I found on other forum this topic....This is a few members told---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
User-History in Effect1)Change your training routine to keep your muscles fresh and growing. If you hit your chest with barbells all the time you will be missing out on the power of dumbbells to target your stablizer muscles.
2)When doing a heavy lift like squat or deadlift, use a weight belt. You don't want to throw out your back.
3)Listen to your body. If your body is worn out, don't try to lift the next day. Instead get adequate rest to make sure your recovered.
4) When in the gym, you should workout not chatter. Many people go in the gym and chatter away forgetting how much rests they suppose to take between sets. This loss of time lessens the intensity, thus hampering gains.
5) Magazines are great for information, but not all routines are suited to everybody. Arnold puts this in the best way. "Some movements work better for one bodybuilder than for another, but that's something can be decided on only through experimentation."
6)Train legs hard and you will see rewards. Leg training so brutal, that many people skip it. No wonder you see guys with huge upper bodies and chicken legs. Leg training will have you feeling pain, but growth will come from it.
7) Sometimes using moderate weight is just as good as heavy. Arnold uses this and often many people forget to use their mental power. "I find now that concentration lends its own form of resistance. By thinking, I can direct the effort. I can make every movement count, not just the reps."
8)Know how to use the weights,machines, and cables in weight room. If not, you could end up hurt or injured.
9) Keep a training log so you can put down your goals, exercises done with poundages, and other info.
10) Don't forget to do cardio. Cardio is important for general heart health and allows your workouts to be better. Cardio keeps the oxygen going at an optimal rate.
How important is it to follow these tips?It is of great importance to follow these rules, because they will allow to keep growing and gains will be optimal. Once you know how to use the machines, weights, or cables, you will be ready to begin your quest to gain muscle or get healthy.
What are 3 essential rules that people who workout should follow?1)Listen to your body if it needs to take a rest.
2)Change up exercises once in a while.
3) Workout does not mean you have to go to a gym. You could workout at a park,inside your home, or in your backyard. Variety is the spice of life.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------User-Triceptrical1. the most important thing of all is FORM. Good, proper, safe form. Don?t sacrifice form for weight. If you do an exercise incorrectly it could lead to injury.
2.get a workout partner, or accountability system. So that you can have someone to keep you dedicated if you have trouble with this yourself.
3. work out your legs. Not much else to say except that your legs are the biggest things you have, and the more muscle mass you have, the better, right? So don?t neglect legs for another chest/arms day.
4. Go to the gym to train, not chat with people. This is important. Don?t get distracted and cause your workout to last 3 hrs long.
5. when you go to the gym know what your going to do. This can cut down time and help being efficient and overall better training. If you enter the gym not knowing it will take much longer.
6. Know your goals, set something up so that you can track your progress. Believe me, looking back at all my sheets and old goals I wrote down gives me the best feeling ever to see that I got it. This just gives you more enthusiasm and perseverance.
7. Cardio and running is very important. While cutting obviously running can burn calories like nothing else and shed body fat. While bulking it can keep body fat to a minimum. Change up your cardio, long distance, HIIT, sprints, change it up!
8. Don?t work out your abs everyday. And when you do, do it low reps high weight or restriction. Cranking out hundreds and hundreds of crunches wont do much for you. Abs are like everything else, train them the same way.
9.INTENSITY!! is what will give you success, working hard day in and day out, putting up weight, cardio, and a good diet. Is all part of it. But be intense.
10. train everything. All muscles. you don?t wanna be the kid wanting the abs and arms and ends up with chicken legs and a narrow back. Or the kid benching more then he squats.
How important is it to follow these tips?All of these tips are very important for training. They will help you to lead a safe workout and avoiding unnecessary injuries that can occur. Also these will help you to stay dedicated throughout this lifestyle. And to make the most of your workouts.
What are 3 essential rules that people who workout should follow?1. Diet. Diet is the most important thing. Yes you can make gains without a proper healthy diet, but the gains on one can be many times better. And stay dedicated to it. Diet is just as important as training and rest in itself.
2. Training safely and efficiently. Wear a weightlifting belt to help your back on heavy squats and deadlifts. Have a spotter or at least someone nearby who can help you out if you fall or collapse. Go to the Gym to workout not to socialize.
3. A common mistake. Supplements: they can help but are used for supplementation or in addition to. Not your diet itself. There is no miracle pill or powder out there that will turn you into a lean ripped machine. Only basics are good, not even these are needed: protein, multi( you don?t need NOW Adam, or Animal pak even though they can help) fish oil, and creatine if you really want it. No need for much else.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------User-mafty1: Stretching. Many people overlook stretching, do not do it, or do not do it correctly. Stretching should be performed after warming up the muscles prior to working out. By doing a full body stretch you elongate the muscles allowing blood flow into the tissue which in turn improves your results in the gym and also prevents ripping or tearing muscles in the gym. Think of your muscles as a piece of gum, if you try to stretch a cold piece of gum it will break, similar to your muscles, but if you warm up prior to stretch its like stretching a piece of chewed gum. You should also be stretching before and after cardio, as stated above it enables blood to flood your worked muscles to improve healing and the most important reason is to prevent injury.
