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Opening questions and answers and general misconceptions!
Q: I don't want to become a huge bodybuilder hulk type....I just want to get in shape better and look better so why should I lift weights?
Lifting weights is a really great exercise actually, and the people that bulk up to body builder or bear mode bodies generally have been training for their whole lives. Not to mention their caloric intake a day is over 6000. As well many body builders take supplements to naturally increase their testosterone level (yes there are legal supplements that do this, and you can buy them at your local GNC), or through out their entire lives of training they just have more testosterone. If you just want to look good, and feel confident yourself, a simply to intermediate weight routine will work wonders. I guarantee you that you will be confident with how you look and you will not bulk to hulk-mode as that takes decades of hard work and training.
Why you should lift weights:
1. Speeds up metabolism far greater than cardio, often days and days after workout (cardio typically only speeds up metabolism for a few hours post workout). Which helps with losing fat as muscles takes a lot of calories to maintain.
2. Improves balance and posture.
3. Improves bone density, and even increase bone density!
4. Builds strong and healthy tendons.
5. Shown to help with mental health.
6. You look good!
Q: But what if I'm a qt3.14 girl and I don't want to turn into a she-hulk.
The principles of exercise works both for women and men. Don't worry about becoming a she-hulk from doing weight training. Most women can't gain muscles at anywhere near the rate of men. No matter how hard women lift, women tend to bulk denser not bigger. Their muscles are denser and usually they get more "toned" and that's how the sexy ladies you see get their marvelous curves!
For the girls: If you want DAT ASS and LEGS, please squat ok? This is what happens when women lift weights.
+ Show Spoiler +
Granted there are female body builders that have crazy bulk, but that is very very rare, and takes a life time of hard work and dedications. There are a lot of really shitty female fitness magazines that tend to be very idiotic. For example a lot of magazines advocate "spot reduction", as in losing fat in a particular area only; that was proven to be impossible over 50 years ago. So for the ladies, if you see a magazine cover with skinny bimbo doing curls with a 2.5 lb dumbbell, please throw the magazine in the trash. For guys if you want your girlfriend to have DAT ASS and LEGS, mind break them into going to the gym.
Q: I want to get abs, so should I just do a bunch of sit ups to lose fat from my stomach
There is no such thing as spot reduction, as in losing fat just from one part of the body by exercising that body part. This was proven over 50 years ago. How you lose fat is simply eating less calories than what your body need. Where fat disappears first or first appears on your body varies from person to person. You simply just lose fat everywhere when you eat on a deficit calorie count.
How you should think about yourself
If you are reading this guide then you already made a big step into improving yourself. However a lot of people, when they start a diet or exercise routine, they are often extremists about it. For example they work hard for 2 times a day 7 days a week, and just forget about it afterwards and go back to their old life style. The worst of all is believing in gimicky diets like a 500 calorie daily diet made up of tree bark of some crap. In the short and long run, this just hurts themselves as they could get sick from improper exercise or diet. In the long term, they could they could get discouraged and never try to exercise or eat healthy again. How you get in shape, and most importantly stay in shape is by building significant, but livable, improvements to your lifestyle over time! Take it slow and always build on your last step. Always be persistent and patient.
 
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Food, FOOD, and MOAR FOOD!
First of all, the really really obvious stuff...
Cut out ALL fast food and soda. Fast food is just plainly unhealthy as they are full of saturated fat and transfat, and ver calorie dense. It's ok to have a cheat meal every once in a while but if fast food is your main diet, please stop. Focus meals on traditionally cooked food. Try to consume less processed food and eat mostly naturally occurring foods. Believe it or not it's actually cheaper to eat healthy.
Soda is the other thing that should be cut out. It is extremely calorie dense and has zero nutritional value. You shouldn't be dumping sugar into your body anyways. You can, however, stick to diet soda as they are mostly harmless. However I would still suggest cutting it out as they could keep you in habit of liking to drink sweet things. Try to just drink water, and plain coffee or tea once in a while.
