Weightlifting: Starting Strength

[Chad Daring]

Mike Tyson is a freak of nature!

That type of muscularity is just a gift from God. He is only like 19 or 20 in that picture. You can workout perfect, eat a perfect diet, and do the best steroids, buy you still might not ever be built like him.

Some guys are just blessed.

Maybe I'm being ignorant, but Tyson doesnt look "freak of nature" built in that picture, he looks like a muscular guy who has a good training regiment. You wanna talk freak of nature talk about Magnus Samuelsson, he's what a grizzly bear would look like if you shaved it.

 

[amistod]

So what measurements do you guys have for your thighs? I have been squatting 2-3 times a week for several months now. I am at about 25.5 inches. I tend to carry all of my weight in my stomach, I lost all the easy areas first.

I am interested in hearing what you guys are shooting for when it comes to leg size. At ~6 foot what do you personally want your calves/thighs to be?

I am about a 36 inch waist, but I have to buy 38 to get them over the hips/thighs.

 

[ElJefe]

I can't figure whether this discussion is about weight-lifting or a particular program called starting strength.

But, to answer the original poster: you need just one principle when working out - in fact, this applies to any goal you have in life. Work at it. Consistently. As AJ posted.

Consistently expending effort on your goals will ensure you make progress - however slow or fast, none of it is possible without persistence. Persistence and dedication alone are omnipotent - plenty of guys with excellent genes who never use them.

So before you spend a lot of time sitting at home figuring out what NOT to do, get out and DO something. It doesn't have to be complicated. Just 1 hour three times a week is an excellent start. Come back after 8 weeks of that and let us know how it went, and there'll be plenty of excellent advice for you. But you'll get more out of that advice after you've been hitting the gym consistently for a couple of months.

All the other stuff - diet, specific training programs, etc. - it'll fall into place as you get to a point where that kind of detail becomes necessary for continued gains.

 

[Sammy]

Once you're done with starting strength, move on to "single factor 5x5." I've used this program on and off for years, closest thing to perfection (for a gym program) you'll get. Trust me.

 

[_DC_]

I can't figure whether this discussion is about weight-lifting or a particular program called starting strength.

But, to answer the original poster: you need just one principle when working out - in fact, this applies to any goal you have in life. Work at it. Consistently. As AJ posted.

Consistently expending effort on your goals will ensure you make progress - however slow or fast, none of it is possible without persistence. Persistence and dedication alone are omnipotent - plenty of guys with excellent genes who never use them.

So before you spend a lot of time sitting at home figuring out what NOT to do, get out and DO something. It doesn't have to be complicated. Just 1 hour three times a week is an excellent start. Come back after 8 weeks of that and let us know how it went, and there'll be plenty of excellent advice for you. But you'll get more out of that advice after you've been hitting the gym consistently for a couple of months.

All the other stuff - diet, specific training programs, etc. - it'll fall into place as you get to a point where that kind of detail becomes necessary for continued gains.

Its going well so far. I had a lower abdominal burning during squats last week and I had to go back to basics.

I reread the squat portion of SS and realized that I was only quarter squatting (not going all the way to parallel). I was doing 195x5 (not bad considering it was about my 5th squat ever in my life) and I started getting the pain.

I could only do 165x5 this week, but I was pain free. Going to parallel definitely made me let out some primal growls. Shit is hard. Its definitely important to do the lifts correctly, specifically squats and deadlifts where the potential for injury is high, esp. when the weights increase.

I'm going to try to find someone the next time I do deadlifts to watch my form. I know from the book to basically drive your heels into the ground, using only your legs until the bar clears your knees, then lifting with your back. Its not easy to translate this however, even in front of a mirror, a side view from a person knowledgeable in deadlifts should be all I need.

As for the losing fat/gaining muscle. From what I read its indeed POSSIBLE, especially for beginners, but its also INEFFICIENT. You can make way more progress doing a bulking phase, and then a cutting phase. My current plan is to continue lifting 3 days a week full body for 2 whole months, eating about 3000-3500 calories a day. Hopefully I'll gain more muscle than fat, but we shall see. Once October rolls around for me, I plan on using the same exact lifting routine but drastically cutting my calories (attempting as best I can to keep protein relatively high). I had great results with Eat Stop Eat in the summer (fasting 24 hrs, two or three times a week). If you only eat maintenance calories on the "feeding" days, say 2400, you can easily lose 2-3 lbs of fat a week. The amazing thing here is that your body does not slow metabolism after 24 hrs (in fact it increases slightly), however if you were to eat say 1500 calories every day, your metabolism would decrease. Leangains.com is an excellent resource for intermittent fasting (a slightly different program than Eat Stop Eat).

 

[Pilgrim37]

slow down pilgirm! as far as I'm aware Tyson did train with weight at least twice a week, unless you got proof nobody is gonna believe that Mike Tyson never touched weights.

He trained with weights when he was in prison .And towards retirement.
Youtube Kevin Rooney his trainer,or tyson training when in his prime years,you won't see any weightlifting.