2: Cardio. Lots of people turn a blind eye to cardio and feel that its not important, unfortunatly cardio is just as important as resistance training. When you combine cardio, weight training, and diet its a triple threat that can't be ignored. When doing cardio it is extremely important to determine your maximum heart rate (220-age) and then to determine your heart rate zones which is usually 60-90%. (For example a 20 year old: 220-20=200. 200x0.60=120 & 200x0.90=180. Thus, their optimal working out range would be 120BPM - 180BPM)
3:Full Body Workout. For beginners, full body workouts are usually the best choice since their muscles are not to use physical exertion and probably do not have much of a base to work from. By training with a full body routine you are able to build a symetrical body, instead of creating a massive chest and having no legs. Often beginners go into the gym and train only one muscle group per session which is a usually a mistake because your body does not have a muscle foundation to be training every section of your chest, or back, etc. You cant be working on defining your upper chest when you dont have a chest to begin with, therefore its important to be doing a full body routine with only 1-2 exercises per muscle group to help create a solid foundation, which once you have done you can then move onto training individual muscle groups to perfect your physique.
4: Compound exercises. These exercises are movements which involve training several muscle groups at once, exercises like bench press, squat, deadlift, upright row, etc. For example bench press involves chest, triceps, and shoulders. These exercises are important for begginers because they help create a foundation. A mistake beginners sometimes make is training using isolation exercises and doing little or none compound exercises. Isolation exercises are movements which target only one muscle group at a time, movements such as preacher curl, side raises, dumbbell flys, etc. These exercises do not benefit beginners because isolation exercises are usually meant to further define a muscle, which can be pointless if you do not have any muscle to define, therefore it is important to do compound movements.
5: Changing up your routine. Often people make great progress for about the first 3 months and then plateau, usually because their body has become used to the movements and exercises ceasing them from further progression. Your routine should be changed about every 12 weeks (3 months) this keeps you interested at the gym, and constantly shocks your muscles with new exercises which is what will help you continue to grow and improve in the gym.
6: Keeping a journel. This is very important and can be very beneficial for beginners. It allows you track your progress, see what exercises you enjoy, which ones you are improving the most, and what areas you need the most work on. Your journel should include the date, time of workout, duration of workout, the exercises, sets, reps, rest between sets, meals for the day, and supplements you may be taking.
7: Tracking progress. This is another important tip that can determine if all your hard work and effort is paying off. To track your progress you will want to take measurements of all body parts (chest, waits, hips, upper legs, calves, arms) and to measure both right and left limbs. You will want to record your weight, as well as your height. Another important piece of information you should want to track is your body fat %, which can be done at your local fitness center. You will want to remeasure all of these areas around every 12 weeks to track your progress and to make sure you are achieveing the goals you set out to achieve.
8: Goals. Without any goals why would you even bother going to the gym? You need something to motivate you, something to aim for, otherwise you may spend a lot of time and effort in the gym for nothing. Having goals can determine what kind of routine you choose, what type of diet you follow, and ultimatly is a great way to keep yourself focused. Many common goals include fat loss, weight loss, increas of size, increase of strength, etc.
9: Diet. This is probably the most important piece to improving your physique, which is often the area many people fall short in causing poor gains or little to no weight loss. I believe diet to be as important if not more important than actual weight training. Most people are only in the gym 3 times a week, but for the other 4 days you are not in the gym you are constantly feeding yourself, therefore nutrition cannot be overlooked. You can have the most amazing workout, and if you are trying to gain mass (size) but are eating in a calorie deficit you simply will not make gains in the gym. And the same goes for those who are trying to lose weight, you can run for hours in the gym, but if you are intaking more calories than you burn you simply will not lose weight. It is a very simple mathematic equation, if you are intaking fewer calories than required you will lose weight, otherwise all your time in the gym is wasted.
10: Form. Something many beginners usually struggle with, which can cause severe injury and may hault any progress you can potentially be making. One key aspect to having good form is choosing the right weight for you. The biggest tip i can offer here is leave your ego at the door, just because someone else in the gym is benching 100lb dumbbells does not mean you can as well. Determining the right weight for you will come with time, one way to determine if the weight you are using is right is you can do the required amount of reps, no more, no less. If you can do more reps than set out for you, you should increase the weight, and reverse if you cannot complete the required reps you need to decrese the weight. Another important part of form is using a full range of motion while doing the exercise, meaning you do not stop your bench press half way down. If you cannot complete the full range of motion you are probably using to heavy of a weight. Your motion should also be slow and controlled, avoiding jerking the weights, swinging the weights to get momentum, or bouncing the weights.
How important is it to follow these tips:Like anything in life, these are only tips to help you better your workout and to make the most out of the gym. You can follow all of them, or you can follow none, but all of these pieces of advice are tried and tested to make proven results in the gym. I do advise that any one knew to a gym however have a trainer show them how to properly use all pieces of equipment to avoid injury and to make full use out of each exercise. If you are serious about changing your life for the better these pieces of advice will all help you make the change for a greater you.
What are 3 essential rules for people who workout should follow:1: Choose the routine right for YOU, everyone is different and your routine should cater your goals and current level of experience.
2: Diet!! This is so important, i cannot stress how important diet is to training, without diet your training is next to useless.
