Wanna be huge?

[endpoint]

There seems to be a lot of new people on here. Most of them seem to have limited training experience.
I have not been lifting all that long myself.....but in my short time i have made many mistakes that could have been avoided.

heres my guide of things i wish i had done since the begining.(forgive any spelling mistakes)

# KEEP A TRAINING LOG: how do you know where to go if you dont know where you have been? They are simple to keep......and are worth truckloads to progress. You can find out what works best for you. Its also good for "cant remember how many kickbacks i did with what weight last week."

# WORK EVERY MUSCLE GROUP: You may think squats are hard, or doing pull ups is a waste of time.....I wasted so much time, by not working my back. I think it was because i couldnt see it in the mirror, or because i though it was useless. Now i hate myself. Im doing eveything i can to bring my back out. Nothing looks stupider than a dude with massive biceps, cut abs.....and nothing else. Its not only a visual thing. All muscle groups help each other out in someway or another. If one falls behind...they all fall behind.
Another thing to remember is, why you begin lifting is not always why you CONTINUE lifting. i started lifting to lose weight...but now I have started a new powerlifting program(thats a direction i want to take). The body parts i though were a waste of time are holding back all my lifts.

# GET EDUCATED: This was going to be number one....but i didnt remember it till now. READ READ READ.
Im not talking about muscle mag or flex magazines.
Books, some internet sites, videos. (the reason is obvious) education is the key

# LEARN ABOUT YOUR BODY: not the other dude in the gym. Not ronnie coleman, not the editors of muscle mag.
learn about YOU and what works for YOU.

# TAKE MEASUREMENTS: Bodyfat, tape measure, scales, photos and training log.
Using only scales you wont be able to tell whats happening with your body. Its not about weight....its about composition. how much fat/muscle.

# WHO CARES WHAT YOU LIFT?: if you lift small so what? you can handle what you can handle. Its nothing to be ashamed of. You will get stronger as time goes on. dont hurt yourself.

# LIFT SMART: good form. Also learn what good pain is. so you can tell it apart from bad pain.

# DONT DO DRUGS: you dont need drugs when you start out. drugs should be reserved for people taking it to the next step. You have plenty of time to grow naturally. Wait, grow till you cant no more. then CONSIDER drugs. Then educate yourself. (this is not a mistake i have made myself, it will be a few years till i consider any form of enhancement)

# TRAIN, EAT, SLEEP, GROW! do i have to say it again? train eat sleep grow.

# SUPPLEMENTS SUCK: this is my view only. multivitamin, protein shakes/bars, and aminos are the only things worth while. anything else just burns a hole in your pocket. the fat cats love getting rich off your money.

# WHAT THE HELL IS A MACHINE?: Again this is my view only. Freeweights will always remain king in my eyes.
stabilizers get worked, natural curves and movements can be kept. the only machine i will ever use is a pully and cable........and i dont use it often.

# K.I.S.S. keep it simple stupid. 100 different exercises for the one muscle group....., get outa here. stick to the basics kid. compound movements rule.



OKAY thats about it. I hope it helps some of the new people out. basically im trying to help people avoid the mistakes i did.

Basically im just bored.

 

[succession]

thanks a lot man! that sounds like really solid advice.
About supplements can you elaborate a bit on the multivitamin/amino bit?

is creatine worth it? (for a couple months when starting out)

there are SO many protein/carb shakes out there i'm not sure what to get - any advice?

 

[Chris V.]

Very good post Good Reading
I agree with everything you said and one more thing I might add

IF YOU WANT TO BE BIG

#DONT DO CARDIO Cardio will burn off so much calories and and thats not good. Who cares about Bf!
You should always be in bulking mode If you want to be Huge. Avoid unneccesary activities that will burn alot of calories and raise metabolism. Intense heavy weight training should be adequate for losing bf and at the same time building mass.

 

[he-man]

nothing wrong w/ light cardio. 30 min twice a week is good for you.

 

[absolute hardgainer]

Good post, mate.

hardgainer (bump)

 

[Grizzly]

I have to disagree about the aminos. They're garbage.

 

[LiftHardOrDontLiftAtAll]

Excellent advice

 

[bignate73]

I have to disagree about the aminos. They're garbage.

interesting. care to elaborate why?
do you know what the purpose of taking aminos actually is?

 

[MonStar1023]

Yeah GREAT POST dude all the way. I agree with everything you said 100% I kinda of have to do some cardio because my bodyfat is too high.

 

[Robboe]

This is the best post i have ever read.

Don't eliminate cardio completely. The heart is a muscle also rememeber.

 

[endpoint]

Thanks for the postive feedback guys.

about the cardio debate:
Im all for cardio.
not too much though.

It depends what your goals are:

If you wanna lose weight pump up the cardio, and fix up your diet.

But if your trying to bulk up still Include a bit of cardio.....not so much that your daily calorie balance is thrown into the negative weight loss side. But just to keep your fitness up a bit.

I believe most "hardgainers" shouldnt do too much cardio unless they eat like a madman/woman.
But people like my self (if i look at food i get fat) should include a little bit just to stay healthy.

thats just my opinion though.


succession: Vitamins are essential no matter what. They help the body function. If you have a good balanced diet then there is no need for vitamins/minerals tablets because you get them from your diet. 99.9% of the people i know dont eat properly (including myself). A multivitamin just ensures that im getting vitamins i need.

Creatine im not to sure of. I havent taken any. From my friends who have taken it, its seems they swell up, and when they get off they (excuse my french) piss it all out. all with minimal gains. It doesnt really seem worth all the money. i think its a good "work out aid". making the workouts a lot better. thats the only reason i would take it. and thats why im going to try it.

If you want to buy some make sure you dont buy cell tech. Go for the cheapest possible (but no so cheap that you are compromising quality).

Aminos. I always hear different views on this.
Protein is made up of amino acids. Some believe that if you take aminos by themselves you can receive the benifit of the aminos function in the body. Some people believe otherwise. i have read that too much of one amino acid can freak the body out......and it just gets passed out of the system.

I like to take Branch chain amino acids after training and before bed. do a search on the internet and this message board for "branch chain amino acids" or "BCAA".

I believe aminos have a great place in weight lifting and can increase the benifits of training.

 

[BigDogg]

interesting. care to elaborate why?
do you know what the purpose of taking aminos actually is?

I believe if you are taking in the necessary amounts of protein amino's aren't necessary. But thats just my opinion. Whats your theory bro?

 

[bignate73]

the reason aminos are taken is this.
you take them pre workout and postworkout....DURING a workout you will undoubtedly get catabolic, it just happens. aminos are a readily available source of energy that are easier to assimilate than actually breaking down muscle. in a sense you are tricking your body into using aminos instead of muscle tissue for an energy source. post workout it is taken to replenish the amino acid pool that gets depleted during workouts. a postworkout protein shake could be sufficient after but before workouts you want to have those aminos because they are already broken down, just drinking say a protein shake preworkout MAY cut it, but chances are the protein wouldnt have broken down enough and/or have been absorbed as quickly. i know, i know, protein/aminos are absorbed in the same place in the digestive tract, but the fact that you bypass a few steps in the process saves time.
ive read some articles on this in not only flex but other actual scientific studies as well. aminos are kindof phasing out though due to it being looked upon as an "old school" supplement. similar to brewers yeast and cod liver oil tablets. bad name because they were popular at the same time.