Nervous Beginner

Bigger Stronger Leaner
21

A’ight Brody, here’s the deal. You have had a few heavyweights give you great information, so here’s some from a lightweight.

Nobody in a gym has any qualification or credibility to laugh or to make fun of you. I related in another thread about thinking a young man was squatting incorrectly, and instead of speaking to the dad, or the kid, I asked the owner. The owner is a good resource, and he explained to me that the kid was squatting correctly, but different from how I squat - high bar versus low bar.

Of course, I realized I was an idiot, and frankly, that’s why I don’t ever approach others. Some dude may be doing quarter squats in the Smith for a reason. I may not agree with his reason, but, he’s got a reason.

Most dudes on a website will be way more harsh than some dude in the gym, so take it with a grain of salt.

There are tons of really smart and accomplished guys here that will give you feedback if you post a video. Check my thread - I’ve posted a few myself. And the advice is phenomenal - again, check my thread. I get phenomenal advice from @MarkKO, the Punisher (can’t figure out his screen name), @FlatsFarmer, @Benanything, and a bunch of other dudes.

And, most likely, these guys are so much smarter than the smarmy motherfucker at your gym

But, you might just find some normal dude that is jacked at your gym. If he’s lifting heavy, not on his phone all the time, timing his rests, he probably has a good idea what he is doing - just ask him for some form help. He’ll probably be flattered.

Finally, just lift bro!

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22

Honestly if you’re really new, I wouldn’t worry too much about any one specific thing being the thing, and the biggest gift you’ll give yourself is learning not to care about everyone around you and how much you’re lifting. It wouldn’t matter if you bought a home gym and worked until you could bench 135 or more, squatted 225 and deadlift 315. Experienced lifters will still be able to tell that you’re green in the gym. Just go. Lift. Lift anything. Or just choose a plan from a reputable body builder who has something you want. The Texas workout, or German volume lifting, or a 5x5 to improve a powerlifting regimine. Just pick something, and stick with it for 6 months.

As long as you go to the gym every day and do something you’ll notice a difference, and everyone who lives there will respect you for showing up. If anyone approaches you and asks if you want advice, take it, say thank you, digest it and decide how you feel about it. If they’re not an idiot, see if you can learn more from them. If they are, respectfully decline their advice. Learn gym ettiquite. Learn about diets and metabolism and why you’re eating what you’re eating. Try different things, but before you toss something, make sure you’ve tried it long enough and hard enough.

If you’re really new, just showing up is enough. Lift heavy. Lift until failure. Stick with 8-12 reps, sometimes start with 4 or 5. Listen to your body. Make sure when you do 8 reps you’re lifting a weight that will let you accomplish 8 reps, no less, and definitely not more. Relinquish the mentality that you have to complete your entire count, or do exactly 3 sets of 10. If your weight is too heavy, try to do it anyway, for as many as you can, just don’t injure yourself. Stretch. Do cardio. Listen to your body. You got this.

23

yeah I’ve never seen anyone getting picked on in gyms either. I have heard a lot of very overweight/out of shape people say they don’t want to go to gyms because people in gyms are so judgemental, but I’ve genuinely never seen anything like that.

Everyone I’ve ever heard complain about people in gyms laughing at other people or being judgemental don’t actually go to the gym, so I wonder how they would know.

And let’s not forget - unless you go to a hardcore powerlifter dungeon-type gym or some underground bodybuidling place, the vast (and I mean fucking vast) majority of gym users are very, very average. If you use a commercial gym (like 90% of gym users do) it’s just normal people looking and acting normal, with very average levels of strength and fitness.

You’re just another face in the crowd, so don’t worry what you look like.

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24

Everyone here has given great advice and the T-Nation community will always be a reliable source of candid support. Definitely don’t just go in there and “lift anything.” Go in with a plan, execute it, rinse and repeat. The details of the plan may need to be adjusted as you go, but consistency and structure will help you maximize your “novice effect.”

25

Thank you all so much for the advice, I do appreciate it and I will take it away with me and use it.