Macronutrients
Carbohydrates: Roughly 4 calories per gram or so. Despite what the media says, these things are not bad. You actually need them to live. You need them to provide energy to your body and most importantly your brain; as your brain takes a crap ton of carbs to work properly. Most western diets actually have too much carbs, hence the media shaming of carbs is popular. Simply consult a food guide and see how much you are eating versus how much you need.
Protein: Roughly 4 calories per gram. These are the big boys that you need. Protein is needed to maintain and repair muscle. Most people actually don't get enough protein! Protein helps you lose fat, build muscle, and provides satiety so you don't get hungry all the time. Most important of all, it supports lean muscle growth over fat growth. Other protein benefits include helping with muscle recovery, and help keep weight down thus combating the weight loss yo-yo effect.
There are a lot of myths floating about protein such as it's bad for liver and kidneys. Pretty much all of this is false. If you have a healthy kidney and liver, you are fine with eating as much protein as you want (ask your doctor if you are not sure if your liver and kidneys are healthy). Ideally on a weight training program you want 1 gram of protein per day per body weight in pounds though this could change up from person to person but this rule usually is a good place to start. (If you weigh 200 lb, eat 200 grams a day)
Fats: Roughly 9 calories per gram. Fats are actually not evil! Eating dietary fat does not mean that the fat will go to your butt or belly. Fats actually perform a lot of useful and needed bodily functions. The main problem is that people over consume saturated fats and transfat which raises bad cholesterol and lowers good cholesterol. The fats you want to get is the monounsaturated fats, which contains omega-3 fatty acids which is really good for you. So try to include fatty fish, olive oil, canola oil, and avocados.
Cholesterol in foods does not directly contribute into high blood cholesterol in most people. So if you are like me that eat like 6 eggs per day, you shouldn't worry too much about it.
Fiber: Very useful and it and it is technically a carbohydrate I think. Fiber has a lot of health benefits, mostly it helps you poop. Most vegetables are good sources of this.
Water: Drink tons of this ok? I don't think I should talk about water...
Micronutrients
Typically your vitamins and minerals that your body needs in small quantities. Usually you get enough if you eat a well balanced diet. However special cases do exist and you may need to supplement. I'll talk more about this in the next post.
Specific types of foods you should really eat and eat lots
Your dietary staple should include:
Lean protein sources (fatty meats are good if you are bulking) such as (but not limited to):
1. Most turkey and chicken in general. The boob meat is really good.
2. Virtually all forms of fish. Fattier fishies are actually good for you because of omega 3 fatty acids that almost everyone lacks.
3. Whole eggs! The unhealthiness of eating whole eggs is largely a myth. They actually have no direct impact on heart diseases at all.
Whole grains such as:
1. Whole wheat stuff
2. Rice white or brown doesn't really make that much of a difference really
3. Oats
Fruits and vegetables including beans and dry or roasted nuts are good too. Vegetables fill you up, improves immune system due to abundance of vitamins and minerals, and rich in fiber which helps you poop.
Healthy fats like olive oil, canola oil, grape seed oil, avocados, and fatty fish.
Dairy products are good too such as plain yogurt, cheese, milk.
How often or when should I eat?
It really doesn't matter. A common thing is that eating more meals help with metabolism, but it really doesn't matter. Common sense says that 3 meals in a day is fine. But it really varies from person to person, like I enjoy eating one big meal. Also this applies to eating meals late at night too; the notion that eating past a certain time will make the body store calories as fat is a giant myth. BUT! Starvation is bad ok? Sure you need to eat at a deficit to lose weight, but don't starve yourself! If you starve yourself your body will think you are an African refugee you see on TV and does a bunch of things that will hurt you in the long run.
Counting Calories
This leads directly into weight routines so I'll talk about this last. Remember the numbers is this section is just a rough rule that generally works. If you find that it's too little or too much, you can adjust it to fit your own body.
To gain muscle, go for 16-18* current body weight in pounds. That's how much calories you should shoot for roughly.
To maintain body weight, go for 14-15*current body weight in pounds. That's how much calories you should try for roughly.
To lose fat, go for 10-12*current body weight in pounds. Which is of course eating on a deficit.
Next section!
