The best advice I could give a novice is to document there performance and adjust when their program ceases to yield consistant performance improvements. The next bit is to determine how much time they can commit to training. There more sources of bullshit than there are good quality info. a list of journal entries are, in no particular order
exercise choice, rep tempo, sets and reps to perform, rest between sets. volumes have been written about those. but prior to getting analyses paralysis, generally to start, chose a split, in the beginning, 1/2 and 1/2. push/pull works well. choose a rep range to start, 8 for instance, select a rep cadence and adhere to it. when performance intra workout, intra set drops below an acceptable level, quit the set, youve exhausted the benefit of that set, when you are able to complete a set amount of sets with the weight, add weight next workout. use that until you cannot continue to increase weights reps or otherwise. when that is done, change the rep range AND tempo.
use big motions, resist temptation to perform a very similar motion. dont do straight bar curls, ez curl bar curls, standing DB curls all in the same workout and expect to benefit from all simultaeneously. even with bench, change the grip a few inches, change the tempo, rep range,etc. Hard to get stale. Damn. I have to go back and re-plan everything I do.
The best advice a newbie can get and follow is lay the foundation right in the beginning. Dont worry about isolation exercises at all, and worry about Squats, Deadlifts, BentOver Barbell Rows, Standing Overhead Presses, Bench Presses,and Chin Ups. Learn how to properly preform these exercises, without straps, gloves, belts, wraps etc, and build up to good poundages on these exercises. In the beginning dont sacrfice form for weight, build up to heavy poundages in these exercises, but in good proper form. This will prevent injuries.Also dont neglect rest and recovery and get plenty of good quality sleep at night. Lay the same foundation with your diet, eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, high fiber grains, plenty of good clean protein and essential fats. Eat a balanced meal every few hours. Drink a high protein/high simple carb/no fat shake immediately after training. Drink plenty of water throughout the day.Its like building a house, the foundation must be strong and set properly to properly build the home you want. And if you are a “hard gainer”, check out Super Squats by Randall Strossen. A must have is Dinosaur Training by Brooks Kubik and Complete Keys to Progress by John McCallum.And every week read www.Testoterone.com, use their search engine, make use of the forum section and subscribe to the printed mag, and subscribe to Milo.
The best advice I’ve heard is to never stop learning! Keep on applying what you learn and you will keep on growing! (Some Grow and Androsol never hurt either!)
Ask advice from someone’s who already been there done it, take it slow, don’t expect results overnight, and above all, you are what you eat! Can’t expect only muscle and not fat gain when you’re eating McDonald’s every day.
Walk into THE GYM with humility. If you don’t, THE GYM will you humble you sooner or later, one way or another. Ask those who know(without pestering), watch those who do,observe and imitate what works. Don’t get stuck in a routine. Mix things up.Eat plenty of whole foods(none of that processed garbage). Get plenty of rest. Oh yeah, wipe your sweat off the bench when you’re done, pick the collars up off the floor, and if you don’t rack those dumbells when you’re done, I swear I will kick your lazy ass…
Expect it to be tough. Nothing in life that is worth doing is going to be simple, and that is just what weight training is like. If your trying to cut up, you will want to have the carbs, but you can’t. If you are trying to get bulk, you won’t want to eat, but you have to. There will be days that you just really don’t want to lift, but you have to get in the gym. Know that it is going to be tough when you start, so you aren’t disappointed when you have to make it your new lifestyle to get it done right.
If I could give you only one piece of advice... Androsol would be it...
The short term benefits of Androsol have been proven by scientists, were as the rest of my advice has no more basis or proof than my own hypertrophying existence…
Seriously though, this ancient Chinese Proverb says it all:
“A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor people perfected without trials.”
Bodybuilding is a life long journey of trial and error, rewards and dissapointments. You get out of it what you put into it (both mentally and physically!).
I could go on for paragraphs about tempo and form, bla, bla, bla. It’s all very important, but for someone starting off, attitude is everything!
(Given the generic beginner- that is to say of course normally we might be interested in what the person WANTED out of weight training.)
