Hello Friend,

If this is your first visit to SoSuave, I would advise you to START HERE.

It will be the most efficient use of your time.

And you will learn everything you need to know to become a huge success with women.

Thank you for visiting and have a great day!

10 THINGS FOR ALL NEWBIES TO KNOW BEFORE POSTING

manuva

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This is to save newbies wasting their time and our time asking the same questions over and over again. I haven't been here long enough to see them all, but I've certainly witnessed a few.

If people notice any others, let me know and I'll add them, or post them under this one.

I am a qualified personal trainer by trade. It's what I do and I get paid well for it. It is important to note, however, that even qualified professionals will have differing opinions regarding optimum training methods, recovery times, supplements etc. This is due to many things; different professional experience, different qualifications, different research resources... the list goes on. It doesn't always mean one person is right and one person is wrong - different methods will often achieve the same result, with simple variables such as speed of adaptation, strength increase, fat loss... whatever it is you're after.

And remember, at the end of the day, EVERYBODY'S BODY IS DIFFERENT. Each persons body will respond in different ways to the same training schedule - some people will lose fat faster, others will gain strength and muscle faster.

That being the case, my opinions listed below are precisely that - my opinions. They are not laws. They are proven (by me and countless others) to be true and accurate to a point.

Always consult your health professional before beginning any new form of diet or exercise.

DIESEL has two excellent posts on bulking and cutting that are stuck at the top of this thread. Read them for great info on bulking or cutting. The questions I'm answering here seem to come up repeatedly despite his posts, so this can be a quick answer guide.


1) Do I have to go to the gym to put on muscle? Why can't I just do pushups at home?

Yes. If you seriously wish to start increasing your strength and muscle mass, it is almost impossible to succeed without access to the progressively heavier weights that are standard at most gyms.

The reason is that to stimulate muscle growth, we must constantly be increasing the amount of stress (weight) we subject the muscle fibre to.

Basically, this means that as you get stronger, you must start lifting a heavier weight in order to get stronger still; without increasing the weight as your strength increases, your muscles will stop adapting (growing).

This is why bodyweight exercises such as pushups will not increase muscle mass. Your muscles will adapt the first few times you do pushups, but as you cannot easily increase the weight your arms are pushing, you cannot continue to provide stimulus for you're muscles to grow.


2) How long will it take to get big

I have no idea. Why not go get a gym membership, start lifting, and find out for yourself?

As I said above, everybody is different. Genetics will affect your rate of muscle growth, as well as your dedication to the big three - adequate rest, adequate food, adequate recovery time.

Realise it's a slow process. Guy who walk around will their biceps stretching their T-shirt sleeves have been lifting for YEARS. Having said that, you will start to notice improvements in your physique almost immediately. Part of the satisfaction of bulking up is watching your body change as each week passes. Don't look for results yesterday - enjoy the journey.


3) Should I take steroids?

No.

Steroids are for fools. The long term side effects and after effects can be horrendous. An ex-girlfriend of mine was studying medicine (she's now a doctor) and came home one day having done a series of classes on steroid use. She was horrified by the side effects and made me promise on the spot I would never use them (which I'd never planned to anyway).

They're usually of limited benefit to anybody but the massive body builders anyway. Us normal people can achieve the same results through dedicated training.

And every girl I've ever asked finds the body builder physique repulsive. Muscles are great up to a certain point, but most chicks aren't attracted to guys who look like professional body builders.

4) Part of my body is very sore after my workout - what should I do?

Rest. Post-workout soreness usually effects your body 24-96 hours after you workout. It is referred to as Delayed Onset Muscle Sorenss (DOMS) and is normal. During your workout you have (hopefully) placed enormous stress on your muscles, and now they need to repair. That is the soreness you are feeling.

Massage and/or a hot bath will usually help this (but not fix it completely) because it increases blood flow to the area, accelerating healing.

Rest is an integral part of gaining muscle anyway - muscles don't grow in the gym, they grow afterwards as they repair from your visit to the gym.

If you have a sharp pain, or anything causing discomfort which you feel may be more serious than DOMS, see a specialist. Don't work out with it - if it hurts then it hurts for a reason, your body is trying to tell you something. Pay attention to it.

5) I'm not getting big, what am I doing wrong?

As I mentioned before, the three most important variables in gaining muscle mass are RECOVERY, FOOD, and SLEEP.

RECOVERY: You need to give your body adequate time to repair between workouts. Don't workout on consecutive days. I would suggest at least 4-5 days between working out the same muscle group again.

FOOD: This is where most people let themselves down. You need to eat massive amounts of food to put on muscle mass. Think about it - before you started working out you were eating enough calories to power your body through an average day.

Now that you've started working out you are burning more calories because of the extra energy required at the gym, so eat more.

On top of that, you're body needs a surplus of calories at the end of the day with which to build muscle tissue. So eat more again.

A lot of people get seriously into what time to eat, and what foods etc - there's plenty of information on this website and others. Eating is important. Do it. Eat healthy, unprocessed food, and lots of lean meat and eggs for protein.

SLEEP: Most muscle building happens in our sleep, so you need to make sure you're getting enough. 8 hours should be a bare minimum for someone serious about increasing muscle mass.

6) I do hundreds of situps, why don't I have a six-pack?

You do. Everyone does. For most people, however, their 'six-pack' is hidden by a layer of fat. It is this fat you need to get rid of in order for your six pack to be visible.

Why situps will not help you develop a six pack.

