You're too worried about your damn "beach muscles".. Fitness advice for new lifters from a U.S. Army Vet.

SgtDowns · 2017-06-09T22:45:18+00:00

Eh I'd also argue there's a stupid amount of obsession over getting big beach muscles on your arms too. I see people talking about how they don't do cardio because it will eat into their "gains". That's a silly attitude. Fitness isn't just measured by how big your muscles look. There's different types of strengths and weight lifting isn't the only way to get fit.

aewiggin · 2017-06-10T06:06:52+00:00

This is good advice if you're doing like 8hrs+ of lifting heavy shit per week. If you want to eat like a madman you gotta train like a madman.

I'll tell you what's not a good idea: eating like a pig while doing some 3-days-a-week internet program like starting strength or stronglifts.

You just get fat (I know from experience)

[deleted] · 2017-06-10T06:36:41+00:00

I guess I agree to the extent that you shouldn't be a total twig with no muscles, but, the bodybuilder physique is also overrated. Bodybuilding is awesome but you definitely don't need to log hours on end at the gym to achieve a desirable and strong physique. I've had no problem picking up girls with a fairly athletic physique, a clean shave, charming smile, and some interesting stories to tell. I mean what are you gonna do, bench press every woman at a bar into your bed lol?

Dirkz · 2017-06-10T14:22:59+00:00

There's no winner to this argument. Personally I think the slightly skinny guy with a 6 pack looks better than the dude with a beer gut, no definition, no veins but can bench 400. Everyone is trying to get to the 300 Spartan body and all that matters is that you're on that road. If you have a six pack and you're scrawny you should be working on putting on mass. If you outlift everyone in the gym but can't see your dick you need to cut. Both these groups get laid and choosing a side of this overplayed TRP debate does nothing but identify what side of the line you're on.

If I need help moving I'll call my buddies that lift more than me. But if I want a partner for the beach to ensure the most amount of women are looking our way he better have abs. Afterall nothing will make a woman more openly approach and kino you than a 6 pack. I've never heard a woman say "ew abs, I wanna know how much he benches before I fuck him."

first_time_using_net · 2017-06-11T03:05:43+00:00

thing is I'm not trying to win your respect

I'm trying to fuck women

like_em_thick · 2017-06-10T11:49:48+00:00

Fuck it. Just join a masters swim team. Swimmers bodies rock. No more figuring out supplements and how to not slip a disc. You'll look incredible I guarantee it. Also a masters club is like $50 a month. That's it. The coach is like your personal trainer. Lifting is cool but most guys are so hopeless and have bad for all they're going to do is hurt their back or look like a chicken hawk.

MrAnderzon · 2017-06-09T22:04:23+00:00

I started with 5x5 program

pn_me_your_dick · 2017-06-10T06:50:42+00:00

you only need 300 cal surplus and you can grow into your first cut easy

theoctopuss · 2017-06-10T13:12:01+00:00

It all comes down to useful muscle vs. show muscle. Seeing guys at the gym with 18 inch guns, but tiny chicken legs gives me a good laugh.

Need2LickMuff · 2017-06-10T01:05:22+00:00

in my eyes you're still a twig, you're still a rookie, and you still need work

Well, unless those guys are fags that want to attract and fuck a jarhead, IMO fuck your opinion.

iwasbornred · 2017-06-09T23:22:52+00:00

This is all very true, however I do have a correction.

Get to low body fat FIRST, because being very lean(~10% body fat) makes it super easy to gain muscle. You should never be bulking while you have a high body fat percentage like 15%.

I wouldn't even consider getting to 10% a cut(although it technically is if you're losing fat)- thats just getting to baseline fitness.

[deleted] · 2017-06-10T16:09:48+00:00

Trenbaloni sammiches for breakfast lunch and dinner

aDrunkenWhaler · 2017-06-10T11:15:22+00:00

The six pack on a skinny, tall guy is gonna pull more young women than any other look, no matter how much guys in here hamster otherwise.

yomo86 · 2017-06-10T11:43:25+00:00

The gym is the gym and necessary. People get totally enthralled by it because the equation is easy - especially in summer girls like muscle ergo I got to be an Ambercrombies's bitch model.

