My Two Cents for Beginners

Training
1

Don’t obsess over lifting programs.

The baseline for any new trainee should be technique because without it no program in the world will save you. 1000 shitty squats does not equate to a single good squat.

Improper technique will not only stunt your results, but it will eventually lead to injury or nagging pain that could haunt you for the rest of your lifting days.

And pertaining to exercise order or templates, there is no magical number of reps and sets that will give you expedited results. There are highly recommended protocols, templates to follow, but no one template justifies the order for everyone.

Push yourself, but know your boundaries.

Keep exercise selection to a minimum. There is no need for 18 different exercises to be performed in a given workout. Hence, the push/pull/leg routines have soared in popularity due to its simplicity and effectiveness.

Again, master the movements and you will master your bio mechanics.

Breathe.

Following a successful bodybuilders routine will not work for you. Period. Unless, you are experienced or under proper supervision of a certified coach.

As you may already know, your diet is crucial to your success. Do your research and find a diet that you can actually follow for months, not one week.

If you don’t know what to workout, you can never go wrong with push ups, pull ups, or squats. Weighted, unweighted, explosive, TUT, negatives, static holds, etc

And most of all, enjoy this shit. If you’re not enjoying the feeling of calculated destruction of your sarcoplasm reticulum when you hit that iron, you’re missing the point. Expel your anger and rage with each rep and tell yourself that you will not let this mindless piece of steel tell you that you can’t lift it!

2

Thank you.
It’s allways helpful to have someone who knows this shit reminding you how simple training is.
It is always very easy to get distracted from the basics and end up doing a ton of crap, so it helps to have someone guiding and helping you keep on track.
Solid advice

3

thanks for the compliment, much appreciated

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Show us your credentials

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My credentials: I’m a human being, just like you, who enjoys reading learning and applying.
But on paper, I’m a bio grad from Rutgers Univ. and NASM CPT and CES since 2004.

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And I don’t claim to know much more than anyone else, but I try to throw some ideas into the mix. Hence, ‘my two cents’, not the law.

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[quote]Aero51 wrote:
Show us your credentials[/quote]

do you suffer from a multiple-personality disorder?

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Common sense > credentials

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Basic principles and exercises are the ones to follow if your working with weights my personal advice is stay with bench press squats and dead lifts and for those working without weights push ups chin ups and prisoner squats with a little wider stance so your ass goes deeper than the parallel position. Lets get the basics right before moving on to complex routines and working on individual muscles.

Qualification: 50 year old who has started weight training the wrong way 30 years ago and learned the hard way by getting hurt so solid advice get the foundation strong before moving on. Good Luck. Love the sport it is for a lifetime and it is a discipline enjoy!!.

10

Good post Jarvan.

Best advice for any beginner: Keep It Simple.