Dumbbell bench press
Lat pull down
Overhead dumbbell press
Leg press
Lying leg curl
Rope pressdown
Barbell biceps curl
Standing calf raise
Crunch

I got this off of muscle and fitness . com but can’t post the link, wasn’t allowed. It’s a 4 week programme and it looks like it slowly introduces you to everything around the gym etc. It’s the beginners programme, if anyone could take a look and give me some feedback. Would be appreciated.

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That’s the first week…

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How do they split it up?

I’m always hesitant with any beginning program that doesn’t have a squat or deadlift in it. Maybe just the powerlifter in me, but those are basic movements that shouldn’t be avoided just because someone is new. If anything those should be the first things you touch.

Overall, the positive in this program is that at least it is simple and balanced. Definitely don’t want too much variation when you’re a beginner, so simple is always good. Your body needs to learn control of movements and muscle activation before you need to worry about variation. BUT I would not do this program. How many days a week do you envision being able to hit the gym consistently? That’s usually a good gauge of what type of program/split to use

28

Week 1: Full body x3 non-consecutive days
Week 2: upper, lower, rest, upper, lower.
Week 3 push, pull, legs, push, pull, legs
Week4: tris chest calves, legs abs, rest, shoulders and calves, back biceps and abs, rest, rest

That’s Day by day if I was doing Monday- Sunday.

29

It looks like it’s giving me options to see what I prefer.

30

That sounds like a really bad split for a beginner. When you start out, you need to just hit something consistently and stick with it. You won’t really know what you prefer by just doing a split for a week. Full body 3x, Upper/lower, and Push/Pull would all be great options, but find out which you prefer by finding 3-6 week programs that implement only one of those splits. As a beginner, you will make gains with any of them. But again, that doesn’t mean just rotate them weekly and see what “feels” better.

You started this thread off by saying:

The first response to you from @Evolv told you all you really need:

Al fin

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31

I disagree with greggy completely. I think this is absolutely fine for your very first gym experience. Run this program for the month, then after that pick your favorite week and try working from that sort of template for a couple months after, see if you still like it

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32

I’ve never heard of a program like that, but I like the sound of it. It’s something I might even try myself in future

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33

You’re correct, I apologize for my ill formed intentions. Obviously I don’t mean go out and do anything willy nilly, risking injury and all that, but choosing any structured plan as a beginner will give you something, will give you muscle, strength, and knowledge about your body and what you want. Trying to break down the science of a specific plan to gain specific results in a certain muscle group like a competetive body builder who is trying to form a very specific physique would isn’t as important as just getting in and getting comfortable with the machines and the weight and learning for and what it all feels like.

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34

This kid came in here stating this “I want to concentrate on compound lifts at first but I don’t want to bench, squat or even deadlift because I feel I’ll look like a complete dick!”

Yet, you want to encourage him to do a program that doesn’t even include them? This entire thread is about him being nervous to do barbell lifts because of the people at his gym. We should be encouraging him to do a program with those. My qualm with that program is more so the lifts than the rotating split! Literally the only exercise that uses the barbell on that thing is curls.

If you’re really that keen on encouraging him to do 4 weeks of that rotating split, I would recommend doing the following exercises instead of the ones the program lists out.

Barbell bench press
Pull-ups (ok, ok, if you cannot do pull-ups, which likely may be the case…) or dumbbell rows
Overhead barbell press
Back squat
Lying leg curl
Rope pressdown
Barbell biceps curl
Hanging leg raises
Rope pulldown crunch

If it’s for four weeks, you’ll be better off replacing calf raises with an added abdominal movement.

I highly suggest you look into doing movements more like this. Even though you’re new and trying to just test the waters out, you might as well be investing that time into the tried and true ones that will take time to master. You will also learn more about yourself. Imbalances. Deficiencies. You will learn a lot more about the strengths and weaknesses of your hips, back, ankles, shoulders, knees, general coordination, etc. by doing these as opposed to a leg press. The moment you find out about any such weaknesses, you can change it up to fit your needs.

