Oscar
Iron
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2021
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I've been going to the gym for a few years so here's my best advice:
I. Diet
II. Training
III. Sleep
IV. Training aesthetic body parts
V. Supplementation/roids
VI. The frame theory
VII. Some personal advice
Thanks for reading this thread I hope you learned something from this. It's my first thread I'm posting so it might not be that good but I hope you it helped you in someway.
I. Diet
The most important thing when you go to the gym is your diet. You could have the best training in the world and the best sleep in the world but if your diet isn't on point you won't make many gains.
The most important thing about your diet is protein, you want to get about 1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight, 20-30% calories in fats (healthy ones) and the rest in carbs. So for example if you are a 170lb man you would have 170 grams of protein 80 grams of fat and 250 grams carbs. Also make you sure you are getting vegetables and fruits in if you can but that is the most important for pure muscle growth.
There is also a huge misconception in the fitness community, "the food you don't eat doesn't matter unless you are getting the calories". This is not true at all, if you eat whole food and eat clean it will be way better for your health and also muscle growth. Eating healthier helps you stay leaner while still gaining the same amount of muscle mass.
Calculate your maintenance here: https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
For skinny people: If you are skinny I would recommend going on a lean bulk, this ensures you gain a lot of muscle while still maintaining abs, good jawline etc. You want to be eating 200-500 calories above your maintenance. I recommend watching Joe Fazer if you are skinny as he is a very honest and high iq YouTuber who had a natural skinny to muscular transformation. https://www.youtube.com/@JoeFazer/videos
For fat people: This is worst place to be I'm sorry. If you are reading this you probably aren't actually fat, by fat I mean like really fat. If you are a bit chubby this does not apply to you. If you are actually fat, you must be on a caloric deficit. Depending on how fat you are you might need to either do a slow cut or a faster cut. You could try be around 500 calories under your maintenance. But make sure you don't starve yourself because when you start eating again you will gain all the fat back making it pointless.
Skinny fat people: I'd recommend a body recomposition. A Body recomposition is the process of losing body fat while gaining muscle. What makes this different to weight loss is that, even though you will look and feel smaller, often your scale weight will stay the same or even go up, as the scales can't differentiate between a kilo of muscle and a kilo of fat.
The most important thing about your diet is protein, you want to get about 1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight, 20-30% calories in fats (healthy ones) and the rest in carbs. So for example if you are a 170lb man you would have 170 grams of protein 80 grams of fat and 250 grams carbs. Also make you sure you are getting vegetables and fruits in if you can but that is the most important for pure muscle growth.
There is also a huge misconception in the fitness community, "the food you don't eat doesn't matter unless you are getting the calories". This is not true at all, if you eat whole food and eat clean it will be way better for your health and also muscle growth. Eating healthier helps you stay leaner while still gaining the same amount of muscle mass.
Calculate your maintenance here: https://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
For skinny people: If you are skinny I would recommend going on a lean bulk, this ensures you gain a lot of muscle while still maintaining abs, good jawline etc. You want to be eating 200-500 calories above your maintenance. I recommend watching Joe Fazer if you are skinny as he is a very honest and high iq YouTuber who had a natural skinny to muscular transformation. https://www.youtube.com/@JoeFazer/videos
For fat people: This is worst place to be I'm sorry. If you are reading this you probably aren't actually fat, by fat I mean like really fat. If you are a bit chubby this does not apply to you. If you are actually fat, you must be on a caloric deficit. Depending on how fat you are you might need to either do a slow cut or a faster cut. You could try be around 500 calories under your maintenance. But make sure you don't starve yourself because when you start eating again you will gain all the fat back making it pointless.
Skinny fat people: I'd recommend a body recomposition. A Body recomposition is the process of losing body fat while gaining muscle. What makes this different to weight loss is that, even though you will look and feel smaller, often your scale weight will stay the same or even go up, as the scales can't differentiate between a kilo of muscle and a kilo of fat.
II. Training
Your training must be good obviously. You can still make gains if your training isn't amazing but your diet and sleep are good but since you are at the gym you might as well make the most of it.
