Lifting 101

tubbynerd · 2014-10-04T16:41:30+00:00

My main regret in recent years when it comes to this topic is that I didn't clean bulk. HERE is a great article that goes into detail about bulking and destroys some widely-held opinions about it. I went all my life with a clearly defined six-pack until I bulked with lots of dairy and whatever else and then, for the first time in 40 years, I had a gut. And it's been a bitch to get rid of. I finally did it, but it took months and was a pain in the butt. And those fat cells never go away, ever. So now it's always going to be harder for me to retain my abdominal definition and not put on fat there.

Anyways, that's more of a warning than any instruction, per se. As far as lifting goes, I like the Stronglifts program to start out with. It's a great program for gaining strength regardless of your starting physique, although once you've been at it for a while it's a better program to stick with for underweight people than for overweight people.

There is a book called Built For Show that is very good for someone looking for a program that is more detailed than Stronglifts.

Anyways, the main points I'd give about gaining muscle and looking good would be these:

Clean bulk. Eat a lot, but don't pig out on dairy or junk food. If you want to lose fat, do a low-carb diet with lots of vegetables and count your calories.
Use mostly free weights. If you can exercise a muscle group with free weights instead of a machine, do it.
Fill your workout time with lifting heavy and pushing yourself, rather than doing lots of different exercises.
Always do the big lifts—squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press—as a part of your weekly routine.
Don't believe the bullshit about avoiding cardio. The fittest people in history have always done regular cardio.
Do push and pull exercises to keep your muscle development even and avoid injuries. E.g., if you do a pushing exercise, like bench press, also do a pulling exercise like rows.
What you exercise will grow. Put the time into the places where you want to see the most development.
Abs are more of a product of caloric balance than exercise, although exercise is an important factor. If you want to lose fat here, go low-carb, watch your calories, and keep lifting.
Find ways to make it enjoyable for you. Don't worry about what everyone else does in this respect, because what motivates them may not motivate you.
Warm up, because it sucks to have to stop working a muscle group for a couple of months while your body recovers from an injury.
Consistency and effort are the main things.

ShitlordInExile · 2014-10-04T17:58:03+00:00

If you've only been doing it a month, you should stick to Stronglifts for now.

What's your height/weight/bodyfat?

Unless you're pretty overweight, you need to bulk and get those noob gains to keep motivated.

Don't worry about stupid shit like turning into an "overweight Olympic lifter" or whatever you said. Honestly, dude, you've only been lifting a month. You don't just lift for a little while and--poof--turn into a powerlifter with a gut. You're putting the cart way before the horse there. That's something you'd have to actively try to become, through a huge amount of work, over a period of years. Don't even worry about.

Just keep doing Stronglifts for at least a year or so. You will be amazed at how more aesthetic you look in that time if you stick with it. At the point you're at, worrying about hypertrophy vs. strength is pointless. You mainly just need to lift and stick with a routine. Stronglifts is good for beginners.

At most, add a few accessory exercises to your routine if you can do so without hurting your main progress or losing your motivation. That will add a little more to your aesthetics.

Just my two cents.

Rogerdodger1985 · 2014-10-04T17:17:32+00:00

Body comp is all diet.

Working out is very important but diet and sleep will affect your body comp more than anything.

dakkr · 2014-10-04T21:23:31+00:00

At least I myself would need some help. I have followed Stronglifts program now for a month and I love it's simplicity but I've read that it's more about strength than hypertrophy. And I'm mainly interested about aesthetics and not so much about strength. So I think I might need new program, because I want to look more like Arnold Schwarzenegger than like some fat-ass Olympic weight-lifter. So what would be great beginner bodybuilding workout program?

Listen. Stronglifts is a BEGINNER PROGRAM. You are correct that it is primarily oriented around building strength, but for a beginner THAT IS A NECESSITY. You cannot expect to see results from an 'aesthetics' routine without the strength necessary to complete that routine effectively. You need to build up a strength 'baseline' first, and the best way to do that is through a beginner routine such as stronglifts or starting strength. These are considered beginner routines for a reason: you cannot maintain them as an experienced lifter who is lifting heavier weights. The fatigue will simply be too much for your body. That is why you eventually progress to some sort of split, so you can let parts of your body rest when they can't keep up with lifting every other day.