3: Rest. Your body grows while resting, not while in the gym. make sure you have adequate sleep and time between workouts. Mainy beginners overdue it and tend to put their body in a state of overtraining, you should leave atleast 48 hours between working out the same muscle group.
And remember working out should be about you, not the guy beside you, as long as you stay focused and concerned about your own body and goals you will achieve them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------User-greensquatsPAIN DOESN'T HURT - Pain. One word. So simple... yet so complex. How you accept this single term affects your results in an unbelievable way. It's temporary, remember that. It helps in the long run. There's a common misconception among most people that pain is a sign from your body telling you to quit. Bull! That's why those people don't make any gains. If your body hurts, then that's one thing. But pain and and your body hurting are two completely different things that most people forget to differentiate. There are many famous quotes that support this fact of bodybuilding... or anything in general. "Mind over matter," and "No pain, no gain" are a couple off the top of my head. Say these to yourself when your moaning and groaning in the gym, sweating like a pig, and throwing up in the trash can every five minutes. Who cares what the heck other people in the gym think... I know that I'd rather look better outside the gym. If you want the opposite, fine then, be scrawny. For those of you who are like most people, though, and want to build muscle, remember... PAIN DOESN'T HURT.
STRETCH LIKE ELASTIC - Overlooked. It's as simple as that. If you're pushing as hard as you possibly can in the gym, you need to stretch. Here's why:
> It prevents injury.
> It helps you avoid muscle tightness.
> It makes everyday tasks easier.
> Let's face it, we all want to be able to do a back-bend like schoolgirls.
> In a fight, flexibility is a major key to winning... ask any expert.
I recommend hitting stretching hard before a workout, and then as a light cool-down afterwards. What I personally like to do before-hand is stretch as far as I can in a position... say the splits, and then have someone pull me slowly even farther until I really can't go any farther without coming out of form. I know I sound like a gymnast or something when I say this... but it really does help to POINT YOUR TOES in stretches like the splits. It adds exponentially to the effectiveness of the stretch. Then afterwards you can stretch just enough to where you feel something. Here it doesn't have to be intense stretching because your main objective is just to cool down while helping to reduce muscle soreness and things like cramping.
NO JUNK FOOD - Now come on. I really shouldn't even have to tell you this one. But you wouldn't believe how many times I'm talking to somebody and they say that they're cutting right now. What's the problem with that? Nothing... except for the fact that after we're finished talking they whip out a ho-ho or something and start scarfing down their junk like no tomorrow. And then they go and tell me it's their dinner!! What's up with that? Either they can't handle the bodybuilding life, or they really, really need to do some serious research. Junk food does nothing for you... really. It just sits there and blubbers you up. There's a reason why they call it junk food. Eat well balanced, solid, nutritional meals x times a day while cutting the junk food out completely, and you'll see results in no time. Here's a tip inside a tip. Never go shopping in the grocery store on an empty stomach. If you do, you'll be hungry and the professional marketer's job will just have been made a lot easier. You'll put things you'll never end up eating anyway in your cart if you're too hungry. If you go on a full stomach... even more preferably right after an intense workout with a protein shake sitting in your stomach, you'll see right through the crap sitting on the shelves of places like Wal-Mart. I find that I almost want to hurl on junk food after working out hard and having a full stomach.
SWITCH IT UP! A.K.A. UP THE INTENSITY - Don't just rely on one routine your whole career. Your body will start to become immune to it. In example: Squats followed by Military Press, then Dead Lifts and Shoulder Shrugs, next leg curls and extensions.... I hate to burst your bubble, but that won't work day in and day out. Switch it up a little. Do supersets (two exercises one right after another with no rest combined into a single set) every once in a while. Implement both dumbbells and barbells, free weights and machines. This will keep your body on it's guard, and you'll get both the most strength and size (whichever you're training for) out of this way. Also be sure to up the intensity. One weight starting to become to easy for you? Up the weights, decrease the rest in between reps, perform slower reps for more TUT (Time Under Tension), or just perform more reps. Find the one or many that fit your goals and use them to increase your intensity. Intensity is the only way to build muscle and strength. If it wasn't the key, everybody would do it and our gyms would become too crowded to lift a finger. Luckily, not everybody is as mentally tough as some.
DO NOT FORGET THE MOST IMPORTANT SUPPLEMENT... MUSIC!! - How on Earth anybody can find it within themselves to train 10,000% without the use of music is still a mystery to me. Music gets you pumped more than any other supplement, I don't care what they tell you, and it's all natural too! Not to mention free... or at least cheaper than any $50 dollar supplement claiming to get you "psychologically insane." Whatever works best for you is what you should listen to. Whether that be rock, heavy metal, rap... or even Beethoven. My personal favorites are those training montages from the Rocky franchise... but that's just me. It's a personal preference, and definitely needs to be a part of your training.
