I hate you from now on.
Neither, but the song is awful.
Neither, but the song is awful.
How could I hate you for bashing on soccer?
From the two second sample I got, I have conflicting results.
Have your weights moved up? That sounds just fine.Question for the gym rats...
So I've been going to the gym for roughly a month now, and I've gained 6 pounds despite not really going crazy in 'bulking' mode. Is that newbie gains? I feel like that's a lot in only a month.
Question for the gym rats...
So I've been going to the gym for roughly a month now, and I've gained 6 pounds despite not really going crazy in 'bulking' mode. Is that newbie gains? I feel like that's a lot in only a month.
The first year or so is very fun, fast progress, then it will get tougher...
It's not easy to tell how much of your gain being actual "real" muscle weight but I shouldn't worry about this too much but you will gain more the first year, yes. What I recommend is taking pictures of you now (various positions) and measuring your arms, chest, legs and whatever. Then it will be fun for you following up in a year or so (or perhaps even every month). It's much easier to tell how much you gain in strength, an extremely good way and motivating measuring your progress. You have to setup goals and adjusting your training and food/diet depending on what you want to achieve.
If going for maximum strength, then you need to practice hard and eat a lot, not forgetting starting your diet in good time before the summer, getting ready for the beach (if that's important for you). ;-) Also, don't forget about your legs, it may be a pain in the ass (very tough training, it hurts everywhere, it's rather common with people being too weak mentally for training legs) but don't forget about them because you will regret it deeply later.
or if you want to look athletic/thin/hard all the time, well, then you obviously need to be some kind of diet all the time keeping your body fat procentage down. ;-) You have to be aware of that this will make you progress a bit slower though (food is the fuel for building muscles). In the same way, adding muscle volume or strength may not be the goal for all of us, people having tons of different goals.
Summarize:
Train a lot (regularly, extremly important doing it regularly, recommend 3-5 times/week), training one day second day off etc, etc is good the first year depending on how tough you exercise. If not training really tough then you can increase number of training days. First year I don't recommend splitting your body (muscle groups) too much (I recommend either full body workout or doing upper body and lower body splits). I have to emphasize: regular training in extremely important, this together with the food part is most probably the two most common reasons why people failing making progress.
Eat a lot of food (if going for maximum strength and fastest progress possible). Of course you can't eat how much you want but you understand my point, food is the fuel for building muscles. Many thin people failing because they don't eat enough. About 2 grams of protein / kg is a good average but peoples views varies a lot in this area.
When you want to have a more athletic fit look then go for a diet a couple of months (less carbs, more protein) while continuing working out hard and including more endurance excercies in your training. The time it takes for you to achieve the fit/hard look you want to achieve may vary, not written in stone, dieting while working out is a tough one. ;-)
Finally, never ever eat any kind of pills, you know what I am talking about, this is for born loosers only, do not gamble with your future/health/body. The people doing this kind of stuff (doping, steorids etc) they strongly believe they know what they are doing and in control but they have no clue and they are never in control.
Thanks for the lengthy response dude. More so going for a more athletic type fit versus Dwayne Johnson 2.0, right now I'm at a more slow burn approach, I'll most likely start going working out a lot more in the summer when I have a break from college. At first I thought 6 pounds was a lot but I'd assume that it was some combo of muscle and fat, and potentially inflammation? But I'm no doctor.
Difficult to say, you will get good gains the first year for sure. Inflammation (?) hopefully not, you need to listen to your body and stay away from the gym until feeling good again or visit a doctor. You break down your body when exercising and building the body when resting, this it how it works. Look at the training phase/process as a staircase/stairs. The body is increadibly smart, overcompensating when resting because of your hard training.
About the body type etc, it depends on how serious you will get with your new hobby I guess. ;-) You control the body type you want to achieve with nutrition/diet/food and your training, also endurance exercises burns tons of calories if you feel you want to do that. People having very, very difficult goals with their gym traning, that's for sure.
If you want to feel better and more alert in general (less tired) then endurance training is an amazing type of training (long fast walks, distance running, biking, rowing machines etc) but it may not be the most effecient way building muscle mass. I have tried both during the years and sometimes also combining gym with endurance training.
In general you don't have to be scared of building too much muscles, it is tons of really hard work and lots of time because this could happen. This makes me laugh sometimes with beginners or women being afraid of building too much muscles. I assure you, this is nothing you need to be scared of, at all, you will notice in time how the gym changes your body. One thing is for sure, training and food is what will be building your muscles. Also muscle definition and muscle volume is two completely different things.
A drug addict on the street may have good muscle definition and look fit becuase he has almost no body fat left but this doesn't mean he is in shape.
Oh yeah, I know how hard it is to actually get absolutely ripped, I'm just saying that isn't really my goal. Or at least not now, I've heard stories of people just wanting to get an average build and then before you know it they have a 9 pack.
As of right now I just want to get a decent build and get in a better overall shape, endurance wise. Plus my family has a history of back problems so I'd like to get ahead of that before I'm hobbling around like my old man + uncle were by the time they were in their mid 30s.
It is a confusing thing but muscle definition is mostly a question of tough diets. You could actually get good muscle defintion "only" by following strict diets and not visiting the gym much. ;-) Dudes looking ripped in general having a really low body fat procentage but not all of them are good athletes or strong (that's for sure). ;-) Looking ripped AND having muscle volume is another thing though.... usually years of tough training until achieving that. ;-) Of course your background and genes matters too. If doing sports most of your life when young you have a huge advantage even if you aren't fit now, obviously.
Gym is amazing for back problems, absolutely fantastic but of course it may be challenge at first building your back strength without injuring yourself. Paying some hours for a personal trainer or bringing an experienced person/friend you really trust in this area may be a good thing. It is super important doing the exercises correct.
Good luck