For all those new to weightlifting, this should give you a BASIC understanding of the major factors involved and a general idea of how you need to manipulate them. It should by no means be considered the be all and all. You should be doing your own reading into the topics of training and nutrition. Everybody is different and some things work better for others, the only way to figure this out is trial and error, coupled with listening to your body.
I have even been so kind as to bold the pretty important bits.
If you cannot be bothered reading this, and it may be slightly lengthy, please do not waste other peoples time asking questions that you could have looked into yourself in a couple of minutes. Go grab your pink dumbbells and rock out to Enrique in the corner.
There are three basic components to increasing your size and strength: training, nutrition and rest.
Training
General training advice for beginners
Keep it SIMPLE. Focus on compound movements. Be consistent, don't skip workouts cos you can't be bothered, make it routine. Learn the technique behind them first, then gradually increase the weight as you are able. Aim to beat some point of reference from your last training session, this could be weight used, reps achieved or amount of babes who look at you while getting huge. I don't give a shit. But you need to make some sort of progress. This is not simply for progress' sake, however. If you have to cheat a little to get that rep/weight? Stick with it a little bit longer, till you get it right. You have done GREAT by exerting yourself that little bit more to get it done, but don't move ahead of yourself and get injured. Make sure you have eaten before you head to the gym. Make sure you get some form of protein/calories in your system within a reasonable period of time after you have finished.
Compound Vs Isolation movements
You should be focusing on COMPOUND movements. These are movements that involve more than one joint. Examples are the squat and deadlift. Compound movements involve a significantly greater amount of musculature and stimulate a much greater hormonal and whole body response. Compound movements should make up the majority of your training.
Isolation exercises are movements that involve a single joint and tend to focus on one specific group of muscles. An example of this is the bicep curl. Isolation movements are good for, you guessed it, isolating a muscle. They are good for 'finishing off' muscles at the end of a workout or giving a little bit of extra attention to areas that need it.
You should always do compound exercises before isolation exercises. This is because they require more effort and if you tire your muscles out beforehand, you will be spinning your wheels and not get the progress you are after.
"Staple" compound exercises: Deadlift, squat, bench press, overhead press, chin/pullup, rows, cleans, dips, lunges.
Set and Rep Schemes
If you've ever read a training journal or program outline you will have seen these before. Generally expressed as sets x reps. Common schemes are 5x5 4x8 and 3x10-12. These refer to ONE exercise. For example 5 sets of 5 reps of barbell bench press. You would then move on and do 5 sets of 5 reps of another exercise, and so on and so forth.
For muscle hypertrophy (bigger muscles) studies have shown that rep ranges of 9-12 induce the greatest amount of growth. Generally it is accepted that lower rep ranges (for example 5x5 and under) are used to increase strength levels, and the higher end (9-12) are used for growth. If you are doing more than 12 reps for a given exercise without an in depth understanding of both physiology and training, you are WASTING YOUR TIME. Put more weight on the bar, you big sissy.
As an absolute beginner, use lighter weight and learn the proper technique and form for a given exercise before attempting heavier loads and lower reps.
Fullbody Vs Split Routines
Fullbody routines are those that work out most if not all of your body in a given session. This means you will do chest, back, and legs in the same training session. These are a good choice for those who have a limited number of days that they can train (due to hectic schedules/commitments), as well as those who are lifting not to become some super saiyan demigod, but rather for general fitness and maintenance of muscle mass and bone density. There are proponents of full body training for strength and size, however they are not the norm. If you would like to read up on this training method, a well known coach is Chad Waterbury.
Split routines are those that split your muscle groups or lifts into seperate days. Chest on Monday, legs on Tuesday, back on Wednesday etc. This allows you to better micromanage the recovery of muscles, to hit lifts harder (as you won't have done a brutal set of squats before you bench, for example), and allows you to keep your sessions as long or short as you like. These are the norm for bodybuilders and strength athletes. Bodybuilders tend to split days by muscle group, powerlifters by push/pull or the lift itself.