TECHNIQUE - More isn't always better. I'll take quality over quantity any day. The same is true when it comes to weightlifting. Once again, you shouldn't care what other people think about you. Perfect technique isolates the muscles better, and you'll see much bigger and better gains than the guy lifting twice as much as you on the curls but arching his back like he's in St. Louis to do it. If you have to sacrifice weight for good technique than so be it. I thought the reason people body build is to look good with their body, not their weights. And even for power lifters, they'll be able to lift a heck of a lot more doing good technique come competition time than the other guy doing half reps. The other guy would be disqualified anyway. Good technique also prevents injury. Another tip within a tip is to get a good lifting belt. This will enhance your technique and prevent injury as well... especially on major exercises such as squats and dead lifts.
FIND A GOOD WORKOUT PARTNER - A good workout partner will push you beyond your outer limits. A good one will help you break plateaus and make you more tired than you thought possible. They don't have to be your best friend, but somebody you can meet with on a regular basis, who you can get along with fairly well, and most importantly somebody who will push you. Developing a competitiveness between each other can also help tremendously. You'll both workout harder to best the other. Just be sure it's somebody that's serious and that won't goof off or distract you when it's business time. You should both be their to work, nothing more.
SET GOALS - Setting goals will not only motivate you to get to the gym, it will push you when you're actually in the gym, and when you're actually heaving some weight. Start small and work your way up the ladder one step at a time. If you make too big of goals, you may never reach them, and you may lose motivation and interest, which will ultimately lead to giving up. However, if your goals are attainable, once you do reach them, a never before felt euphoria will rush through your entire body, and you'll finally realize why everybody who is in this is in it. This'll only push you even harder the next time, and the next time, and then the next time, and before you know it you look back at old photos and can't even recognize yourself. Make sure you post your goals where you can see them everyday. On your mirror, in your gym locker, on your desk, above your bed, or wherever you think will be most effective. Try posting it in more than one place so that your goal is engraved in your head and it becomes more than a goal, it becomes a passion. Be sure to read your goals every day and stop to soak up the meaning. Try writing your goals down a hundred times a day so that it becomes second nature. Do whatever it takes for you to know, understand, and believe you can do what you're trying to accomplish.
WORK ON YOUR GRIP - OK. Imagine this: It's the end of the most intense workout you've ever had. It's gone extremely well up to this point. You just need to bust out one more set of dead lifts and then you can call it a day and relax with a nice protein shake. But when you pull the weight off the floor, it falls back down. You think to yourself what's going on, and that you know your legs have enough energy left to pump out a few more. What's the problem? You quickly realize that it's not your legs giving out, it's your hands, better known as your grip. Face it folks, most of us have extremely weak hands in proportion to the rest of our bodies. Your grip is one of the most synergistic parts of your body. The stronger your grip is, the stronger the rest of your body will be... or so it will seem. You'll really be able to utilize more of your strength, and your weights will increase rapidly. Here are just some of the many benefits a strong grip can offer:
> It improves the quality of your workout.
> It creates great first impressions.
> It definitely comes in handy during a fight.
Those are just some of many. What am I suggesting? Get out those grip balls and start squeezing.
STAY NATURAL - So your not building muscle as fast as you'd hoped? So what? You're not going to become the Incredible Hulk in a month. It takes time and effort. Slow and steady wins the race. Don't, at all costs, use steroids. That's just dumb. The health issues far outweigh the muscle benefits. You can stick to natural supplementation with things like a protein powder and creatine if you're looking for faster gains. Now don't think I mean faster like 10x faster, I just mean slightly faster, but usually worth it for the cost. But don't go overboard on supplements either. A few basics should do. I recommend a protein, creatine, EFA's (essential fatty acids), a multi-vitamin, and amino acids. Once you become more experienced a pre-workout N.O. product could be a valuable addition as well.
How important is it to follow these tips?:It's imperative. If you don't, you won't succeed unless you have the genes of a god, and even then someone with lesser genes will most certainly beat you in a competition if he's followed all the tips, rules, etc. and you've just been at home watching t.v. all week. If you are really wanting to become successful, but are currently performing a polar opposite routine from the tips above (i.e. eating junk food, not having good technique) then try implementing one tip at a time until you have all of them. Take it slow, if you move to fast you'll most likely lose interest. Once you're following all the tips and rules, you'll be shocked by how fast you grow and how much stronger you become. It'll be a new you.
Now for the 3 essential rules of weightlifting:1. Eat nutritionally balanced meals, drink at least a gallon of water daily, and combine this with the right supplementation.
2. Get plenty of rest; this is where you recover.
3. Push yourself to the limits when working out.
Bonus Points:> Find a good forum board to post on. Right here at forum.bodybuilding.com is a great place. A good forum with a good community will encourage you to workout harder, you'll learn new things, and even meet new friends that share you interest in bodybuilding.
> Keeping a log is another great way to stay motivated and keep track of what you should be lifting. Also, if you have a bad day, you can look back in your log to see where you went wrong in either nutrition, rest, or the actual workout.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------User-Mighty KevThe 10 best training tips!
Here's my entry for the week. Good luck guys!
Most people beginning an exercise regimen have very little guidance and knowledge about training.
What are the 10 best training tips?
