Marc David
Posts: 9128
Joined: 4/6/2003
From: Bay Area -CA
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Beginning-Bodybuilding e-Newsletter
What Every Beginning Should Know But Probably Doesn't
December 29, 2005
Brought to you by Marc David of
http://www.beginning-bodybuilding.com
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Beginning Bodybuilding Q & A
with Marc David
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QUESTION:
Marc,
A Little Help Please!
I am 16 and I am VERY skinny!
I don't have much fat on me so... you could almost see my bones
if I am not wearing anything baggy.
I only weight 105 lbs and I know I am tooth pick mainly because
I don't eat too much.
What should I do to get stronger? How long would it take?
Thanks,
YeahItsMe
DiscussBodybuilding.com Member
ANSWER:
YeahItsMe,
You have NO IDEA of how close that cry for help sounds like me.
When I was 16, I took a picture of myself in front of the family
Christmas tree. Somehow I convinced my sister to take the
picture and I flexed with all my might.
For those who are curious to see what I really did look like,
the picture is at:
http://www.beginning-bodybuilding.com
Scroll down. You'll see it. It's 100% un-edited. I didn't
even remove the glow in the dark plastic eagle necklace I found
somewhere.
Anyway, your question was the same thing I wondered myself. I
was 16 and tired of being skinny. I thought I did everything I
could to gain weight but I was wrong. And I'm going to give you
7 simple steps you can do today to get on the right track to
healthy weight gain and make that cry for help, a shout for joy!
If I could get into a time machine I would go back and hand
myself a small brochure called:
7 Simple Steps To Beginning Bodybuilding
This would be written by me for me. But I'm positive the next
few steps will apply to you as well and any other 16 year olds
out there who are frustrated but are in a position to waste a
lot of time if they start down the wrong path.
Please don't be confused... these simple steps are for anybody,
no matter what age, male or female, who might be looking to
start off on the right foot and not waste a lot of time.
Okay, so what can you do? Let's go step by step and figure this
out.
Pre-Requisite - Body building isn't just about getting
massive. It's not just for men. The word should actually be
two words all the time so there's no confusion. You are
building your body. That can mean anything to anybody. So the
first step is...
1. Pick A Goal
No matter what, if you don't have a short term and long term
goal in mind, you'll just wander around, like a zombie with your
arms out, going to anything in sight. And 5 years later, you'll
wonder what the heck happened!
Having a clear goal is the ONLY way to start. If you want to
gain, maintain or lose, that is a goal. Know what you want
before you start.
You'd be floored to find out just how many people are frustrated
with their results but when asked exactly what they are trying
to do, they have no idea.
2. Figure Out How Many Calories A Day You Need
In your case, you say you are skinny and tooth-pick like. But
in the next sentence you state you know you don't eat.
<Snap Rubber Band On Wrist Here For Behavior Modification>
When I was 16, I didn't eat either, I skipped many meals
(especially on weekends) and I tried all kinds of protein
powders and supplements when I was clearly failing at nutrition.
My mom would cook big meals and I'd barely finish my plate
before running off to do something. All the while wishing I was
bigger and not so skinny.
There's so many simple ways to calculate your calories. That
should be your very next step. Once you know what you want to
do, you need to know your nutritional intakes in order to obtain
that goal. It's not going to be hard at all but if you don't
know, you cannot possibly get anywhere.
In other words, if you don't know how many calories a day you
need for a certain goal, then don't expect anything different.
3. Figure Out How Much Protein You Need A Day
In a nutshell, protein is muscle. It's the building blocks of
muscle and it's also the only way you are going to build more
muscle or keep the muscle you already have today.
Even for burning fat, it's proven that getting enough protein
will actually make you leaner.
This could be part of step 2 as well but I wanted to highlight
it and make sure you understand that nutrition isn't all about
carbohydrates and healthy fats. You need protein. Every single
day.
Again, there's very simple formulas for this that do not require
a degree from MIT to perform. And once you know how much
protein you need every day, it's really easy in Step 4 to find
out if you are getting what you need.
4. You Must Track What You Eat
That's right! Needless to say... not a lot of people do this.
They just bulk so they eat anything in sight. Or they want to
burn fat so they just quit eating. If you don't track what you
are eating, you are just guessing.
And guessing is no way to meet a goal. Once you know how much
you need to eat, you can easily track that and meet your daily
goals. Once you get into a routine (certain foods and
portions) you'll have a very good idea of what you eating.
