GordyR's Beginners Guide to Bodybuilding

Just finished reading through this thread, well first and last 2 pages, and some very good info here.

Just a few questions to you all, as part of our off season training (Uni Rugby team) we have been recommended to start on a Creatine based shake, namely Phosphagen HP, I have been using this now for a few weeks and have already noticed gains in mass, energy levels etc. I was wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences?

I should probably add at this point we have been given a specific routine to follow, will post if wanted, of essentially a 4 week period of Hypertrophy and Neuromuscular adaptation followed by a 6 or 8 week course of strength building.

Which I have been led to believe by a few sources is essential when starting to work out, each follows a similar weights pattern, but during cycle 1 the aim is to fail on around the 12th rep, and cycle 2, the strength building failure happening around 4th with no more than 6 reps. Has anyone else followed similar and had good results?

Also, not much more i promise, i recommend if your struggling to find good easy meals with high protein etc. you check out myprotein.co.uk 's meal replacement sachets, they work out at around £1 a go and provide everything you need and very easy for a post work out 'meal' which will provide all the protein etc needed.

All i need to do now is stick to the plan and hopefully soon i will be able to write back with a positive outcome! I just got to learn to stop eating awful foods first unfortunately.
 
Get creapure and waxy maize starch, that HP stuff is far too expensive. The routine sounds a little like HST, i'd just go to the strength phase but it depends on your weight and how technically good you are at rugby ;).

Food in a can's ok, but i prefer a big bloody steak ;).
 
dadofsam said:
Just finished reading through this thread, well first and last 2 pages, and some very good info here.

Just a few questions to you all, as part of our off season training (Uni Rugby team) we have been recommended to start on a Creatine based shake, namely Phosphagen HP, I have been using this now for a few weeks and have already noticed gains in mass, energy levels etc. I was wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences?
Click to expand...
As said above Phosphagen HP is a bit of a rip-off. You can make your own identical mixture of this formula if you wish ;)

Goto www.myprotein.co.uk and click on the pricematcher.
Type in www.bulkpowders.co.uk in the pricematcher.

Select these two items:

5kg Dextrose [tubbed] = £9.99
500g Creapure [tubbed] = £8.95
100g Electrolyte Powder = £3.49 - you only need half of this but 100g is minimum order.
100g Taurine = £2.25

Those last 2 aren't on the pricematcher so I've just linked straight to them. Total price is £24.68 and with over 5.5kg you'll have enough to make more than 3 tubs of Phosphagen HP ;)

Also with the 50g of Electrolyte powder left over you'll be able to add it to a workout drink. Very good for helping to keep you hydrated.

Alternatively you could use Waxy Maize Starch on the pricematcher instead of dextrose which would be a better choice, especially for your teeth. Though it's not sweet at all so the drink will definately need flavouring.
 
The four I originally listed are just to make an exact copy of Phosphagen HP. Per 43g serv it yields:

34g Sugars (from dexrose)
5g Creatine
1g Taurine
500mg Salts

It's a decent combo for the money if bought in bulk I suppose... better than the £40 RRP anyway :)

BCAA's are a high end supplement to use in significant dosages, like 20g per serve as they aren't the cheapest but they're arguably the best..? Personally I haven't been using any performance supplements for the past couple of months apart from EAA's, WMS and Rhodoila Rosea.

I think the EAA's are more complete than just BCAA's alone, they're 50% BCAA's plus they also contain all the other essential amino's. I've been taking 15g-20g pre and post workout... awesome but they aren't cheap!
 
Hi all,

Just thought id drop a post in. Ive started training now (on my third week). Im 5"5 and 83kg so pretty fat. Will post some pics up later.

Want some thoughts on my routine. I tend to do it at lunch, so get about 30 - 40 minutes of weights. I also do cardio after work 3 - 5 times a week.

Monday: Chest

Bench press
Flys
Incline Press
Pec Dec
Dips (with legs out)

Tuesday: Shoulders/back

Shoulder press
Lat pull downs
Lat raisers (drop set)
Shrugs
Bent over lat raisers

Wednesday - Abs

Thursday - Legs

Squats
Leg press
Leg extensions supersetted with hamstring curls
Weighted lunges
Calf raises

Friday - Arms

Dips
Rope pull downs
Narrow grip pull downs
Bar curls
Rows
 
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Hi,

Thanks for the advice, were semi-sponsored by EAS so get it reduced but still nothing comparable to that sort of price, will definitely be going that route next time I run out.
I heard, and this is more sports specific, that i shouldn't really be taking creatine during the season so is there any good alternatives i could look at or is it just a case of taking protein then in a Hurricane XS type formula?

Oh, 1 more question, where is a good place to buy a set of weights for home, I've been looking at gold gyms direct and they seem the best so far, is there any other options? Also is an EZ bar really needed or can i just use a straight bar for everything?
 
A[L]C;11772248 said:
Hi all,

Just thought id drop a post in. Ive started training now (on my third week). Im 5"5 and 83kg so pretty fat. Will post some pics up later.

Want some thoughts on my routine. I tend to do it at lunch, so get about 30 - 40 minutes of weights. I also do cardio after work 3 - 5 times a week.

Monday: Chest

Bench press
Flys - move to after the incline press and dips
Incline Press
Pec Dec - Drop this!
Dips (with legs out)

Tuesday: Shoulders/back

Shoulder press
Lat pull downs
Lat raisers (drop set)
Shrugs
Bent over lat raisers
nothing for lower back? extensions or DLs?

Wednesday - Abs - do you spend 30 mins on just abs?