Ideally, if you are primarily focused on aesthetics, what you need to do is stick with Stronglifts (or whatever beginner program) religiously for around 8-10 months (depending on how you progress) and then after that you can move on to a routine focused on aesthetics. You will get so much more out of that aesthetics routine once you have the strength to do it at higher intensity.

Remember that lifting is not something you do hoping to see results in a month or even six months. Lifting is a lifelong commitment that you do to see gradual improvement over the long term. There's a screencap from /fit/ that explains why beginner programs are good for novices, I'll try and find it and post it.

Oh, and make sure you're eating well, lifting is only half the equation. How you define 'well' depends on your current weight (e.g. if you're skinny eat lots if you're a fatass eat less) but generally you want lots of protein and a good balance of carbs and fats.

1pecman · 2014-10-04T16:16:12+00:00

I've heard ICF5x5 is basically SL but with some lifts for aesthetics added. Haven't tried it though.

Edit: I'm not advocating SL or ICF. I've done neither. My trainer has me on something he put together. As far as I can tell, being a novice, it's working for me.

2014-10-04T17:19:15+00:00

Stick to heavy compound movements with lighter ancillary work all while keeping good form.

Heavy meaning reps in the 4-6 range. Where if you can 6 reps it's time to up the weight.

Lighter ancillary work meaning reps in the 10-12 range lifting to failure here is kind of up to you. But if you can do more than 15 reps than go up.

Heavy for compounds movements are where your foundation will be built. Main compounds are squat, dead lift, overhead/military press and bench press. You lift these movements heavy to track progress but also to stimulate growth and hormone response.

Lighter ancillary work is where you gain the size and hypertrophy. Things like rows, cables cross overs, cable pull downs, and extension will all help the size and and ascetic of the muscle. And where you will want to focus on really pinching and squeezing the muscle.

Also you may want to look into super setting. I personally love to superset as it saves a lot of time at the gym. And I've seen awesome results with it.

As always diet is really what will make or break your progress in what ever goal you're trying to achieve. If you want to get big you'll have to eat big. 1000 calories over your bad metabolic rate ideally. You will gain fat to, but if you eat pretty clean you should be able to avoid getting too fat. Of you can stay away from to many simple carbs and sugars you can have nice clean bulk that will help keep the fat at bay.

After getting much bigger and stronger. You cut to get the leaness back while trying to preserve your hard gained muscle. Meaning lite cardio with heavy dieting. Cut the carbs and increase your protein. And keep your calories down to about 500-800 below your base metabolic rates.

Some of the guys here already posted some great routines. I personally like the PHAT or the old Max OT routines. I've personally seen great results with them.

As with all things something's may work better for you than other. The key I think to most beginning lifting routines is free weights and heavy lifting. Machine are great and serve there purposes well but to see real tangible results the fastest nothing beats free weights and heavy sets.

I kinda of do a hybrid between power lifting and bodybuilding but doing compounds heavy and to failure and the ancillary work lighter and not to failure. Whereas only have one or 2 reps left in the tank after 8 reps. Doing everything while super setting differ body parts or the same body part.

I saw you said you're already below 10% body fat which really is great place to start a nice clean bulk. Track your diet progress through fitness pal or something similar and try to eat 500-800 above your base rate with big chicken and spinach salads with easy dressing. Or eating tuna outta the can. Stay away from eating large pizzas, jumbos fountain drinks and diary queen blizzards. A bulk is a bulk not a license to eat like lard ass.

Last thing I'll say is track your progress. Keep a log of the lifts and weights you do and set goals. Be careful of everyone's advice including mine. Some lifts might agree with your body. Others may not. Do everything with a focus on form and intensity.

Have fun. I'm no fitness guru I found what worked for me. I'm 5'7" and I bulked up to 223lbs and have been slowly cutting for the last year and now sit at 185lbs. Trying to get to 10% body fat.