Until then you simply do not know. You could be over eating and
gaining too much weight or under eating and putting your body
into a metabolic slow down where the fat comes off a lot more
slowly if at all.
Tracking what you eat is a must. At this point, in only 4
steps, you've just outlined the foundation for nutrition!
5. Choosing An Exercise Routine
Here's a clue... it involves every major muscle group. A good
basic workout should include:
• Legs (squats, lunges, leg extensions, leg curls, leg
press)
• Shoulders (military press, dumbbell raises, side
laterals)
• Chest (bench press, flyes, dips)
• Back (pull-ups, rows, deadlifts, lat pull-downs)
• Arms (ez-bar curls, barbell curls, dumbbell curls)
• Abs (hanging leg raises, incline crunches)
• Cardio (for the heart)
I could go on and on with this question and post 500 routines
and reps and sets and you’d still be confused. So let me ease
the confusion by saying this.
THERE IS NO GOLDEN ROUTINE THAT WILL WORK FOR EVERYONE!
I've tried several routines. Max-OT, Tom Venuto's supersetting,
Optimum Anabolics and I'll tell you something. I've gotten
gains out of all of them and they all have various
philosophies. For less then $100, I have enough programs to try
for a year.
Here's proof.
Do you see the same people in your gym, doing the same things,
and a year later they look the same? It's really quite simple.
If you keep doing what you've always done, you will keep getting
what you've always gotten.
There's many variations on exercises and routines you can do.
And you'll find out a ton of them while browsing around on
forums and reading fitness sites. And while you might be
tempted to stick with just one. Don't. Try it, evaluate it,
and try another one. After about 6 months, you'll know your
body very well and what it responds to. You will have tried
many exercises and you'll know if you like something and if
something else just doesn't work out.
6. Deciding On Supplementation
While 97% of your progress will come from nutrition and training
there are still a few basics to consider. There's also a point
when you might want to go beyond the basics if you want the
optimal amount of gains.
But what are the basics of supplementation?
Daily multi-vitamin
Omega 3 and 6 EFA complex (fish oil, flax seed)
Whey protein (specifically for after workouts)
Just that small amount of supplementation is all you should need
to bring your nutrition levels to 100%. Those are the basics.
It's pretty simple.
As you progress down the line, you might want to consider going
beyond the basics.
7. Monitoring Your Progress
I cannot tell you how many people do not follow this rule. If
you don't take measurements, track your progress or inspect
yourself in a mirror, it's pretty difficult to impossible to
know where you've been to know where you are going.
Making small daily goes is a wonderful method of keeping the
momentum moving forward and keeping yourself motivated to reach
your goals. This is difficult when you don't keep track of what
you just did in order to beat a personal best.
It’s also the #1 reason why people get so frustrated with
nutrition and training and progress in general. They just look
at themselves at that very moment and decide immediately if the
last 4 months of effort was worth it. They don't take into
account they did better then the last workout and they don't
quite realize they lost a pant or dress size. They just make
judgments on what they perceive to be reality at that moment.
Methods of tracking your progress include:
Tracking what you eat
Tracking your workouts in a notebook or other method
Taking periodic measurements of standard body areas
using a variety of methods
Taking periodic photographs
When you measure your progress on a frequent but not daily
basis, you will soon see that your efforts are paying off. And
if there is a course adjustment necessary you can quickly
correct it before it's too late. This critical stage is often
overlooked because most people barely can figure out what to eat
let alone be bothered to track their progress.
You will start to notice people around you year after year
complaining of the same things they complained about the year
before.
Would you build a house without tracking its progress? Would
you drive your car without monitoring its performance and
getting regular tune-ups? For those of you with children, you
look at report cards and homework quizzes as a method of
tracking your child’s scholastic performance. You know where
there might be a problem and can correct it before it becomes a
major issue. Many of you track the performance of your
portfolio holdings.
So why not track the progress of your workouts?
Make sure you go to http://www.beginning-bodybuiding.com
as what you've just seen outlined here is but a small sample of
the 250 pages of information that the Beginner's Guide to
Bodybuilding and Fitness contains.
Yours for greater fitness success,
Marc David
Author of the Beginner's Guide to Fitness and Bodybuilding
http://www.beginning-bodybuilding.com
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HAVE A QUESTION?
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If you have a health, fitness or bodybuilding
question for Marc, send your email to:
mrcd@beginning-bodybuilding.com
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Need Some Answers N O W ?
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If you don't have a copy of "The Beginner's Guide" yet,
grab one today at: http://www.beginning-bodybuilding.com
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