1. Resistance training increases metabolism.
Resistance training or lifting weights is a common practice in the world of people who want to get bigger and stronger. To someone who wants to lose weight, it could seem almost counterproductive to put on muscle weight when your true goal is to lose weight. The truth of the matter is that you want to lose fat, and putting on muscle can help you accomplish that goal. Muscle is a very biologically active tissue in the body, meaning that the simple fact that it?s there means it?s burning more calories than other types of weight, such as fat weight or water weight. The addition of muscle tissue increases the body?s ability to burn calories, meaning that in the long run, you?ll be able to keep the fat off with much more ease.
2. Cardiovascular exercise burns more calories when performed after weight training.
According to numerous recent studies and my own personal experience, cardio after lifting burns much more fat than when done in the reverse order. Not only will your weight training be much less intense due to the drainage of glycogen stores, you?re more at risk to injure yourself when already tired and heading off to lift. Aside from that point, weight lifting is said to elevate your metabolism for up to 48 hours after the fact, meaning that not only are you burning calories while lifting, but also for hours and hours afterwards, meaning that the lifting takes sort of a precedence over the cardio, since cardio tend to only burn calories while the cardio is being performed. This is assuming that the cardio is of low to moderate intensity because it is also suggested that very high intensity cardio can cause this same prolonged raised metabolic effect.
3. Make sure the muscle that you?re attempting to target is actually doing to work.
When lifting it is essential to focus your mind completely on the muscle group you are attempting to work on. This makes sure that you are actually using the target muscle to lift the weight rather than accessory muscles or even momentum. This skill will develop with time, and as you progress in making that mind to muscle connection, your workouts will become much more productive and efficient.
4. Always squeeze your muscles at the peak of each lift.
Forcing an extra squeeze at the peak of all of your lifts will break down that much more muscle tissue during each lift, allowing much more muscle growth during the repair process after your workout. Breaking tissue down is a good thing, and is essentially the goal of weight lifting. Break down the muscle fibers in the gym, and drink your protein and recover outside of the gym. The more you break down, the more you can grow, and this leads us back to making that extra little flex at the peak of the lift.
5. Work on the body part you want to improve the most first in your workout. Too often do I see people complaining about how weak one of their body parts is, and they simply do nothing about it. For example, they say their triceps are weak, and every time they head to the gym to hit a chest/ tris day, they do flat barbell bench press first. I know, I know, flat bench press is your favorite lift, or whatever else you prefer, but if your goal is to build up triceps, perhaps you should start with something like dips, or even separate your regimen into a chest day and an arms day. It?s simply impossible to improve if you waste all of your energy on your ?favorite? lifts while neglecting the muscles that you truly want to bring up.
6. Your diet has a direct effect on your training.
Your body is essentially a machine, and by that I mean it uses fuel to run. In order to properly get your body working up to its potential, it?s necessary to put in the proper fuel. Whole grains, lean protein sources, and healthy fats are the way to go. Just think about it; if you put crude oil in your car?s gas tank, would it run very well? Absolutely not, and your body is the same way. To perform and feel your best, proper diet is certainly one of the biggest steps in the direction of good health. Another little interesting bit is that your body is that unlike other machines, it is self repairing. With the proper fuel and rest, it can recover very quickly. With the proper building blocks, your body can rebuild itself to be better than before; you just have to supply it with the proper nutrients.
7. Overtraining is just as bad as not training.
Rest is one of the most important steps in the muscle building process. It?s outside of the gym where all the muscle is built; in the gym is where tissue is broken down. To us gym rats, eight hours of sleep each and every night is even more important than to the rest of the world, because that is our muscle building time. That recovery time allows us to get back into the gym much more quickly, to do what we do best. Hitting the weights is the best, especially feeling that pump, but sometimes taking a rest day is just the thing that the body needs. Find something else to do for a day, and come back the day after that to hit the iron even harder than before.
8. Flexibility is important to prevent injury.
Stretching after each lifting session is extremely important in preventing injury. Flexibility allows your body to become much more able to handle the odd assortment of stresses that are placed upon it each day. I?m sure that the more hardcore of us bodybuilding fans heard that Branch Warren recently slipped and fell, landing on his outstretched hand and tearing hit triceps in the process. Now I don?t know if Branch is avid in his flexibility routines, but perhaps is he had been just a small amount more flexible, maybe his arm could have caught him in a different way, preventing an injury. Flexibility is all about being able to move your body in a variety of different ways to compensate for the many different stimuli that can possibly cause harm to the system as a whole.
9. Always perform exercises through a complete range of motion, and with good form.
I have always been taught that the best way to break down muscle during the lifting process is to stretch the muscle as much as possible while applying force. Simply stated, this means that if you perform an exercise using a complete range of motion, you can achieve a maximal effect in the process of muscle breakdown. Stressing the muscle over a long range of motion not only breaks down a much more significant amount of tissue, it also can help lead to more flexibility in the joints associated with the lifts. This plays into the last tip as well, since flexibility can help prevent injury. As well as long ranges of motion, it is important to keep good form while doing your lifts. The reasoning behind all of this stressing towards good form is strictly in the interest of preventing injury in the weight room. No one wants to see a friend get hurt in the gym, and I consider anyone who lifts a friend in that sense, so don?t be afraid to take a plate off of your lifts in order to practice good form. Looking like you can lift more plates in the gym than anyone else isn?t really important, and in the long run keeping good form will keep you healthier and more able to continue lifting.
