3. How do I lift weights? I want to get stronger/bigger/toned, critique my routine. What should I do for lifting when I go to the gym?
ANSWER: For any beginner or novice lifter (let's clear this up right now: for someone who cannot bench press 1.5x, deadlift 2x, and squat 2x their own weight), a strength training program is imperative. Drop that bullshit you read in Muscle & Fitness, Men's Health, or whatever you heard from the ignorant musclehead jock next door.
The fastest rates of growth and increased strength for beginner lifters are attained through compound lifting.
read that again:
The fastest rates of growth and increased strength for beginner lifters are attained through compound lifting.
I'll explain. Isolated lifts are exercises that recruit few, usually one, major muscle group to perform the exercise. One good example is leg press. The motion specifically targets the quadriceps (the frontal half of your ourter thigh). It involves, to a lesser extent, other muscles in the area, including the glutes and hamstrings. Compound lifts are exercises that recruit a great amount of muscle groups, both major and minor. The body has many smaller muscles that are involved in compound lifts but neglected in most isolated lifts. One example of a compound lift is the squat. The squat directly recruits several major groups including the buttocks, quads, and hamstrings. The nature of the squat also creates a vast demand for stabilization from the adductors, calves, back, and abdomen.
Christopher Scott
When you exercise, the body releases hormones and other chemicals, basically signaling the demand for repair, for nutrients, and for growth. Consider the leg press. The muscles targeted are mainly the quads, and then somewhat the hamstrings and glutes. Now consider the massive muscle participation required by the squat. Which exercise do you think creates a greater need for growth, for more power, for more nutrients? The compound lift, of course. At this point you're probably starting to grasp the difference. Let me tell you, it is a major and invaluable difference.
Let's create a basic strength training program. Each day of your regimen (for strength training I say 3 or 4 days a week) should have a target exercise. Instructions for most of these exercises should be easy to find at www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
The format is SETS x REPETITIONS. Pushups 4x10 = Four SETS of 10 REPS: Do 10 pushups, four times separately.
Monday Deadlift or stiff-leg deadlift 5x5 Bent Over Rows 4x4-8 Weighted Pullups or Lat Pulldowns 3x4-8 Seated Row 4x4-8
Back day. Pretty self explanatory. On back day you should remember that you're going into the gym to "pull". You're not doing a bunch of different crazy shit: you're training your body in compound pulling movements, both horizontal and vertical. That's one of the basic concepts of strength training: breaking it down by movements.
Wednesday Squats: 5x5 Front Squats or Leg Presses: 4x4-8 Lunges: 4x4-8
Squat day. Without squats, we are crippled. Go into the gym KNOWING that if you don't squat, you might as well quit lifting altogether. Most of those are pretty basic. You can tell what's going on: quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves, all with free weight.
Notice how Friday is centered on pushing movements, mainly the flat bench? the rest of the lifts are "assist" lifts. they're all based around the "pushing" of the bench press. The assist lifts all complement each other and increase the strength of your basic compound movement (pressing). In turn, your stronger press will lend to further growth, and greater strength.
The cold, hard truth about compound movements is this: You actually need to practice them. Performing a heavy lift without skill and technique can result in failure, and much worse, injury. Study instructions and read essays about any lift you don't think you're doing well. If you cannot perform a movement with good if not perfect techinque, decrease the amount of weight you're using and concentrate on your form. Throwing a shitload of weight on the bar does not make you stronger. It fucks up your technique and creates bad habits. Performing each lift with correct form, exercising with regularity and discipline, and increasing weight when you are ready will get you stronger.
Notice I didn't include any abdominal, calf, ab, neck, etc exercises. These are not major muscle groups by themselves. If you wish to, you should incorporate them on one of your workout days, or on a separate day of your choice. It's up to you.
Joshua Hernandez
Idk if this is a troll op but I'm going to use this
Lucas Gray
Unironically what made you think this Veeky Forums board has any quality attributed to it?
Hunter Sanders
So much to read.. what am I, a PhD student?
Andrew Allen
Your forgetting something.
YOU GOTTA EAT BIG WITHIN THE ANABOLIC WINDOW
Brody Sanchez
>7chan Nice, pretty much everything that we already have in sticky and also discuss on a daily basis just that we are so fucking used to this basic stuff that we talk about different stuff. Go back to retardchan.
Ian Lopez
It's not, please use this.
Easton Brown
How long should you rest between sets? Do you do the sets over and over or go through the different exercises for one set each and then repeat?
Christian Bennett
>assume OP was just trolling and trying to get a rise out of Veeky Forums >Read this
jesus
Sebastian Green
i wouldnt be surprised if there was some legit statistic from this board where 80% doesnt lift / is on very beginner level
i realized this once i hit 1/2/3/4 and some bullshit people spew here is fucking unacceptable, parroting 20yo broscience debunked long time ago.
if you want to actually learn how your body works look fucking elsewhere. There are some lads at /plg/ (handfull) that know their shit, but im guessing most people worth a damn quit some time ago
Levi Allen
answer my question nigger
Thomas Nguyen
as long as you feel comfortable with before going for next set unless specificly recommended otherwise
this isnt fucking rocket science
Brayden Murphy
1 exercise at a time, you go when you're ready but that shouldn't be any longer than 3 minutes rest on heavy weights
Ian Taylor
no, do you do 5x5 of exercise a before moving onto 5x5 exercise b, or do you do 1x5 of a, 1x5 of b 5 times
Jonathan Hall
7chan is still around
Jacob Bennett
yeah everytime i did starting strength i did this
>go to squat rack >load up 100kg of weight >squat 5 times >unload all weight >go on empty space >load 100kg on bar >deadlift it 5 times >then unload the weight to 60kg >clean and overheadpress it 5 times >then unload the weight >Then go to squat rack >load 100kg of weight >squat 5 times >repeat what is above 5 times in total
does this make sense to you? this isnt fucking rocket science jesus
Adam Wilson
thanks
Easton Davis
I've never been to a gym before I don't know how this shit works fuck you
Hudson Morales
>Not having 1 powercage, barbell and plates per excercise.
stay dyel
Oliver Morgan
>100 kg squat/deadlift woman weight >60 kg clean and press for 5, atleast equal to 130kg/160kg squat/DL, more likely 140/180
fucked up your numbers there lad
Jack Perez
He probably just pulled them out of thin air, but you can have massively messed up numbers irl
I bench 90kg but can barely squat it. Poor training
Asher Ortiz
>beginner is someone who can't bench 1.5x their body weight This seems a little excessive
Tyler Jenkins
just pulled numbers out of my ass
my bench squat dl is 95kg / 150kg / 190kg respectively (singles) altought i havent tried my 1rm dl for ages now
Wyatt Diaz
Yes, I'll do starting strength until I can bench 3 plates get the fuck out of here you fucking moron
Anthony Hernandez
it's true for manlets (e.g. 70 kg guy should really bench 105 to be considered not dyel, but 100 kg guy benching 150 kg is advanced-level), for regular sized people not so much. Bodyweight ratios are skewed af towards shorter people who also have shorter levers
Charles Bell
I'm 6'3'' and 78kg, that would mean I would have to bench 120kg to not be a beginner