Quote: (08-09-2011 10:52 PM)_DC_ Wrote:
I'm a decent sized guy... 6'0" and 180 lbs.
I've very confident in my look, thinking I'm the best or one of the best looking in a bar at any given night (this is much less important to some people, but I agree at lot with Assanova's posts). Anyway, I seem to have a decent amount invested in my looks.
That being said, I don't have much confidence in my body. Well, I should say I do, it's just not up to par with my facial features . I feel like my good vibes would increase 10x with 20lbs of extra mass.
Has anybody done serious lifting for the first time in their upper 20s? I've got decent strength, but I haven't lifted for a year (e.g. maybe 200 1RM on bench). I've started Rippletoe's "Starting Strength". You basically squat 3x a week, and do bench press, shoulder press, deadlifts, and chips/pullups. All heavy compound movements and full body workouts.
Maybe this is more a question for a body building forum, but I'd like to hear posters on the board and if they saw any great "beginner gains" in the first few months doing a similar program.
From all my research, with a good program (heavy compound lifts) a beginner can gain 20-25 lbs in a year (with most of that coming in the first six months). Gaining 15lbs in six months would certainly be awesome. I've also a natural increase in testosterone now that I'm lifting heavy. Just need to stop masturbation now and I should be an animal on weekends.
Any success stories with a similar program?
I used the strong lifts program, which is similar to starting strength, and saw excellent gains in the first six months. I own the third edition of starting strength and have incorporated it into my training. Of course, almost any program will work well for six months if you previously were not lifting consistently.
My beginning stats were:
Age: past 30 (this didn't change)
Height: 5 feet, 9 inches (that didn't change of course)
Weight: 149 pounds
Squat 1 rep max ("1RM"): 160 (terrible, I know; chicken legs)
Deadlift 1RM: 225 (awful)
Bench 1RM: 175 (pathetic)
Press 1RM: 95 (weak)
Barbell Row 1RM: 115 (a joke)
A little more than six months later:
Weight 172 (most of the added weight was muscle)
Squat: 335 (I was repping 295)
Deadlift: 360 (for five reps -- I've never maxed out again on deadlift)
Bench: 230
Press: 155 (perhaps my best improvement; my shoulders exploded)
Barbell Row: 175
My wife loved all the new muscle. It paid off big time in a lot of ways. I got her to cook me all kinds of fantastic stuff to keep the gains going. I am now stronger than anyone my size at my gym, and I'm in the same ballpark as guys who outweigh me by 30 pounds or more.
My best advice is this: your nutrition, eating habits, and consistency in sleeping are actually more important than your lifting, although the lifting is important.
I was eating around 3,000 calories a day when the weight got heavy. (Don't do this in the beginning of the program or you'll just get fat.) You need to eat at least 1 gram of protein (preferably animal protein) per pound of body weight per day to make maximal gains. You need to sleep at least eight hours every night to recover. You need to lift as soon as you recover. The sooner you can get back in the gym, the sooner you can move up your loads.
Follow the starting strength program. It's good. Just make sure that you are increasing the weight a small amount each time. Always be striving to increase the weight every time you lift. Go buy some Plate Mates for when you get close to your max, to keep loading in even smaller increments. The key to the lifting is to be absolutely consistent -- never miss a workout no matter what. Sometimes I had to go find a Gold's Gym late at night while traveling for work, but I always did it to make sure I hit my goals that week.
It's a great idea to keep a spreadsheet of your lifts. It's motivating and will keep you honest and consistent.
Also, make sure you get a good quality belt for when the squats and deadlifts get heavy.