hey everyone,
im a beginner at lifting weights, im only 17,im trying to get decent size arms and what everyone wants the six pack abs.im about 5"7 and right now im at 126 pounds for some reason i started losing weight i was at 133 but i dont know what happend.
i was working out there for a little while but i had no motivation to keep me going to i quit working out. but now i want to get going again and not quit, ill do anything to get the body that i want so plz someone help me!
-Richard
Your diet is THE KEY to get what you want! The diet is way more important than your training. Without a proper diet, you will get NOWHERE even with proper training. So get a proper, healthy diet and bulk. 5"7 and 126 lbs is really thin, so just bulk moderately with 3000 calories a day. Count calories, and macro-nutrients.
If you don’t gain around 3 lbs (you’re a beginner) a week (/edited) you aren’t eating enough calories a day. And if you are getting to fat (altrhough a little fat will always come, when gaining weight) you are eating to much. This is why it is important to count calories. I do it in a smart Excel-program designed for it, where I just select a type of food from a huge list and enter the amount of grams, and it automatically writes the macronutrients and keep track of all days food etc (but it is in Danish, not English)
And for training, don’t do any splits or super-sets or other mambo-jambo while you’re still a beginner. Keep it simple. Do a fullbody-workout 3 days a week with focus on not only your “beach-muscles” but also your legs and back!
A program could look like this:
Squat
Deadlift
Bench Press
Bent-over Rows
Military Press
Chin-ups
Do 4 sets of each exercise with 8 reps. Keep it one rep short of failure (Never hit failure! It’s really taxing on your recovary) and never do forced reps (the same). Remember to keep the form rather good and increase the weight everytime you can (which has to be alot, atleast every week while you are still a newbie - push yourself). Get the big guys in the gym to teach you proper technique in the lifts.
This is gonna take years.
Welcome.
If you haven’t already done so, read the “are you a beginner” thread in this forum. Pick one of the lifting programs recommended in that thread, do it exactly as written, stick with it and keep moving bigger weights. Eat enough good food to gain some mass and get into basic healthy eating habits like eating every 2-3 hours, making sure each meal contains protein, getting enough healthy fats etc.
Don’t worry about your arms and abs so much at this point - make your whole body a decent size first. Visible abs are mostly a matter of being lean and it’s much easier to get lean when you’re carrying more muscle. And you physically can’t get big arms without meat on your torso - otherwise every curl-obsessed fratboy would have a tiny body and huge arms.
Nobody’s going to motivate you or hold your hand. That is strictly up to you. Set some strength and size goals. Achieve them. Set higher ones. Repeat.
ok thank you both, i do have a couple questions though. misterhaper the exercises you gave me, do i do them every day or every other day, im really new to all this. i didnt know it took all this to just get some muscles.
im not saying im a child but from what my mom says is i shouldnt have to change my food habits to eating only chicken and fish, becuase im a very picky eater, the only things i eat are chicken, steak, tacos, sometimes spigetti, enchiladas, and hamburgers, i thinks thats about it, so what exactly should i take out of my special foods i eat, and seriously i really only eat these things
oh and by the way i dont go to the gym or anything, i have a weight bench at my house so what are the best things i can do for fast results
[quote]nd4spd89 wrote:
ok thank you both, i do have a couple questions though. misterhaper the exercises you gave me, do i do them every day or every other day, im really new to all this. i didnt know it took all this to just get some muscles.
im not saying im a child but from what my mom says is i shouldnt have to change my food habits to eating only chicken and fish, becuase im a very picky eater, the only things i eat are chicken, steak, tacos, sometimes spigetti, enchiladas, and hamburgers, i thinks thats about it, so what exactly should i take out of my special foods i eat, and seriously i really only eat these things
oh and by the way i dont go to the gym or anything, i have a weight bench at my house so what are the best things i can do for fast results[/quote]
Every other day. In most program the muscles requires around 2 days rest (altrough there is few exceptions, in some programs the muscles only require 1 day and in other programs it requires 4 days etc). But a fullbody-workout everyother day, with focus on all the big lifts, is a good way, if not the best way, to go as a beginner and when you become more advanced you might consider a split.
First of all, you gotta realise that almost nobody knows shit about what weight-lifting and growing is all about. Almost everybody is full of shit, and if you keep listening to it they will drag you down. You have to stand by yourself and educate yourself in this, and just close the ears to almost everything most gym-rats, parents, friends etc. say.
