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09-06-2004, 03:03 AM
| #1 (permalink) |
| Newbie Trainer  Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 44
 |  Tips for Beginners! If your looking to slim down and lose the gut and/or gain some lean muscle, here is some information you might want to know. "A BEGINNER's GUIDE TO BODYBUILDING" MYTHS SPOT REDUCTION NO SUCH THING!!! Doing a hundred crunches will strengthen the abs, but won't do anything to the fat. Only through hard work, cardio, and a healthy diet will you achieve this. HIGHER REPS = MORE DEFINITION AND "TONENESS” The truth is, higher reps will NOT tone your muscles or make them more defined. Once again, this is having a low body fat %. Higher reps will work on endurance though and is great for some athletes and marathon runners. GAIN MUSCLE AND LOSE FAT When we all start out lifting, we have this lucky gift of being able to lose fat yet get muscle at the same time. Over time, this completely goes away. I notice a lot of posts are "oh my goals are to lose the old gut while getting my chest bigger...". This isn't going to happen unless you are a beginner (a.k.a newbie) or on steroids. Think about it. How can you gain muscle on a calorie deficit and/or lose fat on a calorie surplus? Once you feel you gotten to the point where you can no longer do the above, then you have a choice of doing a cutting or bulking phase. THE MORE THE BETTER (RIGHT?) Ever hear the phase "muscle grow outside the gym". Well, this phase fits in right here. When people first start out lifting, they tend to think that more is better. This is definatly not the case. Your muscles and body needs time to recover. Also, around an hour or so (differs from everyone), cortical is released from the body which can actually kill off muscle tissue and cause muscle catabalism. This can be prevented if you train smart. Do no more then a 5 day split training each muscle once a week (smaller ones twice most) and working out no more then an hour. Now don't get me wrong, everybody is different and people respond to different methods, principals, techniques, etc. But this most likely all you need to do. Most people say "oh, I'm training each body part 2x a week and only have one rest day and getting good results" but what they don't realize is that they aren't giving their body (central nervous system) full time to recover as well as their muscles. Even though muscles only need 48-72 hours to recover, they still don't recover fully which is why it benefits you to take a week off every 2-3 months. I DO CARDIO FOR MY LEG WORK..THAT'S ALL I NEED The truth is, legs also need heavy anaerobic sets just like the upper body. Running is to aerobic to call it a leg "mass builder". Besides, the best exercise known to us bodybuilders is for legs (SQUATS!). By the way, chicken legs and a huge upper body will look very unproportianal and kind of weird. I DIDN'T GET A PUMP OR WAS SORE THIS MORNING... "Pumps" and soreness in your muscles doesn't mean too much (for hypertrophy [ muscle growth]). I could get a good pump from picking a weight and lifting it for 100x. This will porbably deal way more with endurance then hypertrophy. Samething goes with soreness. The real way you can tell if your workouts are good is over time. CUTTING Now lets say your goal is to look nice and thin and get rid of the old gut and get abs by the summer times Here you are going too need to start reducing your calories, increasing protein, decreasing saturated fats and carbs. DIET Some diets where people got good results from: Atkins diet, keto diet Here are some estimations to help you figure out your calories and protein needs: Calories: bodyweight x 11-13 Protein: bodyweight x 1.2-1.4 The key here is too keep saturated fats in moderation. Don't totally eliminate them from your diet. You still need some. Also, don't go overboard with decreasing the carbs (unless you are on keto which requires you too). Depending on your metabolism, try to split this into 4-6 smaller meals over the course of the day. CARDIO You are also going to have to start doing some cardio. Start out with one short cardio session. By starting out with a lot of cardio days, you are only hurting yourself and looking for an injury. Each week, start increasing it until you get around 20-45 minutes. You might also want to look into HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) cardio. Don't let the time (12-15 minutes) of these cardio sessions fool you. The sessions