10. In order to achieve maximum results, supplementation is essential.
As stated above, your body is a self-recovering machine, and it?s really amazing how well it can repair itself. The problem is that without the proper nutrients, your body simply can not recover. Protein is the building block of muscle, and that means that it is essential during the muscle repairing process. Bodybuilders need more protein than the average person, and it is very hard to meet these requirements without a proper protein supplement. I?d advise you look into a whey protein for post-workout, and into a casein supplement for pre-bedtime; it?s what I take and it is monumental in helping me recover at the rate I do.
How important is it to follow these tips?Following these tips is really very important to maximizing your results and keeping your body as healthy as possible. Although there are countless other tips that you will learn through time and as you gain more experience in the weight room, it?s always important to not forget the basics of lifting. Generally, risks are not worth taking because injury is the ultimate setback in the world of fitness and bodybuilding. Even more importantly, there are three major tips I?m going to reiterate below.
What are 3 essential rules that people who workout should follow?To simplify the above rules, I?m going to outline 3 essential rules that people that workout should follow:
1. Exercising leads to good health.
Whether it?s lifting or cardio, the straightest path to success in the world of physique improvement is to exercise.
2. Make sure to take care of your body, it?s the only one you?ve got so you might as well take good care of it!
Including a proper nutritional program, adequate amounts of sleep, and a thorough stretching program, you can keep your body performing at its best.
3. Set goals, and do your best to reach them.
Whether your goal is to compete in an amateur bodybuilding show, or simply to lose 20 pounds, setting goals and sticking to the program that will lead you to accomplish those goals is one of the most surefire ways to success. Having a direction that leads to your goals and aspirations will allow you to not only stay motivated while traveling the rough path to victory, but it will make it much more enjoyable because it makes your life that much more meaningful. Follow your dreams, shoot for the moon, and if you miss you?ll still be among the stars.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------User-gboue1) Always stretch for 5-10 mins before starting any workout. This can prevent potential injuries. Also, it will lead to greater gains as you will probably be able to workout longer.
2) Start with 15-20 mins of cardiovascular activity to get your heart rate pumping.
3) When lifting make sure you are doing the reps slowly as this is the only way that you will have any results. Isolating your muscles and doing an exercise properly is essential if you don't want to be wasting your time at the gym.
4) Always take your multi-vitamins and get proper amount of sleep or else your body will not be able to recuperate.
5) Do 30-40 mins of cardiovascular activity at least 3 times a week, this keeps your body in a healthy state.
6) Drink alot of water. Nothing worse than being rehydrated this can actually lead to you getting ill or even injured. Your body needs constant repleneshing.
7) Take protein, it definitely works.
8 ) Nutrition is key to any workout goal. Always eat healthy, do not over-eat and do not under-eat. The more you workout the more you should feed your body properly. Vegetables and fruits are crucial to every diet.
9) Stay motivated and never give up. No matter how, by getting a workout partner, by reading magazines, or even creating a bodyspace on bodybuilding.com find different sources of motivation and keep your mind focused on that goal by tracking your progress.
10) If you leave from a workout without even a drop of sweat than you have done something wrong. Always challenge yourself and push yourself to your limits. Try increasing your weights little by little every week. If it is too easy of an exercise than try something new that you are not good at. That is the only way to work all aspects of your muscles.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------User-Blink41What are the 10 best training tips?
Beginner Tip #1)
Form > Weight
The most important tip of all, good form is far more important than the weight you are using. Don’t get me wrong, training heavy is good. However, training heavy with bad form, is extremely dangerous and simply idiotic. Poor form defeats the whole purpose of training. Lifting with bad form makes training much more ineffective and very dangerous. I remember when I had little experience in the gym a couple years ago. I was able to curl so much weight, but my biceps barely grew. When I looked in the mirror, I saw how bad my form actually was. I was leaning back, my forearms were all curled up, and my shoulders were rolled back. Instead of curling the weight in a controlled manner, I was really just swinging the weight up. From that point on, it was obvious that my shoulders, forearms, and back were doing half the work. I was very fortunate that I was not injured. After I corrected my form and did those bicep curls the way they are suppose to be done (needless to say, I used significantly lighter weights), I noticed more gains in two month than the previous 6. A good way to check your form is to look at the mirror. To see how the exercises are supposed to be done, check about
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm. They have a comprehensive list of a variety of exercises demonstrating the proper way to execute each repetition. Simply put, No Form No Gains Yes Injury No happy
Beginner Tip #2)
Have Patience. Set long and short-term goals.
Patience is something almost every beginner lacks, but is also a vital key to success. When first stepping in the gym, progress may come rather quickly, whether it is in the form of size or strength gains. Depending on your body, your progress will begin to decrease after a period of time and adding weight to the bar will become progressively difficult. It’s important to understand that reality. You simply cannot continue to make those kinds of gains naturally, unless you’ve got remarkable genes. Having patience and realizing that you will not achieve your ideal physique in a few months will keep your spirits high and reality in check. Having a long-term goal is important, but having short-term goals are even more important. Set a realistic short-term goal like adding 30lbs to your bench/squat/dead in 2 months is a good way to keep things in perspective and ensure that you do not quit. Once you have achieved that goal, set another until you’ve finally reached your long-term goal. Once you realize that health and fitness cannot be rushed, your training will be more enjoyable and your gains will increase exponentially. Even if you did not achieve your goal in the allotted time period, do not get discouraged. Have patience and give yourself a little more time to reach your short-term goal, you’ll get there. Don’t quit, just have some patience.