Second of all, you don’t have to eat only chicken and fish. The most important thing is to just eat healthy and get a good amount of proteins (from the daily food, and if that isn’t enough, then from additional powder) and calories and healthy fat.
Count your calories and macro-nutrients, and try to get hold of a program like mine - it is really a relief to use. Maybe some englishmen in here knows such a program. You probably already know what’s healthy; oatmeal, meat, eggs, milk, dark bread, corns, vegetables etc. You can still drink a cola etc, just don’t do it as much as your friends. Remember, they don’t want to get big and mean and lean.
Go the the gym. It is the best thing you can ever do to yourself. They got all the things you need: a squat-rack, lots of plates, dumbbells, quality benches etc. Even if there is 10 miles to the nearest center, man it up and go there everyother day.
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/6600/image00007pq3.jpg
This was my results after 9 months of training (altrough it is crappy quality) but sadly I haven’t always been able to follow my own advice, but I am trying very hard to do so.
ok sounds very good, i will start that workout tomorrow for sure, but i have a couple questions, what exactly do these work outs, work out or should i say witch muscles, and im not exactly sure how to do deadlifts. but the military press i think is when you pretty much bench press while sitting or standing, correct me if im wrong, and the thing is about going to the gym, since i live with my mom still i still have to follow her orders, so she seems to think since i have a bench in the back yard i dont need to go to the gym so she wont let me take the time to go to one, and on top of that im starting my senior year in high school so i really wont have time to go to a gym.
oh yyea and i have nothing to do chin ups on is there a solution to that?? and can i stick with the other work outs that im doing??
25 bicycle crunches
25 crunches with my legs in a L shape
75 bridges on each side
25 diamond push ups
i forgot to say one last thing should i honestly go on a diet, i mean im only 17, i was reading some other threads and people were tell 17 year old guys to eat eat eat should i do the same, or is it eat eat eat health?? i really want to get big fast, but i know thats not going to happen because of how small i am, would you like any pictures to see how small i actually am??
I am only 15 years old, and my mom don’t like me training either (she thinks its disgusting, so does my sister - and my father don’t like me being twice as strong as him) - but as I said before, don’t listen to all the crap you hear. Do what pleases you first, then do what pleases others second. You mom don’t know how much better it is for you to go to the gym - but you probably do, and that is why you should follow your own hearth.
You won’t get strong by doing all those bicycle crunches and bridges. You will get strong by lifting heavy shit from the floor and over your head.
If you don’t know an exercise, try searching on it on google or youtube and then get a trainer or a big guy in the center to show you proper form.
Even when you are going to school, you can still go to a gym in the town your school is at, or use your schools gym. If you want to get strong or get anything in life, then quit those excuses.
You shouldn’t “eat eat eat”, because then you will problaby become rather flabby. You should “eat eat eat, so you are gaining muscle and not much fat”. If you hurry up and eat tons and tons of food, you will get fat, and then you have to spend lots of time dieting down afterwards.
The pictures, you can use as “before”-pictures, and after 1 year you can take some new pictures to show the world how much discpline and confidence you now have. 
If you try to eat a lot of nothing but the healthiest foods you’ll probably get awful tired of them very fast. What works for a lot of beginners trying to gain is basically “eat eat eat” mostly healthy stuff. For example buy whole wheat pasta instead of regular spaghetti and put plenty of lean ground beef in the sauce. Cook in olive oil. Snack on walnuts instead of potato chips. Fast food burgers or pizza once in a while won’t kill you.
Yes, a military press is sort of like a bench press but standing. A soldier stands and does not sit at attention so seated it would not technically be called a military press. A good list of exercises with descriptions and simple video can be found here:
http://exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
Deadlifting is one of the most basic human motions - walk up to something, crouch down, grab it, pick it up. The only reason it’s kind of scary at first is because the weights get big - even a completely untrained guy can often deadlift his own bodyweight easily. There are many articles on how to deadlift properly. For example Eric Cressey’s deadlifting articles here:
http://www.T-Nation.com/ALSAuthor.do?p=Eric%20Cressey&pageNo=1
Chin-ups… do you have a tree in your yard you can use? I do them either off the side of a staircase at home or on a doorway in a bathroom at work. You could also buy a doorway chinup bar.
It’s often easier to make fast gains when you’re very small. I was skinnier than you ten months ago, now I’ve gained over 50 pounds. Guys who are pretty big generally don’t make gains which are as rapid.
