Getting that "Perfect" body.

[Warboss Alex]

Alex, I'd be happy to help...just PM me. I can also edit for grammatical errors, etc. I believe the community would benefit from a revised, comprehensive guide...and you're the man to oversee it.

awesome man, glad to have you in. I need all the help I can get. lol

 

[reyalp]

It's hard to really make a comprehensive guide, because everything has an indefinite amount of wiggle room. Diet, resistance training, supplementation, cardio, etc etc.

I'd be willing to contribute to the project. In fact, I've got some ideas for how we could manage the project.

I think our goal should be to impart the most wisdom possible in the shortest amount of time so that a person can make the most informed choices. A newcomer will not have any biofeedback information to tell themselves whether or not something is working, and that's where we come in: Just to give them a nudge in the right direction.

In February 2006, I decided I was going to drop some fat, lift weights, and start running. I put in about 300hrs of reading before I even picked up a weight. I'm still just a beginner, I'm going through a lot of the stuff that our young grasshoppers will be going through.

That being said, I think we should start FIRST with a list of recommended reading.
My suggestions, with categories and notes:

Losing Fat:
"Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" by Tom Venuto -- Probably one of the more comprehensive nutritional pieces you'll ever read as a newbie.

General Bodybuilding:
"Joe Weider's Ultimate Bodybuilding" by Joe Weider -- This book is probably the best summation of everything known about bodybuilding circa 1990. It is also very cheap online.

Powerlifting:
"Starting Strength" by Mark Rippetoe -- The Newbie's Squat/Deadlift/Bench Press Bible


All 3 of those books together will set you back about $60 or so, but I think that any person who has read the above 3 in their entirety will be fairly educated before coming into contact with the information you guys are going to piece together. Do you agree?

 

[Fitch]

Contender, your routine isn't the worst I've seen but here's a better one:

squats 2 x 5
squats 1 x 20
weighted situps 2 x 10-20
stiff leg good mornings or stiff leg deadlifts 2 x 10-20
some lower back exercise like pullthroughs, reverse hypers, ghr, back extension etc 2 x 10-20 (machine is fine)
calves however you want, the squats will make them grow

incline bb or db bench 2 x 5
close grip bench 2 x 8-10
skullcrushers 2 x 10-15 or dips 2 x 8
shoulder press of some sort 2 x 8-12

deadlifts 2 x 5 or 1 x 10
weighted situps 2 x 10-20
row variation 2 x 8
pullups or pulldowns 2 x 8
some curl 2 x 8-10
some forearm exercise 1 x 10-30

What about the 5x5 routines? Aren't they better?

 

[Warboss Alex]

What about the 5x5 routines? Aren't they better?

5x5 is a good way to train but I don't like how you seem to limit the weight you're lifting by doing multiple sets. I'd rather do 2x5 for a workset than 5x5 - personally I have enough trouble with 2x5 on squats let alone five sets.

but there's really no secret. any routine that involves gaining strength on squats (high and low reps), heavy presses, deadlifts, rows, chins, dips will work as long as you're eating enough. I just happen to use a variant of this routine so it's always the first one which comes to mind when people ask me for one.

it's no worse or better than a 5x5, I just prefer it because I find the strength gains are quicker. but as long as you're eating, if you double your squat, deadlift and benching weights in the next year, by the end of that time you'll be twice your current muscular size (whichever way you wanna train to do this).

 

[Kerpal]

"Starting Strength" by Mark Rippetoe -- The Newbie's Squat/Deadlift/Bench Press Bible

This book is awesome, it's worth every penny.

 

[reyalp]

This book is awesome, it's worth every penny.

I love that book! Also, it turns out Rippetoe lives in my hometown! When I get out of New Orleans I'm going to have to go to Wichita Falls and put in a few sessions with him (I only live like 90min away from Wichita Falls.)