Progression
Progression is the fundamental principle behind increased strength, size and performance. If you are progressing in each workout, you are doing a fantastic job.
Weight and or a given number of reps are the most common forms of progression.
Last week you benched 80kg for 5 reps, this week you did 5 reps of 82.5kg. BAM you have made progress, you big hunk you.
Last week you benched 80kg for 5x5, this week you did 80kg for 5x6. BAM the ladies all want you.
Progression is your measure of success. If you are not progressing, you can assume that you are not achieving the results you want. Something needs to change. You may have reached a plateau, you may not be eating enough, you may be a giant pussy who is giving up to easy. But SOMETHING is holding you and your progress back.
Nutrition
General nutrition advice
Your diet is AT LEAST if not MORE than 50% of the battle when trying to get bigger.
To grow you must consume more energy than you expend. Read that again, then a few more times. That is the basic principle behind growth. Now, if you combine increased energy intake with a competent resistance training plan, you will get bigger.
The vast majority of people overstate their energy consumption. All those skinny guys who claim to eat a lot? They eat like skinny guys. If you want to be a 240 pound beast, you have to eat like a 240 pound beast. Don't go overboard and become a 240 pound hambeast. Be sensible. Try and get the majority of your calories from healthy foods.
This doesn't mean only healthy foods. If you feel like having 3 double quarters pounders with a couple of mcflurries (good times), go for it. Realise however that you just ate one or two days worth of a regular amount of calories and so you are going to have to BUST YOUR ASS in the gym.
Try to eat every 3 hours. If you feel hungry, you've gone too long without eating. Try and get a decent amount of protein in with every meal. 185g cans of tuna are 89c at aldi, and have 27g of protein each. I'm poor as hell and I can afford it, so can you. As a (very) general rule, try to get 2g of protein per kg of bodyweight each day. Do NOT go psychotic and take in hundreds upon hundreds of grams of protein a day, you will a) piss out the excess and b) probably damage your kidneys. Your body keeps a VERY TIGHT chain on the amount of protein available, you CANNOT STORE EXCESS PROTEIN. Throwing money down the drain, man!
Pre, during and Post training nutrition
To maximise your training, you need to have the energy to keep your intensity up throughout the whole session. Try to eat 1 to 2 hours before heading to the gym. If you eat too close to your session, you may feel queasy or, if it is a particularly intense workout, throw up.
During your training session you may want to use something like gatorade or a fairly light protein shake to keep you going or to keep your body in some ultimate state of protein building nirvana. Personally I've had success with plain old water, with the occasional powerade for those really hot days where I lose a lot of fluid due to sweat.
Once you are done training, try to take in a fairly high carbohydrate + protein meal or shake within an hour or two. You don't have to rush and start sculling that shit as soon as the weight hits the floor, take it easy have a shower to loosen yourself up and then start sipping away at a shake over a half hour or so.
Rest
You need adequate time to recover. You grow outside of the gym. That is an important sentence, make sure you understand it. Your time at the gym is spent beating your muscles into oblivion, when you walk out you are in a worse state than when you walked in.
You need adequate amounts of sleep in order to get the most out of your training and nutrition. Your muscles need time to recover and rebuild themselves stronger than they were previously. Do not train the same muscle groups without giving them sufficient time to recover. Generally 2-3 days is the minimum amount of time given before you hit those muscles again. If they do not feel fully recovered, you can take longer.
Initially, you will have significant DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). This is not a reason to skip the gym. Train through it. You will feel MUCH better afterwards. After a while of going to the gym, DOMS will either be non existent or minimal.
The amount of sleep you need is sort of an individual thing, some can function on 6 hours others 8 and then there are those who like to hibernate. Try to get a good amount of sleep, it is when you grow the most.