Thursday - Legs

Squats
Leg press - imo do this or squats in a session, no need to do both and extensions
Leg extensions supersetted with hamstring curls
Weighted lunges
Calf raises

Friday - Arms

Dips
Rope pull downs
Narrow grip pull downs
Bar curls
Rows - ? what type of rows?
Click to expand...

Some comments in red.
What do you use for presses (chest and shoulder) and squats?
You could do abs and arms in 1 session, giving you some more time at lunch for other things.
 
Morba said:
Some comments in red.
What do you use for presses (chest and shoulder) and squats?
You could do abs and arms in 1 session, giving you some more time at lunch for other things.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments. Will move the flys and remove the pec dec.

What would you recommend for lower back?

Wednesday tends to be abs/cardio. The last few weeks Ive missed a day due to bank holidays etc, so wednesdays has been for tuesdays work (mondays work on tuesday) if that makes any sense!

The rows I have been doing are on the seated row machine.

Chest presses - bar
Shoulder - dumbells
Squats - bar on smiths machine

ta
 
Morba said:
Seated row is for back, not for biceps (though it will work them a bit). Move seated row to back day.

Lower back - back extensions or deadlifts, given you are doing specific ab work I would say do deadlifts.
Click to expand...
Oh right ok, the machine shows the muscle group as biceps too.

Thanks for the tips morba :)
 
Heres the weights I've been doing. Seem so puny compared to everyone else here!

Sets I have been doing are 3x10

Monday: Chest

Bench press - 40kg
Incline Press - 15kg (was doing this after flys and was struggling)
Flys - move to after the incline press and dips - 8 - 10kg

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: Shoulders/Back

Shoulder press - 10kg dumbells
Lat pull downs - 40kg
Lat raisers (drop set) - 5/4/3
Shrugs - 30kg bar
Deadlifts (havent done any yet)

Thursday - Rest

Friday - Arms / Legs

Rope pull downs - erm.. 25kg ish?
Narrow grip pull downs - erm.. 25kg ish?
Bar curls - 10kg plus the ez bar (not sure what that weighs)

Squats - 40kg
Leg extensions supersetted with hamstring curls - 25kg - 30kg
Weighted lunges - 8kg
Calf raises - 50kg
 
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[EDIT] Im confused is the above a quote and then a post? Who was the op?[/edit]


M8....^^^^ how do you ever expect to lift much when your doing that much volume per week. You'll never get anywhere doing so much at your level of skill. Cut the days AND the exercise amounts down. Stop doing so much arms, build a physique FIRST then get your arms up to scratch.
 
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Ultra_Extreme said:
[EDIT] Im confused is the above a quote and then a post? Who was the op?[/edit]


M8....^^^^ how do you ever expect to lift much when your doing that much volume per week. You'll never get anywhere doing so much at your level of skill. Cut the days AND the exercise amounts down. Stop doing so much arms, build a physique FIRST then get your arms up to scratch.
Click to expand...

The op was me... i was quoting my routine with weights. In reality I have missed the dips due to lack of time.

I will post pics later so you can see my physique. :)
 
A[L]C;11772647 said:
The op was me... i was quoting my routine with weights. In reality I have missed the dips due to lack of time.

I will post pics later so you can see my physique. :)
Click to expand...

Put pics in the pics thread m8. If you want my advice, drop to a 3 day split. Shoulders and back/ Chest and arms/Legs

If you really must keep all those days then lower the volume, your just working each muscle too often. Your practically never out of the gym! I'm yet to meet a guy who got big going to the gym a lot, guys who succeed at this understand that the rest and nutrition is what gives you a body, think about it, i work out at half the amount you do, i lift more than double what you do in most disciplines and ill bet ive got more mass (kinda obviously).

I'm not some genetic freak i just train properly. You listen around on here to the really well put together guys and you'll find that most of them keep the training simple, old school and productive. Most would never train more than 4 days a week and even then they would temper the volume*, Amongst bodybuilders people who overtrain and ignore advice about doing less are just wannabe's they will always be underdeveloped and weaker than they could be. Most just give up because they never improve after the first few months.


*Volume is a term used in bodybuilding for total work done. It is the opposite (roughly speaking) of 'intensity' Bodybuilders have to balance their volume and their intensity to reach their goals. Your workout is high-volume because you do a lot of total reps per exercise and a fair few exercises to boot (3x10=30x4=120 total reps per session). To reach that volume you train at a lower intensity, that is, using a lower weight. As you increase the intensity (weight) your volume decreases. However all this assumes you are training to failure. What is important for you to know as a newbie (going purely by lift numbers) is that your volume and intensity levels should be balanced to help you see the best overall gains. As you advance you will learn to switch up and down between high intensitsy sessions (known often as HIT sessions) and high volume sessions. But that kind of training comes later. Right now you should be focusing on gaining mass and strength in equal measure. Whilst everyone is different, the basic formula for this is 7 rep sets and no more than 42 reps per muscle per week. thats 6 sets of 7 per muscle per week MAX id reccommend more like 4.

The reason for this is you need the muscle to grow and repair and you need your nervous system to develop. If you train too often the muscle will be in a constantly damaged state and will not improve. Your nervous system will improve and your lifts will go up but eventually it will fatigue and you will run out of muscle to use as you have not allowed more to grow.

If i took 2 newbies of same body type on the same diet and made one do an upper/lower body split twice per week. Thats right 2 sessions a week under half what you do. And got another to follow your program. I GUARANTEE the former would be both bigger and stronger at the end. You wont find many, if any, knowledgable folk who would disagree with that imo.
 
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