Bodybuilding Virgin: If you knew then what you know now...

[NeverGiveUp]

Hey everyone!

I am, for lack of a better term, a virgin when it comes to most things bodybuilding.

I'm extremely passionate about fitness and health, and workout-wise, I tend to do a lot of bodyweight exercises, some HIIT, and I have a couple of piddly little 5 kilo dumbbells that I use with high reps.

Problem is, overeating a bit recently means my muscle definition has gone right down.

I'm keen to clean things up again and learn more about bodybuilding, and thought I'd pose the question to all you bodybuilding aficionados, "What do you wish you knew then (when you first started) what you know now?"

I'd love to hear your biggest tips, "aha" and "duh" moments.

Much appreciated!

 

[niin0s]

hey mate

Hey everyone!


Please share your biggest tips, "aha" and "duh" moments. (Because chances are, I don't know them!)


When it comes to nutrition its pretty simple man. Forget all these fads or anything that has ANY extremes within it (unless its more convenient towards you)

What are you goals?
Gain muscle? EAT in a calorie surplus
Lose fat? EAT in a calorie deficit

I suggest you hop onto this site AlanAragon.com - Fitness Based on Science & Experience and learn the truth behind nutrition, and how simple it really is. It all comes down to numbers, not timing and not if you've had 10g of carbs. Forget keto and all that crap.

Figure out your daily requirements of calories, d
A rough start would be your BW in pounds x 14 (that would be your maintanence calories

From there,
1.3g/lb of bw PROTEIN
0.5/lb of bw FAT

Fill the rest of your calories with carbs

Now it all comes down to your goals. Do u want to lose fat? if so, eat UNDER your maintanence calories. Gain muscle? Over




Problem is, overeating (mainly due to avoidance of working on a uni thesis) means my muscle definition has gone way done and body fat has crept up.


You should start tracking your calories. The problem with NOT tracking is you don't really know your limits and often use satiety as a guide, which is obviously leading to your overeating. If you track you'll be able to portion your meals according to your schedule and prevent overeating because you'll know your caloric limits...

jump onto myfitnesspal.com , probably one of the best trackers on the web and all this should take you roughly 10 minutes a day so time isn't really an issue

in the end, body composition comes down to numbers. so if you want to change your body composition efficiently the best way would be to track your numbers

 

[lex]

probably 50+ gyms in northshore area (including fitness first etc)

https://maps.google.com.au/maps?ie=...+2000&ei=mlFUUKfgGqWtiQe_1YGoBw&ved=0CO0BEMgT


Rather than crossfit may want to head out to Lidcombe and do a few sessions with Trent at PTC.

Some of the uni gyms are quite good. Which uni are you studying at ?
I'm at UTS work and study.

Count calories but don't obsess over diet.

Can pick up kettlebells reasonably cheaply, good for some short but intense conditioning workouts

 

[niin0s]

in regard to training if you truly are a novice look into a beginner program, something like RIPPETOE'S STARTING STRENGTH or bill star's 5x5 All designed to get you stronger, which in turn will get you bigger

 

[NeverGiveUp]

in the end, body composition comes down to numbers. so if you want to change your body composition efficiently the best way would be to track your numbers

Thanks man. Secretly, I guess I've always known that, but I tend to really overcomplicate things and get all perfectionist - which only ends up sabotaging me in the end when things don't go just "right"!

I also have to learn to be patient I suppose!

 

[NeverGiveUp]

probably 50+ gyms in northshore area (including fitness first etc)

https://maps.google.com.au/maps?ie=...+2000&ei=mlFUUKfgGqWtiQe_1YGoBw&ved=0CO0BEMgT


Rather than crossfit may want to head out to Lidcombe and do a few sessions with Trent at PTC.

Some of the uni gyms are quite good. Which uni are you studying at ?
I'm at UTS work and study.

Count calories but don't obsess over diet.

Can pick up kettlebells reasonably cheaply, good for some short but intense conditioning workouts

Thanks for that. Yep - I've looked up loads of the gyms, just wondering if anyone has any personal recommendations.

Definitely want to get some kettlebells - currently just double up dumbbells in a makeshift kettlebell!

 

[niin0s]

if you're smashed for time i really reccomend you do starting strength. funny thing is even if you had the time its still better than some 5x a week split you'd do.

Im sure you can spare 40 minutes 3 days a week. SS is go in do your main lifts and leave. so you don't have to worry about the fancy crap

 

[NeverGiveUp]

if you're smashed for time i really reccomend you do starting strength. funny thing is even if you had the time its still better than some 5x a week split you'd do.