Easy as in 1 + 1. Instead of lifting for health and mass and then add the vapidity of shredness, most folks over analyze the simple stuff instead of developing frame, character, wisdom and some balls. After all, all it takes to succeed body-wise is going to the gym and eating right instead of facing the very likelihood of failure in say, starting your business, admitting your own short-comings or slay it in college.

DeathToTheZog · 2017-06-10T08:16:20+00:00

Shaming is for bitches. If a guy is at least actively exercising he's doing better than most.

Entropy-7 · 2017-06-13T02:56:29+00:00

-SQAT -DEADLIFT -BENCH PRESS -OVERHEAD PRESS

Good post and good advice. One thing I would add is chin ups to build your lats (for mass) and biceps (for looks). If you can max over a dozen then you are doing pretty good. In a workout, 3 sets of 8 reps is a good baseline.

The other thing is to work your calf muscles. In terms of raw mass, they are small potatoes, but in terms of symmetry - especially for a "beach body" where you aren't wearing long pants - you need them to complete your look.

I knew a guy in university who was on the rowing team. He had a great body: low BF%, great lats and tremendous quads. However, he had tiny calves because rowing doesn't work those particular muscles. A more famous example is Mike Tyson who has large upper body mass but spindley lower legs.

Single leg calf raise is probably the best excercise: get a small block of 2-by-4 and something to balance against; ball of your foot on the block with your heel on the ground; then lift.

twatbutters · 2017-06-10T01:21:17+00:00

"A six pack on a skinny guy, is like tits on a fat bitch."

It doesn't have to be either or, bro.

Edit: I also see a ton of strong guys at the gym who are still fat as fuck and can barely make it up the stairs.

NeoreactionSafe · 2017-06-09T22:25:11+00:00

I always have to reemind myself to eat more when I'm exercising more.

If you have a sort of standard diet that you do with or without exercise you need to increase your intake if you do more.

The idea is to build first then cut after.

Body builders cut drastically before events but generally carry more fat around.

That said...

When you stop with the high powered workouts you need to eat less.

firmoffer · 2017-06-09T23:55:46+00:00

"A six pack on a skinny guy, is like big tits on a fat bitch."

Skinny guy here. 6'2", 170lb.

I love big tits, even on a fat bitch.

Here's what I'm working with, pic was taken at the gym not long ago.

https://imgur.com/a/4EljK

At 43 years old, I have no competition among men my age.

Chicks love my 6-pack, even though I'm only tall and fit instead of awesomely short and swole.

Now the season is in and the gym is full of underarmor yuppies all day long. So I have a bench at the house.

Tall skinny guys, hit those crunches, work in some incline and decline bench presses, seated overhead presses. A bench that does incline, decline, or flat can be found at Walmart for 50 bucks. Standing hammer curls and seated bicep curls are your friend. For your shoulders work with chest flys and shoulder flys.

Use dumbbells for everything. Walmart sells solid one-piece dumbbells for 10 to 20 bucks each depending on the weight of them. I use 20lbs dumbbells for bench work, 15lbs dumbbells for curls. 10lbs for chest and shoulder flys.

When you get tired of the weights you have, buy the next bigger. For example I've been working with the 20 pounders for a while now. Within the next 2 weeks I'm going to get a set of 30lbs dumbbells and rotate the weights down.

Tall guys just need to be toned with defined pecs and visible abs.

Being swole is for short guys.

Edit:

You may work in some dumbbell squats for legs (I do) but as a tall guy you don't have to worry about it too much.

Chicks would rather have a man with long thin legs than to have a thing with short muscular legs.

hillbull · 2017-06-10T05:39:21+00:00

Check into the wendell 531 program. Work on strength and mass.

FailingBillionaire · 2017-06-10T09:06:08+00:00

Thanks to my confirmation bias I fully agree with you.