are very intense. WEIGHT TRIANING Training splits should stay the same. Like I said before, reps shouldn't go higher. I prefer a 3 day split while cutting because it is easier to fit in cardio and easier to recover while under a calorie deficit. SUPPLEMENTS Some good supplements too look are: whey protein, multi vitamins, glutamine, and fat burners (WARNING: only take a fat burner if you are in good cardiovascular condition and have good blood pressure with no history of bad cardiovascular health). TIPS A way you can minimize muscle loss is not decreasing the calories all over night. Don't just decrease your calories all in a day. Your body has to get used to what it has. Slowly decrease your calories by 200-300 each week until you get to your desired calories, carbs, and saturated fats. BULKING How many people out there no matter how hard they try, can't gain any muscle? There are a few reasons why this is so. Are you over training? Are you eating enough? Are you getting enough sleep? Etc. DIET Most people have a good workout, but ignore there diet. Like I said before, you must be eating. Take a look at these estimations: Calories: bodyweight x 19-20 Protein: same as cutting Keep carbs high too around 300-450 gram range (depending on bodyweight). If you limit saturated fats and bulk cleanly, you will limit the time you need to cut and minimizing muscle loss. Try to eat this in a matter of 5-7 meals. TIPS If you are getting too fat (do not do this if you aren't gaining at all) throw in a cardio session or two during the week. If you are having trouble eating during class, eat a big breakfast and keep things that can be sealed like powerbars, peanuts, mrb shakes/bars in your locker. www.fitday.com and www.calorieking.com are both great links for nutritional breakdown of certain specific foods. WEIGHT TRAINING Here I would recommend a 4-5 day split. There are a ton out there. Anyone will pretty much work as long as you are eating & sleeping enough, and not overtraining. Most people respond best to the 8-10 and 6-8 rep range. Some people respond better to lower reps like the 4-6 and/or higher reps like the 10-12. Anything lower then 4 IMO, is for strength gains, SUPPLEMENTS Some good supplements to look into are: whey protein, multivitamins, creatine, bcaa, liver tabs, zma and L-glutamine. THE WORKOUT When working out, you want to try and stick with heavy compound movements. Back- Deadlifts, rowing movements, chinning/pull-ups Legs- Squats, stiff legged deadlifts, calf raises Shoulders - Shoulder presses (standing/seated, Arnold, DB/BB,etc) ISOLATION: raises Chest - Bench press, Dips, ISOLATION flyes and crossovers Biceps - Close-grip chinups, ISOLATION curls Triceps - Close-grip bench press, skull crushers, ISOLATION tricep pushdowns Traps- shrugs, upward row Abs- weighted & decline crunches, hanging leg raises, lying side bends and twist crunches (obliques) Here are some good websites for videos on proper form and exercises: http://www.2-fit.com/video/index.html http://www.theministryoffitness.com/exercises.htm http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html Have a protein shake (Whey protein shake) and some sort of simple sugar like honey and/or dextrose after your workouts. I recommend every month or two changing up your split. This will avoid a plateu when you no longer can gain anything. You can do something simple like superset or totally rearrange your split. Some great things to do are: pyramid (both up and down are good), supersets (and all variations), forced reps, down the rack, negatives (warm up properly before this), drop sets, etc. Bump up your calorie intake, protein, and carbs as well. and also... GET MOTIVATED! Originally posted by Sychokid here: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...threadid=101841 Author Sychokid Last edited by Peg; 30-04-2007 at 03:54 AM. |
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09-06-2004, 03:19 AM
| #2 (permalink) |
| UK-Muscle Moderator  Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Sunny Southern California U.S.A.
Posts: 24,337
  | Wow, nice! I love this, this is what I have read for years. Very impressive, I like reading over the basics! I like reading over the basics, hey I just said that. It is worth saying over again.  Sweet bro. Thanks;) |
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22-06-2004, 06:25 PM
| #7 (permalink) |
| The Geezer  Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Somerset although im not proud lol.
