Taken from another forum, great advice for the most part.
This would make a great into to this board.
1) you cannot just do ab work and expect a six-pack. you need to shed bodyfat in order to see muscle definition, which is what a sixpack is. get your diet and training in order
2) creatine is creatine. just buy plain creatine monohydrate and be done with it. if you fall for ad-hype, you are a fool. its your money, do what you want. but smart people know better.
3) do heavy basic compound movements. squats, deadlifts and bench presses are a must in any training split. do them or be doomed forever to being small and weak.
4) always ease into anything you do. if you want to gain muscle, you need to slowly increase your overall calories. if you want to cut fat, you need to slowly cut back calories a little at a time. the human body does not like drastic changes. just jumping into a 5 day cardio regimen is stupid as well. again, do some research and learn something.
5) food is your best friend. any problems you have with training or dieting is 99% of the time diet related. if you dont eat, you will not make any progress gaining or cutting. nobody needs supplements. they are designed as a "supplement" to an already solid diet. if your diet sucks, theres not a supp in the world that will help you. learn how to make progress with food alone, and then play with supps.
6) muscle will never turn into fat. people always say this, and if you really think about it, it just sounds ####in stupid. they arent even remotely close in molecular makeup and it can never ever happen.
7) speaking of fat, you CANNOT spot reduce bodyfat. if you have big saggy man-boobies, there is no chest exercise that can make them go away. you can bench press all day long, and you will still have big droopy man-tits until you lose bodyfat. if you have a fat ass, lunges and squats will not make it lean. get that out of your head right now.
8) train more than your chest and arms. if you want muscle, you need balance. train your back, shoulders and legs along with your arms and chest for complete development.
9) HIGH REPS DO NOT GET YOU "CUT". they just get you tired. low to moderate reps (5-12) is the range you should shoot for. everyone is different, but everyone will most likely see the best size and strength gains if they stay in this range. also, dont change your routine just because you are going from a bulking phase to a cutting phase. keep doing what got you there. keep lifting heavy and going to failure. higher rep ranges do nothing but maybe build endurance. uh, who needs endurance for bicep curls? im guessing noone does.
10) UTILIZE PYRAMID TRAINING. a pyramid routine is a multi set routine that increases in weight each set and decreases in reps. this is part of the progressive overload theory, and should be utilized by anyone wanting to gain strength and size. why would anyone use the same weight for the same reps set after set? they shouldnt. why would your central nervous system recruit more muscle fibers each set if you dont up the weight? it wont. youll just be spinning your wheels.
11) ALWAYS TRAIN THE LARGE MUSCLES FIRST. if you combine muscle groups like many people do (chest/tris-back/bis), always train the larger muscle group first and completely. dont do any tricep work until your chest work is finished, unless you want a ****ty chest workout. your tris help your chest pressing movements, and your bis help your back rowing movements. bis and tris are much smaller than your back and chest, so it makes no sense to have them fail before your larger muscles do.
12) CREATINE WILL NOT MAKE YOU "BLOATED". this is a stupid myth, and i dont know where it came from. if anything, it will dry you out. creatine causes the muscle cells to absorb as much water as possible. im not going to get into how it works, but it will make your muscles look fuller and you will gain some weight from the muscular water retention. notice, i said MUSCULAR water retention. you will not hold water subcutaneously (under the skin) because of creatine. if you are retaining water subcutaneously, you have other issues and most likely your diet needs help.
-- Basically, if you are retaining water, you need to drink more of it. If you drink 1 gallon and you still retain water, up it to 2. Just make sure you drink enough.
13) YOUR DIET IS THE ANSWER. almost all training problems stem from an improper diet. you can lift weights and do cardio all day, but if your diet is ####, you will make NO progress. whether you are cutting or bulking, your diet will make or break you. there are many variables in different peoples diet strategies, but one thing remains constant: always get at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily. if you weigh 200 pounds, you need to eat at least 200 grams of protein daily. the best way to do that is to split it up over 5 or 6 meals. thats right kids, you need to eat frequently when cutting or bulking.
