GordyR's Beginners Guide to Bodybuilding

[StixxUK]

Are there any decent chest exercises you can do without a bench? All of those listed on that (brilliant) site seem to require additional equipment, but all I have is the weights themselves.

 

[red11]

Are there any decent chest exercises you can do without a bench? All of those listed on that (brilliant) site seem to require additional equipment, but all I have is the weights themselves.

I take it you have dumbbells then. Have a look here and here

you don't need a bench to do most of them, you can lie on the floor or improvise (albeit safely ). For dips I use two chairs with a rucksack full of weights strapped to me.

 

[AdamSee]

Some of you may remember my previous post about overtraining and losing motivation.

There was no way on earth I could get motivated to do it (sound familiar?). I needed to reestablish my reasons for actually getting a good body.

At first I wanted to gain weight to get the better girls but it actually reduced the amount of girls I got with because I was so dedicated to my diet! I had motivations outside of myself for doing it, which depended on other people... Bad idea! When I started believing, truely believing, that to have a healthy mind, I had to have a healthy body, then my motivation and dedication returned.


So starting with a lean body mass of 153lbs and 21lbs of fat (12% bf), that's 174lbm total. Did a few weeks weight training to get the shoulders and general shape back then hit fatloss.

Now have a lean body mass of 157.5lbs and 16.5lbs of fat (9.5% bf), so 174lbm total.

A few more weeks of solid dedication and I should be hitting the very preferable 7% bf. So from today no more milk, eggs and reduce wheat to see how it increases fatloss.

Time for another yummy meal

 

[BoomAM]

The foods that you list as acceptable for body builders, would they also apply to people wanting to lose weight?

Ive been told that the best way for me to lose weight is to have big dinners, small teas, a breakfast made up of 2 pieces of toast & to snack on fruit.
Is that right?

My main problem is that my 'routine' varys a lot.
For example, thurs/fri i get up at 7am, leave at 8am, get to College at 9am, dinner at 12, home at 5. With work at 7:30 till midnight.
So on a day like that, baring breakfast, its gonna be difficult for me to 'control' what sort of foods i have available to me. As my college doesnt exactely have the widest selection of healthy stuff.
Where all the other days of the week, i get up at 2pm, go bed at 4am and tend to eat dinner/breakfast when i get up at 2, and have my tea at 7.

I get the basic idea that on days that im not planning to go the Gym, i should try to keep my metabolism working, by eating something quite often. Which i could facilitate by eating fruit i suppose.
Where as Gym days, i should be eating things like Pasta the night before, or before i go the Gym, and then eat like the other days after the Gym.

Are there any tips or suggested eating habbits that you can suggest?

 

[richie.guy]

The foods that you list as acceptable for body builders, would they also apply to people wanting to lose weight?

Ive been told that the best way for me to lose weight is to have big dinners, small teas, a breakfast made up of 2 pieces of toast & to snack on fruit.
Is that right?

My main problem is that my 'routine' varys a lot.
For example, thurs/fri i get up at 7am, leave at 8am, get to College at 9am, dinner at 12, home at 5. With work at 7:30 till midnight.
So on a day like that, baring breakfast, its gonna be difficult for me to 'control' what sort of foods i have available to me. As my college doesnt exactely have the widest selection of healthy stuff.
Where all the other days of the week, i get up at 2pm, go bed at 4am and tend to eat dinner/breakfast when i get up at 2, and have my tea at 7.

I get the basic idea that on days that im not planning to go the Gym, i should try to keep my metabolism working, by eating something quite often. Which i could facilitate by eating fruit i suppose.
Where as Gym days, i should be eating things like Pasta the night before, or before i go the Gym, and then eat like the other days after the Gym.

Are there any tips or suggested eating habbits that you can suggest?

The food structure is a load of ********, big dinner and such isn't the best way IMO 6-8 small meals a day is.

No need for pre-workout day fuelling, 1 hour before workout is fine.

If you want to cut down keep protein high, and manipulate carbs to when you need them most (small amount upon waking, pro workout and post workout) and throughout the rest of the day have protein/fat meals consisting of a lean soure of protein and EFA's.

Cardio is needed pre breakfast for best results, in my opinion anyway.