Metalageddon · 2017-06-10T15:15:32+00:00

Compounds+HIIT

You'll be good. Start focusing on segments and cutting after your big. Really big.

[deleted] · 2017-06-11T15:51:01+00:00

I like where your head's at. You should contribute more.

Metalgear222 · 2017-06-12T18:58:22+00:00

Good advice. But aesthetics and being huge are 2 different things. Compare Zyzz to a bodybuilder. Most women will choose Zyzz. It's not all about mass. It's about the definition of that mass.

I recommend making pyramid sets and dropsets a must. That way you're getting the best of both worlds: High reps low weight and high weight low reps.

turtledante · 2017-06-10T15:59:15+00:00

Just don't be one of those dudes that deadlift with abhorrent form. Absolutely cringe-worthy

Appleseed12333 · 2017-06-10T17:59:25+00:00

Anytime on working my upper back? I usually do pendlay rows but I always struggle with not raising my back during the initial lift and touching my chest at the end of the lift. It's hard to go to near failure without form break down.

[deleted] · 2017-06-10T19:15:25+00:00

This post reads pretty try hard. Cultivating mass is great until you get a double chin and a gut along with any cardio ability going completely out the window.

Agree that the six pack is overrated but if you are trying to get the ideal body to attract women (which shouldn't be your main motivator) then you should focus on lean muscle i.e. a swimmer body, not being some jacked army grunt.

Stay active. Do fun active stuff. I row, kayak, rock climb (not a weirdo though like most of them), lift, play sports, and have no problems with my sex life. Sounds a lot better than whatever "Hang with the big boys" means

[deleted] · 2017-06-11T04:31:22+00:00

You know what else look like tits on a fat dude? T-rex arms on someone with a big deadlifting back. 5x5 is a flawed masterpiece.

JcHgvr · 2017-06-11T15:08:36+00:00

You should be drinking a gallon of water everyday

Now this sounds like something a company selling water would say.

You need to drink X amount of water period. Disregards the fact that the amount of water you need depends on dozens of factors such out activity level or the temperature of your surrounding, and your body has a pretty good mechanism that tells whether top drink more or less that evolved over billions of years. You chug that water down even if it means to piss like a horse every 30 minutes.

In before "once you're thirsty you're already dehydrated" there are different levels of thirsty. Drinking a gallon of water sure makes sense when it's baking hot outside or you're exercising a lot. But no way you'll need that much on an average day.

SoSconed · 2017-06-12T07:20:03+00:00

Do starting strength as core workout

add 1-2 weekly rotating Isolation lifts per session

Superset crunches and planking

Eat 400 cals over

???? Profit

iwasbornred · 2017-06-13T03:45:32+00:00

Eh. Sounds like you're starving yourself and your dumbass doctors are making money off it.

You should train 6 days a week, whether lifting or cardio

iwasbornred · 2017-06-13T03:46:34+00:00

You need to burn 3000-3500 calories a day. That requires intense exercise

PantsonFire1234 · 2017-06-13T21:27:07+00:00

Actually most guys I see at the gym focus on the so called no-pain muscles. These are muscles you can easily train without feeling to much joint pain. These include, forearms, biceps/triceps and chest. Also shoulders to a varying degree. They are always overdeveloped and hilariously looking on every gym-rat I meet. Compared to their extremely weak core and back, also sometimes, their legs.

The reason is that working these out puts immense pressures on the spinal discs, hips and leg and schouder joints. They are the excursies that demand perfect form and gradual increase in order to avoid injuries. These exercises hurt the most, they strain the most and they are the hardest to perform and combine. Also generally you will not get any narcissistic attention for them besides in the summer.

I do know the type of guy you are talking about but these are geeks and young teenage dudes just starting out.

Bay_BoyT · 2017-06-09T22:59:26+00:00

I train like a powerlifting and frequently find myself not being able to fit in shoulder isolation work due to it being to close to either my last heavy bench day or my next one. Any tips?

anon2777 · 2017-06-10T16:38:59+00:00

powerlifters dont get bitches get your roided ass out of our getting laid forum

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