GayLubeOil · 2014-10-04T21:36:04+00:00

You need to develop a certain strength foundation before bodybuilding movements are any use to you. Stick with stronglifts untill you can squat at least 315.

the_doodabides · 2014-10-04T22:55:34+00:00

Fyi if you do SL, incorporate more upper body. It is very lower body intensive. Keep with SL/SS it is a very good basics program. Then you van switch over to 5/3/1 with BBB. Also look up powerbuilding it is the hybrid of powerlifting and bodybuilding.

On days when you bench, after doing to 3 main workouts, go back and jump on the incline and do more upper body development. Also alternate your heavy bench between flat and incline. One day max out flat and incline for reps and vise versa.

Also get an ab wheel. You are doing yourself and your lifts a major disservice by not working your core. A tight core is unbelievably important in squats and deads. Also ab definition and symmetry have alot to do with genetics. Ive seen people with single digit BF with little abs to show but people with double digit BF with great abs.

Also remember one thing aesthetics will usually follow behind strength. All of the best body builders have a past in powerlifting.

Kelly_Gruber · 2014-10-05T02:18:11+00:00

That feel when currently dirty bulking

YOUR_MOMS_A_CUNT · 2014-10-05T04:47:47+00:00

So, I'm in the military, been lifting for about 3 years, since high school (am 20).

I'm 5'11, at 232lb. I am stronger than most people, but I am obviously fat. I feel like the muscle mass is there (measuring width of arms, chest, ect.) but I find it hard to lose weight. (I think I am an endomorph?)

I usually eat baked chicken with beans or broccoli and a starch like potatoes or bread for lunch/dinner. I do 1 minute sprinting drills at the gym (repeated 5 times, resting 30 seconds in between).

Any tips on what to eat? and also some good high intensity cardio exercise tips would be appreciated. (I have back problems, so simply running isn't the best).

chanandlerbong420 · 2014-10-04T19:38:32+00:00

Id stay doing strong lifts til you plateau. Yes it is more strength-oriented, but if you're doing that as a person that that just started lifting you'll build muscle too. For your muscles to get stronger they have to get bigger. And once you switch to a more bodybuilding routine, you'll see significantly better gains, as you'll be lifting heavier weight. If you can rep 185 on bench, you'll build more muscle than repping 135.

2014-10-04T23:52:37+00:00

I'm just going to debunk a few myths: * Strength and aesthetics go hand-in-hand. Strength = muscle = aesthetics.
* Aesthetics comes from low BF%.
* Any program with a name is worse than just lifting. Starting Strength and Stronglifts are merely starter programs, but you don't NEED them.
* Bodyweight, HIIT, cardio, calisthenics are all extraneous to lifting and are therefore only for cutting.
* No diet is better than eating maintenance or bulk-cut.
* A strong core /= abs. Low BF% = abs.
* No machine can replace picking up a weight.
* Lifting implies moving weights vertically. Moving weights horizontally is therefore not lifting.
* Compound "big lifts" surpass all other isolation exercises in importance. This also releases testosterone which builds all muscles. You can't just do curls.
* A strong back is necessary for posture and is recognized by women as a very attractive feature. You can't just have biceps.

tl:dr Like the Red Pill itself, lifting has no secrets or shortcuts - it is just WORK and EFFORT.

chanandlerbong420 · 2014-10-04T17:24:58+00:00

I'm surprised no one mentioned /r/fitness. Their sidebar has great resources for beginners

2014-10-04T19:06:05+00:00

I'd read strength training anatomy. It is a good book series for beginners. Now what I did was this:

1 year ago I was 163LBs 18% BF at 5' 9". I decided to cut down to 135LBS and 8% BF. I got to 135lbS AND 9ish % BF by doing light weight high rep endurance exercises. This was designed to prime my muscles and prepare them for a heavy load. I did this over 6 months.

This March I did a 3x a week full body program focused on compound lifts: Deadlifts, Squats, Bench, Incline, Rows, Upright Rows, Pull-ups, and iso movements for calfs and biceps/triceps. I did this for 4 months. In June, I went to a Push-pull 4x a week to balance out any imbalances by focusing on each main muscle group. In September, I started a 4x a week Upper/Lower split, focusing on progressively heavy weights with 4-5 sets of 1x10 for the first 4 weeks, then rotating with pyramids every other week. As of this week I am 158LBs 11% BF.

