A friend that trains a long time in gym but eats, sleeps, and trains haphazardly sees gains in strength but not in the mirror. I put a list of suggestions together for him - any of you guys want to look over or add something?
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To get strong, and as result big, you need to do the following basics:
ROUTINE
Critical:
Work your whole body. Including legs and back (core). Now, you might be saying, ?I don?t want to train my legs!? but you must train them. Else you won?t grow fast. Why train legs? Well, legs are biggest muscles in the body, and when you train them, they promote release of manly hormones that build muscle and give you strength/confidence. One of these hormones is TESTOSTERONE.
Increased hormone levels make muscles grow faster everywhere ? legs, back, abs, upper body, arms, you name it.
The routine should be centered around the SQUAT. It is a compound exercise that trains about 75% of your muscles. Two other big lifts are the bench press and dead lift. Other compound exercises include:
-overhead shoulder press (also called military press),
-bent over rows
-snatch/jerk/cleans/lunges [I personally didn?t do this yet],
-bodyweight exercises like push ups, pull ups, chin ups, dips (strap weight on yourself if they are too easy ? meaning you can do 12+ pull ups no problem)
Here?s link to Stronglifts 5x5 Beginner Program: http://tinyurl.com/yu29x3
My only complaint is that it asks you to do dips/pull ups to failure. Your dad says doing dips to fail is very bad for shoulders. So you can replace dips with push ups or decline bench press at steepest angle.
The schedule will look like this:
Mon: Workout A
Tues: cardio
Wed: Workout B
Thurs: cardio
Fri: Workout A
Sat: cardio
Sun: day off or cardio, your choice
Next week is the same, but instead of Workout A/B/A, do B/A/B.
For what to do on A and B, see link above.
How and what you do for cardio is not as important as simply going out there and DOING it (bonus tip: run shirtless to get sexy tan).
Important:
Proper technique is extremely important on compound exercises. Work on squat and DL (deadlift) technique with empty bar until you have flawless technique. Then do it with light weight. Ask others to survey your technique, or videotape yourself. Do not look in the mirrors to see if you?re doing it right ? you can damage your neck.
Do cardiovascular work. 2-3 days a week in between lifts. Run, bike, swim, or do some other cardio activity. For example 20 min jog (doesn?t have to be very fast run) 3 times a week will be good start.
Warm up properly (light jog, exercises with light weight, etc) before exercise & stretch a little at the end of workout. BTW, never stretch cold muscles [do not stretch for warm up].
(I should not have to say, ?DO NOT SKIP WORKOUTS!?)
Recommended:
Forget isolation exercises like biceps curls or tricep extensions or lateral raises. You?re just wasting time with them. Do compound exercises and you?ll get big. Do not modify compound lift programs ( Stronglifts.com 5x5 Beginner or Rippetoe?s). Just do what program says and get out. When you can comfortably squat 1.5x your bodyweight and deadlift 2x your bodyweight, you?re done with Stronglifts.com 5x5 Beginner program and can go to Intermediate.
To get big fast, you must use free weight equipment (barbells, dumbbells, your bodyweight), not machines. Machines balance weight for you, and restrict you to specific moving pattern. Free weights force you to balance the weight, training supporting muscles as well as primary ones. Free weights give you strength you can use in real world.
REST
Critical:
Sleep at least 8 hours each night. The muscles recover the most in your sleep ? no sleep, no recovery.
Important:
Do lifting every other day. Do not lift on consecutive days.
Recommended:
If you must skip a workout, give an extra day of rest, instead of ?making up? for the skipped day.
DIET
Critical:
To grow big, you must eat big. Do not worry about calories. You must have caloric excess to grow. In the end, it all comes down to calories in vs. calories out. You should have more calories in than out.
Important:
East solid breakfast every day! Body needs continuous supply of food to build muscle. If you have a dinner at, say, 9 pm, and wake up at 7 am, and have your lunch at noon, you went 15 hours without food! That?s a very long time to starve your body. No food = no grow.
Forget fast food (and deep fried food). Eat a lot of protein rich, healthy food. Vegetables for fiber, some carbohydrates (bread/grains), fruit for vitamins, fish/olive oil, berries. For protein: red meat (not burger mix), eggs, chicken, turkey, fish? You or your family/friends will have to cook healthy food. Healthy food does not come pre-cooked and ready to be microwaved!
Drink plenty of plain water throughout the day. About a gallon of water a day will do. Drink before, during, and after a workout. Don?t wait till you become thirsty ? just sip it.
Recommended:
You may use protein shakes and fish oil pills. The fish oil should have OMEGA acids. Omega-3, Omega-6, Omega-9, etc.
Ditch sodas and cut back on sweets. Again, stay away from junk food.