Beginner Tip #3)
Overtraining
Overtraining is arguably the most important concept for a beginner to understand. Overtraining can be avoided with a good routine, proper nutrition and plenty of rest. Do not just go to the gym everyday to bench and curl. Your body needs time to recuperate and repair, which is exactly why you need plenty of rest. Find a good full-body routine. Ideally, you should be training in the gym 3 times a week, excluding cardio days. Soreness is not an indication of how “fresh” your muscles are, but they can be an indication of how “fatigued” they are. For example, if you did legs on Monday, and come Friday, your legs are still sore, you should skip that workout and do legs on another day. The reason why your legs are still sore so many days after your workout is perhaps due to excessively high volume. I would aim for approximately 8-10 sets for a major muscle group, like the quads. The bulk of the workout should consist of basic compound lifts, like the traditional barbell squat for quads. If you stop progressing in strength gains on leg exercises, you are most likely overtraining. In that case, give yourself more time between the leg days and cut back on the volume. Also, to speed up recovery, always stretch before and after your workouts.
Beginner Tip #4)
Have Proper Nutrition
Switching to a healthier lifestyle requires proper nutrition 100% of the time. Yes, I know, it’s not easy. Proper nutrition is just as important as the first three tips above. Since you are now expending more energy than the average person, you must consume more calories/nutrients than the average person as well. Take a multivitamin everyday to ensure you have the necessary nutrients to train effectively, preferably one which contains higher levels of B-vitamins. Instead of 3 large meals a day, consume 5-6 evenly distributed medium sized portions. Also, make sure you eat clean, no junk food or soda. Consume a little more than 1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight. Many people will say 1.5-2 grams of protein per lb, but I don’t think that much protein is necessary. Amino acids, unlike carbohydrates, cannot be stored by the body for an extended amount of time. If not needed immediately by the body, any excess protein consumed will be turned into glucose, which eventually gets stored as adipose tissue (fat) if not used. A good time to drink your protein shakes would be before and after your workouts and right when you wake up in the morning. Also, drinking milk before bed helps prevent catabolism when you are asleep, so drink up. Remember, if you want to gain weight, you must consume more calories than you expend. If you want to lose weight, consume fewer calories than you expend. Last tip; eat more fiber to help you stay regular, especially since you are consuming so much protein.
Beginner Tip #5)
Ask questions and take good advice
If you have questions about proper form or how to use a machine, by all means ask somebody. Don’t just assume you’re doing it right or else you might get injured. Ask the people who look like they know what they are doing in the gym or ask questions on the bodybuilding.com forum. If you hear good advice, take it.
Beginner Tip #6)
Compound exercises > Isolation exercises
Beginners should focus their energy towards the basic three compound lifts: Squat, Deadlift, and bench press. After you perfect the form, start adding weight to the bar. Those three lifts are the easiest to make strength gains on, which obviously means faster muscle mass gains. Compound exercises recruit many more muscle fibers than isolation exercises, so you will gain more overall strength. Compound lifts should be done at the beginning of your workout, when you have the most energy. Isolations should be done towards the end of the workout, when you have the least energy. When you become familiar with the basic three, you are ready to move on
Chest: Flat Bench Press, Incline Bench Press, Decline Bench, DIPS
Back: Pull-ups, Barbell Rows, Deadlifts
Legs: Barbell Squat, Stiff-Leg Deadlift, Box Squats
Shoulders: Military Press, Standing Press, Seated Dumbbell Press
Focus on those exercises, trust me, you won’t regret it. Also, don’t be afraid to add weight to the bar as well, as long as your form is in check. Overloading the muscles is essential for growth because the body doesn’t need to adapt if nothing’s changing. Therefore, you must force your body to change by adding weight or another repetition on that exercise that next time it comes around. Aim for 8-12 repetitions for more mass, 1-5 for more strength. Don’t worry about bicep, triceps, traps… exercises; they all get worked one way or another. Once you become stronger in those exercises, you can do isolation exercises, but your staple should always be compound exercises.
Beginner Tip #7)
Remember to train your legs
Most beginners and even some more experienced lifters don’t train legs either because the workouts are too grueling or simply because they can stay hidden in baggy jeans. Your legs are the foundation for normal everyday activities such as walking, running, and standing. Your legs are even more important if you play sports. Strong legs will help you run faster, become stronger, and most importantly, lower your chance of being injured. I know this first hand. I used to train my legs sparingly because the workouts were so hard. I simply didn’t feel like going to the gym on leg days and even if I did, I would just go through the motions and never train at a high enough intensity. About 6 months ago, while playing basketball, I landed awkwardly and tore my A.C.L. My doctor told me that if my legs were stronger, my injury would have been less severe. Just two months ago, I started to train my legs again, squatting just the bar and eventually working my way up. I’ve still got a long way to go before I can play basketball or even run again.
