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How To Begin Weight Training

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Beginning Weight Training

A lot of my posts so far on this site have been motivational in nature, after reading thru them a few times I feel like I really need to write something that is more instructive and more useful. Hopefully this will be the first of many posts that will give beginning weight trainers the info they need to get started, stick with it and progress.

So on the the meat of the issue, you want to start lifting weights to get stronger, get buff, build confidence, impress members of the opposite sex, perform better at sports or some combination of all of the above. The first step is going to be actually lifting some weights. Luckily for me my dad had been lifting weights his whole life so I had access to his free weights and some machines early on in my training so it was pretty easy for me to get to it. Also luckily for me, in my opinion, is that I can’t ever remember my dad ever giving me any real instruction on the matter. He had tons of books on the subject and magazines and he left me to my own devices as far as researching how to progress and what exercises to do. This helped ingrain a sense of self reliance that became valuable when I picked up BMX riding and later in other endeavors later in my life. He was always there to encourage or lend a spot but never to preach or make me conform to his own ideas. His main advice was always get stronger and stay consistent, and frankly if you only listen to those pieces of advice you will make it pretty damn far.

Not everyone has a parent or older brother to help them so hopefully in this aspect I can be of assistance. If you don’t have access to some free weights at your home the next best option is to see what your high school has available. My high school actually had a really good weight room and strength training program that was part of the regular PE curriculum, but many schools have an afternoon weight lifting program as well.  I would consider something like this to be your best option however I would still encourage you to research the proper methods as high school weight training today is not what it used to be. Do not even consider a program that leaves out heavy squats.

Another option would be to look into joining a local gym or YMCA depending on your age and driver’s license status. If this isn’t an option the last option is to buy some weights and equipment of your own. For less then 700 bucks you can acquire all the basics that you will need to carry you forward. I would suggest trying to find a way to earn the money somehow yourself as opposed to just asking your parents for it. Even if you have to do work around the house for your parents this is the best option as it shows you are serious and more importantly it will convince yourself that you are serious about pursuing this. The basic equipment you will need will be an olympic bar with 300 pounds of weights, a squat stand, and a bench. Shopping around online you may be able to obtain these items fairly cheaply.

What routine should you do once you’ve obtained these items? Although I started with a different routine I would suggest a simple full body style 5×5 routine. Something along the lines of a Starting Strength plan or a Bill Starr 5×5 will work very well for you. If for some reason you can’t afford those books or you are adamant about doing something different the basic exercises you should be doing will be the same. The meat of your training should be made up of squats, over head press and or bench press, deadlifts and or rows, and an olympic lift variation like power cleans. You can also throw in some barbell curls and close grip bench presses to hit the arms. These are the big basics that will suit you well for a long time. While I never did power cleans as a kid, mostly because I was never taught why they were beneficial; the power clean teaches you to apply the strength that you have built with the deadlift, quickly. It teaches you to turn on and accelerate the weight in a way that the deadlift cannot. This helps build athleticism and power, and power is basically strength displayed quickly as Mark Rippetoe says.

The two routines I mentioned above will show you the proper loading that you will need and what days you should lift. In an effort to not plagiarize their work I will recommend that you look those programs up to find out more about them. The absolute most important aspect of any of these plans will be adding weight each workout or each week. This increase in weight is what is going to drive your progress. Do not get mixed up in a lot of bodybuilding magazine info about advanced techniques that allow you to get a burn with lighter weights. There may come a time when stuff like that can be helpful but that is very far down the road. You will not maximize your ability to grow and get stronger using techniques like that as a beginner.

It will be important to leave your ego out of the equation and don’t waste time with a lot of one rep max attempts. You will just be wasting your training time. Instead focus on between 8 and 5 reps for everything and focus on increasing the weight you use for these reps. There will come a time when you will need or want to know your one rep max but again, this is not the time for that. You will not be skilled enough in the lifts to be able to demonstrate an efficient one rep max attempt and you certainly won’t be impressing anyone. Also, except on the arm exercises it will be best to stick to 8 reps or less because in beginning lifters their form tends to break down dramatically after 8 reps. Between 5 and 8 reps should provide all the strength and muscle gains you will need.

The last main point will be to resist adding more and more exercises to your routine. At best these will be a distraction and at worse they may shortcut your gains in the bigger lifts and hinder your ability to recover from workout to workout. A lot of the fluff exercises like flyes, and tons of variations of arm curls and things like that are basically a way to achieve a certain muscular look in the short term at the expense of serious strength and muscle growth in the long term. For beginners these are methods to create a small visual increase in muscle size to impress nonlifters and an excuse to not strive to lift heavier and heavier weights. Build up to a 150% bodyweight bench press, and double bodyweight squat and deadlift and a bodyweight overhead press and you will have much bigger muscles then a guy who spent his time doing shit loads of arm curls and chest flyes. Every kid’s favorite muscle hero spent the time to get big and strong at these basics long before they switched to more isolation, bodybuilding style exercises. Every one of them!

As you can see I’ve left out any mention of nutrition, as that can be an entire article on it’s own. Meat, vegetables and carbs like rice or beans are your friends and I would encourage you to eat lots of these things. If you start to become unable to progress each week then eat more, if you start to become a lot fatter then you intended then cut back on some of the carbs. Do not be obsessed with having abs or staying too lean as these things will hinder progress. If you are fat and wish to lose a lot of weight I would suggest doing that first and then begin training with the weights. Muscle burns fat so an increase in muscle mass will help you lose fat but if you are at an unhealthy weight and believe me you do know if you are or not then I would lose the weight first.

Those points above are all the basics that you need to get bigger and stronger. Be patient and consistent and the gains will come. Things may seem slow at first but in fairly short order the gains will come and they will be dramatic. Resist the urge to over complicate or change the program and continue it until it stops working.

 

Below are some helpful links. These are not affiliate links.

Squat Stand: http://www.mensfitness.com/life/gearandtech/21-things-add-your-home-gym-2015/slide/20

Bench: http://www.elitefts.com/flat-bench-white.html

Power Clean How To: https://youtu.be/mPsxlNjv7Aw

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Make Things Manageable

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One of the key principles to achieving goals, becoming good at something, or learning a new skill is simply to start doing that thing or task first. You can’t work out if you don’t go to the gym, you can’t eat right if you’re never prepared to cook or pack your meals and you constantly have to buy fast food. You can’t have a successful business if you aren’t even in business. See what I mean? Today’s topic is about how we go about “doing” these things that we need to do to get to our goals.

A weight lifting plan ripped right off some genetic freak’s youtube channel may seem like a cool thing to do. It seems hardcore and legit, and any number of other bullshit phrases we use now days to convince ourselves to do/try stupid things, but once the terrible, brutal reality of this plan sinks in and your legs are so sore that you cant even sit down to take a shit, then we will see how hardcore it really is. Once we take a whole week off to recover, we can come back again and hit this stupid workout with some new vigor…..and repeat the cycle again. Before you know it a month has passed and you have only hit the gym 3 times in that month. Hardcore or not that doesn’t sound productive to me.

Now lets look at the sensible scenario, lets so you can only hit the gym 30 minutes a day. You’re busy, family, kids, work release, what ever, but you’re so busy that you can only get in the gym 30 minutes a day. You want week ends to yourself so you only hit the gym during the week, 5 days a week, 30 minutes each time. This seems quite easy to you and after a few weeks of floundering you have put together a plan that works with your time frame and now you’re starting to see some progress. Next thing you know 6 months has gone by and your lifts are thru the roof, you’re ripped, strong, and excited to hit the gym every day. By making it manageable you have also made it consistent, which is one of the most important things in the fitness and strength world.

Let’s ignore the fact that it’s only 30 minutes a day and instead lets look at the bigger picture. 30 minutes a day 5 times  week is 2.5 hours in the gym a week, 10 hours a month, 120 hours a year. See how that is adding up? With well chosen exercises lot’s of progress can be made in just 30 minutes a day.