This post is getting a bit lengthy so I am going to leave it here for now. If you have suggestions regarding something I have missed or would like included, please speak up. This was meant to cover enough of the basics for people to have a base amount of knowledge from which they can further their own research into areas of interest, so if you have an idea of how to improve it, speak up!
I have even been so kind as to bold the pretty important bits.
If you cannot be bothered reading this, and it may be slightly lengthy, please do not waste other peoples time asking questions that you could have looked into yourself in a couple of minutes. Go grab your pink dumbbells and rock out to Enrique in the corner.
There are three basic components to increasing your size and strength: training, nutrition and rest.
Training
General training advice for beginners
Keep it SIMPLE. Focus on compound movements. Be consistent, don't skip workouts cos you can't be bothered, make it routine. Learn the technique behind them first, then gradually increase the weight as you are able. Aim to beat some point of reference from your last training session, this could be weight used, reps achieved or amount of babes who look at you while getting huge. I don't give a shit. But you need to make some sort of progress. This is not simply for progress' sake, however. If you have to cheat a little to get that rep/weight? Stick with it a little bit longer, till you get it right. You have done GREAT by exerting yourself that little bit more to get it done, but don't move ahead of yourself and get injured. Make sure you have eaten before you head to the gym. Make sure you get some form of protein/calories in your system within a reasonable period of time after you have finished.
Compound Vs Isolation movements
You should be focusing on COMPOUND movements. These are movements that involve more than one joint. Examples are the squat and deadlift. Compound movements involve a significantly greater amount of musculature and stimulate a much greater hormonal and whole body response. Compound movements should make up the majority of your training.
Isolation exercises are movements that involve a single joint and tend to focus on one specific group of muscles. An example of this is the bicep curl. Isolation movements are good for, you guessed it, isolating a muscle. They are good for 'finishing off' muscles at the end of a workout or giving a little bit of extra attention to areas that need it.
You should always do compound exercises before isolation exercises. This is because they require more effort and if you tire your muscles out beforehand, you will be spinning your wheels and not get the progress you are after.
"Staple" compound exercises: Deadlift, squat, bench press, overhead press, chin/pullup, rows, cleans, dips, lunges.
Set and Rep Schemes
If you've ever read a training journal or program outline you will have seen these before. Generally expressed as sets x reps. Common schemes are 5x5 4x8 and 3x10-12. These refer to ONE exercise. For example 5 sets of 5 reps of barbell bench press. You would then move on and do 5 sets of 5 reps of another exercise, and so on and so forth.
For muscle hypertrophy (bigger muscles) studies have shown that rep ranges of 9-12 induce the greatest amount of growth. Generally it is accepted that lower rep ranges (for example 5x5 and under) are used to increase strength levels, and the higher end (9-12) are used for growth. If you are doing more than 12 reps for a given exercise without an in depth understanding of both physiology and training, you are WASTING YOUR TIME. Put more weight on the bar, you big sissy.
As an absolute beginner, use lighter weight and learn the proper technique and form for a given exercise before attempting heavier loads and lower reps.
Fullbody Vs Split Routines
Fullbody routines are those that work out most if not all of your body in a given session. This means you will do chest, back, and legs in the same training session. These are a good choice for those who have a limited number of days that they can train (due to hectic schedules/commitments), as well as those who are lifting not to become some super saiyan demigod, but rather for general fitness and maintenance of muscle mass and bone density. There are proponents of full body training for strength and size, however they are not the norm. If you would like to read up on this training method, a well known coach is Chad Waterbury.
Split routines are those that split your muscle groups or lifts into seperate days. Chest on Monday, legs on Tuesday, back on Wednesday etc. This allows you to better micromanage the recovery of muscles, to hit lifts harder (as you won't have done a brutal set of squats before you bench, for example), and allows you to keep your sessions as long or short as you like. These are the norm for bodybuilders and strength athletes. Bodybuilders tend to split days by muscle group, powerlifters by push/pull or the lift itself.
Progression
Progression is the fundamental principle behind increased strength, size and performance. If you are progressing in each workout, you are doing a fantastic job.