**There are somethings that women must watch out more, and they are in the supplement section in the next post**
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Starter routines and other info
**It's actually impossible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time! There is one exception to this is and that is for total beginners, called nooby gains, where it is possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time for a certain period (how long depends on the person)**
**If you suffer from injuries, please please please consult your doctor if you are able to go on a weight training program**
Once you get past nooby gains, you must focus on either building muscle (bulk) or cutting fat (cut). Typically when you bulk, a bit of fat sneaks on as well, which is unavoidable. The other way around is true too! When you cut, a bit of muscle typically goes down with the fat as well. However protein mostly helps reduce the fat gain, or muscle loss in both cases.
For a beginner, focus your routine on mostly compound exercises which requires more than one joint usually. Compound exercises are great for beginners as they do a better job stimulating overall muscle growth, allows for a more efficient workout, and really resemble how you use your body in real life.
A good routine works the entire body. Studies have shown that full body stimulation helps to increase muscle growth and increase testosterone levels.
Key exercises to do when you are a beginner:
1. Squat
2. Bench press
3. Deadlift
4. Over head press
5. Pull ups
Isolation exercises, such as the famous bicep curl, is not evil. They do make poor exercises for beginners as they do not stimulate overall muscular development. However as you get more advanced with weight training, isolation exercises are great at improving your work out and targeting specific muscle groups. For now just stick with the basic key compound exercises.
You actually have to move a substantial amount of weight. Doing some girly program where you do a huge number of repetitions with tiny tiny weights won't do you any good (including that if you are a girl). To stimulate growth, you have to place a substantial load on muscles. A good goal to shoot for is pick a weight where you can do 5-8 repetitions with medium difficulty at the start and more difficulty as you reach the last few repetitions before you take a rest.
Try to avoid machines as a beginner. Stick with dumbbells and barbells for now. Machines typically do not stimulate enough stabilizers muscles or increase muscle synergy and the range of motions is not always full. One exception to this is the pull down cable machine. It's great if you cannot do pull ups.
Typically do a full body workout using compound movements 2-3 times per week and shoot for 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps. Adding weights typically after each week. You will gain a lot of strength and size, mostly back and core strength, which is what a beginner truly needs.
Lifting weights - Additional notes **IMPORTANT STUFF IN HERE TOO**
1. Track your progress - Record in writing or on your phone or whatever how much you are lifting each week. Sometimes you do lose how much you lift and it really sucks.
2. Do a good warm up - Before each exercise, make sure to warm up! Warm ups send the body some very important messages through the nervous system, it ingrains the movement pattern and speed, as well as letting your body know that the weight is getting heavier.
If your maximum weight is 225 lb, try something like this:
95 lb x 10
135 lb x 8
185 lb x 5
225 lb x 5 (first real set)
3. Make sure you use proper form! I cannot stress this enough. Whenever you are doing an exercise, make sure that you are doing the exercise properly. There are many videos online that demonstrate each exercise. When you start training, spend the first few sessions on getting the correct form and posture. Correct form ensures that the targeted muscle groups are used fully and prevent injuries.
4. Rest! Sleep is vital to gaining strength and muscle. Try for 8-9 hours of sleep each night. Also your body needs time to recovery. Have rest days to let your body adjust and recover. Over training is a real thing and you do not want to be over training your body, which actually makes things worse.
5. It's not important how much weight you start with but how much weight you can move in the end! Be conservative at first, then add weights or more repetitions slowly in an reasonably way. You have to push yourself to get results yes, but don't be stupid. Soreness and stiffness are normal, but real pain from injuries are not normal.
6. NO ONE IN THE GYM IS GOING TO JUDGE YOU Even if you are overweight, going to the gym means that you are actively trying to improve your health and that is something that is worth commending. I remember when I first started at 220 lb and can't even bench the 45 lb bar. There were many people that were helping me in the gym and giving me advice. Keep this in mind and try to get over your gym anxiety.
Some good beginner routines:
Starting Strength - an all time classic and has been worked to death because it works. It's made by Mark Rippetoe, who is a former power lifter.
http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ:The_Program
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=998224
Strong lifts: A variation of the above, but still a very good program. I started out using this, but I modified it a bit. I still use tidbits from this in my workout but I've added a lot of additional isolation exercises to supplement it.
http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program/
Reg Park's 5x5: Higher in volume but still very good
http://oldschooltrainer.com/reg-parks-beginner-routine/
Supplements!