Im sure you can spare 40 minutes 3 days a week. SS is go in do your main lifts and leave. so you don't have to worry about the fancy crap

sorry mate - some of that went over my head... what is "SS"?

i'm pretty dedicated to making time to workout daily, so i'm not concerned about that. i just tend to be more quantity than quality, and now i'm really trying to fix that and get more bang for my buck in a shorter amount of time, if you know what i mean.

 

[lex]

starting strength

 

[niin0s]

yeah. Starting Strength, pretty basic layout. if you're going to do it DON'T change anything do it as its laid out, or it isn't the program

Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
1x5 Deadlift

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Press
3x5 Row

You alternate workouts A & B, personally when I started training I did exactly what you loved haha, training 5-6x a day (no results though). you might be thinking, but what about my biceps?!

do the program as its laid out, adding 2.5kg to each lift each workout (provided you hit the desired reps/sets) and in literally a few weeks, your lifts will fly upward lol.

my brother got his squat from 50kg to 140kg 3x5 linearly progressing (obviously a few stalls here and there), and his quads are huge lol no need for leg extensions or anything like that

sometimes less is more.

 

[Stewstews]

Have a read: Starting Strength Wiki

 

[SWH]

to be honest i used to be an idiot before i came onto this forum, i did 3x body splits at the most commercial gym you could find, got 70% carb 30% protein max's protein for about $150 (Which is a waste!) ate small balanced meals, the whole lot. i've learnt a lot here.

I'm approaching 1 year of training and i've acheieved a lot in that year, learnt solid form for all of my main lifts, built on solid weights for those lifts, i've even competed in a powerlifting contest, put on 20kg, and now starting to lean down. if you ask me it all comes down to the amount of work you put in OUT of the gym, and when i say that i mean research and educating yourself. the more research you do the more you will better yourself.

Biggest thing for me is my transformation as a person, i used to be a skinny shy kid who never got noticed really around school, since then, shit changed everyone notices me, and i'm currently helping more than 5 people with their diets, program logging and form. People actually look up to me to help them in the gym, which is the best

 

[0ni]

Ignore equipped lifting advice completely

 

[Sydking]

doing a benginer bodybuilding program

squat
bench
overhead press
deadlift ( i do these alretnative day)
BB curl.

that takes me about 35min to get done all in 3x10

atelast 3 times a week.

not sure on were to train as i lift at home,

 

[Sydking]

But...my biggest rookie mistakes.

Finishing my 3 hour session of muay thai at around 9 30, bussing it home and thinking it was to late in the night to eat and it would ruin all my exersise for the day, So just settling for 1 scoop of WPC and i thought anymore and i would just get to big and fat.


Best thing i ever did was come on here and learn about proper nutrition and how to count calories, Its a dam suprise how much or little you can take in

 

[Jay]

Over/unders. Never would've bothered. I'm not lifting heavily enough to warrant O/U on my deadlift, but my grip strength was garbage and I had no idea how to correct it.

Little did I know a simple white-knuckle overgrip with a short hold at the top of any of my lifts <80-85% of my 1RM would help my grip.

This was a 2-year-ago recent-ish mistake for me, but I'd spend 3 hours or so rolling (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, not acid...) then go right into lifting because I had no other time in the day to fit it in. Obviously I wasn't performing at my peak, and my progress stalled for so long it was ridiculous & incredibly frustrating.

I love BJJ, but if I could go back and do it again, I'd take the lifts over rolling and not overtrain.

 

[RyanF]

If I knew then what I know now, I would have eaten better (which, at the time I started lifting, mostly just means eating MOAR), and I would have done squats and deadlifts. Oh, and I would have trained my legs and back at least as much as I trained my chest.

 

[NeverGiveUp]

Thanks guys! I'm loving all the advice!

I think the biggest thing I'm starting to accept is that there is no one perfect and "right" way to do just about anything (as much as the highly indecisive perfectionist in me wishes there were).

It's all about the n=1, I think; experimenting on yourself using well-researched and validated information, and seeing what works best for you. That said, if you can learn from others' experiences it can only make your journey easier.

 

[Matt]

if i had my time again, the first thing i would have done differently was get my diet right. i NEVER even thought about that in the beginning, which is probably why i felt like i hit a plateau so early.

the second would have been doing some research into what sorts of training i should have been beginning with. pretty sure doing a full-body session 5 times a week wasn't the best idea

 

[Semillon]

if you ask me it all comes down to the amount of work you put in OUT of the gym, and when i say that i mean research and educating yourself. the more research you do the more you will better yourself.

Biggest thing for me is my transformation as a person, i used to be a skinny shy kid who never got noticed really around school, since then, shit changed everyone notices me, and i'm currently helping more than 5 people with their diets, program logging and form. People actually look up to me to help them in the gym, which is the best

Some pretty wise words from a young bloke there Sam.