15) EAT THE SAME EVERYDAY. many people wonder if they need to eat on non-training days like they eat on training days. the answer? hell yes. your body only grows and repairs itself when its NOT IN THE GYM. time spent in the gym is actually counterproductive to what most of us are after. training is highly catabolic, but we need to do it, and the only thing that can change that is food and rest. it all starts with the post-workout protein shake. from there, it goes to the post-workout meal. then, how you eat and rest will play a huge role in how efficiently you heal and grow. training breaks the muscle down, eating and resting rebuild and repair it hopefully bigger and stronger.
16) DONT RELY ON SUPPLEMENTS. supplements are just that, a supplement. they are to be used in conjunction with an already solid diet. if you base your nutrition on supplements instead of real food, be prepared to spend a lot of money and get minimal results. nothing matches the nutritional content of whole food.
17) CARDIO CAN DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD. going crazy with cardio is not a good idea. if you need to shed fat, get your diet in order first. cardio is highly catabolic, and if done improperly, your body will burn muscle instead of fat for fuel. thats never a good thing. but, the real problem with cardio is that its highly individual. nothing works the same for different people. cardio is a necessary evil, so you might as well do it right. experiment and find out which type and duration of cardio works for you. there is a very fine line between melting fat and burning valuable muscle. find that line, and stay on the good side of it. theres nothing worse looking than a skinny fat guy. but still, diet is the key.
18) DONT BE AFRAID OF FREE-WEIGHTS. they are your friend. they will hurt you, and make you feel inadequate, but they really just want to help. nothing, and i mean nothing, builds mass and overall strength like basic free-weight exercises. squats, deadlifts and bench presses should be staples of everyones workouts. with free-weights, you are forced to balance and control the weight under your own power. a machine does that for you and does nothing for developing core and stabilizer strength. if you can bench 200 on a machine, that rarely equates to 200 on the flat barbell bench press. if you think you can handle it, make sure you have a few spotters handy. you will not be able to do it.
19) DO SOME RESEARCH AND USE SOME COMMON SENSE. i know most of you just want a quick and simple answer to your questions, but try finding it on your own. youll learn and understand so much more if you do your own research. common sense is really lacking these days. especially in the fitness industry. myths and misinformation run rampant through our gyms and lockerrooms. dont just take everything at face value. chances are, its wrong. use your own thought process and gather the necessary info to make your own educated judgements
This would make a great into to this board.
1) you cannot just do ab work and expect a six-pack. you need to shed bodyfat in order to see muscle definition, which is what a sixpack is. get your diet and training in order
2) creatine is creatine. just buy plain creatine monohydrate and be done with it. if you fall for ad-hype, you are a fool. its your money, do what you want. but smart people know better.
3) do heavy basic compound movements. squats, deadlifts and bench presses are a must in any training split. do them or be doomed forever to being small and weak.
4) always ease into anything you do. if you want to gain muscle, you need to slowly increase your overall calories. if you want to cut fat, you need to slowly cut back calories a little at a time. the human body does not like drastic changes. just jumping into a 5 day cardio regimen is stupid as well. again, do some research and learn something.
5) food is your best friend. any problems you have with training or dieting is 99% of the time diet related. if you dont eat, you will not make any progress gaining or cutting. nobody needs supplements. they are designed as a "supplement" to an already solid diet. if your diet sucks, theres not a supp in the world that will help you. learn how to make progress with food alone, and then play with supps.
6) muscle will never turn into fat. people always say this, and if you really think about it, it just sounds ####in stupid. they arent even remotely close in molecular makeup and it can never ever happen.
7) speaking of fat, you CANNOT spot reduce bodyfat. if you have big saggy man-boobies, there is no chest exercise that can make them go away. you can bench press all day long, and you will still have big droopy man-tits until you lose bodyfat. if you have a fat ass, lunges and squats will not make it lean. get that out of your head right now.
8) train more than your chest and arms. if you want muscle, you need balance. train your back, shoulders and legs along with your arms and chest for complete development.
9) HIGH REPS DO NOT GET YOU "CUT". they just get you tired. low to moderate reps (5-12) is the range you should shoot for. everyone is different, but everyone will most likely see the best size and strength gains if they stay in this range. also, dont change your routine just because you are going from a bulking phase to a cutting phase. keep doing what got you there. keep lifting heavy and going to failure. higher rep ranges do nothing but maybe build endurance. uh, who needs endurance for bicep curls? im guessing noone does.
10) UTILIZE PYRAMID TRAINING. a pyramid routine is a multi set routine that increases in weight each set and decreases in reps. this is part of the progressive overload theory, and should be utilized by anyone wanting to gain strength and size. why would anyone use the same weight for the same reps set after set? they shouldnt. why would your central nervous system recruit more muscle fibers each set if you dont up the weight? it wont. youll just be spinning your wheels.
11) ALWAYS TRAIN THE LARGE MUSCLES FIRST. if you combine muscle groups like many people do (chest/tris-back/bis), always train the larger muscle group first and completely. dont do any tricep work until your chest work is finished, unless you want a ****ty chest workout. your tris help your chest pressing movements, and your bis help your back rowing movements. bis and tris are much smaller than your back and chest, so it makes no sense to have them fail before your larger muscles do.
12) CREATINE WILL NOT MAKE YOU "BLOATED". this is a stupid myth, and i dont know where it came from. if anything, it will dry you out. creatine causes the muscle cells to absorb as much water as possible. im not going to get into how it works, but it will make your muscles look fuller and you will gain some weight from the muscular water retention. notice, i said MUSCULAR water retention. you will not hold water subcutaneously (under the skin) because of creatine. if you are retaining water subcutaneously, you have other issues and most likely your diet needs help.
-- Basically, if you are retaining water, you need to drink more of it. If you drink 1 gallon and you still retain water, up it to 2. Just make sure you drink enough.
13) YOUR DIET IS THE ANSWER. almost all training problems stem from an improper diet. you can lift weights and do cardio all day, but if your diet is ####, you will make NO progress. whether you are cutting or bulking, your diet will make or break you. there are many variables in different peoples diet strategies, but one thing remains constant: always get at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight daily. if you weigh 200 pounds, you need to eat at least 200 grams of protein daily. the best way to do that is to split it up over 5 or 6 meals. thats right kids, you need to eat frequently when cutting or bulking.
15) EAT THE SAME EVERYDAY. many people wonder if they need to eat on non-training days like they eat on training days. the answer? hell yes. your body only grows and repairs itself when its NOT IN THE GYM. time spent in the gym is actually counterproductive to what most of us are after. training is highly catabolic, but we need to do it, and the only thing that can change that is food and rest. it all starts with the post-workout protein shake. from there, it goes to the post-workout meal. then, how you eat and rest will play a huge role in how efficiently you heal and grow. training breaks the muscle down, eating and resting rebuild and repair it hopefully bigger and stronger.
16) DONT RELY ON SUPPLEMENTS. supplements are just that, a supplement. they are to be used in conjunction with an already solid diet. if you base your nutrition on supplements instead of real food, be prepared to spend a lot of money and get minimal results. nothing matches the nutritional content of whole food.
17) CARDIO CAN DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD. going crazy with cardio is not a good idea. if you need to shed fat, get your diet in order first. cardio is highly catabolic, and if done improperly, your body will burn muscle instead of fat for fuel. thats never a good thing. but, the real problem with cardio is that its highly individual. nothing works the same for different people. cardio is a necessary evil, so you might as well do it right. experiment and find out which type and duration of cardio works for you. there is a very fine line between melting fat and burning valuable muscle. find that line, and stay on the good side of it. theres nothing worse looking than a skinny fat guy. but still, diet is the key.
18) DONT BE AFRAID OF FREE-WEIGHTS. they are your friend. they will hurt you, and make you feel inadequate, but they really just want to help. nothing, and i mean nothing, builds mass and overall strength like basic free-weight exercises. squats, deadlifts and bench presses should be staples of everyones workouts. with free-weights, you are forced to balance and control the weight under your own power. a machine does that for you and does nothing for developing core and stabilizer strength. if you can bench 200 on a machine, that rarely equates to 200 on the flat barbell bench press. if you think you can handle it, make sure you have a few spotters handy. you will not be able to do it.
19) DO SOME RESEARCH AND USE SOME COMMON SENSE. i know most of you just want a quick and simple answer to your questions, but try finding it on your own. youll learn and understand so much more if you do your own research. common sense is really lacking these days. especially in the fitness industry. myths and misinformation run rampant through our gyms and lockerrooms. dont just take everything at face value. chances are, its wrong. use your own thought process and gather the necessary info to make your own educated judgements