If trained properly, the legs can be the largest and strongest muscle group in your body. Because of this, squats and other heavy leg exercises will release massive amounts of testosterone, growth hormones, and endorphins AKA the happy hormone. As a result, not only will your legs benefits, but other muscle groups will as well. Believe me, I know leg training can be extremely difficult and painful, but it’s worth it at the end. Also, remember to work your quads and your hamstrings, or else you will easily get injured because of muscle imbalance.
Beginner Tip #8)
Warm Up Properly
A proper warm up includes a quick jog on the treadmill, stretches, and doing a couple sets with a lighter weight with higher repetitions. Of course you want to keep your energy level high after your warm up so don’t overdo it. The primary purpose of warming up is to prevent injury. Lets say today is your chest day. First off, you would hop on the treadmill or whatever cardio machine you prefer and jog for a couple of minutes at a moderate pace. The purpose of this is to get your blood flowing and to raise your body temperature. Remember, a warm muscle is more flexible and less likely to get injured than a cold muscle. After a couple of minutes, your heart rate and body temperature should increase and you’re ready to begin stretching. Stretch the muscles you are going to use, in this case the chest so you would stretch your chest, shoulders, and triceps. Since we are doing chest, do 2-3 sets of 5-8 repetitions on the flat bench press. Don’t overdo it, or your performance will suffer later. Just go light, approximately 50%, then 65%, and then 80% on what you normally do. By doing so, your body would be slowly adjusting to a heavy load so when you start your workout and progress to an even heavier load, you’re body may do so safely and efficiently. Often many beginners forget to warm up, which not only affects their performance later but is also very dangerous. Remember to warm up properly, and your performance will increase dramatically.
Beginner Tip #9)
Don’t rely too much on supplements
There are so many different supplement companies out there with so many different products. Magazines advertise countless products and are endorsed by numerous massive bodybuilders. Maybe the supplements work, maybe they don’t. Let’s just focus on the essentials that are proven time and time again by people like you and me and spare your wallet in the meantime. Beginners often use too much supplements, some of which they don’t even understand. In my opinion, anyone with less than 1 year of weightlifting experience should take a multivitamin and whey protein, that’s it. Whey protein has been proven extremely effective when consumed before and after your workouts by people everywhere. After a year or so, you can look into creatine products but it’s not. Supplements do not replace real food, so eat as much as you can and you can “supplement” your diet with some protein shakes and a multi. Eat as much lean meat as you can and consume some quality carbohydrates in your diet as well.
Beginner Tip #10)
Take a before and after picture
This is a great motivator. Take a picture of yourself right now without your shirt on, and continue to take these pictures every 3 months. Don’t take the pictures every month because you probably won’t see much difference. When you feel like quitting or feel a lack of motivation, just look at your pictures and realize just how far you have gotten. After a while, you’ll be very pleased. If you are not, reevaluate your diet and training.
How important is it to follow these tips?It’s absolutely crucial that you follow those tips. Following those tips could mean the difference between run of the mill gains and great gains. It could mean the difference between becoming stronger and becoming injured. I know following all ten tips at a time isn’t easy, but you probably knew half of it already. Just take it one step at a time. These 10 tips are just tips; they’re not the Ten Commandments. Listen to your body, everyone is unique and responds differently. However, most of these tips have been proven time and time again and some are just common sense. It’s up to you if you want to follow these tips or not. However, you simply cannot go wrong if you do.
What are 3 essential rules that people who workout should follow?1) Learn to take helpful advice
Some beginners simply choose to ignore the concept of overtraining or cannot accept any constructive criticism. Some people cannot accept the fact that the reason why they were able to use so much weight is because of bad form. Don’t be afraid to go back to square one if you are unsure about your technique. Like I said before, never sacrifice weight for form, or you’ll be sorry.
2) Focus!!!
When you’re at the gym, you shouldn’t be on the phone or chatting with people if you’re serious about making gains. Throw on your headphones and really focus on the exercise you are about to do. Picture yourself doing 8 clean repetitions before you start your set, this will help you focus mentally. Don’t try to impress the girls or your friends by lifting weights that you know are too heavy for you because you’ll probably cheat and get injured. Train hard, train heavy, but above all, train smart.
3) 100% Intensity
Training starts with the mind. If you go to the gym just to get a pump, you’ll only go so far. Try to increase either the weight you are using or the number of repetitions for compound exercises every workout. If your benching the same thing you did a month ago, it’s time to really step it up. Strength gains will obviously be slower for isolation exercises, but weight progressing and overloading are just as important. Cut down on rest time and don’t be afraid to ask for a spot. A spotter can give you that extra physiological support you may have needed to get that extra rep up. You should be screaming and grunting to push that last rep up, every time. If you still have enough energy for one more or even half more, do it! Don’t rack the weight just because you reached 8 reps. Train like God is watching.
ConclusionLiving a healthier life style isn’t easy, but it’s very rewarding. The path to your ideal physique may take months or decades, depending on where you are currently at and how smart you train. Following my advice above will ensure that you have a good start, no matter what your goal is. Thanks for reading and remember my advice.
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Please, be careful with this information...because this is a opinion of people like you, not a pro...
