"Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor."
I once made a thread about this topic. Due to the new influx of new members, I figured I would ask again. Who here is into fitness or lifting? I remember General Jackson mentioning he used to be a bodybuilder and then got into power lifting.
If you're bulking, cutting, man, woman, look like a skeleton, in great shape or in terrible shape -- post here. Need lifting advice or need me to write or get you a decent program? Ask! Need help dieting (for both bulk & cut), ask way and I can help you calculate your macros.
Here are some fantastic resources and things I've compiled for everyone:
General Fitness, Dieting & Lifting
Beginner's Health & Fitness Guide
Strength Standards
Diet & Body Re-composition
Initial Body Fat and Body Composition Changes
General Philosophies of Muscle Mass Gain
Sample Diets
Read the above articles, and decide whether you need to bulk (add muscle), cut (lose fat), or maintain.
Now calculate your
Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE)
in calories.
Bulking Diet:
Calories: TDEE + 500 calories
Protein: 1+ grams per lb. bodyweight
Cutting Diet:
Calories: TDEE - 500 calories
Protein: 1.5+ grams per lb. bodyweight
Maintenance:
Calories: TDEE
Protein: 1.25+ grams per lb. bodyweight
Adjust calories as needed based on your goals / results.
Mobility, Stretching, and Self-Massage Resources:
MobilityWOD
: A blog that focuses on maximizing mobility - also covers some self massage. Here is a great selection
specifically for squats
.
This article
covers some essentials with a few references to MobilityWOD
Molding Mobility
and
Starting Stretching
: Concise beginners guides to mobility & stretching.
Foam rolling the critical bodyparts
Make your foam roller
Other information, tips & myths:
-If you are new to lifting, I suggest you condition your body for a good 6 months with full body routines, 3-4 days a week before moving on to a split routine, SS or a variety of others.
-When lifting -- the amount of reps you do determines on what fibers you're working. 5-6 reps is great for strength gains. 8-12 is great for hypertrophy. Here's a good chart that illustrates what I'm talking about:
-Want a six pack or a defined core? Doing sit ups will get you no where. Sit ups and other ab exercises are great for strengthening the core. But if you want to have visible abs -- you must cut the bodyfat in the area. There's no such thing as "spot reduction" (where you can remove fat from a specific place). All cutting takes place over the entire body. The abdomen is where the body stores fat last. Once you reduce your body fat to at least 10% (at least in men), you'll have visible abs. But then again. Why would you only want abs? As the saying goes, "A six pack on a skinny guy is like a fat woman with big boobs. It just doesn't count."
-I highly recommend getting a hold of some whey & creatine supplements. The whey will help you easily reach your daily protein intake (approximately 1 gram of protein per pound you weigh). The creatine aids in water retention and muscle reconstruction. Other supplements that are good would be Vitamin D and Fish oil/Omega-3 supplement. Omega-3's are essential in keeping off fat, giving good health to your joints and it's an over all fantastic supp.
-If you are between the ages of 16 through 22 (especially 18-22) -- now is the time to lift. This is the time when you fill out the most and when you'll make some mad gains due to the increased affinity towards muscle reconstruction. After this age, you can expect to pack of 5 - 10 lbs of lean muscle mass which is still great. But during that age, you can expect anywhere from 10 - 20 lbs of lean muscle mass. Even more if you really train. These numbers aren't static however and vary from individual to individual.
-When you make gains, subtract 5-10 lbs off how much you weigh. That's food & water weight alone. Next calculate your body fat and subtract accordingly to figure out just how much lean muscle mass you've gained.
-You CANNOT turn fat into muscle. This is a massive misconception & myth along with "spot reduction".
-When you gain muscle, you will gain a bit of fat. This is natural and normal. When bulking, your muscles will grow and you will gain some fat (but not much if you diet properly). Most people bulk during the winter & fall which is when they're usually covered up by sweaters and thick garments. In the summer & spring, they cut and lose any bit of the fat they may have gained for that great core & insertions when they hit the beach. You don't HAVE to do this however. Heck, you could bulk a whole year and cut when you wish. It's all up to you.
I will also be updating the thread periodically with fitness humor, stories, motivation, my own progress, etc.
Have more questions? Need tips? Need to see what muscles you need to work on? Ask away! Post pictures. I will be glad to help.
Finally, I leave you with some words from Socrates;
There is no excuse. Age is out of question. Current body composition can be changed completely. Nothing is wrong with your metabolism or thyroid.
Come brothers and sisters. Let us become unbelievably
aesthetic & strong.