the best way to get a good workout?

[mattsteg]

Screw getting big. Get strong. Get quick. Get fast. Get powerful. Get nimble. Get agile. Function beats the crap outta form, and form follows function far more closely than function follows form.

You might have to define strong/powerful. That gets a bit subjective. Because that's my main goal, strength, but the bulk is going to come with it. Especially for me, it's going to be almost impossible to get the strength gains I want without getting the added muscle. I would think it would be the same for most people. And as far as bulk and athleticism is concerned it really depends on the sport you are talking about. Some sports require quite a bit of musculature. Even track and field, I mean, have you seen most sprinters? Then you've got the shot putters and discus throwers, who are some big guys and gals. Also look at some male gymnast, those guys are quite built in my opinion.

The subjectivity is entirely intentional. The main idea is that I prefer lifting for performance reasons, not appearance reasons. So do you - your stated primary goal is adding strength and bulk gains are secondary (and accomplished with the purpose of building a foundation for more strength). Form follows function. My strong preference is to define the function (get stronger) and let the form (get bigger, more toned, etc) follow. That provides direction and motivation so you don't end up with a lot of bulk you don't know how to utilize. I've certainly got nothing against adding bulk, but caution against adding it without direction or coherent purpose. The muscular sprinter clearly depends primarily on his legs and, to a large extent, they carry his upper body around. He clearly benefits more from concentrating on lower body strength and explosiveness (which he obviously needs to train heavily) while keeping his upper body in balance without going overboard. A boxer's going to need a bit more in the upper body on top of a solid core. Shot put and discus are full-body motions, so head to toe strength and flexibility matter a lot, as do agility and balance. The gymnast needs a lot of strength while controlling bulk and optimizing flexibility. They're solid as hell, but certainly not musclebound. All of these athletes train hard and train to mold their body optimally to accomplish their favored athletic feat. They're all going to focus on explosiveness, power, and quickness rather than brute strength too. That focus on performance yields a variety of forms far more impressive and "perfect" than that of a dedicated bodybuilder focusing primarily on form. All IMO of course.

That's one of the things I love about T-Nation -- it covers all that. There is an entire section devoted specifically to MMA, and I think that fits your description perfectly. While I like Chad Waterbury's older workouts for their maximum muscle building, he has moved quite strongly into the MMA arena as of late. I have no problem with this, but it is a very different focus.

I'll have to poke around more. I've got no use for workouts designed for musclebound guys looking primarily for form and bulk - if I work out it's to improve performance. As you said it's a very different focus.

[mattsteg]

That's one of the things I love about T-Nation -- it covers all that. There is an entire section devoted specifically to MMA, and I think that fits your description perfectly. While I like Chad Waterbury's older workouts for their maximum muscle building, he has moved quite strongly into the MMA arena as of late. I have no problem with this, but it is a very different focus.

I'll have to poke around more. I've got no use for workouts designed for musclebound guys looking primarily for form and bulk - if I work out it's to improve performance. As you said it's a very different focus.

I'm just not seeing much of anything of interest. There's just a flood of information on things I have no interest in whatsoever, to the point where finding stuff I care about is iffy at best. Way too much emphasis on form and too little on function for me.

[Synchromesh]

I'm a skinny guy too, 6'5" 175lbs. I agree with SecretMaster, we can't put on mad amounts of muscle, we are just alot more toned. I play college volleyball and have taken the first year of Human Kinetics in college, so I know a couple things about working out.

Check with BMI index but 175lbs with such a height doesn't seem right. A friend of mine is 6'1 205lbs or so and he is pretty normal with some muscle (he plays sports but he is not very buff). Another friend is 5'10 210lbs but that d00d is very buff plus chubby at the same time.

Personally, I got to the gym and do some running and freeweights. The only reason I go is that the gym is in condo downstairs so there really is no excuse for missing it. All the other gyms I went to usually lasted 2-3 months tops because they were further away, it took a lot of time to get there and back and would I eventually become too lazy to go.

[mattsteg]

I'm a skinny guy too, 6'5" 175lbs. I agree with SecretMaster, we can't put on mad amounts of muscle, we are just alot more toned. I play college volleyball and have taken the first year of Human Kinetics in college, so I know a couple things about working out.

Check with BMI index but 175lbs with such a height doesn't seem right. A friend of mine is 6'1 205lbs or so and he is pretty normal with some muscle (he plays sports but he is not very buff).

BMI's pretty pointless except arguably as a statistical tool for evaluating entire populations. For the record, it'd label NomandixGT as "normal" and your friend as 15 pounds "overweight". The range of sizes and shapes that the human frame can take makes an indicator like the BMI pretty worthless for considering individual cases.

[lucas1985]

The Intense Workout

[Spyrano]

Lindy Hop

[NomandixGT]

I'm a skinny guy too, 6'5" 175lbs. I agree with SecretMaster, we can't put on mad amounts of muscle, we are just alot more toned. I play college volleyball and have taken the first year of Human Kinetics in college, so I know a couple things about working out.

Check with BMI index but 175lbs with such a height doesn't seem right. A friend of mine is 6'1 205lbs or so and he is pretty normal with some muscle (he plays sports but he is not very buff).

BMI's pretty pointless except arguably as a statistical tool for evaluating entire populations. For the record, it'd label NomandixGT as "normal" and your friend as 15 pounds "overweight". The range of sizes and shapes that the human frame can take makes an indicator like the BMI pretty worthless for considering individual cases.

I have checked my BMI. Mine is about 8% (last time I checked). I agree with mattsteg that it is a stat tool, but it is a useful tool if you are overweight. For the skinnier guys it's not much of a factor IMO; at least I'm not concerned with it at all.

As for the form and function discussion, I agree with that as well. I've always been a pretty 'skinny' guy, but I'm still able to compete at high-level sports. It's just the way I'm built; I'm a speed/agility/jumping type build, not a big bulking powerhouse guy. But I am a strong advocate of working out, as I've found out this year that I need to stay in the gym to maintain my strength and speed/jump.

In general I'd say if you don't do weights, then find an activity you really enjoy (like volleyball, basketball, tennis, swimming etc) and stick with it. You may not get the mad muscle you want, but you will see some strength gains and will definitely benefit from the exercise (decrease risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity and for me personally it makes me feel great).

[mattsteg]

I have checked my BMI. Mine is about 8% (last time I checked). I agree with mattsteg that it is a stat tool, but it is a useful tool if you are overweight. For the skinnier guys it's not much of a factor IMO; at least I'm not concerned with it at all.

Just to nitpick, that's not a BMI. It's a body fat % which is a fair bit more valid/useful.

[NomandixGT]

I have checked my BMI. Mine is about 8% (last time I checked). I agree with mattsteg that it is a stat tool, but it is a useful tool if you are overweight. For the skinnier guys it's not much of a factor IMO; at least I'm not concerned with it at all.

Just to nitpick, that's not a BMI. It's a body fat % which is a fair bit more valid/useful.

Ah you're right, my bad.

[Usacomp2k3]

4.3% baby...At least I was 10 months ago and I haven't grown up or out since then.

[Buub]

The Intense Workout

A REALLY intense workout!