 

[GordyR]

The foods that you list as acceptable for body builders, would they also apply to people wanting to lose weight?

Absolutely mate.

Ive been told that the best way for me to lose weight is to have big dinners, small teas, a breakfast made up of 2 pieces of toast & to snack on fruit. Is that right?

Big dinners are a massive "no-no" when trying to lose weight. Try to keep all your meals to a moderate size. Having a huge dinner will spike your insulin. The trick to losing fat consistently is to keep your blood sugar level from spiking dramatically. The way to do this is by eating smaller portions but more frequently; so you need to be spreading the food out throughout the day. Eating 5-6 (or even more preferably) similarly sized meals per day should help keep your blood sugar at a nice consistent level and prevent your metabolism from dropping too far while you are in a calorie deficit.

My main problem is that my 'routine' varys a lot.
For example, thurs/fri i get up at 7am, leave at 8am, get to College at 9am, dinner at 12, home at 5. With work at 7:30 till midnight.
So on a day like that, baring breakfast, its gonna be difficult for me to 'control' what sort of foods i have available to me. As my college doesnt exactely have the widest selection of healthy stuff.
Where all the other days of the week, i get up at 2pm, go bed at 4am and tend to eat dinner/breakfast when i get up at 2, and have my tea at 7.

The best thing you could do in this situation would be to prepare your meals the night before and take them to college yourself. Some people even like to do a weeks worth in one go and freeze them. It's not easy to start with and feels like a real chore but you'll soon get in to the routine and the results are well worth it.

 

[A2Z]

Having a huge dinner will spike your insulin. The trick to losing fat consistently is to keep your blood sugar level from spiking dramatically. The way to do this is by eating smaller portions but more frequently; so you need to be spreading the food out throughout the day. Eating 5-6 (or even more preferably) similarly sized meals per day should help keep your blood sugar at a nice consistent level and prevent your metabolism from dropping too far while you are in a calorie deficit.

When bulking, should we do the same thing, just the meals be more bigger and higher protein/carb fuelled?

 

[BoomAM]

Is it acceptable for me to snack through the day on fruits and other stuff thats in the list (probably just fruits and turkey sandwichs), and then the main meal of the day that i normally eat with family, have the other parts of the diet, like pasta/rice/chicken then? (keeping the portion 'medium' as so not to spike the insulin?)

So for a college day it'd be:
Get up at 7, have toast & cuppa.
nothing till dinner.
Dinner have some sort of fruit or veg (sounds daft, but baring the bags of carrots, is there nout at MacDs thats acceptable. The ppl i hang with at college allways go MacDs for dinner, and the nearest place that isnt MacD's that does food is a train station, which isnt much better).
Get home around 4, snack when hungry, have main meal at 7, go work, have some fruit at work (i can suplement what i eat at work with whatevers recommended).

Where as a day when im not at the Gym, get up whenever, have breakfast consisting of toast & fruit. Snack on fruit if hungry, have main meal, snack later on fruit.

Gym day: Breakfast of toast & fruit. Dinner of pasta w/ no sauce. Go Gym, get back, have main meal, snack on fruit.

Is that a good routine?

I take it that the earlyier i get up and start snacking the more im gonna feasibily lose?

Regarding snacks:
Ive been told that its good to snack on Fruits, and suprisingly, peanuts.
What about sandwiches? Or, more importently, cheese/crackers?

Thanks for the help bty.


side note:
Im not interested in muscle building. So for my Gym work, can i just settle on Cardio work (like Cross Trainer, Bike, Running Machine) & machines concentrating on my legs (for my bad knee)?
Or should i be doing every area equally?

 

[brocksta]

When bulking, should we do the same thing, just the meals be more bigger and higher protein/carb fuelled?

yup, ive been on a diet for just over a week now. Going really well, ive put on about 2 or 3 lbs in my first week which im very happy about. I must admit, its much harder than i thought it would be. Im pretty much always thinking about what im going to eat next. Because i live with my rents, its a bit more trickier having the food available when i need it. Obviously i just need to start doing my own shopping

 

[BoomAM]

Right, been thinking and experimenting, and ive come up with this.