I eat cleanly, I cheat and eat ice cream and some sugars every once and a while, but I mostly eat quinoa, sweet potatoes, rice, chicken, beef, and lots of salads and nuts and fish. Got to have lots of fish, especially salmon.

OP: you could follow something like I am doing and focus on perfecting technique and prepping your body for a heavy load. I honestly recommend perfecting your techniques, learning how to control muscle contractions, learning how to explode through a rep, and understanding what really triggers muscle growth. Knowledge is power man. Now off to the Gym!

kmomang · 2014-10-04T20:29:39+00:00

If you want a program that involves the Big 3, I'd go with ICF 5X5. People underestimate the degree of stimulation that compound movements give you. As a natural AND a beginner, you'll get maximal potential growth from straightforward 5x5.

If you want to look like Arnold, which even at your best possible physique probably won't be attainable, get a solid base of strength and start taking (a lot of) steroids.

2014-10-04T20:43:59+00:00

http://www.simplyshredded.com/mega-feature-layne-norton-training-series-full-powerhypertrophy-routine-updated-2011.html

ThisShitRules · 2014-10-04T21:02:03+00:00

Arnold also started out with a strength routine. Hell, he was weightlifter at first, then started powerlifting and bodybuilding.

Stick to SL, get a strong base, when you reach intermediate strength, adjust your training to what you want. But you won't do that without adding muscle, that's for sure.

2014-10-04T22:12:15+00:00

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Watermelon_Salesman · 2014-10-05T00:55:40+00:00

I actually need an alternative for lifting, at least in the beginning. My body is sort of fucked up. I have a terrible bone structure. A shortened achille's tendon from birth has given me crooked legs, rotated femur, and an entire life of computer use has given me that nerdy, rounded shoulders posture. Still, I am very tall and strong. However, when I started lifting, I had constant, very intense and persistent pain in my shoulders, which could be an inflammation. X-Rays showed nothing. Maybe I should work on my posture? What's good for that? Pilates?

BluepillProfessor · 2014-10-04T23:48:21+00:00

-Lift 3-4 times every week to build yourself up.

-If you only Lift 1-2 times a week you can largely maintain your gains but you won't be seeing many more.

-take at least a 1-day break after working a muscle group.

-Lift HEAVY weights.

-For each muscle group do 3-4 sets of 5-10 repetitions each.

lift the heaviest weight that you can to exhaustion after 5-10 repetitions.

-do Bench Press, Military Press, Bicep Curls, Triceps Isolation, Squats (or leg Presses) and Clean and Jerk (or lat pulldowns) plus 4 sets of an intense abdominal exercise.

-work up slowly until you can literally CRUSH IT (that means you worked the muscles really, really hard and they are going to be sore for a while).

--increase the weight for the next set if you can do 8-10 repetitions.

--always be pushing your large muscle groups to exhaustion

This routine is specific to build muscle mass and testosterone.

edit: Add a cardio for at least 20 minutes 2X a week for optimal health.

armenia4ever · 2014-10-05T00:57:15+00:00

So I should start off with Stronglifts?

I'm one of those lucky bastards who doesn't work out but I have a somewhat natural tones as well as sex lines. I literally look stronger than I am because of it. (think some of this comes from being a painter on the sides and having to haul around full 5 gallons)

I need to start lifting though, but I struggled to do 130 pounds on a bench press.

elchoma90 · 2014-10-05T01:05:22+00:00

Stop wasting your time with programs and gimmicks and trying to find out the exact number of grams of protein to eat, when to eat it, supplements etc. Its all bullshit unless you are on a high competitive level. Here's all you gotta do if you want to be in great shape and be strong as an ox:

Make Olympic lifting (not only the big 3, do snatches, cleans etc too) your main work. Don't do more than 5 reps per lift. This will give you strength and a pretty good understanding of biomechanics (which equals good form which equals great results). Then throw accessory work on top to achieve hypertrophy. If you are getting stronger and not putting on fat then you're eating right. If your waist gets wider eat less. Avoid sugars and simple carbs. Take creatine, it's the only supplement worth taking.

