This will be for answering all your basic questions. I just found it again on my comp.
So You Want To Learn How To Train Right
This is essentially going to lay out what you need to realize before you start and point you to some resources to get you started. Some basic truths.
Nutrition is easily the most neglected and most important aspect of training. For anything. You need to understand just what aspects of food make a complete diet. You dont like veggies? Dont eat meat? Frankly, you will have a very tough time. All things make up a solid and successful diet. Now Im sure many of you want to take supplements, things that will make your muscles grow like a ballon. Take it from the people who have been there and orient their lives around their time in the weightroom. A good, clean diet will make a bigger difference for you than a cycle of hard steriods will.
tl;dr - Nutrition is essential to your success.
Realize there is much more to lifting than just upper body. Getting jacked arms. Frankly, most people who lift to "impress the ladies" etc. do not last in this. There is no crime in enjoying the results and purring affection of the ladies but it should not be your main motivation. Curls, bench press, and tricep extentions do NOT cut it.
tl;dr - Workout more than just your upper body. Yes, that means your legs.
Realize that if it was easy, everyone would look like baywatch lifeguards or _V_. This is a long process and many times you wont see results for a while. Commitment, dicipline, hard work are all essential to your success. Not going to the gym because youre too tired, had a bad day, dont feel good is fine. If you dont want to go anywhere or get any results.
tl;dr - The weak and excuse makers will not cut it. Do or dont do, that simple.
Realize knowledge is power. Scroll down to the resources part of the FAQ and start clicking away and learning. One of the best books you can read,
no matter what your goals are is this:
Phonebook sized and packed full of more information than youll never care to know.
tl;dr - Read and learn the why. It makes the how easy.
Simple Truths
++There is no miracle weight loss diet or pill.
++Spot reducing fat is impossible. IE, you cant get a 6 pack from doing crunches. It just doesnt happen. Abs come from the way you eat, basically have no fat.
++You do not need supplements. They are just that. A supplementation to your already stellar diet right?
++Many extreme supplement you see online that promise insane results are either a waste of your time and money, or if misused you could have erectile disfuction at 25.
++Weights are tools to building strength, not necessarily a measurement of it. Asking what people bench is usually considered a "noob" question.
++Eating nothing/drastically less will not help you lose weight. Smaller portions and exercise will.
Reducing calories to the point of starvation will have the exact opposite effect of fat-loss. Reduced caloric intake over a prolonged period of time will put the body into a state of conservation, protecting fat stores whenever possible. Not only will fat become harder to metabolize, but the metabolism in general slows down and energy plummets, reducing the ability to put effort into exercise and other physical and mental activity. Instead, a well balanced diet (approximately 40% calories from protein, 30% from fat and 30% from carbs) of approximately 2,000-3,000 calories a day combined with both weight training and "cardio" will reduce body fat and increase lean muscle mass.
++You can not influence how "tone" or "cut" your muscle looks by utilizing specific lifting protocols. Despite what the kids at school or your know-nothing trainer told you, light weight and high reps will not help you achieve this. Defined, toned and cut muscle is a direct result of the ratio of your lean muscle mass and body fat percentage. Building more muscle and lowering the amount of fat you carry is the only thing that will make someone look more "cut" or "tone." This is generally speaking as Im sure some punk will bring up the actual definitions but as far as you the average lifter are concerned, this applies.
++Lifting high weight/low reps is for mass
Depending on the protocol you utilize during training, you can influence what kind of progress you make. However, despite what that same friend and know-nothing trainer told you, lifting heavy weight with low reps won't pack slabs of muscle on you like those "freaky bodybuilders". In fact, professional bodybuilders tend to favor routines that involve higher reps, somewhere in the range of 10-15 reps per set. This has, for many years now, been a staple in the bodybuilding world. Low reps with high weights tends to demand more from nervous system, and much of the progress made using this sort of system comes in the form of strength, and less size.
More will be added.
The Halfass FAQ Until Matrixkid finds the other part.
+++"So, what supplements should I take?/Should I take ____________?"
"You dont need anything, you need to fix your diet. If you arent getting the results you want, its either the result of you not putting the work in, or you not eating the way you need to. Understand that changing to a perfect diet will make more of a difference for you than a cycle of steroids would. If you feel that you have to take something, and that all those guys who lift more than you ever will just dont understand that you are the exception and need to get big ASAP, basic stuff is fish oil pills, multivitamin, and whey protein. They are good for you, and basic and easy."
Frankly, if youre reading this and this all sounds new to you, you arent smart enough at the moment to really need supplements. You need to understand the nutrition behind them all to even apply them correctly. That takes time and reading, effort on your part. The FAQ has several good books for you to read if you want to pursue this further.
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