Where possible:
Breakfast: Toast + Fruit.
Snacks of fruit/yogurts.
Dinner: Turkey/Chicken/Beef Sandwich + Fruit/salad.
Snacks of fruit/yogurts.
Tea: Turkey/Chicken/Beef + Pasta/Rice + Salad.
Snacks of fruit/yogurt.

College/busy days:
Breakfast: Toast + Fruit
Dinner: Turkey/Chicken/Beef Sandwich +(if possible) Fruits/Salad.
Tea: Turkey/Chicken/Beef + Pasta/Rice + Salad.
+ Snacks of fruit/yogurt where possible.

Gym days.
Breakfast: Toast + Fruit.
Snacks of fruit/yogurts.
Dinner: Pasta + Fruit/salad.
Snacks of fruit/yogurts.
Tea: Turkey/Chicken/Beef + Pasta/Rice + Salad.
Snacks of fruit/yogurt.


Is that good for a diet?
I plan no Gym work at least twice a week. Hopefully 3.

Snacks, can things like a small sandwich, noodles & whatnot also be considered a snack if its had once every now and then?

Oh, and where does cheese come into this? Is cheese + crackers a no-no?

/Hopes for quick reply as im off to supermarket tomorrow to get the stuff.

 

[alexakasloth]

Looks good to me, lots of carbs and proteins for bulking and fruit aswell (always a plus) Not sure about cheese and crackers (don't see why not though), nuts are also good for snacking (unsalted).

 

[BoomAM]

Ive been told that beef & pork are a bad idea, and all red meats in particular.
That i should stick with chicken, turkey & salmon/tuna.
Is that right?

 

[richie.guy]

Ive been told that beef & pork are a bad idea, and all red meats in particular.
That i should stick with chicken, turkey & salmon/tuna.
Is that right?

Some red meat is fine. The majority of your protein should come from lean sources of white meat and fish though.

I personally love a steak when i have enough money to get one

 

[iCraig]

Why didn't I do this sooner?

I've put on around 10Ibs of muscle and my arms look bigger apparently, (6 people so far have noticed how broader I look)

It's going really well, I'm not going to stop any time soon.

One quick question though: I've been told tuna is a great source of protein but heard off many people not to eat too many servings due to lead content?

Bull or is that true?

 

[alexakasloth]

I think there is a limit as to how much can be acceptable. I take no notice of it though, I usually have a few tuna baguettes a week. A couple of tins a week isn't going to hurt you imo.

You could get some whole fish like sardines (and other small fish like that). They're usually quite cheap.

 

[A2Z]

i have a tin of tuna every day, half of it in a mid morning sandwich, other half on my pasta/tomato sauce in afternoon before workout.

 

[BoomAM]

Thanks for the help guys.
I'll see how it goes for a few weeks or so.

 

[iCraig]

Quick question about sixpacks.

Should a true six-pack be visible all the time or only when you tense your stomach?

I mean when I'm relaxed its outlined slightly, but when I tense up the definition comes through and it obviously protrudes as a six-pack.

 

[alexakasloth]

If it's visible all the time then you'd have a lower bf%, if it's too low then that can be seen as unhealthy. I'm not sure what you mean by a true six pack?

 

[GordyR]

Quick question about sixpacks.

Should a true six-pack be visible all the time or only when you tense your stomach?

I mean when I'm relaxed its outlined slightly, but when I tense up the definition comes through and it obviously protrudes as a six-pack.

Everyone has abdominals or a "six pack". However it's visibility is determined mostly by the amount of fat covering it. That being said, you can increase the size of your abdominals in the same way that you can increase the size of any other muscle in your body which may in turn lead to your adbominals being visible at a slightly higher bodyfat percentage. If you have fat covering your abs then no matter how large they are, they will not be visible. If you want your "six pack" to be visible when the muscles are relaxed then you simply need to lower your bodyfat levels even further.

For me, when I am at around 12% bodyfat my abs are visible but only in good lighting or when I am tensing them. Once I get down to 10% they are visible all the time in good lighting but don't have deep cuts around the muscles. When i'm down to 7-8% bodyfat my abs are clearly visible no matter how poor the lighting is and when I am completely relaxed, they also have nice cuts around the muscles. That should give you a ballpark idea of how bodyfat percentage effects "six pack" visibility. Of course it varies from person to persons as it depends on your genetics. Abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym.