Beginner to body building.

[RuNiX]

Hi, I saw this forum from a link from another site (very long process )

Anyways, I am a beginner to bodybuilding, and the actual action of working out. I have been doing it for about a month now.

My height: 6'2
Weight: 180
Max-lift (bench press): 170-185lbs

My goals:
- Increase max lift to 220+, and to be able to moderatly bench press my current max. I also want to get alot of definition. Right now I have flab, and ok bicepts and triceps. I see pictures here (and though I am aware that years and years of hardwork and time have been put in it) it is very impressive.
- Get ripped abs and muscles, but not too BIG.

I know there are alot of threads here and I am going to be looking around, but if people dont mind repeating, can you please give me tips to get ripped (for ex: what exactly must I do) and what I must do to increase my lifting capacity fast.

Thanks and regards,!

[Heckman]

Welcome to IM...Read...stick around...ask questions and you will find all the information you need right here...

[RuNiX]

Thanks for the welcome Heckman, for sure I will!

What is DC workout? What does it consist of doing?

[heavy hitter]

read the dc thread in the dogpound. very informative

[Egomaniac247]

welcome! (can i say that, since i'm a newbie here lol)


Best of luck with your journey...

The only tips I can give you are:

Start recording (whether physically or mentally) your food intake...

Know how many grams of protein/fat/carbs you're taking in along with your total caloric intake for the day...

Look around for a workout schedule that meets your goals and availability. The most important thing is to stay consistent.....don't lift for 3 weeks and give up for 2 weeks.....


Here's my little tip that helps me a lot:

Lay everything out on an excel spreadsheet.....

In the first column list dates out to about 90 days. In the 2nd column list your protein intake for the day, 3rd column carbs, 4th column fats....and 5th column total calories.

Then on the same sheet (column 6) or on another sheet list your workout shedule...you can be detailed (listing what lifts) or just say "chest"

Then set a goal at day 30 that you can see if you've achieved when you've reached it. Set another one at day 60. Another at day 90.

It's important to set reasonable goals too. You're new to the bb'ing game so don't expect to have lost 20lbs of fat, gained 20 lbs of muscle and lost 10% body fat at day 30....

Best of luck man. Like I said, most of it is just staying consistent.

And lastly, the biggest hint is that bodybuilding is 80% MENTAL. Anyone can go into the gym and lift weights......but it takes major will power to go every day (even when you're hurtin) and to eat a can of tuna instead of that bag of doritos.

[The Munster]

RuNiX,

Welcome to IM and welcome to bodybuilding.

My first tip is this. Don't get into DC training yet. Get your feet wet with other types of training before jumping into DC. Generally speaking, it's not for beginners.

Then, off the top of my head, in no particular order:

Eat at least 5 times per day, preferably 6. Lot's of protein at every meal. As a beginner, you need to eat between 1.5 and 2 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight (per day). Start with this for 3 months and then start upping the amounts. Don't ever let your protein consumption be compromised.
Start paying attention to how your body responds to fats and carbs (amounts of intake and timing). Don't consume large amounts of carbs late in the evening.

Lift weights 3-4 times per week. 3 day per week program: do half the body's muscle groups in one workout and the other half in the next workout. Rotate them on say a M-W-F schedule.
4 day per week program: do 1/3 the body's muscle groups in one workout, the next 1/3 the next workout and the final 1/3 the next workout. Rotate on say a Su-M-W-F or a M-T-T-F schedule.
On a given workout, do 1 exercise per muscle group. For each exercise, do 1-2 warmups (or as many as necessary) and 2-3 hard work sets.
At this point in your bodybuilding journey, you should walk away from each workout very taxed but very good and strong too. At this point, like I said, if you are walking away from your workouts totally f--king wiped out and exhausted, you going at it to hard. Give it a good few months before you really start turning on the intensity.

Do very light low intensity cardio on non weightlifting days.

Become a student of proper form. Set yourself off right from the start by doing the exercises correctly. There are plenty of books out there that can teach you these things (I encourage InHuman to chime in here).

It's late and I'm tired so that's all I can think of right now.

Best of luck. Stick around. Good to have you here.

[Brian]

Be consistent.

Don't overanalyze things.

It's better to overtrain than to undertrain.

Use good form when lifting. Use poundages that you can control. Weightlifting is a means to an end (good physique), unless you're a powerlifter.

Under no circumstances should you use the words "cutting" or "bulking". I hate those phrases with the fiery passion of a thousand suns.

Good luck.

[darthness]

Get on DC bro, I am in week 3 and it is kicking my tail with great progress...

[RuNiX]

I want to increase alot in muscle mass...but want to make better definition gains.

How can I get better definition?

[The Munster]

On your non weight lifting days, do 45 minutes low intensity cardio 1st thing in the morning. Just take in about 25-30g protein from a protein shake 15-20 minutes before the cardio. This will help prevent any muscle loss during the cardio. After the cardio, eat a large breakfast to start fueling the day.

Don't eat any carbs the last 4-5 hours of your day.

[RuNiX]

On your non weight lifting days, do 45 minutes low intensity cardio 1st thing in the morning. Just take in about 25-30g protein from a protein shake 15-20 minutes before the cardio. This will help prevent any muscle loss during the cardio. After the cardio, eat a large breakfast to start fueling the day.

Don't eat any carbs the last 4-5 hours of your day.

What about the meals inbetween?

[The Munster]

What about the meals inbetween?

In between what? I'm not sure exactly what you mean.

Bottom line:
Eat every 3 hours. That easily comes out to 6-7 meals per day. No carbs in the last 4-5 hours of your day means no carbs in the last 2-3 meals of you day. Of the 6-7 meals, 2-3 can be protein shakes. Every meal has protein in it. Combine protein and fats (try to make them healthy fats) or protein and carbs (but not in the later 4-5 hours of your day) in a meal. Try to avoid a meal that has protein, carbs and fats together.

Don't count the small protein shake before cardio as a real MEAL. It's really just insurance against muscle loss during cardio.

[RuNiX]

Hey Guys....after some testing and getting familiar I am back.

I think I now have the experience to start DC.

I plan to become more of an avid poster here now that I know whats going on and being discused.

[Egill]

Hey Guys....after some testing and getting familiar I am back.

I think I now have the experience to start DC.

I plan to become more of an avid poster here now that I know whats going on and being discused.

so, how has your progress been in the last 6 months or so?,.... weight gained?,.... any fat gained/lost?

[myochem.com]

Welcome to the Intense family. You made a great choice to come here for your needs. With people like Skip, Winnie and DC around, you will achieve your goals. Good luck with your training.