I’m going to switch gears here a little and show you a little bit of how I make things manageable for myself. This time I’m going to talk about my food, and meal prep. Right now i’m using Mark Rippetoe’s Texas Method and Monday is my hardest day of the week, five sets of five on bench press, squats, and the deadlift. My nutrition is crucial on a day like this and if i do not eat right during the day my energy is dramatically reduced by the time i get to the gym around 6 or 7pm. So how do I prepare for this? Easy, I spent 4 hours today (Sunday) cooking all my food for my gym days. I need lots of carbs on this program so I chose some easy carbs to make in bulk, pasta, rice and potatoes. For less then 20 bucks you can get a 3 month’s supply of each of these carb sources. To fuel muscle growth I need protein, I prefer protein from animal sources so I made 3 pounds of ground beef, 5 pounds of chicken breasts, 6 or 8 eggs and a pound of Italian sausage. I also cooked up a bunch of broccoli to go with my lunch and dinner meals. Right now here is what my three major meals each day consists of:

Breakfast-homemade hot pockets stuffed with eggs, sausage and cheese

Lunch- one cup of rice or pasta, one or two cups of broccoli, and two chicken breasts

Dinner- ground beef with green chilies and jalapenos, 2 cups of broccoli or mixed vegetable, and one whole potato, cooked and seasoned.

Right there are my major meals for each of my major workout days. They may not be the most tasty meals ever but right now they are made, packaged and ready to go for the rest of the week-manageable. They were also made with the cheapest, and easiest to prepare in bulk ingredients. See how all this works?

Mornings are tough for me so I have something that I can microwave and eat on the drive to work and it still has the protein, carbs and fats I need. I only have to pack my lunch in a container, so that’s one container to carry to work, it reheats fine and doesn’t take long to eat and gives me the carbs to get me thru work. Dinner happens after the gym and I have the most time to prepare it so I can season the potatoes any way I wish or prepare them any way I want. I can forget the potatoes and instead have my burger meat on a bun for my carbs, or I can just heat all of it up and just throw it all in one big bowl.I’ve easily tailored each meal to make it easier to manage for the different parts of my day. I’ve also bulk cooked items that can all be combined with each other or with other items to create a number of different dishes should I get tired of the same stuff each day. Manageable

With a little planning and some wise use of my time I have now made it manageable to eat properly on ever major workout day this week. This is a starting point, if I find myself feeling weak by the evening I can add more carbs. If I’m losing too much weight I can add more protein/meat sources, or if i’m gaining too much I can take out some carbs. Rather then strive for the perfect diet I first created “A” diet, it’s not perfect but it can be improved. Or I could have done nothing and then I’d have to buy crap food to eat on the way to work, be late, then buy some junk for lunch, spend more money, not get enough vegetables, then buy more junk after my workout and spend even more money and still not get enough vegetables or protein. Make it manageable first, then make it perfect. The same goes for your workouts, and even other areas of your life. A little wise planning and effort can take you a very long way.

Blog, Motivation

Beginners Primer- Start Getting Strong Today!

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First off let me give credit to the tagline in the image for this article, that line belongs to Mark Rippetoe and it is the name of his famous book “Starting Strength.” I am not affiliated with him or the book in any way but you should definitely check it out if you’re think about getting stronger.

Now to the nuts and bolts of this article. I am assuming that if you’re following this site/blog that you are interested in getting stronger, and probably getting stronger in general as opposed to competing in powerlifting or weightlifting. The focus of the majority of my content is going to be about general strength and athleticism. There are plenty of great websites out there specific to bodybuilding/powerlifting and weightlifting. many of which will be mentioned and quoted here but my main focus is general strength as opposed to competing in a strength sport. This article is going to be a quick primer so to speak of some of the things I would recommend if you are new to this pursuit.

Now to it. Here is my advice for a beginner:

