All,
Thanks for the great feedback and questions, and for the encouragement. I really appreciate it.
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Originally Posted by Jim  1) If you're targeting "bulk", most bodybuilders try to get at least 1g of protein (mainly Whey protein) per pound of body weight. Considering a normal bag of Jerky has only 20g of protein and factoring in someone who weighs 200 to 300 pounds, get this amount of protein intake each day may be no easy task (although utilizing a protein powder shake does make it a bit easier).
I think that protein intake is one of the biggest issues that beginners ignore. One of my good friends from high school worked out all of the time, without impressive results. Only years later did you begin to take the nutritional aspect (specifically protein) seriously, and he transformed for what seemed overnight. He's extremely cut and probably ingests about 200g of protein a day. |
High protein and high caloric intakes are definitly important for bulk. I'm guessing that I'll be eating a lot more food in a few weeks than I am right now. At the moment I'm still learning the exercises and techniques properly; I'll write more on the weight gain aspect of things a little later.
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Originally Posted by Jim
2) I don't think that you're going to see "bulk" obtained from the Olympics lifts. The Olympics lifts primarily stress fast-switch muscle tissue and will be great for building althetic explosiveness and agility. To get larger muscle gain, you'll still need to factor in some traditional weight training exercises. The squat is a classic, but it's probably the most effective in terms of stressing multiple, major muscle groups.
When you watch the Olympic lifters, you'll see that a majority of their bulk is in their legs and abs (yes, underneath that seemingly beer belly are massive abs, at least at the elite heavyweight level). They do a lot of core front squats and dead lifts to give their body the fundamental support to carry such heavy weights.
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I'm working primarily on my strength for now and assuming that the extra weight will follow from gaining muscle mass. I don't have much fat on me currently, so to get stronger I'll have to put the pounds on.
Front squats are integral to the Olympic lifts, and they will be part of my workouts from the start. There's a lot of documentation suggesting that working on squats automatically triggers the rest of your body to function differently because it recognizes that you're building up its largest muscles.
I'm beginning with just two exercises actually: front squats and military presses. These should get me ready for the more complex lifting styles within a few months. Military presses are basically the jerk part of the clean and jerk, and front squats are crucial for of both Olympic movements: the snatch and the clean and jerk.
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Originally Posted by Jim Besides Traineo there are other sites as well such as Gimmeo20 and iTrainHarder that you may want to check out. |
I already had everything set up on Traineo before I saw these sites, but when I went to
iTrainHarder I realized pretty much immediately that their system would work better for bodybuilding for a few reasons:
They have a "measurements" tab,
They have a "photo tracking" section,
They have a huge database of weighted exercises including both the exercises I'm starting with,
I can easily create and name workout plans without a lot of fuss.
Traineo seems to focus more on weight loss and aerobic exercise, which wasn't what I needed, and although some of the charting software on Traineo was cool it's nothing critical for my needs.
I almost didn't check out
Gimme20 since I liked iTrainHarder so much right off the bat, but in the interest of full disclosure I decided to setup an account there too and try it out.
Gimme20 is pretty slick. It has all the web 2.goodness of Traineo, and all the exercises and scheduling features of iTrainHarder. On top of that it also has an extensive profile system not unlike a personals matchmaking site. But my favorite feature is that you can set your workout plans to a public status so anyone could add
your plan into their routine, and vice versa, you can choose from anyone else's workout plans instead of having to create your own. So if I wanted a good ab routine for example, I could just choose the most popular ab workout plan on the site and use that instead of researching the myriad of different ab exercises myself. Different routines are ranked on popularity and with reviews, which gives the whole site a nice community atmosphere.
The scheduler on Gimme20 was more than I needed though. I'm not setting my workout times in stone, or keeping track of missed dates, so I don't need more reminders in my mail. There were no measurements on the site either, so it didn't really seem geared towards bodybuilding. Since I didn't need all the extra features Gimme20 offered I decided to stick with iTrainHarder, but it was a close call. Thanks a lot for sending those links Jim.
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Originally Posted by Scott Dan, thank you so very much for your helpful information. You seem to have quite a bit of knowledge, so I've got a question for you: How is your energy level? By that I don't mean "energy" in the common sense (I know that exercise makes you more physically active in general), but more in the sense of concentration, creativity, sleep need, and other non-physical attributes. I ask because I'm more interested in the mental benefits of exercise and wondering whether it would be more beneficial to start a bodybuilding plan as opposed to an aerobic plan. |
I can't really comment on the mental benefits of bodybuilding yet as I'm just starting, but if and when I notice changes in the areas you mentioned I'll post them.