The first thing you must do is pick a split, this doesn't matter as much. I'd recommend picking one you can stick to and you find the most fun as you can get muscle with any of them
-Push Pull Legs: This split is a 6 day a week split. Push Pull Legs rest Push Pull Legs. Push day focuses on the pushing muscles (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders) Pull day focuses on the pulling muscles (Back and Biceps) and legs focuses on obviously legs. This split is very fun and very optimal for gains.
-Upper Lower: This is the split I'm currently doing, it's a very good split if you want to only go 4 times a week while still maximizing gains. It goes upper lower rest upper lower rest rest. The first upper targets the full upper body often prioritizing either the chest or back. The second upper prioritizes either chest or back too depending on what was prioritized on the first one. For example the first upper might be chest focused and the second one could be back focused. This goes the same for legs, one will focus more on hamstrings and one more on quads.
-Bro split: This one I don't personally like but many chads in the gym follow it. You train one muscle group a day, it isn't the most optimal but it works. Chest back shoulders arms legs rest rest could be a way to do it. I don't recommend if you are natural lifter.
-Full body split: This split is for people who can only train 3 times a week, you train your whole body every time 3 times a week. I'm not too knowledgable on this training split but I know it's rlly good if you can only go 3 times a week but if you can fit in 1 more day I'd go for upper lower.
I won't give any specific training routine, you could probably get information online. But reply to this asking for specific training routines if you want the ones I used.
The second thing I want to talk about in your training which is probably the most important thing. Progressive overload. If you are just lifting random weights each time you aren't making progress. This sounds very strange but I'd recommend tracking every single lift you do then adding one or a few more reps each week to that exercise, then making the weight higher once you can do many reps (10-12) and repeating. This is so important and not talked about as much as it should be. If you don't want to track every lift you could just track the big ones (bench, squat, deadlift) or train every exercise to failure each time.
The first thing you must do is pick a split, this doesn't matter as much. I'd recommend picking one you can stick to and you find the most fun as you can get muscle with any of them
-Push Pull Legs: This split is a 6 day a week split. Push Pull Legs rest Push Pull Legs. Push day focuses on the pushing muscles (Chest, Triceps, Shoulders) Pull day focuses on the pulling muscles (Back and Biceps) and legs focuses on obviously legs. This split is very fun and very optimal for gains.
-Upper Lower: This is the split I'm currently doing, it's a very good split if you want to only go 4 times a week while still maximizing gains. It goes upper lower rest upper lower rest rest. The first upper targets the full upper body often prioritizing either the chest or back. The second upper prioritizes either chest or back too depending on what was prioritized on the first one. For example the first upper might be chest focused and the second one could be back focused. This goes the same for legs, one will focus more on hamstrings and one more on quads.
-Bro split: This one I don't personally like but many chads in the gym follow it. You train one muscle group a day, it isn't the most optimal but it works. Chest back shoulders arms legs rest rest could be a way to do it. I don't recommend if you are natural lifter.
-Full body split: This split is for people who can only train 3 times a week, you train your whole body every time 3 times a week. I'm not too knowledgable on this training split but I know it's rlly good if you can only go 3 times a week but if you can fit in 1 more day I'd go for upper lower.
I won't give any specific training routine, you could probably get information online. But reply to this asking for specific training routines if you want the ones I used.
The second thing I want to talk about in your training which is probably the most important thing. Progressive overload. If you are just lifting random weights each time you aren't making progress. This sounds very strange but I'd recommend tracking every single lift you do then adding one or a few more reps each week to that exercise, then making the weight higher once you can do many reps (10-12) and repeating. This is so important and not talked about as much as it should be. If you don't want to track every lift you could just track the big ones (bench, squat, deadlift) or train every exercise to failure each time.
III. Sleep
If you aren't sleeping wtf are you doing. Sleep is when the muscle is being built, the less you sleep the less gains you will get. Here are some tips to sleep better
-Don't use your phone before bed
-Don't do sports before bed
-Have a shower 2 hours before bed
-Read a book before sleeping
-Clear your mind before sleeping (Meditation, journaling etc.)
-Don't eat close to bed time
-Have a set bed time and waking up time
I'm sure many other threads give more advice
-Don't use your phone before bed
-Don't do sports before bed
-Have a shower 2 hours before bed
-Read a book before sleeping
-Clear your mind before sleeping (Meditation, journaling etc.)
