Heavy lifting - basic advice for newbies.

[NY1Muscle]

This is a really basic point to make...but I thought I was pretty smart, and lifting for a year and a half and I didn't really know it.

I thought I knew what heavy lifting was....I llifted to failure at about 5-6 reps. I had slowly built up my squat over a year from an empty bar (embarassing I know, but I was afraid of hurting my back) to 130#.

All my friends with money told me "you should have a trainer to push you." I always thought this was total bullshit - you should see most of these guys just company to make sure that people get themselves to the gym. Pathetic waste of 60-100 bucks.

After a year and a few months of lifting I got all my gear for my first cycle and was ready to grow after plateauing for a few months; I was happy becuase I had never hurt myself in over a year (an improvement for me.)

I work with an ex-powerlifter. He's built like an ox at 5'9"/230 17% bf. At his training peak he squatted 850# and benched 400+. He's been around it all, heard it all, and works as an exercise pysiologist (an educated scientific trainer.)

So for kicks I decided to take him up on it when he offered to work out with me for a day. Boy! That really changed me.

Here's the point (obvious if you know) I had been allowing myself to fail at 5 or 6 reps.....he showed me that I could lift much more and corrected my form. In one day my squat jumped 50# and this week I squatted 225#.

I realize now that heavy lifting means actually struggling with the weight on each and every rep like your life depends on it. I started growing again and now I'm postponing my first cycle until I hit a plateau again. He also calculated my protein intake, which was way way too low (less than 50/day.)

SO FOR THE NEWBIES:
You hear it in general terms all the time "be sure you're lifing right and eating right before you juice." But in my case I almost wasted my first cycle because I had learned all I could from the internet, not all I could from people. If you haven't sat down and calculated the nutritional numbers, if you haven't worked out with a "big boy" at least once, and if you aren't sure about your form.....then be sure you do all these things before wasting your money and time on gear. Instead of some pussy-personal trainer I'd rather just tell one of the big guys I'll give them the money just to work out with me once or twice. They know more about intensity and muscle than anyone else. Now I know I'll really get the most out of my first cycle when I'm rady for it.

 

[hookuprx]

Awesome post. Everyone needs to think more like yourself when beginning a new sport. Keep thinking.

 

[2Thick]

Interesting post.

I would also remind people that lift heavy that they will absolutely need 15 minutes of stretching and plenty of warm-up before attempting heavy weights.

 

[ironbarbarian]

good karma for you. Nice read.

IB

 

[Silent Method]

Great post. Just the other day I was thinking of posting a similar message. For many of us we need to ask ourselves - seriously - am I really lifting as heavy as I'm capable of? Probably not. Strenght is a combination of muscular aptitude, CNS coordination, and ones mindset. When I hit a plateau I don't think "gee, what kind of juice do I need?" I don't think "damn, my genetics must be maxed out." No, I go to the gym and say to myself "LIFT HARDER MOTHERFUCKER! STOP BEING A PUSSY!" Boom, 3-5 more reps.

 

[needsize]

But that totally defeats the purpose of the 100's of kids around here who don't want to put in any time hitting their limit naturally before jumping on gear, you mean they might actually have to work first, shame on you, lol......

 

[gunslinger11]

this should be a sticky. however id like to address the issue of teens using. look ino it isnt good and most dont grow because they dont eat or train right, but there are exceptions. not every teen is a fucking idiot yes ill give everyone that almost all are but as with all groups not everyone is the same, not everyone fits the stereotype. 3years ago when i was in H.S. i did my first cycle this was because my entire football team was on i had to just to keep up. i was smart enough to learn about steroids completely before i did. i learned, knew what i was doing, and used safely and effectively. the myth that every teen who uses is gonna get hurt. this symply isnt true this comes from the fact that most dont know shit and just abuse them and then blame all their problems on juice. look im not trying to justify teens using but i cannot really be against it because i did, it would be hypocritical. what im trying to express is most people on this board have not reached their genetic peak because most wont reach their peak untill their 30 so dont preach only to use then. people should have exerted every last effort to gain naturally before they juice but dont judge when others dont. so im tryin to say when a teen comes onto the board dont flame him try to help him out and provide him with the most education possible. give them the benefit of the doubt that they arent an idiot and will actually use correctly when taught to do so. besides most teens will do whatever the hell they want anyway so lets at least let them get into this with as much knowledge as possible. i understand i may be flamed for this because it may sound like im condoning teen use. but just remember that this community shold know most of all about people who have opinions on shit they know nothing about, the media and just general people have a problem with us doing this. dont fuck over these kids who actually make an effort to learn about this give them a hand.
fuck.... sorry just needed to get that out after sounding educated.
peace bros nd lift hard.

 

[rippedtrojan]

this should be a sticky. however id like to address the issue of teens using. look ino it isnt good and most dont grow because they dont eat or train right, but there are exceptions. not every teen is a fucking idiot yes ill give everyone that almost all are but as with all groups not everyone is the same, not everyone fits the stereotype. 3years ago when i was in H.S. i did my first cycle this was because my entire football team was on i had to just to keep up. i was smart enough to learn about steroids completely before i did. i learned, knew what i was doing, and used safely and effectively. the myth that every teen who uses is gonna get hurt. this symply isnt true this comes from the fact that most dont know shit and just abuse them and then blame all their problems on juice. look im not trying to justify teens using but i cannot really be against it because i did, it would be hypocritical. what im trying to express is most people on this board have not reached their genetic peak because most wont reach their peak untill their 30 so dont preach only to use then. people should have exerted every last effort to gain naturally before they juice but dont judge when others dont. so im tryin to say when a teen comes onto the board dont flame him try to help him out and provide him with the most education possible. give them the benefit of the doubt that they arent an idiot and will actually use correctly when taught to do so. besides most teens will do whatever the hell they want anyway so lets at least let them get into this with as much knowledge as possible. i understand i may be flamed for this because it may sound like im condoning teen use. but just remember that this community shold know most of all about people who have opinions on shit they know nothing about, the media and just general people have a problem with us doing this. dont fuck over these kids who actually make an effort to learn about this give them a hand.
fuck.... sorry just needed to get that out after sounding educated.
peace bros nd lift hard.

word

 

[cal]

you started using before you could squat 225?

 

[solidspine]

NY1

Great advice and post.


Thanks