Beginners have an opportunity to experience rapid, consistent gains in lean muscle mass and strength without the aid of drugs, significant diet changes, or even supplements- just by virtue of the fact that they are beginners. In fact, if you’re relatively young, you may not ever experience the kinds of gains you will make as a novice again in your training lifetime, IF you train and recuperate properly. Your goal should be to take full advantage of this beginner’s tendency to gain muscle and strength quickly while at the same time minimizing risks of injury and overtraining.
Your training routine should not be geared entirely toward power/strength gains or sheer lean mass gains. Instead, try and incorporate elements of both. Keep it simple. Limit the scope of your exercises per bodypart as much as possible at first. For example, for the chest you will want to start bench pressing at 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions with the same weight for each set, following 2-3 warmup sets of 5-6 repetitions with a weight that requires moderate effort. Your 3 ‘work sets’ should be done with a weight that requires all of your strength to complete each set- as long as each set finishes at 8-10 reps, resting 3-5 minutes between each set (5 max!!) Finish your chest routine with 3 sets of dumbell flyes at 10-12 repetitions following a warmup set or two. You should try and do slightly higher reps for exercises that tend to isolate individual muscles. Your chest is done, and you’ve recorded the amount of weight used in a training journal so you can track and post increases. Do a leg routine that utilizes the same concept; squats followed by leg curls and extensions, or shoulders, military press followed by side-lateral cable raises, etc. The exercises you do are not so important as long as you work upper and lower body twice a week (three days’ rest between bodyparts. Use proper, strict form, and refer to a very basic guidebook (I’m talking a simple, instructive generic library deal) to determine what is appropriate form for any given exercise. This point cannot be overemphasized. An exercise not being performed properly IS NOT BEING PERFORMED, period. And do stick with the basic guidelines in that library book for form. You can check with Chucky P. and T.C. for masochistic variations in about six months to a year from now, when the beginner’s fairytale magic is over. Try to increase your weights by SOME amount every week (journal) for the compound exercises, staying within the 8-10 rep range. Switch up the exercises, (especially isolation-types) every 6-8 weeks, eat more protein: just double what you’re eating now- don’t try to count grams yet. Sleep well. This is how you get a beginner to become a lifetime trainer. Simple, no frills, don’t tell him he needs to start using/eating whatever. Give him a routine that will guarantee he gets hooked because of his own progress at a minimum of drastic life/checkbook changes. “Let me see that’s 1.5 grams per kilogram of bodyw…no, no, pound! Yeah. Okay so I weigh…”
Training, diet, and technical advice is great. But before you even walk into the gym, one thing must be clear: your strongest muscles are your brain and your heart. If they lag behind the rest, you’ll never go anywhere. Period.
I would tell a newbie to learn how to stretch and try to strech for at least 5 minutes before a work out. It developes a good habit and prevent those pesky unmotivational injuries.
That my 2 $.02.
Pat
Education is key. Found a credible source in
which to obtain information. Whatever the source (book,website,personal trainer,friend,
professor) make sure you research their background in training and education. There is many “I know everything about training” people out there. Don’t you become one too!
OK. There’s not much that hasn’t been said already but i’ll try to add my 2 cents. For years I trained ingnorantly. I figured I’ll go to the gym push some weight around, drink a Met-Rx and get big. Well it didn’t happen and no wonder, because I had no clue what it took to get bigger and stronger. So newbies please, before you even step in the gym, educate yourselves. Unfortunately there are very few reliable sources out there. Many people/publications are either uneducated(just because they’re big doesn’t mean they know what they’re talking about) or have their own agenda to attend to(selling supplements) So you have to weed through the garbage and often have to get you hands on scientific texts. Learn how you body works, how it synthesizes protein, how it grows. Then you can make up your own mind on how you should train, eat or supplement rather than foolishly folowing some supplement-pushing bodybuilder. Knowledge is power. Good Luck.
Instead of trying to impress me or the next guy, you need to impress yourself and make yourself happy. Everyone out there is trying to impress somebody for the wrong reasons. You need to be happy and then worry about what other people think. Work your ass off and the results will come. Be patient.
Good luck to all.