**You do not need ANY supplements to make solid progress in losing fat or gaining muscle. Remember that it's all about exercise and diet. However supplements help make the process faster and easier**
**(!) after a supplement means I use it**
1. Protein (!) - If you are not getting enough protein from your diet, consider taking this. It's actually cheaper (grams of protein per dollar) to get this to supplement than to buy more meat or eggs. Believe it or not most out there are really tasty. One word of caution, taking in large amounts of protein can cause some upset stomach and bad farts if your body is not use to it. It usually goes away after like 2 days or so when your body is used to it. I had to deal with this and the farts smelled bad.
2. Creatine (!) - Provides you with more energy, endurance, and burst strength. How it works is that your cells burn ATP, which is Adenosine triphosphate. Your body breaks off the phosphates to release energy that your cells use. What creatine does is it's a type of compound that has 3 phosphates on it. It gives your a fast replacement of phosphates which improves your energy, endurance, and burst strength in work outs. You actually get some of creatine from natural foods, but it's way too little. Pretty much your body is always lacking this but through out the 1000 years of evolution I guess our bodies got use to it? One thing about this is that creatine does is bloat you with water and could dehydrate you, so always drink tons of water in workouts if you use creatine. When one phosphate goes into your muscles, a water molecule also goes in so you have a lot of water bloat in your muscles. Typically after workouts you pee it all out. Also creatine can cause some upset stomach if you are taking it for the first time, but again it goes away in like 2 days as your body gets use to it.
Additionally, creatine has been shown to improve memory and cognitive abilities too. The best thing about creatine is that it's very very cheap. You only need around 5 grams of it a day, most jars of creatine works out to like 10 cents a day.
3. Vitamins and mineral supplements (!) - If you eat a balanced diet you shouldn't really need this. However due to some dietary concerns, I actually take some. For example, I can't drink milk so I take calcium supplements. Most people do lack vitamin D as we don't go out in the sun a lot anymore, so consider taking that if you think you are lacking in vitamin D.
4. Omega 3 fatty acids - Lots of benefits and most people do lack this. However if you eat a lot of fatty fish you should be fine. If you want to take this, fish oil is actually pretty cheap.
5. Branch-chain amino acids (!) - Works really well because it is essentially pre-digested protein. Rapid absorption and goes to work quick. It helps with recovery and does give you a lot of growth. Basically when your body needs to repair muscles, it breaks down other muscles for amino acids. Since you are taking them in this supplement, your body can just use it straight away and don't have to worry about breaking down other muscles.
Some things that women have to watch for:
For both sexes, nutrition is roughly the same but here are some things that the girls have to watch for.
1. Beware that women's requirement for daily iron intake is higher than men.
2. Usually women needs more calcium and vitamin D.
3. If you want to have kids, consider supplementing folic acid as it can significantly reduce birth tube defects.
**If you suspect anything or you think you are not getting enough vitamins or minerals, go to your doctor and run a proper blood and urine work, or whatever your doctor feels it's needed before taking supplements. The above is just things that women must consider more than men when taking diet into consideration. **
YPang's post, which contains a lot of additional information about nutrition regarding women.
+ Show Spoiler +On March 20 2014 11:30 YPang wrote:Show nested quote +1. Iron - iron deficiency is actually very common in women. Beware that women's requirement for daily iron intake is higher than men.
2. It's generally accepted in the medical field that women need more calcium and vitamin D.
3. If you want to have kids, take folic acid, as it is strongly recommended to all women of child bearing age. A lack of folic acid is the number one cause of birth tube defects.
