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i'm not jacked nor am i super strong, but i've been going to the gym pretty regularly for about 9 months or so. during this time, i've read tons of stuff, watched tons of videos on youtube, read tons of blogs and basically learned a bunch about this lifestyle of hitting the gym hard and dieting. i've made gains in aesthetics and strength. i've made friends with bodybuilders and with powerlifters and never have i met such a diligent group of people who are as determined as they are knowledgeable.
however i find the following troubling: methods of training
for anyone who frequents the gym, i'd like to wager that you have googled different work outs for different body parts. you have taken these workouts and you have followed them and upon finding another workout you become somewhat confused because of differences in number of exercises, rep ranges, number of sets, etcetcetc. because of this confusion you ask around at the gym and one guy tells you "the best work out for any beginner is start with 3-4 sets of 8 reps. approx 4-5 exercises per body part."
other times you encounter advice that runs along these lines, "fuck that high rep isolation shit. its garbage. you do squats, you do deadtlifts, you do bench press. you do 5x5, or 5-3-1, or etcetcetc."
you may also hear:
"i like to switch up my exercises every week, yknow, to keep my muscles guessing, it works great!"
"i like to start with a big weight (after ive warmed up), for three reps or so, and then go down in weight and hit higher reps. this really tears the fibres of my muscles and gets the blood flowing through my chest. it works great!"
and quite possibly: i like to pyramid/drop sets/super sets/short break/long break/slow or fast negatives/pauses etc etc etc.
the problem is this: everyone will tell you how awesome their work out is, and how well it works for them. most people will advocate their method of training so strongly that they become narrow minded towards other methods of training, without having tried it. you'll see power lifters scoff at the very idea of doing high rep lower weight and isolation exercises. and vice versa you'll hear people telling you that if you want to get the level of definition that they've got, you had better stay away from those powerlifts.
too many gym goers are too set in their way of thinking when it comes to how someone should train to attain a goal. to be a body builder you had better stick to bulking and cutting cycles. to become a power lifter you had better be at the gym, working on the different parts of of your squat!
although these methods have been highly effective, i highly dislike that people think that there can only be one way to achieve goal x. there are body builders who have HUGE lifts and at the same time there are power lifters who have INCREDIBLE bodies. you don't have to stick to one way of training!
remember that each individual has slightly tweaked their workouts to fit their preferences. what works for them, excuse the redundancy, works best for THEM. so please take advice with an open mind and recognize what may work for them, may not necessarily work out you.
however this will work for you and for anyone: INCREASE your weights, be CONSISTENT, eat right and rest right! give yourself some time and you can achieve big lifts or a big body or BOTH.
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Sorry for derailing, but oh god... your name...
:D
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is it true that working out will help your back? I'm 21 and I already have back problems. For maybe several years I've just been sitting around on really bad chairs. Haven't really done any decent exercise.
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On February 04 2012 15:18 Roe wrote:
is it true that working out will help your back? I'm 21 and I already have back problems. For maybe several years I've just been sitting around on really bad chairs. Haven't really done any decent exercise.
probably better just to do stretches. obviously if you workout your back it will become stronger, though.
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On February 04 2012 15:18 Roe wrote:
is it true that working out will help your back? I'm 21 and I already have back problems. For maybe several years I've just been sitting around on really bad chairs. Haven't really done any decent exercise.
difficult to say. you should probably contact a physician or a chiropractor to get a proper answer. things such as yoga and various stretches may be more beneficial for helping a bad back. doing certain exercises at the gym can help with your posture and that may help you out as well.
however if you were going to start working out at the gym, i'd recommend you hire a personal trainer for a short while (or get someone who you deem to be qualified) to teach you the correct form for any exercises you may wish to do. this will decrease the likelihood of you injuring yourself further.
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On February 04 2012 15:03 Azera wrote:
Sorry for derailing, but oh god... your name...
:D
yeah when I moused over it in the blogs list it said "for those who work out... by erection"
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On February 04 2012 15:18 Roe wrote:
is it true that working out will help your back? I'm 21 and I already have back problems. For maybe several years I've just been sitting around on really bad chairs. Haven't really done any decent exercise.
That depends on what exactly hurts. When I mostly sit in front of the comp for weeks on end then I start to feel the muscles in my lower back hurt. Just going to the gym once or twice and that pain is gone for a few more weeks. Now, what I am doing is not very smart and doing the exercise to prevent the pain is a lot more useful and healthier but I am just a lazy fuck after all. If it's more bone related then strengthening your muscles will still help to alleviate some of the stress on your bones but don't expect wonders.
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I was going to point you to the Health and Fitness subforum, then I read:
On February 04 2012 15:01 erektion wrote:
although these methods have been highly effective, i highly dislike that people think that there can only be one way to achieve goal x
Yeah, maybe you shouldn't go there. 
Seriously though, you could write a computer program to randomly create your workouts, and if you stuck with it, you'd end up stronger and better looking than average. Doing anything is better than doing nothing, and getting to a decent level of strength is pretty easy. It doesn't mean the program is any good, however. My gym is full of 40-50 year-olds quarter squatting 225 lbs who probably think that what they're doing is great, despite the fact that they haven't increased any of their lifts in decades. It's not that they've found what works for them, they just don't know wtf they're doing because they take advice from other people that don't know wtf they're doing. Fad exercising is just as unsustainable as fad dieting.
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i guess i forgot to mention that you should also be critical of the advice that you hear. and i didnt mention anything about form, but i think that's a blog for another time!
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I'd say the kind of person who has been bodybuilding non-stop for a long time tend to be very stubborn. They have to be, because otherwise they would have given up and not reached where they got.
Its probably also confirmation bias, I used this training method, I got big, therefore this training got me big. Even though it was probably 99% dedication, they could have used any training method and still achieved the same results.
You get the same in the programming, poker and golfing communities. It requires the same sort of mindset, being incredibly stubborn and unwavering is what gets you far in these types of things, because if you change your mind too much, you don't get anywhere. You have to have a set a goal, and painstakingly work towards it and not let anything get in your way. Especially having to focus in great detail on something that is so mundane, would drive most people insane.
I've only started lifting in the last few weeks since I've stopped doing any exercise (i quit breakdancing and soccer since I started work). I've spent a lot of time researching, and updating my split workout every week, and eating lots of bland food and gainer (trying to take in at least 3000cal a day, I am an ectomorph, and my metabolism is extremely high due to doing lots of high cardio sports for most of my life). I have had my brother keep telling me I'm gonna give up after 2 weeks, etc, but as a programmer I am incredibly stubborn and just ignored them while I unwaveringly drill a 4 day split (same as 5 day split no squats because I don't need them [used to be a state level cyclist and soccer player, my arms need to catch up first], super set with ab workouts twice a week) that I've painstakenly gone through every detail, every week for about 4 weeks now.
Been gaining about 2 kgs of semi-lean mass a week too (some non muscle mass is necessary till I get to the cutting phase), last weeks workouts always feel light compared to this weeks which is always a good sign.
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EPT