Macdawg
There is tons of info in the other posts - but - it all seems a bit much for true newbies. A question: if you are driving and do not know where you want to end up, can you get there? The answer is of course NO DAMN WAY. The same is true in bodybuilding: if you do not know where you want to end up how can you ever get there. SO? MAKE GOALS! Without them you will be lost. Specific short and long term goals are esential - even if your goal is not to eat a doughnut today, if you don’t make the goal you’ll eat the doughnut. Make specific goals - follow them and you’ll be on your way to success!
The weight game – to those who live it and breathe it, it can be the most involving aspect of their lives. To those who throw around some weights and consider the gym part of their social time, it can be fun and, in some cases, may improve fitness to some degree. You may eventually fall into one of these categories, fall somewhere inbetween, or fall out of lifting entirely. Where you will land you probably do not yet know.
The degree to which you involve yourself in the weight game is your choice; not everyone is cut out to lift to the point of vertigo and measure out meal portions. But regardless of your goals, you must know what they are and remain committed to them if you want to achieve them. You must find reliable, up-to-date information about how to get at what you want, and you really have to WANT. Beyond that there are the requisite needs of realism and patience, but with the above combination most goals are achievable.
Do not fall into common traps. The standard pit falls, just like good training advice and groundless dogma, are all around you. It is for you avoid those pit falls, to find the good sources of information, and to discard the poor. Every body is different -- perhaps yours can attain optimal growth training once a month or twice a day; mine can't, but that doesn't mean the same is true of yours... be wary of those who tell you that their way is the only way, the optimal way, the way backed by experiments done on rats hooked up to electrodes. Eventually it is for you to adjudicate between good and bad.
Lifting is a journey. For the dedicated, it is a life-long journey. For others, it is a way to pass time... and that's okay too, just be sure to go to a gym that suits your lifestyle. Your desires will help determine your goals; your goals, your tactics; your tactics, your results. Be sure your desires, goals, and tactics are in-line or the results will not come.
I believe the most important thing a beginning bodybuilder can learn or apply is the principle of Patience. Most beginners want muscles by today or a the very latest tommorrow. The confusing thing is, beginners can gain muscle mass by any routine for a short period of time. This often leads to gross overtraining, injuries and loss of motivation. My advice is be patient this is a sport that takes time. Rome was not built in a day…Nor will you body
This advice is for the newbies that are trying to become healthy for the first time in their lives:
Work hard, but with caution.
Strech afterwards, do some cardio,
get into the hut tub and really relax afterwards.
Learn to focus on the rewarding feeling of
goodnesh and freshness after a hard workout
and never forget how good it feels.
Then try to go back to your old life style, smoke a little, start drinking regulary and sleep irregulary and eat bad and then you can truly know the benifits of the bodybuilding life style as you plunge deeper into depression because you lost it all.
When you’ve gone through this cycle, and you are feeling the good vibe in the hut tub again, then for the first time, you can start thinking about getting big.
2:We live in a world that moves at the speed of light. Everywhere we go we are overwhelmed by information. We have Sat. TV with 1000 channels, 24 hour news cahnnels, 24 hour gameshow channels, the Internet, pagers, cell phones, etc… (It goes without sayin to remove all cell phones and beepers when in the gym, nothing amazes me more then the idiots in my gym who stop and answer beeps and their cell phone at the gym) Learn to use your time in the gym as a way to distance yourself from all the responsabilities of the world. In the gym you have no-ones expectations to live up to but your own. Only you know if you really gave your all on the set, only you can feel how good your pump was. Noone is looking over your shoulder, not your boss, not your wife, not your mother, nobody. The gym is one of the last places we have where we can totally dedicate everything we do to ourselves. Use it.
Give yourself 6 months to determine what you think and if it changed you for the better.train each body part once a week no more than 45 min per workout.perform slow and controlled movements sticking to basic movements.never train more than two days in a row.take measurements before and after.eat right ,which means 6 balanced meals per day and determine if you want to maintain muscle and define or add mass.adjust your caloric intake accordingly.rest at least 8 hours a day and take a good multivitamin.lastly to fine tune all three elements:training,rest and nutrition do searches at the forum on t-mag.remember all three elements work together and one without the other is negative.goodluck.