begining

[gokussj51]

:help:
I used to lift weights about 4 years ago and was pretty decent in size, but then i started martial arts training and lost the size i had from all the anerobic work it demands. I want to start lifting again but the two problems i have are my chest and my legs. I want to put size on both but no matter what i did before they wouldn't grow, everything else did perfectly but my chest and legs are my weakest points and i was wondering if any of you gentlemen might be able to help me with this? I still train in martial arts and always will but I like the aspects of bodybuilding and the gains it wil give me. Any info would be very apreciated.
Rob

[kronah]

Good to see another pennsylvanian on the board. I too am involved in martial arts. What art are you training in? First off you need to eat to grow. Eat quality meals with equal portions of carbs and protein, 6-7 a day. There is a common misconseption with martial artist when it comes to lifting legs. A lot of them think that it will ruin their flexability but this is clearly not the case. I lift my legs twice a week and can still do a full split. I would recommend doing squats, leg presses, leg extensions, and calf raises each 4 sets twice a week. As for chest stick to the incline bench press or incline dumbell press. Both of these are superior to the flat bench in my opinion. I only do chest once a week but you may need to train your chest twice. The key is to eat though, just remember "if you eat like a bird you'll look like a bird"

[gokussj51]

I train in shotokan for the past four and half years, our school is instructedd by the jka iskf in philadelphia,
so the incline is the best to push the chest muscles out, cool, i will try it and hopefully it will do me some good. The legs i agree with not loosing flexability, but if you dont stretch then you will loose it. Anyway thank you for the info, very much apprecaited.
Rob

[protobe]

eat right try to consume as much protein as possible 300grms to 400 maximum. for legs just do a lot of squats, rev leg extensions, leg presses and try to build the strength i used to force my body to get stronger by upping the weights every two weeks if only by 5-10 pounds for the same reps. My legs are naturally small too i found that just the right amount of sets no matter how bad it hurts and the right exercises work well. for chest i have a draping down chest which is great when its big but its very hard to get big so i do a lot of inclined barbell curls and flat bench adn do a lot of flyes you might benefit from all that too

if you want size try a 5 rep max for each set routine
or do a 4 set 12,10,8,6 reps for each exercise
they both work great
good luck