-Don't eat close to bed time
-Have a set bed time and waking up time
I'm sure many other threads give more advice
IV. Training aesthetic body parts
You have to prioritize training the aesthetic body parts. Those parts are your: side delts, lats, chest and abs. These in my opinion are what makes a physique the most aesthetic.
In this photo you can see how drastic of a change his lats and side delts made to his physique.
David Laid is a very common example of peak male aesthetics in terms of fitness. You can see how his lats and side delts are extremely well developed.
In this photo you can see how drastic of a change his lats and side delts made to his physique.
David Laid is a very common example of peak male aesthetics in terms of fitness. You can see how his lats and side delts are extremely well developed.
V. Supplementation/roids
I know on this forum many people will disagree with me and you can use roids if you want but my personal recommendation is to stick to being natural. If you don't want to be a bodybuilder I don't think it's necessary especially if you just started going to the gym. I think a very good physique is achievable naturally.
However I would recommend taking supplements, here are some you should consider taking.
Protein Powder: Protein is essential for muscle repair and growth. Whey protein is popular as it is quickly absorbed by the body after a workout.
Creatine: Creatine is known to improve strength and power during workouts by increasing ATP production in the body. It's particularly beneficial for high-intensity training.
BCAAs (Branched-Chain Amino Acids): BCAAs, including leucine, isoleucine, and valine, are crucial for muscle protein synthesis and reducing muscle fatigue. They can be particularly useful if you're training fasted or on a calorie deficit.
Fish Oil: Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil are anti-inflammatory and support overall heart health. They can aid in reducing muscle soreness and promoting joint health.
Multivitamin: A good multivitamin can help fill in any nutritional gaps in your diet, ensuring you get all the vitamins and minerals necessary for optimal health and performance. Make sure it has vitamin D.
However I would recommend taking supplements, here are some you should consider taking.
Protein Powder: Protein is essential for muscle repair and growth. Whey protein is popular as it is quickly absorbed by the body after a workout.
Creatine: Creatine is known to improve strength and power during workouts by increasing ATP production in the body. It's particularly beneficial for high-intensity training.
BCAAs (Branched-Chain Amino Acids): BCAAs, including leucine, isoleucine, and valine, are crucial for muscle protein synthesis and reducing muscle fatigue. They can be particularly useful if you're training fasted or on a calorie deficit.
Fish Oil: Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil are anti-inflammatory and support overall heart health. They can aid in reducing muscle soreness and promoting joint health.
Multivitamin: A good multivitamin can help fill in any nutritional gaps in your diet, ensuring you get all the vitamins and minerals necessary for optimal health and performance. Make sure it has vitamin D.
VI. The frame theory
A lot of people say for example if you have narrow clavicles it is over but I think even with narrow clavicles it's worth going to the gym. It's better to be jacked with narrow clavicles than having a shit physique with narrow clavicles. It is a disadvantage but it's still worth going to the gym even with them as jacked with narrow clavicles>bad physique with narrow clavicles, so don't be discouraged. A way to maybe get a better frame is by doing reeves deadlift but I'm not sure about the efficiency of them or if they work very well but it's worth a try. Here's a guide for that: Video
VII. Some personal advice
-Stick to the split you picked for a good while, don't keep swapping otherwise progressive overload will be impossible.
-Never crash diet no matter what, you will get all the fat back
-You will feel better after a gym workout, even if you are unmotivated once you are there you will feel less tired
-Always do warm up sets
-Do 15 minutes of cardio after a workout
-Train your neck and forearms
-Don't skip legs
-Find gym music you find motivating and enjoyable and listen to it
-Never crash diet no matter what, you will get all the fat back
-You will feel better after a gym workout, even if you are unmotivated once you are there you will feel less tired
-Always do warm up sets
-Do 15 minutes of cardio after a workout
-Train your neck and forearms
-Don't skip legs
-Find gym music you find motivating and enjoyable and listen to it
Thanks for reading this thread I hope you learned something from this. It's my first thread I'm posting so it might not be that good but I hope you it helped you in someway.
