5 years of weightlifting - progress / opinions check

My thoughts :)

My beliefs:

1) Steroid use is not uncommon and gives unrealistic expectations for beginners. In general, all bodybuilding competitions, especially professional, will involve steroid use. Due to their legal status, they are not discussed as much as they should be (they are the most effective supplement by far) . Taking them is a personal choice and requires different training and nutritional approaches. I am pursuing the non-steroid route and all the following points assume non-steroid assisted training.
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Sadly this is the truth; I only wish people using them were honest/testing was perfect.

2) The best way to gain muscle is progressive overload. i.e. increasing the weight lifted as often as possible, assuming correct form.
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Rep range / time under tension matter a lot for muscle gain.

3) Compound lifts are more effective than isolation work.
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Depends on the goal but generally yes.
4) Something like Stronglifts or Starting Strength is the best overall routine, especially for beginners.
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I started with stronglifts, it's a fine place to begin your journey.

5) Concentrating on a few good exercises (e.g. squat, deadlift, benchpress, chinup, dips etc.) rather than many will result in more muscle gains.
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Debatable but in terms of efficiency compounds lifts win hands down.
6) Eating frequency is irrelevant (assuming calories and macros are the same). The only exception is meal timing - calories consumed after workout will be more effectively utilised than calories consumed before. It is best to eat how and when it suits your lifestyle / work / gym times.
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I eat when I'm hungry, that includes between sets :p


7) The rule of 1 g protein per lb of bodyweight is a reasonable approximation for optimal protein intake for muscle growth. A better one is 0.8 g per lb.
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Too much protein leaves me feeling drained, I don't overly calculate it but 0.8-1g is probably what I aim for.

8) More protein should be consumed when cutting to preserve muscle. A reasonable approximation is 1.5g per lb.
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What's cutting?

9) In order to build muscle, the weight on the scales (by eating more) and the weight in the gym should be increasing.
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I'm 99% of cases that is correct, in short stretches my strength has increased whilst in a calorie deficit (though that's strength gains, not muscle gains)

10) In order to lose fat, the weight on the scales (by eating less) should be decreasing while trying to increase or maintain the weight in the gym. Some strength loss is unavoidable.
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Depends on the rate of loss you're aiming for.

11) Working a muscle every 4 days is a reasonable frequency.
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Frequency isn't reasonable or unreasonable, it's a variable you will manipulate to achieve a goal. Currently I'm benching 4x, squatting 3x and deadlifting 3x a week.

12) Cardio is optional. It has both positive and negative effects on strength training and muscle growth.
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Long stints on the treadmill = optional
Conditioning to maintain health or work capacity = necessary

13) Diet is 75% of the results. Too many calories = too fat. Too few = slow or no muscle gains. Supplements (ignoring steroids) are about 5% of the results.
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Training stimulus, rest and nutrition have to be balanced, there's no fixed % for these.

My results: (all figures given relative to bodyweight for comparison).
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A comparison formula like wilks is much better at comparing relative strength than bodyweight.
 
Agree with point 1, the number of steroid users I've hear talking about their use at my uni gym is obscene. The numbers I've seen in an outpatient settings suprising as well.
They promote a massively unrealistic representation of whats physiologically possible normally. Having a high muscle mass while being very lean is incredibly difficult, hormonally it is hard to have the two conflicting anabolic and catabolic processes needed to develop that body type.
 
Moses said:
The comments in this thread have just gone to demonstrate to me I know nothing - what are the signs of steroid use? Just googling stuff to do with steroids obviously brings up loads of junk :p. Presumably people can say that, if it's nothing to do with their use in detail, etc.
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There is absolutely no way to look at someone and be able to 100% say they use gear, you can have suspicions because they're huge and strong but some can reach that naturally also some people can pile of mass at the flick of a switch so that's not a sure way to know either.
 
Generally delts are quite a giveaway, and maybe depending on the compound, water retention? Acne as well. Any of these can happen without gear depending on diet and genetics though, not 100% ways of telling someone is on gear unless they're doing the Mr. Olympia :p
 
Moses said:
The comments in this thread have just gone to demonstrate to me I know nothing - what are the signs of steroid use
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There aren't any, other than if the guy is stupidly big.

To suggest otherwise is just laughable, not sure what the OP meant by it.

People say big traps are a give away because the traps have more androgen receptors in so tend to blow up quite a bit, but that's rubbish. I know guys who have the most insane traps but aren't on gear.

Acne - I had acne on my back well before I used gear
Big delts - Not sure why you'd say that eGu_ryan as delt size is genetically determined. If you have big delts, you would have big delts regardless of the gear
Water retention? - Welcome to 99% of the gym goers life because of poor nutrition and lifestyle
Rage issues - A myth and doesn't exist with steroids. If you're a dick before gear, you'll just be a bigger dick on gear
Gyno - More than likely a result of puberty, aka MoNkeE on the boards who had gyno since a teen

There is no way of knowing if the guy is on gear, unless as mentioned they are the size of an IFBB pro
 
Yeah I meant more of the "capped delts" look that generally comes with gear usage. I agree though, genetics could cause them to be like that anyway.

Pretty much all signs that someone is on creatine, can be caused by genetics/poor diet/poor training. Only way of knowing is if someone tells you, or if you catch them in the toilets with a needle in their bum :p
 
eGu_Ryan said:
Yeah I meant more of the "capped delts" look that generally comes with gear usage. I agree though, genetics could cause them to be like that anyway.

Pretty much all signs that someone is on creatine, can be caused by genetics/poor diet/poor training. Only way of knowing is if someone tells you, or if you catch them in the toilets with a needle in their bum :p
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That wording seems a bit odd - being on creatine isn't the same as being on gear :p
 
mrthingyx said:
Please, please, please post that on MyProtein as a review with a 5* rating. :D
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It's actually a tempting idea :p

eGu_Ryan said:
I tried injecting but it didn't agree with me. Started snorting it with my preworkout instead.
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Agreed that this is the best way but once you get your creatine, beta-alanine, taurine and your 25ml scoop of whey it starts to take a good half hour to finish snorting it all.
 
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