  1. Get Started-If you are completely new to the gym as opposed to a person transitioning from another sport or type of weight training my first piece of advice is to get started. That sounds so simple and that’s because it is that simple. The first step is to get started with going to the gym and making it first a habit and secondly a point of enjoyment.  A lot of why people hate the gym or are apprehensive at first is because it’s new to them and they are unfamiliar with the equipment and movements and they feel out of place among all the avid gym goers. The first simple step is to go to a good gym, meaning a gym with free weights, and walk around and get a feel for things, talk with other members and become more familiar with the setting. Every person in that gym was a beginner at one point so they all know how you feel and most will be happy to answer questions or provide help. Don’t be afraid to approach them, just be careful about when you decide to as the middle of a hard set is probably the wrong time.  The second part of this is establishing a habit of going to the gym. In the very beginning it doesn’t matter at all what you do in the gym, just get in there and start getting in there consistently. It’s easy to skip the gym for lots of reasons but after a while it really becomes hard to skip a workout or leave once YOU ARE ALREADY IN THE GYM. Getting there is the first step and once you’re there it’s just easier to rationalize working out rather then leaving and wasting a trip. Get to the gym!
  2.  Use a Proven Plan-After you’ve found a gym and become familiar with it and started cultivating a habit of going it is now time for my second point of advice: Use a proven plan. There will come a time when your own specific needs will dictate a plan of your own design but now is not that time. There are just too many trainers and coaches who have dedicated whole careers to proving what works to ignore their work. You are not a special snowflake, barring some unique physical abnormality you are just like every other person who has ever begun lifting weights. Make it easy on your self and use what has been proven to work. Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength is a good one, Wendler’s 531 is another, Bigger, Faster, Stronger is another, Stronglifts 5×5, Bill Starr’s 5×5 and on and on. These are proven plans that consist of the best overall movements for building strength and muscle and the best part for you is that they are simple to learn and require a minimum amount of equipment. The temptation to customize a plan is to be avoided at all costs especially during this stage. Worrying about big arms or calves when you can’t even squat your own bodyweight is foolish and short sighted. It’s a much better investment of your time and effort to get really strong first, then work on anything that has lagged after that point. Establishing a good base line using a simple beginner program is going to be the best bang for your buck.
  3. Set Goals-This is a crucial point because this helps provide the glue that holds your motivation and mindset together. Pick a specific goal, most likely in this instance it’s a strength goal, but it could be a specific weight loss goal, or another performance goal or even a physique goal. I remember my first physique goal and it was to be like Bruce Lee from enter the dragon. Bruce Lee was ripped and athletic and most importantly, attainable. In that movie he weighed 127 pounds and at that time in my life I weighed about 112 pounds, so ripped at 127 was an attainable goal which is a point I’ll address later. The goal needs to be specific. I absolutely hate the goal of “getting in shape.” What the hell is “in shape?” At what point are you in shape? Another one is “I want to get toned” Again, what the hell is toned? When are you toned enough? The goal needs to be specific so you know when you achieve it. An ambiguous goal is much easier to slack on once you realize that you can change the definition in your mind to suit your current level of fitness, or strength or whatever. If your goal is to bench press 300 pounds then you know exactly when you have reached it and then hopefully, you reevaluate and make new goals afterwards. These points are not numbered and listed in order of importance as your goals may dictate what plan you decide to choose, or what gym you have access to may dictate your goals at first.
  4. Manageable-This is my last point and it goes hand in hand with points 3 and 1, make things manageable. This goes hand in hand with point number one. Just like going to the gym needs to happen before you start training, having a manageable way of making this happen is key to sticking with it. If you really, really, can only get to the gym twice a week then just go with that and alter your routine to accommodate that.  You have to be able to actually get to the gym, actually able to do your workout, actually able to recover enough to hit your next one and your goals need to be realistic enough to attain them. This is a good time to put your ego aside. I know watching some guys on youtube doing crazy crossfit WOD’s or Smolov squat routines looks cool but trying to emulate these things as a beginner will run you into the ground and next thing you know you aren’t going to the gym at all, partly from being sore and partly from a new found hatred of training. It simply won’t be manageable or sustainable.  The same goes for your goals. Making your strength goal  squatting 1000 pounds is a stupid goal. That would take years to achieve if you achieved it and long term goals also become easy to drop. It’s good to envision a future but that needs to consist of small manageable goals along the way. Squat 100 pounds, then 250, then 400, etc. My first physique goal was Bruce Lee, as I got bigger my next one was Steve Reeves. It was never a Ronnie Coleman or Dorian Yates. Now lots of guys were inspired by the greats from a beginner and they always strived to be like them or hit those goals and this is what made them champions, and that’s a good thing, but along the way they made smaller goals part of the larger goal. Your goals can grow and change as you achieve them but they must be achievable goals first. This goes for your training, your meal prep, and your personal life. Make it manageable first and then make adjustments as necessary as they are needed.

Those are my best pieces of advice. Some of those points I know very well because I chose  not to do them at various times and it derailed my progress and set me back. This is the good part of experience, someone else’s experience can now help someone else avoid potholes in the road.  Get started, pick a plan, make some goals, make it manageable and get to it. Starting strength? Yes, Starting Today!