Sleep 8 hours. Hit the gym hard, don't be a pussy. Push for PRs as often as recovery allows. That's all there is to it. Now go lift.

I squat 495, deadlift 545, bench 315. I haven't tried getting stronger in a long time, focused on maintance. 6'2 215lbs BF%14 (give or take since Im not as strict with my diet as a bodybuilder would ve) which is just fine don't believe the bodybuilding bullshit of %8 or less. You'll feel like shit with such low BF. I am not ripped but you can see my abs and I find the extra BF enhances my Adonis belt. Also when summer comes I do a month of ketosis and I'm shredded.

If you care about my routine I do two heavy days and two hypertrophy days (until I cry. Insane volume) I do whatever the fuck I feel like on any given day just make sure to not walk out the gym until exhausted (don't be confused, I don't mean you can't lift anything for 1 more rep. I mean exhausted as in you can't lift proper weight any longer. Don't go apeshit). Don't believe in overtraining it ain't gonna happen at the gym you can only overtrain if apart from the gym you're playing a sport or work labor.

Peace.

rpmale · 2014-10-05T01:31:08+00:00

if you're new to the gym talk to the biggest most jacked dudes. i somehow am now working out with a group of professional bodybuilders & models as a skinny-fat 18 year old loner just because they saw i cared and wanted to get better.

2014-10-05T02:40:59+00:00

Invest in a decent scale and weigh yourself every day. Keep a log for a while, at least until you get a sense of what your true current weight is.

If you're currently fat what you'll be looking to do is keep your weight stable as you workout (your body composition will slowly shift as you add muscle). At some point you'll want to do a cut but you can worry about that later. If you're skinny you'll want to gain about a lb a month, maybe a bit more. If you're gaining a lb a week you're gaining too much unless you're on steroids.

At the end of the day, weigh yourself. If you're on track, cool. If not you can have an anchor meal that you tack on at the end of the day. Something easy, high in protein, a whey protein shake ain't bad.

There are about a billion workout programs out there and most are fine. But I hardly ever see anyone talk about the primacy of your caloric balance and the careful tracking of your bodyweight each day so that you can balance off your macro at the end of the day. Once you get into that routine you'll be able to dial in your diet really precisely to get the results you want.

For ectos the anchor meal may be quite large. For me when I'm bulking I use eggs and brown rice cooked in healthy oils. When I'm on maintenance I use a protein shake as my anchor meal. For cutting just leaving out the anchor meal is usually all I need to do.

itsemalkay · 2014-10-05T04:25:12+00:00

Absolutely loving it.

Started cutting and already lost 5 pounds in two weeks. Instead of reaching my goal bf% in 3 months, I'll reach it in the next four weeks. I guess that means I have more time to slow bulk.

charlie_bodango · 2014-10-05T07:16:10+00:00

Meh. I'm not a big fan of lifting the heaviest things anymore. Find something that's fun so you're likely to do it. I do kettlebells, boxing, rock climbing (this is a great way to meat the ladies) and swimming. All of them will get you looking good. Swimming and climbing can bulk you up. And it varies from person to person. I think the what you do isn't as important as actually doing it.

Edit: also, diet.

Smallfatstrong · 2014-10-05T08:21:20+00:00

Olympic lifter? Fat ass? I can assure you that olympic lifters are not fat, maybe the 105+ but most are ripped. Search for Dmitry Klokov or Lu xiaojun. Thank me later.

Lift heavy and push yourself. The thing that helped me the most is to have a goal to set a pr every fucking session. One more rep, 2,5kg heavier weight. What pr doesnt matter, but one, maybe a extreme small one but its still a pr.

yesisaidyesiwillYes · 2014-10-05T08:54:02+00:00

Right now I'm 5'10" at 160 lbs and 12 percent bf. I've been lifting for about a year and have made a lot of mistakes along the way. Stats are: Bench 185x4, Squat 260x5, Dead 295x5, and Press 125x5. I look ottermode/abercrombie-ish (I'll post a pic if anyone insists).