Posts: 2,978
| yeah, i have one of the best reads for a beginner though to gain weight, i'll give you the link, i am sure the guy that wrote it will not mind as it is beneficial to so many 1. Mind-set So often neglected by the beginner and yet the most important ingredient in success…. DESIRE. So many fail by seeing it as a short term goal to improve your physique. This will contribute to failure. Get it out of your head that you need to get in shape for your holiday in 8 weeks time. You should see it as a lifestyle. A way to live your life. "A bodybuilder is for life not just for Christmas" Accept the condition your body is in and make the decision to change your life to achieve your objectives. Accept it is a long term plan and you will not be disheartened if it takes time to improve. Lets face it folks, if it was easy then everbody would be doing it. Be realistic about your goals. A beginner should not be saying I want to lose 30Ibs of fat and gain 20Ibs of lean muscle in 2 months. It Just Won’t happen, yet people time & again put this sort of image in their mind and become disheartened when it doesn’t happen that fast. Time to wake up and forget the brainwashing from much of the health & fitness industry we have endured most of our lives to sell their latest fat loss or muscle growth gimmick. Prepare yourself for hard work and sacrifice and you will see it as something you love and not as a chore. You will see it as something that distinguishes you from the masses who cannot be bothered or those who shoulder too much pride to seek advice. As soon as you see it as a chore you are on the path to failure. 2. Objective Setting First of all assess your physique. Decide what you need to do most of all – Lose fat, build muscle. How fat you are, or how small your muscles are, will determine where your priorities are. I feel this is important so that you can set yourself some attainable targets. Remember…. For fat loss, the more muscle you have the more calories your body burns at rest and while exercising a Ib of muscle burns roughly 10x as many calories as a Ib of fat (approx 70 cals per hour compared to 7 cals per hour for fat). Set some sensible targets e.g. to lose 10Ibs of fat in 5 weeks and gain 5 Ibs of lean muscle mass. Despite what we think, it is physically more difficult to build muscle than to lose fat. You can, though not advisable, lose 4 or 5 Ibs of fat in a week (as you are likely to lose muscle mass). You cannot build 5Ibs of lean muscle in a week.... live with that fact as It will not happen. Setting some lifting targets as you become familiar with the exercises and your routine e.g adding 20kg to your bench press in a month, will help you gauge your progress. 3. Training – Weights Your weights routine will be the bedrock of your lean muscle gains. To make consistant and long term gains you should make of point of having a structured weight routine from the start. My first recommendation is to join a good gym. A gym that offers a comprehensive induction process, members of staff who know what they are doing. It should have a full range of free weights & equipment, lots of dumbells and plates (especially plenty of the heavy plates-20Kgs) for you to work your way up to the bigger weights. A good gym will be one where you feel comfortable. It is very important that as a novice you are NOT INTIMIDATED by training alongside much more experienced bodybuilders. They won’t bite you !!!! Most are very nice, helpful and normal people that are good fun and very helpful. They will not be looking down at you because you are new to the sport. We all were at some time! In fact use their experience to help show you how to do exercises correctly, etc as most of us just love the sound of our own voice and will not hesitate to help someone less experienced. Swallow that pride folks. My preference is to start as you mean to go on and learn to use free-weights asap. They will allow a much more thorough workout of the muscles than machines due to the full range of natural motion you can achieve in the exercises and that they recruit many more fibres in the supporting muscles and working muscles than machines. More fibres recruited….. More muscle gains you’ll make. GET YOUR FORM RIGHT!!!! This cannot be stressed enough. Poor form is rife amongst the MAJORITY of gym goers and will vastly hinder your progress. Do not sacrifice good form in ALL exercises for more weight just to feed your ego! Your muscles will develop MUCH quicker and you will have much less risk of injury if your form is good. If you cannot complete good form with the exercise then the weight is too heavy for you. It's that simple! Live with it! And work at getting stronger while having perfect form. Do not try and compete against the bloke next to you who is doing it wrong but lifting heavier. (in 6 months time he'll be the one that won't have grown much at all and you can leave him to wonder how you have put on so much mass.) To see how any exercises are done correctly click here – http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=33049 Try and separate your workouts into splits – chest, biceps, triceps, back, traps, legs, calves, shoulders, abs. Train each group once a week and your body will have plenty of time to recover and rest. You grow when you rest. A nice 4 day split that will not kill you is - Chest/Triceps/Abs - Back/Biceps - Shoulders/Traps - Legs/Calves As a good rule aim for 9-12 sets (MAXIMUM) for Large Muscle groups (Chest/Back/Legs) followed by a smaller muscle group for 6-8 sets (MAXIMUM)(Biceps/Triceps/Shoulders/Abs/Calves). Go easy on the biceps as they are much smaller than the tricep so will probably respond better at the lower end of that set range. Forget about doing 50 sets of bicep curls for big arms! You'll overtrain them and they will not grow to their full potential. Also as a good rule work at a weight that you can perform 6-8 reps with strict form with before you can’t hold good form anymore. When 8x becomes comfortable then you can add a little more weight on. 6-8 reps is the best compromise between hypertrophy gains (muscle growth) & strength gains. Where you see "train to failure " - this means until you cannot do anymore reps at that weight with perfect form. Here’s an idea for a routine as an example which was my own routine based on gaining lean mass and shifting some bodyfat: SATURDAY - Chest/Tri 5 Min warm-up Dumbell Flat Bench - 4 sets 6-8 reps Weighted Dips For Chest - 4 sets 6-8 reps (last set to failure) Incline Dumbell Fly- 4 sets 6-8 reps (last set to failure) Skull Crushers - 3 sets 6-8 reps (or close grip bench press) overhead cable presses 3 sets 6-8 reps (last set to fail) (or close grip bench presses) SUNDAY - Back/Bi 5 min warm-up Deadlifts 4 sets 6-8 reps (last set to failure) Bent Over One Arm Dumbell Rows 4 sets 6-8 reps Lat pulldowns 3 sets 6-8 reps (last set to fail) (I would prefer you to do chins instead though if you are strong enough to lift your bodyweight) Barbell Bicep curl 3 sets 6-8 reps One arm Dumbell Hammer curls 3 sets 6-8 reps MONDAY REST & Cardio (30 mins swimming before brekkie approx 40 lengths) TUESDAY - Delts/traps 5 min warm-up Seated Dumbell military press 3 sets 6-8 reps Lateral dumbell raises (side) 3 sets 6-8 reps (last to fail) Barbell Shrugs 5 sets 6-8 reps WEDNESDAY REST & Cardio (30 mins swimming b4 brekkie) THURSDAY - Legs & Abs 5 min warm-up Barbell Squats 4 sets 6-8 reps Stiff Legged Dead Lifts 3 sets 6-8 reps Calf Raises 4 sets 8-10 reps (last set to fail) Weighted Swiss Ball crunches 4x sets 6-8 reps hanging leg raises 4x sets 6-8 reps Dumbell side bends 3x sets 6-8 reps FRIDAY REST & Cardio (30 mins swim b4 brekkie) [SEE END OF POST FOR ALTERNATE ROUTINE TO CHANGE TO WHEN YOU HIT PLATEAU] For some other routine ideas click here - http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=29461 4. Rest This is very important. You should aim to give your muscles a week’s rest for recovery and growth. Muscles grow while you rest. It is very easy to overtrain and when you do your body goes into catabolysis (where it starts using the body’s protein source – muscle). This is not good. Many budding Bodybuilders overtrain and wonder why their biceps haven’t grown in the last 6 months! (that is why I have listed the rep & set numbers like I have). It is very easy to overtrain, especially when you are very enthusiastic at the outset. To begin with you will most likely gain some muscle but not nearly as much as if you rested properly. No good doing 20x sets of bicep curls 3x a week. Your arms will not grow! You should get a minimum of 8hrs sleep every night. You grow while you sleep. Less than 7hrs and you start to risk catabolysis of the muscles and lose those hard earned gains. 5. Training – Cardio Important for fat loss & cardiovascular fitness. You should aim to do cardio on separate sessions from weights so that your muscle glycogen is used while weight training to fuel the muscles. DO NOT perform cardio before the weights sessions otherwise you reduce the potency of the weights session. Fat loss cardio should be at 65% Max Heart Rate (MHR) for 30-40 mins and ideally before breakfast so that your body can tap into its fat stores for fuel immediately. Any more than this and at a higher intensity then your body will also utilise protein for fuel and lead to muscle loss (HIIT is the exception to this but we’ll keep it simple for now). If time is a prob then if you have to do cardio in the same session as weights then do it AFTER the weights and for no more than 20 mins at 65% MHR. Always try to have a protein shake before cardio (even 1st thing in the morning). Endurance cardio is done at higher intensity. Not great for bodybuilders as it is more catabolic but with protein taken before & after the session it should minimise catabolysis. 6. Diet I’m gonna keep this real simple – EAT CLEAN, EAT BIG - Try and eat every 3hrs to keep protein flowing through your body to provide a positive nitrogen balance and to keep your metabolic rate high. Muscle growth – High Protein, High Complex Carbohydrates, Moderate Fat (good fats – flax seed oil, rape seed oil, etc) Fat Loss – High Protein, Lower Complex Carb, Lower Fat. To lose fat you need to use more calories than you consume. To gain muscle you need to raise the calories to a higher level than you would utilise. This means a little fat gain but with some gentle adjusting you’ll find where your level is at. Aim for 1.5g of protein per Ib bodyweight for gaining & fat loss. 200Ib person would need 300g protein in diet per day for bodybuilding. Worth going to the diet forum for specific diet advice as this is a BIG area. Also remember to get protein