Oh, also, I ordered the exercises like that so it could be paired with the program you sent and easily translated over. But for full body days, start with the squat + leg curls; do not start with the bench.

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35

Yes, that’s what I want to encourage, because I don’t want him to feel discouraged from getting into the gym. There’s nothing wrong with the lifts listed. They are effective. Barbell bench press, deadlift, and squat are not the ONLY ways to get big or strong. I didn’t deadlift or squat for years when I started lifting. What’s MORE important than focusing on 3 exercises that are truly only NECESSARY for a competitive powerlifter to practice, is the idea of becoming comfortable going into the gym on a regular basis and moving weight around. You don’t have to throw him right into the fucking fire. If it’s not comfortable, he doesn’t have to start with that.

My guess is, you’ve never worked with clients who are absolutely new to lifting. I’m telling you man, the best way to discourage someone from ever setting foot in a gym again is to push them to do something they aren’t comfortable with in the first place, and risk the possibility of a really negative experience for them.

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36

I’ll also add that if I were setting up a program for just about anybody who doesn’t compete in strength sports, I’d leave the barbell bench press out completely. I much prefer dips as a staple for non-strength athletes. It’s an easier movement on joints, it puts your shoulders and pecs in a less compromised position. It’s just better overall. You can get brutally strong without ever bench pressing.

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37

Aight, well, I wouldn’t be so ardent about it if he hadn’t said for himself that

“I want to concentrate on compound lifts at first but I don’t want to bench, squat or even deadlift because I feel I’ll look like a complete dick!”

Makes it seem like he just needs a little encouragement to do what he actually really wants to do. If he needs to build up the confidence and strength for a few months before trying them aight.

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38

And I agree, although weighted dips can become a real shitstorm on your shoulders (my experience at least) when you start getting to 100+. As you said, (assuming not a competitive lifter) no lift is a necessity. There are many routes to get to your end goal of general strength/aesthetics.

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39

lol yea that’s not a problem most people are gonna have. certainly not anyone who’s just starting out. At that point loading the weight in general becomes problematic.

as a tangent: loading is the reason i never use dumbbells for bench pressing or shoulder pressing anymore. Kicking the weights up into position isn’t worth the risk to me anymore, so any value of incorporating those lifts is essentially negated by said risk. It’s really the only reason I stick strictly to barbells (along with strongman implements) for those lifts.

you’re also right that at some point, the end goal would be to feel comfortable with those lifts in the gym. Really, to me, the end goal is to be comfortable doing ANYTHING that furthers ones goals. I’ve just seen so many people get so discouraged after a couple sessions at the gym because they felt intimidated, didn’t fit in, whatever it is, that I hesitate to just tell people to man up, face their fears, etc. Sometimes it works. That’s exactly how I approached the gym when I started. But I know how rare my own mentality is.

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40

People have given you some awesome advice on here so far, but i am going to throw out some info about what the other 80% of training, your nutrition!

First find your base calorie intake, which i always used 15x body weight and 18x body weight and have been fine. Some people use other methods. What ever it is just remember the number.

Next find the article on T-Nation called “The Simple Diet”. This is one of the best articles I have ever found on this site. It gives you very basic and easily managable guidelines on how to eat whole foods. As a brand newbie (and people might disagree with me but) DO NOT count macros, or calories super closely, or do weird shit like worry about insulin levels and shit. From how knew you are saying you are, you are probably small, or over weight. This article is a great way to learn the very basics of what is good food that will build muscles. You can slowly add the other elements of nutrition like counting your macros and shit later on. Just eat good, and lift in what ever way you enjoy lifting.

Which, for my two cents, do what @flipcollar said: if you don’t like doing a lift, you do not HAVE to do it. This journey is all about growing stronger and fucking enjoying it man. If you simply don’t like doing deadlifts or don’t feel comfortable, like Flip said its better to get in there and do literally ANYTHING than shying away.

Welcome to the game man.

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