First and foremost I need to point out that strength and hypertrophy are synonymous. No one with a large upper body is benching or pulling bitch weight. You do not get big without lifting heavy ass weights. Looking good is a matter of strength and low body fat. Those "fat-ass Olympic weight-lifters" (I think you mean powerlifters because weightlifters tend to have nice physiques) would be fucking shredded if they cut down their body fat, but they don't because that isn't their priority. And Arnold's look is due to tren, and a lot of it. You will never come close to that naturally.

Muscle can only and will only build through progressive overload. This means that you must increase the intensity (weight) and/or volume (sets/reps) of your workout over time. Going to the gym and doing the same workout with the same weight and sets/reps means that you aren't growing an ounce of muscle, regardless of how "pumped" you feel. Period.

As a beginner, you need to be doing a beginner routine like Stronglifts or Starting Strength. Any program worth a damn will focus on getting the big 4 compounds as high as possible. (Another pulling lift is needed, but I personally think rows are stupid; pull-ups or chin-ups are far superior).

Furthermore, as a beginner, your neuromuscular system is unadapted to moving heavy weight. You're only recruiting like 50 percent of your muscle fibers when you try to move weight. Getting that number to 95 percent is a purely neurological adaptation and the source of "noob gains" and is necessary before you start moving to a "hypertrophy" routine. If you go to "hypertrophy" routine from the get-go - that is doing a lot of volume at a lower intensity (there is an inverse relationship between the two) to induce sarcoplasmic hypertrophy as opposed to myofibular hypertrophy - then you are working at a diminished capacity. You need to recruit all your muscle fibers as soon as possible, and Stronglifts (or any other suitable beginner program) is the fastest way to do that.

Over time you can add more lifts, but always keep your focus on those big four. Cleans or snatches (preferably both), pull-ups and chin-ups, dips, incline presses, and core work like back extensions and decline sit-ups, and even curls and tricep extensions are all great. It is counter-productive to blast each individual muscle with a bunch of isolation exercises. Remember, muscle only builds through progressive overload. You want free weight exercises that work as many muscles as possible in a single movement (i.e. compounds).

As for diet, just eat super clean. Get your protein (.8 g per lb of bodyweight, the oft-cited 1 g per lb of bodyweight is hogwash), and fill the rest of your calories with good carbs and fat. Meat and green vegetables should compose the bulk of your diet, with complicated carb sources (legumes and whole grains and starchy vegetables like lentils/oats/quinoa/potatoes/etc.) being manipulated if you want to either gain or lose weight. Avoid flour products (bread/pasta) and especially sugar. If you want to lean bulk/cut, then do high carb/low fat on lifting days and low carb/high fat on rest days, but always keep your protein high. Sleep 8 hours every night and limit alcohol.

In closing, I highly recommend you read this: http://www.discussfitness.com/forums/f51/excellent-article-on-training-amp-diet-35935.html. The book Starting Strength is also invaluable for learning form.

Don't do a brosplit. Don't focus on isolation movements. You'll get nowhere.

10199 · 2014-10-05T05:28:29+00:00

I know this will be downvoted to hell, but I recommend steroids. Just use really low doses, make a good recovery, dont drink much - and you will have no side effects.

2014-10-04T16:33:43+00:00

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ilovemyself101 · 2014-10-04T17:05:09+00:00

Forget lifting, get into an MMA class.

Lifting is fine, body building is for CHUMPS

anonlymouse · 2014-10-04T16:04:27+00:00

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I_HaveAHat · 2014-10-04T19:32:04+00:00

I'm only like 150 right now. Do I need more mass before I start lifting? Or will starting now help me make mass?

Title	Lifting 101
Author	The_BitterTruth
Upvotes	66
Comments	89
Date	October 4, 2014 3:57 PM UTC (9 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/TheRedPill
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/comments/2ia7lo/lifting_101/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/TheRedPill/lifting-101.22344 https://theredarchive.com/post/22344