Very informative guide for beginners, however, i would like to challenge you on these statements. I am no medical expert, but i do remember learning these in some of my therapeutic classes, and sort of contraindicates what's been stated. However, i'm sure you have your knowledge that you based this of off. 1. It is true women have a higher chance of iron deficiency, but the chance of that is pretty small to begin with in my opinion. I think it's important to state that if you suspect iron deficiency not take iron supplements without a proper blood work. If you take iron supplements without being actually iron deficient can cause very annoying side effects such as nausea, digestive problems, black stool, and zinc deficiency. However, if you're a women and participate in endurance sports and train like an athlete like > 12hours or so of cardio a week, then it increases the chances of iron deficiency anemia. But the cause of that may be more related to the diet, and increasing your diet intake of red meats and green veggies will probably counteract that. 2. I think it's agreed that in the medical field women AFTER menopause need more calcium and vit. D. Menopause causes decrease in estrogen in women, and estrogen has bone protective properties. So sometimes women prefer to get hormone therapy AFTER menopause to increase their estrogen levels and prevent osteoporosis. In fact, if i recall properly both women and men need about the same amount of calcium/vit. D in a day, older people need more, not really based on gender. Overconsumption of calcium/Vit. D can cause constipation if you're already taking adequete levels of calcium/vit. D if you drink milk/yogourt or eat cheese...or even kale. 3. Folic acid deficiency in my opinion is usually very unlikely as well, unless you're an alcoholic or with liver disease. But if u do happen to be folic acid deficient, proper folic acid supplements will be necessary, and you probably would also want to check to see if you have megaloblastic anemia as these goes hand in hand.
**MISC**
+ Show Spoiler +Th-thanks /fit/ and you look like shit... No homo
**Update log**
1. Supplements added.
2. Reworded and added a note about extra nutrition info about women thanks to YPang.[/i]
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Very curious as to what is coming up  !
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Nice write up. I, for one, am baffled at the resistance (no pun intended) some women display towards weight training. It can't just be that they think they'll "get too big" can it? It just makes no sense to think like that on many levels.
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Everything is done (I think). Feel free to ask questions if you are still unsure about anything.
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United States23455 Posts
Certainly well written! But could you spoiler the picture? It's not quite SFW.
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1. Iron - iron deficiency is actually very common in women. Beware that women's requirement for daily iron intake is higher than men.
2. It's generally accepted in the medical field that women need more calcium and vitamin D.
3. If you want to have kids, take folic acid, as it is strongly recommended to all women of child bearing age. A lack of folic acid is the number one cause of birth tube defects.
Very informative guide for beginners, however, i would like to challenge you on these statements. I am no medical expert, but i do remember learning these in some of my therapeutic classes, and sort of contraindicates what's been stated. However, i'm sure you have your knowledge that you based this of off.
1. It is true women have a higher chance of iron deficiency, but the chance of that is pretty small to begin with in my opinion. I think it's important to state that if you suspect iron deficiency not take iron supplements without a proper blood work. If you take iron supplements without being actually iron deficient can cause very annoying side effects such as nausea, digestive problems, black stool, and zinc deficiency. However, if you're a women and participate in endurance sports and train like an athlete like > 12hours or so of cardio a week, then it increases the chances of iron deficiency anemia. But the cause of that may be more related to the diet, and increasing your diet intake of red meats and green veggies will probably counteract that.
2. I think it's agreed that in the medical field women AFTER menopause need more calcium and vit. D. Menopause causes decrease in estrogen in women, and estrogen has bone protective properties. So sometimes women prefer to get hormone therapy AFTER menopause to increase their estrogen levels and prevent osteoporosis. In fact, if i recall properly both women and men need about the same amount of calcium/vit. D in a day, older people need more, not really based on gender.
Overconsumption of calcium/Vit. D can cause constipation if you're already taking adequete levels of calcium/vit. D if you drink milk/yogourt or eat cheese...or even kale.
3. Folic acid deficiency in my opinion is usually very unlikely as well, unless you're an alcoholic or with liver disease. But if u do happen to be folic acid deficient, proper folic acid supplements will be necessary, and you probably would also want to check to see if you have megaloblastic anemia as these goes hand in hand.
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On March 20 2014 11:30 YPang wrote:Show nested quote +1. Iron - iron deficiency is actually very common in women. Beware that women's requirement for daily iron intake is higher than men.
