I see a lot of new people on the forum. Welcome to the wild and wacky world of pumping iron.
It can be very confusing for someone who is new to the sport. There's so much information and misinformation out there. Train a muscle once a week, twice a week or three times? Should you do high reps or low reps? Train to failure or dont? What about diet, how much and how often should you be eating?
It's enough to drive you crazy.
This post isn't to tell you the perfect workout routine and diet. Truth is, there isn't one. I'm going to tell you how YOU can determine if what you are doing is working or not.
It's exciting, isnt it? You can cut the tension with a knife. You're going to be disappointed though because the answer is very simple.
If you are gaining bodyweight and getting stronger on a consistent basis than your program is working. If you aren't, something is wrong and you need to investigate what the problem is. That's why a workout journal is so important. If you are serious about bodybuilding you should drag a little notebook to the gym with you and record your exercises, weights, sets and reps. That way you can look back in a few weeks or months and see your progress. Or lack thereof, whatever the case may be.
Example: You start training in January. You are 150lbs and can bench 135lbs for 10. Three months later you are now 165lbs and can bench 175 for 10.
This is good. You have gotten bigger and stronger. Now, could your progress be even better? Sure, that's possible. You should ALWAYS look for ways to improve. Ronnie Coleman is, why shouldn't you? But the fact is you are gaining! That's the important part. I see quite a few posts from people who are not getting stronger or even...perish the thought...LOSING strength. Not good, something is wrong. Could be overtraining, undereating, could be lots of things. But when you stop gaining weight/strength it's a sign that you need to take a closer look at your program, no matter what level you are at.
Dont be afraid of change. Dont get hung up on all this scientific bull**** I see all over the place. Take your bodyweight, multiply by 4.5, now divide by the number of girls you fondled in high school, add 45% of your two rep max..ok got that number? That's your magic workout weight! Blah blah blah. It doesn't have to be that complicated. There's nothing wrong with researching and divising a complex, personalized program. But dont get so bogged down with "I must do this" or "I have to do that" that you lose track of your goals. Getting bigger and stronger. Sometimes a simple routine of deadlifts, squats, bench presses, rows, a couple sets of each with max weights for 8-12 reps will produce incredible results.
I train Dogg Pound style. I see a lot of people use HST on here. I see Max-Ot quite a bit too. I also see HIT and other abbreviated routines. These are all good programs. They are very different but have a few things in common.
Heavy, compound exercises produce the best results
Progressive poundages in good form (All Hail McRoberts)
Rest more than you train. When in doubt, do less not more
Diet is key, protein is gold
Chart your progress by your logbook and how much iron you are adding to the bar. Not by the mirror or "the pump". We all love the pump but I would rather add weight to my deadlift then get a good arm pump. Why? Because I could do 50 reps with a set of pink 5lb DBs and get a sick arm pump. But I highly doubt that would stimulate any growth. I'd rather crank out 4 life or death deadlifts or squats with some serious weight because that is what is going to put the most size on my little 5'5" frame in the shortest amount of time. And thats what we want, right? So dont worry about the mirror. Keep your eye on the scale to some degree but your real enemy is the logbook. Beat that logbook every time you train and you will reach your goals.
Or grab some pink DBs and do laterals until your head caves in. Your choice.
Linear Mode