Check out this page for more tips on diet (ignore the ?eat every 3 hours? tip ? it is bullsh!t in my opinion):
http://tinyurl.com/36c7cn
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
To get strong, and as result big, you need to do the following basics:
ROUTINE
Critical:
Work your whole body. Including legs and back (core). Now, you might be saying, ?I don?t want to train my legs!? but you must train them. Else you won?t grow fast. Why train legs? Well, legs are biggest muscles in the body, and when you train them, they promote release of manly hormones that build muscle and give you strength/confidence. One of these hormones is TESTOSTERONE.
Increased hormone levels make muscles grow faster everywhere ? legs, back, abs, upper body, arms, you name it.
The routine should be centered around the SQUAT. It is a compound exercise that trains about 75% of your muscles. Two other big lifts are the bench press and dead lift. Other compound exercises include:
-overhead shoulder press (also called military press),
-bent over rows
-snatch/jerk/cleans/lunges [I personally didn?t do this yet],
-bodyweight exercises like push ups, pull ups, chin ups, dips (strap weight on yourself if they are too easy ? meaning you can do 12+ pull ups no problem)
Here?s link to Stronglifts 5x5 Beginner Program: http://tinyurl.com/yu29x3
My only complaint is that it asks you to do dips/pull ups to failure. Your dad says doing dips to fail is very bad for shoulders. So you can replace dips with push ups or decline bench press at steepest angle.
The schedule will look like this:
Mon: Workout A
Tues: cardio
Wed: Workout B
Thurs: cardio
Fri: Workout A
Sat: cardio
Sun: day off or cardio, your choice
Next week is the same, but instead of Workout A/B/A, do B/A/B.
For what to do on A and B, see link above.
How and what you do for cardio is not as important as simply going out there and DOING it (bonus tip: run shirtless to get sexy tan).
Important:
Proper technique is extremely important on compound exercises. Work on squat and DL (deadlift) technique with empty bar until you have flawless technique. Then do it with light weight. Ask others to survey your technique, or videotape yourself. Do not look in the mirrors to see if you?re doing it right ? you can damage your neck.
Do cardiovascular work. 2-3 days a week in between lifts. Run, bike, swim, or do some other cardio activity. For example 20 min jog (doesn?t have to be very fast run) 3 times a week will be good start.
Warm up properly (light jog, exercises with light weight, etc) before exercise & stretch a little at the end of workout. BTW, never stretch cold muscles [do not stretch for warm up].
(I should not have to say, ?DO NOT SKIP WORKOUTS!?)
Recommended:
Forget isolation exercises like biceps curls or tricep extensions or lateral raises. You?re just wasting time with them. Do compound exercises and you?ll get big. Do not modify compound lift programs ( Stronglifts.com 5x5 Beginner or Rippetoe?s). Just do what program says and get out. When you can comfortably squat 1.5x your bodyweight and deadlift 2x your bodyweight, you?re done with Stronglifts.com 5x5 Beginner program and can go to Intermediate.
To get big fast, you must use free weight equipment (barbells, dumbbells, your bodyweight), not machines. Machines balance weight for you, and restrict you to specific moving pattern. Free weights force you to balance the weight, training supporting muscles as well as primary ones. Free weights give you strength you can use in real world.
REST
Critical:
Sleep at least 8 hours each night. The muscles recover the most in your sleep ? no sleep, no recovery.
Important:
Do lifting every other day. Do not lift on consecutive days.
Recommended:
If you must skip a workout, give an extra day of rest, instead of ?making up? for the skipped day.
DIET
Critical:
To grow big, you must eat big. Do not worry about calories. You must have caloric excess to grow. In the end, it all comes down to calories in vs. calories out. You should have more calories in than out.
Important:
East solid breakfast every day! Body needs continuous supply of food to build muscle. If you have a dinner at, say, 9 pm, and wake up at 7 am, and have your lunch at noon, you went 15 hours without food! That?s a very long time to starve your body. No food = no grow.
Forget fast food (and deep fried food). Eat a lot of protein rich, healthy food. Vegetables for fiber, some carbohydrates (bread/grains), fruit for vitamins, fish/olive oil, berries. For protein: red meat (not burger mix), eggs, chicken, turkey, fish? You or your family/friends will have to cook healthy food. Healthy food does not come pre-cooked and ready to be microwaved!
Drink plenty of plain water throughout the day. About a gallon of water a day will do. Drink before, during, and after a workout. Don?t wait till you become thirsty ? just sip it.
Recommended:
You may use protein shakes and fish oil pills. The fish oil should have OMEGA acids. Omega-3, Omega-6, Omega-9, etc.
Ditch sodas and cut back on sweets. Again, stay away from junk food.
Check out this page for more tips on diet (ignore the ?eat every 3 hours? tip ? it is bullsh!t in my opinion):
http://tinyurl.com/36c7cn
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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