[quote]nd4spd89 wrote:
ok thank you both, i do have a couple questions though. misterhaper the exercises you gave me, do i do them every day or every other day, im really new to all this. i didnt know it took all this to just get some muscles.
im not saying im a child but from what my mom says is i shouldnt have to change my food habits to eating only chicken and fish, becuase im a very picky eater, the only things i eat are chicken, steak, tacos, sometimes spigetti, enchiladas, and hamburgers, i thinks thats about it, so what exactly should i take out of my special foods i eat, and seriously i really only eat these things
oh and by the way i dont go to the gym or anything, i have a weight bench at my house so what are the best things i can do for fast results[/quote]
It does take a lot of effort over a lot of time to build muscles. Lucky for you that at 17 you’re swimming in natural hormones and primed to gain. This could be the best 3-5 years you’ll ever get for quick gains so take it seriously.
‘Picky Eating’ is generally, to be frank, bullshit. That’s what happens when the little kid gets to dictate what’s on the table. You’ll need to grow up a bit here and just get eating various foods. Agaih you’re lucky - the steak and hamburgers are big on protein and nothing bad about the rest but make sure you add some eggs, nuts and a good selection of fruit and veg - don’y go eating one carrot and thinking you’re done - get into the habit.
presumably you have a barbell and some weights - exercises you can do are the deadlift, clean and press, military press, bent row (though stop if you start getting bad backs), and bench presses (though never do this without someone to help should you get stuck under the bar).
You can also add various press ups, try putting you feet on a chair for inclines and make sure your body is rigid and if possible try doing chins/pullups - very hard to start with and very good.
Look up the correct form for all these, really - do it please. Dont be afraid of using very light weights at first and always increase the weight in small amounts. Do at least a little warming up and some comfortable stretches before each session.
Check this site for beginners routines and diet advice, stick to the basics, don’t worry about supplements, maybe a protein powder if you must, and be prepared to do this for a long time. Dont expect to suddenly turn into Arnold - You’ll look good at 18, great at 19 and greater still at 21 and so on. Good luck!
Also, if you can’t get to a gym and don’t have a rack to use for squats at home, learn to do pistols (single-leg squats) and hack squats. I hope you’re not getting flooded with too much advice but doing some sort of squat is essential and those of us who don’t have access to a rack have to use some pretty old-school ways.
ok well thank you all for such great info, i did forget to tell yuo guys one thing my weight bench has a cable on it too, if you know what im mean, im pretty sure you do.
can someone give me some kind of routine, i want to get going on something everyday!
you know what i completly forgot about the routine you gave me misterhamper, im just going to start that tonight.
[quote]nd4spd89 wrote:
you know what i completly forgot about the routine you gave me misterhamper, im just going to start that tonight.[/quote]
Good luck with it. Remember, stick to the compound movements (those that involve several muscles, like the bench press or the deadlift etc) and if there is some places, you would like to give some extra attention, then throw in an isolation-exercise at the bottom of the workout (like some curls or lateral raises). The compound movements is what’s gonna make you a big, strong motherfucker.
ok thank you,
when im bench pressing and want to lift more weight, how muh more should i put on at a time?
im also going to add curls the the work out because i want arms really bad!
oh and i forgot about the squats, what can i replace them with, the reason i ask is because i cant do them at my house, is there anything else i can do?
like DSmolken said, try doing Pistols (1 legged squats) or hack squats instead. Also, if you are looking for a way to keep track of your diet - try www.fitday.com its what I use and it works great for tracking macro nutrients and calories. Good luck with all your goals
Hey Everyone im back, i just have a quick question, should i kepp doing this same rutine or can some one give me a new one
im doing this every other day!
Squat
Deadlift
Bench Press
Bent-over Rows
Military Press
Chin-ups
i really havent been doing the squats because i cant do them, because all’s i have is a bench with a leg bar and pulling cable. but i do 4 sets of each 10 to 15 times, everyother day. anyone got any ideas!!!???
nd4spd89,
Have you read the “Are you a Beginner?” thread? As for replacements for squats, you were given some ideas above (pistols). You can also do bodyweight squats, zercher squats and wall sits.
Again, read the “Are you a Beginner?” thread.
Oh, if the routine you were doing was working for you (you are growing and increaseing the weight you use or the number of reps or sets you do) you can keep using it but change the order. That is, don’t start with the same exercise. Just pick one of the others to start with and then work through the others.