Weight and or a given number of reps are the most common forms of progression.
Last week you benched 80kg for 5 reps, this week you did 5 reps of 82.5kg. BAM you have made progress, you big hunk you.
Last week you benched 80kg for 5x5, this week you did 80kg for 5x6. BAM the ladies all want you.
Progression is your measure of success. If you are not progressing, you can assume that you are not achieving the results you want. Something needs to change. You may have reached a plateau, you may not be eating enough, you may be a giant pussy who is giving up to easy. But SOMETHING is holding you and your progress back.
Nutrition
General nutrition advice
Your diet is AT LEAST if not MORE than 50% of the battle when trying to get bigger.
To grow you must consume more energy than you expend. Read that again, then a few more times. That is the basic principle behind growth. Now, if you combine increased energy intake with a competent resistance training plan, you will get bigger.
The vast majority of people overstate their energy consumption. All those skinny guys who claim to eat a lot? They eat like skinny guys. If you want to be a 240 pound beast, you have to eat like a 240 pound beast. Don't go overboard and become a 240 pound hambeast. Be sensible. Try and get the majority of your calories from healthy foods.
This doesn't mean only healthy foods. If you feel like having 3 double quarters pounders with a couple of mcflurries (good times), go for it. Realise however that you just ate one or two days worth of a regular amount of calories and so you are going to have to BUST YOUR ASS in the gym.
Try to eat every 3 hours. If you feel hungry, you've gone too long without eating. Try and get a decent amount of protein in with every meal. 185g cans of tuna are 89c at aldi, and have 27g of protein each. I'm poor as hell and I can afford it, so can you. As a (very) general rule, try to get 2g of protein per kg of bodyweight each day. Do NOT go psychotic and take in hundreds upon hundreds of grams of protein a day, you will a) piss out the excess and b) probably damage your kidneys. Your body keeps a VERY TIGHT chain on the amount of protein available, you CANNOT STORE EXCESS PROTEIN. Throwing money down the drain, man!
Pre, during and Post training nutrition
To maximise your training, you need to have the energy to keep your intensity up throughout the whole session. Try to eat 1 to 2 hours before heading to the gym. If you eat too close to your session, you may feel queasy or, if it is a particularly intense workout, throw up.
During your training session you may want to use something like gatorade or a fairly light protein shake to keep you going or to keep your body in some ultimate state of protein building nirvana. Personally I've had success with plain old water, with the occasional powerade for those really hot days where I lose a lot of fluid due to sweat.
Once you are done training, try to take in a fairly high carbohydrate + protein meal or shake within an hour or two. You don't have to rush and start sculling that shit as soon as the weight hits the floor, take it easy have a shower to loosen yourself up and then start sipping away at a shake over a half hour or so.
Rest
You need adequate time to recover. You grow outside of the gym. That is an important sentence, make sure you understand it. Your time at the gym is spent beating your muscles into oblivion, when you walk out you are in a worse state than when you walked in.
You need adequate amounts of sleep in order to get the most out of your training and nutrition. Your muscles need time to recover and rebuild themselves stronger than they were previously. Do not train the same muscle groups without giving them sufficient time to recover. Generally 2-3 days is the minimum amount of time given before you hit those muscles again. If they do not feel fully recovered, you can take longer.
Initially, you will have significant DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). This is not a reason to skip the gym. Train through it. You will feel MUCH better afterwards. After a while of going to the gym, DOMS will either be non existent or minimal.
The amount of sleep you need is sort of an individual thing, some can function on 6 hours others 8 and then there are those who like to hibernate. Try to get a good amount of sleep, it is when you grow the most.
This post is getting a bit lengthy so I am going to leave it here for now. If you have suggestions regarding something I have missed or would like included, please speak up. This was meant to cover enough of the basics for people to have a base amount of knowledge from which they can further their own research into areas of interest, so if you have an idea of how to improve it, speak up!
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