( i.e do what feels most comfortable ). If it can't do that because a plane of motion on a machine is fixed, you increase the risk of injury IMO. So again, I think free weighst are better in this regard.

A third reason is strength development. I think free weighs do a better job. If you were to always use machines, you train on a fixed plane of motion that I already talked about. That means you're hitting all the same muscle fibers of not only the target muscle you're training , but the the secondary muscles used to help that muscle as well. And you're hitting these same fibers over an over again. So, the fixed plane found on a machine may not engage other fibers that might be recruited as part of that 3-D lifting orientation I already talked about - an orientation in which the potential to recruit more fibers exists IMO.

Again, the more muscle fibers you recruit, the better IMO. That's why if you were to compare 1 exercise head to head - i.e free weight bench press vs. machine bench press - you'd likely find there is a greater carryover of strength going from a bench press using free weights to a bench press weight machine than going from a bench press weight machine to a bench press using free weights. In other words, it'd be easier for a guy whose being doing free weight bench for 6 months to switch to a bench machine than asking a guy whose being doing a bench machine for 6 months to do a free weight bench IMO.

So, from this perspective, if your goal is to ' gain mass ' free weights are better IMO.

[Mintmaster]

I always thought circuit training is the best way to lose fat while minimizing muscle loss during a cutting cycle.

Is that accurate? Never tried it myself because I can't gain enough weight to need one.

[kleptodathief]

machines r good to prevent u from hurting urself if u don't have a spotter...ie the bench press machines, otherwise free weights FTW!

op: r u taking any supplements?

[Azxster]

I am a little over 5'6", weigh roughly around 107 lbs, and am think I am skinny. I think I should have signed up for a different gym, although the new YMCA is popular, it offers a very small area for free weights. My goal is to gain any kind of mass... I have a very thin waist and would like to increase that. The only supplement I am taking is ON 100% Whey, leftovers from last year. I am planning to continue with an addition of Cytosport Muscle Milk. I have at least 3 decent sized meals a day, and some snacks in between. I eat steak, white rice, oatmeal, peanut butter sandwiches, egg whites, and will be adding chicken breast.

How do I absorb calories? They say that excess calories turns into fat... it isn't going too well for me. I have been eating a lot more. When I drink milk, I have to take a **** every day. I drink fine filtered milk, lactose and lactose free. Am I lactose intolerant? I do not have any pain when drinking milk. Maybe I have parasites?

[Shiifty]

Some people are just naturally thin. I know people who eat TONS and are incredibly thin. A person with this type of body will find it difficult to put on mass, whether fat or muscle.

The good thing is, once you have muscle, you'll be pretty lean and ripped, so they'll show. There is lots of good advice in this thread, hit free weights, use heavy compound exercises and you'll see results. It's harder than machines, but you'll see results faster. And continue eating tons of food to try and put on mass.

[azn_dan]

I always thought circuit training is the best way to lose fat while minimizing muscle loss during a cutting cycle.

Is that accurate? Never tried it myself because I can't gain enough weight to need one.

Circuit training is somewhat like doing cardio, while working out. Its like a hybrid of not full on cardio but helps burn energy.

I am a little over 5'6", weigh roughly around 107 lbs, and am think I am skinny. I think I should have signed up for a different gym, although the new YMCA is popular, it offers a very small area for free weights. My goal is to gain any kind of mass... I have a very thin waist and would like to increase that. The only supplement I am taking is ON 100% Whey, leftovers from last year. I am planning to continue with an addition of Cytosport Muscle Milk. I have at least 3 decent sized meals a day, and some snacks in between. I eat steak, white rice, oatmeal, peanut butter sandwiches, egg whites, and will be adding chicken breast.

How do I absorb calories? They say that excess calories turns into fat... it isn't going too well for me. I have been eating a lot more. When I drink milk, I have to take a **** every day. I drink fine filtered milk, lactose and lactose free. Am I lactose intolerant? I do not have any pain when drinking milk. Maybe I have parasites?

Well taking a $hit everyday is just natural and regular...there are no ways to abosrb calories, your body just does it by itself. If you think about it, you are somewhat like a canvas. Unless you have the materials(fat and what not) how can you paint a picture( picture is like the end product, which in this case is muscle ). I used to be super skinny myself. But after working out for a while, i wanted to be bigger(weight wise). So what i do now is bulk in the winters and cut in the summers. Started this routine this year and i am at 157lbs from 135ish. I would have to agree though, 107lbs is small. Your not a girl by any chance are you? If so thats a different case. Also one last note, with regards to the cytosport muscle milk, pretty sure i read it somewhere but that stuff can be harmful? Heres just a little quote:

Hyperbole aside, the biggest problem with Muscle Milk is that it contains the potentially dangerous chemical glycocyamine. I originally discussed the implications of consuming glycocyamine and the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in Dangerous Creatine article, but this substance is much worse than originally thought.

If you want the whole article go to t-mag.com and in the search type muscle milk dangers. The article is a consumer report by dave barr, dont know if i am allowed to link it so i will leave it at that. Trust me just stick with the ON.

Some people are just naturally thin. I know people who eat TONS and are incredibly thin. A person with this type of body will find it difficult to put on mass, whether fat or muscle.

The good thing is, once you have muscle, you'll be pretty lean and ripped, so they'll show. There is lots of good advice in this thread, hit free weights, use heavy compound exercises and you'll see results. It's harder than machines, but you'll see results faster. And continue eating tons of food to try and put on mass.

I am sorry but that quote on how people are naturally thing and eat tons, and then them not getting big is ridiculous. Trust me if you ate like a fiend you would gain weight. Its science, if you give you body a caloric surplus would cause a gain in mass. Sure you can argue that high metabolism can burn off it all, but trust me if you want to gain weight really bad, eating things high in calories will cause you to gain no matter what. Have you looking at the nutritional value labels for krispy kremes at wal mart? Its ridiculous. I am just saying if you want to gain and you say you eat alot and are not gaining. It only means that you have to eat more!

[Shiifty]

...
I am sorry but that quote on how people are naturally thing and eat tons, and then them not getting big is ridiculous. Trust me if you ate like a fiend you would gain weight. Its science, if you give you body a caloric surplus would cause a gain in mass. Sure you can argue that high metabolism can burn off it all, but trust me if you want to gain weight really bad, eating things high in calories will cause you to gain no matter what. Have you looking at the nutritional value labels for krispy kremes at wal mart? Its ridiculous. I am just saying if you want to gain and you say you eat alot and are not gaining. It only means that you have to eat more!

I've seen it first hand, some people eat like pigs, eat tons of food and stay thin, I mean STICK thin. Of course eating 10,000 calories will put weight on anyone, but within reasonable limits, these super thin people generally don't put on weight easily. As someone ages, it's easier to gain weight also, so those hardgainers will eventually put on weight.

Having said that, it's certainly not impossible for a superthin person to gain weight. It's more difficult, but not impossible, they just need to be more careful about how they go about their training and eating.

On the flip side, I know some people who have really slow metabolisms and put on weight at the sight of food -- they need to do lots of cardio and watch what they eat to stay lean. The bright side is, they generally put on muscle like a monster and are massively strong. Most people are in between somewhere...