He was 190 pounds at 14 years of age ,so he was a heavy guy genetically!He didn't need to get big,he already was.

 

[ElJefe]

Sounds like you're doing all right.

I can't recommend a spotter enough. I am recovering from a serious back-injury due to bad form on the squats. Meant I couldn't do deadlifts either. For both, you have to have a core of iron. Keep the weights on squats easy - I find you can more easily do heavy deadlifts than heavy squats. Spend that time strengthening your core - weighted crunches, etc.

Your diet strategy sounds fine. I've tried cutting and bulking simultaneously too, but I enjoy myself more doing one at a time. Remember to take breaks from the weights every 8 weeks. I'll be starting HST wednesday, and I expect great things.

Good luck.

 

[Pilgrim37]

What's this obsession with gaining mass/weight all about?
Guess it's body building etc
Think you'll change your mind once y'all hit 35....then you'll be trying to work out how to get rid of it!

At 6ft4 I'm around 210 ,eat normal,run and callesthenics 3 x a week

Young Tyson had a great physique....no weights anywhere in his training programme!

"Eat normal." No wonder you have trouble staying lean. Eating normal in America today means getting fat. In some countries, or the America of 50 years ago, not so much.

Mike Tyson was 218 at 5'10 for a BMI of 31.3. You'd have to gain 47 lbs to get to the same size relative to your height (i.e. 31.3 BMI). And that's lean weight. 99% of people have to lift seriously, for years, to get a physique like that. How do you operate a computer and yet still be so oblivious to reality? Retard or troll.

Who said I had trouble staying lean?!
I'm 6ft4 and 210 pounds !
And I'm in the UK not the US....although we're not far behind on the obesity scale here.
If that's fat to you,you must be an Emo kid loving skinny jeans

I don't remember comparing myself to Tyson or mentioning BMI.
As I said before Tyson was 190 pounds when he was 13-14 before he ever stepped in a gym,so he was genetically predisposed to be big!
Callesthenics,running and hitting the bags brought him down in weight but sculpted the physique,not weights.

So better to save the insults when you're not clear on the facts.

 

[Basil Ransom]

Who said I had trouble staying lean?!
I'm 6ft4 and 210 pounds !
And I'm in the UK not the US....although we're not far behind on the obesity scale here.
If that's fat to you,you must be an Emo kid loving skinny jeans

I don't remember comparing myself to Tyson or mentioning BMI.
As I said before Tyson was 190 pounds when he was 13-14 before he ever stepped in a gym,so he was genetically predisposed to be big!
Callesthenics,running and hitting the bags brought him down in weight but sculpted the physique,not weights.

You hold up Mike Tyson as physically ideal and acknowledge he's a genetic freak. Then you question people for trying to lift and gain weight. :huh:

 

[Giovonny]

Mike Tyson is a freak of nature!

That type of muscularity is just a gift from God. He is only like 19 or 20 in that picture. You can workout perfect, eat a perfect diet, and do the best steroids, buy you still might not ever be built like him.

Some guys are just blessed.

Maybe I'm being ignorant, but Tyson doesnt look "freak of nature" built in that picture, he looks like a muscular guy who has a good training regiment. You wanna talk freak of nature talk about Magnus Samuelsson, he's what a grizzly bear would look like if you shaved it.

Honestly, they are both probably freaks of nature...

But I'm not talking about looks. I'm talking about raw strength, power, explosivesness AND potential to get big, fast. Tyson was not a bodybuilder or power lifter. His strength and power was mostly a gift from God. Magnus trained for size, strength, and power. If Magnus boxed 4 hours a day and did tons of cardio, what would he look like?

Tyson ran for almost an hour a day and trained in boxing, and he still looked like that at 19 yeats old. If Tyson trained as a bodybuilder I'm sure he could get huge. He was so thick and muscular at a young age.

The best way to tell would be to look at a picture of both of them at 16 or 18 years old.

But this is not about Tyson vs Magnus. Its about genetics, potential to get big.

Most of us will train for years and never be as big as those 2 guys. They are both gifted.

And, in regards to the pictures...In the Tyson picture, he is 19 or 20 and looks like that without lifting much weight. The Magnus picture, he is in his 30's and has been lifting heavy for years. I would argue that Tyson looks better because he is a teenager who hasn't really lifted weights.

Personally, I would like to see them fight!

 

[raliv]

hey thanks for the information on Starting Strength.

I think I am going to buy the book. I read more into it and I really like his approach to barbell training and especially, his lift techniques.

 

[Benelli]

I can also recommend Stuart McRoberts book Beyond Brawn, very thorough and deep guide to weight training. It has helped me tremendously.

Like many others have replied, focus on core movements and do some reading about macro's - keep your calorie intake above your BMR if you're looking into gaining weight. This is paramount on workout days. Stay around maintenance on non-workout days, and keep protein intake high. A casein shake before you go to bed will ensure that you have a steady supply of amino acids in your bloodstream during sleep. 30g is enough, as the body breaks down 6-8g of casein/h.

