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Anonymous
1) Download each of these and at least skim over their contents: http://rapidsearch.yi.org/?s=starting+strength http://rapidsearch.yi.org/?s=secret+gaining+muscle
2) When you start, FOCUS ON FORM! Don't worry that you are doing light amounts of weight, just make sure you perform your lifts steadily and don't bounce/flail/swing all over the place. You want to feel the strain of each deliberate rep -- the point is being thorough, not just rapidly churning through a bunch of shit.
3) Divide muscle groups into their own days, don't do the same exercises day after day. You gain strength during your recovery (aka off day), not when you actually lift. Depriving your body of rest will actually impede your progress.
4) Several general rules (which are also discussed in the books above):
- Free weights (i.e. dumbbells and free bar) are superior to machine exercises because they require additional strength, control, stabilization, etc and allow for a more natural range of motions. Don't jump on those Nautilus gizmos, stick to free weights.
- The "best" exercises are bench press, squats, and dead lifts. These work lots of muscles.
- Don't neglect your lower body and core. Make sure you do leg work, ab work, and shit like that, not just bench and curls.
- To gain the most muscle mass quickly, do several set of fewer reps (5 is a good number) with heavier weight, so that you are struggling by the end of each set. To focus on toning and endurance, do more sets/reps with less weight.
- Don't do 2 hour workouts with a million different exercises -- after about 3 of 4 sets of 2 or 3 exercises per muscle group, you gains diminish rapidly. Focus on getting the most out of each workout for about 30 or 45 minutes, making sure to stretch and rest for a couple minutes in between sets.
I'm taking a break from typing for a few minutes.
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