2. It's generally accepted in the medical field that women need more calcium and vitamin D.
3. If you want to have kids, take folic acid, as it is strongly recommended to all women of child bearing age. A lack of folic acid is the number one cause of birth tube defects.
Very informative guide for beginners, however, i would like to challenge you on these statements. I am no medical expert, but i do remember learning these in some of my therapeutic classes, and sort of contraindicates what's been stated. However, i'm sure you have your knowledge that you based this of off. 1. It is true women have a higher chance of iron deficiency, but the chance of that is pretty small to begin with in my opinion. I think it's important to state that if you suspect iron deficiency not take iron supplements without a proper blood work. If you take iron supplements without being actually iron deficient can cause very annoying side effects such as nausea, digestive problems, black stool, and zinc deficiency. However, if you're a women and participate in endurance sports and train like an athlete like > 12hours or so of cardio a week, then it increases the chances of iron deficiency anemia. But the cause of that may be more related to the diet, and increasing your diet intake of red meats and green veggies will probably counteract that. 2. I think it's agreed that in the medical field women AFTER menopause need more calcium and vit. D. Menopause causes decrease in estrogen in women, and estrogen has bone protective properties. So sometimes women prefer to get hormone therapy AFTER menopause to increase their estrogen levels and prevent osteoporosis. In fact, if i recall properly both women and men need about the same amount of calcium/vit. D in a day, older people need more, not really based on gender. Overconsumption of calcium/Vit. D can cause constipation if you're already taking adequete levels of calcium/vit. D if you drink milk/yogourt or eat cheese...or even kale. 3. Folic acid deficiency in my opinion is usually very unlikely as well, unless you're an alcoholic or with liver disease. But if u do happen to be folic acid deficient, proper folic acid supplements will be necessary, and you probably would also want to check to see if you have megaloblastic anemia as these goes hand in hand.
Note added and section reworded. Thanks for the info.
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On March 20 2014 08:28 Jerubaal wrote:
Nice write up. I, for one, am baffled at the resistance (no pun intended) some women display towards weight training. It can't just be that they think they'll "get too big" can it? It just makes no sense to think like that on many levels.
Yes they literally think that. Or none of them want to put in the work to learn how to do the movements and then consistently do them properly. But yeah it's basically insulting that every women's fitness magazine has brainwashed the population into thinking that you're going to spawn giant muscles by simply touching a weight instead of hard work in the gym and on your diet.
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any particular advice for someone getting back to the gym after a few years off?
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I want to become a she-hulk. Any advice?
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start with the 6k calories?
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Papua New Guinea1054 Posts
posting so i can read the rest of it later, good read so far
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great write up! just wanted to clarify that saturated fats are great too so long as they don't come from a crappy source. actually, there have been some pretty solid studies done that show positive correlations between a man's consumption of saturated fat and their Testosterone levels (sorry ladies, women weren't considered  ) . if i can find the studies, i'll be sure to post them!
Good thing you emphasized warm ups too, seen too many start-at-the-bar warm ups into max-weight-on-the-bar efforts and it ain't ever pretty.
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Thoughts on steroid usage? I've been lifting for about two years now and can barely make any progress anymore. Tried deloading and changing routines but nothing works.
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On March 21 2014 01:00 iamho wrote:
Thoughts on steroid usage? I've been lifting for about two years now and can barely make any progress anymore. Tried deloading and changing routines but nothing works.
You're doing something wrong if you're not progressing anymore. Make sure your form is good on all of your exercises, eat more, and post your stats (height, weight, lifts, etc.). I'm sure that you can keep progressing.
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>2014
>reposting the sticky on another website
but in all seriousness, good starter guide! always glad to see people spreading the good news of self improvement. been lifting for about a year and a half myself, the hardest part is getting started and sticking with it, but it is so so so SO worth it. I feel better, look better, and generally have more energy and confidence.
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On March 21 2014 01:00 iamho wrote:
Thoughts on steroid usage? I've been lifting for about two years now and can barely make any progress anymore. Tried deloading and changing routines but nothing works.
No you don't need steroids lol. What is your height/weight/bf%, what are your #s on the main lifts at and what is your routine and diet?
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/pu1H9Bu.jpg)