Have patience.

 

[amistod]

hey thanks for the information on Starting Strength.

I think I am going to buy the book. I read more into it and I really like his approach to barbell training and especially, his lift techniques.

buy/torrent the one with the videos.. very helpful on getting form right. you can tell the dude is legit from his videos

 

[ElJefe]

Ha, just measured my thighs. 25 inches (I'm 5'10'', 31-32'' inch waist). No wonder I fucking hate designer jeans.

 

[bmarone]

From all my research, with a good program (heavy compound lifts) a beginner can gain 20-25 lbs in a year (with most of that coming in the first six months). Gaining 15lbs in six months would certainly be awesome. I've also a natural increase in testosterone now that I'm lifting heavy. Just need to stop masturbation now and I should be an animal on weekends.

Any success stories with a similar program?

Compound lifts are definitely important, however, volume is the other half of the key. Charles Staley's EDT program is built on this premise. Choose a weight you can lift for ten consecutive reps, then choose a time zone (i.e. 15 min is optimal), now perform however many sets you can with only 5 reps of that weight during that 15 min period. Now record the number of reps/sets you have performed during that time frame. Next time, beat that number. When you can perform around 20 reps more than when you started, move up in weight by 5 lbs. That simple. The added volume, amount of work, translates into greater uptake of amino acids/protein by the muscles (the pump), resulting in greater size. It is absolutely vital that you eat a lot on this program, and not just protein but carbs and essential fats as well. Also key, working the movement is more important than working the muscle; this is why compound lifts are vital. It has neurological benefits, which result in better athletic/everyday-movement ability.

 

[_DC_]

Ha, just measured my thighs. 25 inches (I'm 5'10'', 31-32'' inch waist). No wonder I fucking hate designer jeans.

31"-32" waist is alway dicey. Are we talking actually measurement across the navel (or an inch above) or pants size?

I only ask because pants size are typically 2" or more. When my waist was 33.5" (actual) I could fit in size 31 jeans. I'm probably pushing 34.5" now, and my size 32 still fit fine.

 

[Gunner]

I'm 5'7. 31'' waist in Levi's 527 jeans. My thighs are 24'', finding slacks is almost impossible.

 

[_DC_]

So maybe this is a question better suited for a bodybuilding forum, but considering the amount of people on the forum who have given good responses so far, I'd like to post the following question:

So I had a grand plan to lift at least two/three months, eating lots of food, doing no cardio, and getting significantly stronger. I'm a month and a half in, and I've gained 10 lbs. Even accounting for the creatine water retention , I've definitely gained some fat. Like most guys, I'm pretty lean all over but 5 lbs of fat almost always goes to the belly, meaning 1-2" increase even with such low poundage.

I was already planning on a leangains.com type intermittent fasting cycle for two-three weeks after a while, however, I'm already feeling chubby and I want to start it early. I'm hoping I can drop my bodyfat% and keep my lifts the same and hopefully not lose any strength.

I understand the concept of bulking/cutting and that they should be done in phases. Sorry if you feel asleep reading the above, here is the actual question (hopefully somebody whose experienced intermittent fasting can answer):

Is there any real difference between, say, a bulking phase, two months; cutting phase, one month (total of three months), OR a bulking phase, one month; cutting phase, two weeks; bulking phase, one month; cutting phase, two weeks (total of three months). I want to opt for faster cycling because having a lower body fat is more key for me, and I start to feel sloppy if I'm creeping to 15-16%.

Thanks in advance for any advice/anecdotes.

 

[Basil Ransom]

DC, pics. On bb.com, there are threads where guys post pictures of themselves, and others say whether to cut or bulk. Or you can look at yourself in the mirror and decide, or ask a mature friend who lifts* what he thinks. Also take into account how you dress and what venues you go to. I'm sitting at, I'd guess, 13-15% despite going beachside very frequently. IMO, it doesn't show much when I'm clothed, except for arms that lack a little definition.

*Guys who don't lift, and all girls, will say "you're big enough dude, what are you worrying about?"

 

[_DC_]

DC, pics. On bb.com, there are threads where guys post pictures of themselves, and others say whether to cut or bulk. Or you can look at yourself in the mirror and decide, or ask a mature friend who lifts* what he thinks. Also take into account how you dress and what venues you go to. I'm sitting at, I'd guess, 13-15% despite going beachside very frequently. IMO, it doesn't show much when I'm clothed, except for arms that lack a little definition.

*Guys who don't lift, and all girls, will say "you're big enough dude, what are you worrying about?"

Well here's the thing. I guarantee the dudes on a bodybuilding site would say "bulk" and the majority of women would say "cut" (if they knew what that meant). Guess who I'm trying to impress?

In the end though, i guess it really just matters what I think, and what will give me more confidence. I start losing confidence wearing plain t-shirts when my stomach isn't completely flat. Cutting phase it is! I was just wondering if there was any scientific rationale between having longer cycles of either bulking or cutting.