in you before you go to bed, when you wake up and immediately after weights. This is when your body needs it most. 7. Supplements Food. Good whey Protein supplement for post training & when you wake up. That’s it! As a beginner you are wasting money on all the muscle solutions, fat burners, etc that are out there as your body will change drastically with 6 months hard work. Once you have the basic platform then you can think about extra supplements. As for beginners thinking about steroids…. Forget it. They are for the serious & experienced Bodybuilder who has reached their natural limit. A get big quick solution may seem appealing to a novice but do not be tempted as you need to know what your body’s limits are to use these effectively IMO. Finally remember that bodybuilding is about getting a good balance between attitude/weight training/Rest/Cardio/Diet. If you neglect any of the areas I have mentioned so far then you are not fulfilling your natural potential. Good luck and any questions you have feel free to post away…… Likewise, if any of the experienced Bro’s have anything to add (I’m sure there’ll be plenty ) then please do so. 8) Wear Comfortable clothing! http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/bodybuilding-tshirt.asp (This is a James Edit!) -------------------------- Alternate Routine 1. When you find that your strength & mass gains start to slow and you want to change the routine then you can try this one for size... Chest/Shoulders/Tri 5 Min warm-up Dumbell Incline Bench - 5 sets 5 reps (very low incline) Weighted Dips For Chest - 5 sets 5 reps Seated Dumbell military press 5 sets 5 reps Skull Crushers - 5 sets 5 reps (or close grip bench press) Back/Trap/Bi 5 min warm-up Deadlifts 5 sets 5 reps Wide Grip Chins 5 sets 5 reps Bent Over Barbell Rows 3 sets 5 reps Barbell Bicep curl 5 sets 5 reps (Strict Form!!!) Incline seated dumbell curls 3 sets 5 reps (arguably this exercise can be cut out. Just listen to your body and decide how knackered your biceps are by this point) Legs & Abs 5 min warm-up Barbell Squats 5x sets 5 reps Stiff Legged Dead Lifts 5 sets 5 reps Calf Raises 5 sets 5 reps (last set to fail) Weighted Swiss Ball crunches 4x sets 6-8 reps lying leg raises 4x sets 6-8 reps (if you can do these resisted tyhen even better.) Dumbell side bends 3x sets 6-8 reps I've put a combination in that will work you hard. Start to push yourself hard on the weight and on the 5x5 exercises don't worry if you can only do 2 reps on your last set. It's better that you work harder on your early sets and keep the weight the same on your later sets but drop the rep numbers as your muscle tires, than to drop the weight. When you can actually hit 5 sets of 5 reps then it's time to add some more weight. Your strength should progress nicely. bit long but brilliant!!!!!! Made by Cashman on www.muscletalk.co.uk |
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29-06-2004, 05:30 AM
| #8 (permalink) |
| Newbie Trainer Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 55
| Hmm, wow that was a great article there, looks awfully familiar. Thought it was something I wrote, then realized since there were no sources or references from where this came from, that it couldnt of been mine  Did you write this BigGiver? Last edited by Sychokid; 29-06-2004 at 05:35 AM. |
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30-06-2004, 01:38 AM
| #11 (permalink) |
| The Geezer Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Somerset although im not proud lol.
Posts: 2,978
| i personally think that article should have a permanant place on this board for beginners, as long as Cashman's name is at the end of it, and his efforts are rewarded then he will be fine with it. definetly best read i have had on gaining muscle mass. |
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30-06-2004, 03:42 AM
| #12 (permalink) |
| Newbie Trainer Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 55
| Oh yeh, I forgot, I'm the guy who wrote this article Bigiver has posted, if anyone is wondering, it can be found here originally: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hreadid=101841 This guy didnt give me any credit, and changed around some of the words Im glad you guys like it, Im fine with it being here, just without any citations from where this came from, people will claim its theres, etc Take care everyone |
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30-06-2004, 03:51 AM
| #13 (permalink) | |
| UK-Muscle Male Animal  | Quote:
How did you find that post so fast? That is not a flame and I dont want you to take it that way. | |
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30-06-2004, 03:52 AM
| #14 (permalink) | |
| Newbie Trainer Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 55
| Quote:
a bit back, someone had stole my article and claimed it as theres, but it turned out good, the guy realized I found out about it, and deleted. Every now and then I get paranoid and run a search on google and see what happens Take care ;) | |
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30-06-2004, 04:00 AM
| #15 (permalink) | |
| UK-Muscle Male Animal | Quote:
I am glad that he posted your info. It is the same stuff I have been saying for years. Wow I am even more impressed than ever. | |
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