Situps will not help you get a six pack because they don't place enough stress on your Rectus Abdominus (sixpack muscle) to make it grow, and because situps do very very little to help reduce the layer of fat over your abdomen.

Reduce your body fat percentage, and your sixpack will gradually become more defined.

7) How do I reduce my body fat percentage?

Through diet and exercise. Read Diesel's guide to cutting (cutting being a term used to mean reducing body fat). He provides some excellent information for people who are looking to lose fat.


8) I've been going to the gym to lose weight but my weight stays the same. What am I doing wrong?

Probably nothing. Your bodyweight is an unreliable indicator of progress, especially if you are trying to lose fat.

Your bodyfat has probably reduced substantially, but if you have been working out regularly then you have probably increased your muscle mass, which will add to your weight.

Also, your body's hydration levels will affect your overall weight. Hopefully, when you started working out you starting drinking more water, of which your body absorbed what it needed. Water too has weight.

A far more reliable indicator of weight-loss progress is girths - the measurement of the circumference of your arms, legs, waist, chest etc. If this sounds too time consuming, simply take note of how your old clothes are fitting you - are they becoming looser?

I have a client who has lost 10 inches off her waistline (along with fantastic losses on other body parts) yet her weight has only dropped 5kg (11lbs). What is a more reliable indicator of her progress - the fact that her old jeans keep falling down, or that she only lost a few kg's?

9) What specific exercises can I do to reduce fat from my waist?

None. Spot reduction is impossible except through surgery. When you start on a weight loss program, you body will start to burn its fat stores from wherever it sees fit. Some people's bodies will burn fat from their arms first. Some from their butt. Generally speaking, your body will dispose of fat evenly throughout the body, and there is nothing you can do to affect this.

Fat is like water in a bath - if you wish to remove a cup of water from the bath you cannot choose to take it from a specific spot, you can only reduce the overall quantity in the bath.

10) I have this wheezing sound in my chest, and am coughing up a flourescant yellow fluid which caused my penis to fall off and my ears to turn blue. What should I do?

See a f**kin doctor!!! This is the internet, home to perverts, wankers, fraudsters, scammers, pedophiles, hackers and MISINFORMATION!!!

We are a bunch of guys swapping advice over the internet. You don't know us, or our credentials. We don't know you, nor can we see or feel whatever sick, twisted, bizarre problem you have. Don't ask our advice - see a qualified doctor!
 

semag

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good post bro, very broad general info there. I'd suggest something for the flood of guys we've had lately who think they don't need to train legs ;)
 

MindOverMatter

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10) I have this wheezing sound in my chest, and am coughing up a flourescant yellow fluid which caused my penis to fall off and my ears to turn blue. What should I do?

See a f**kin doctor!!! This is the internet, home to perverts, wankers, fraudsters, scammers, pedophiles, hackers and MISINFORMATION!!!
LOL.
 

Warboss Alex

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11) Bulking is NOT an excuse to become a fat slob for six months in the hope you're growing muscle, neither does cutting have to be a one-way street to losing your freshly gained muscle.
 

Nexxus

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do we have to eat 6 meals a day if we just wanna look like maybe a model but we sure as hell don't wanna look like those huge muscly bodybuilders?

I only eat 3 meals a day, i tried 6 but I gained too much fat
 

Warboss Alex

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Originally posted by Nexxus
do we have to eat 6 meals a day if we just wanna look like maybe a model but we sure as hell don't wanna look like those huge muscly bodybuilders?

I only eat 3 meals a day, i tried 6 but I gained too much fat
This just fuggin' pisses me off.

TO LOOK LIKE A HUGE MUSCLEY BODYBUILDER YOU HAVE TO WORK HAMMER AND TONGS FOR 5-10 YEARS!

You're talking like getting huge and muscley is something you can do 'accidentally' and don't want to cross the line.

And as for model looks - I'm afraid if you're destined to be a model, you'd already look like a model, even at 15. Sorry but that's the truth.

All you can do is improve yourself. beat your OWN standards, not other people's.

6 meals a day are good for general health and metabolic purposes. WHAT you eat in these 6 meals determines whether you get fat.

And frankly, at 15, you're better off letting your body mature and grow naturally, before thinking about changing it.

(pissed off smiley here)
 

Nexxus

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Originally posted by Warboss Alex
This just fuggin' pisses me off.

TO LOOK LIKE A HUGE MUSCLEY BODYBUILDER YOU HAVE TO WORK HAMMER AND TONGS FOR 5-10 YEARS!

You're talking like getting huge and muscley is something you can do 'accidentally' and don't want to cross the line.
yes I know... I wrote my post in a way to try and show that I knew it would be nearly impossible to become a huge bodybuilder and I thought that many people on this board wanted to look like them so suggested eating 6 times a day. I was just wonderring that if we did not want to look huge like a bodybuilder did we STILL have to eat those 6 meals...

anyways i'm 16 and everyone i meet tells me I look 18 or even 19, so I decided to start working out at a gym last month since I obviously will not mature much more and I will not grow more than another 2-3 inches I'm 5'11, I been going nearly everyday missing just 2-3 days a week since it's the holidays
 

Warboss Alex

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Just because you LOOK older doesn't necessarily mean you've stopped growing as well.

I didn't stop growing until my early 20's.

In any case, eating six times a day doesn't mean you eat six full meals. You can eat the same amount of food for three meals over six meals in a day, or less/more as you require.

Why does everyone try to make out that this stuff is rocket science? It truly isn't.
 

Fatality

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Originally posted by manuva


3) Should I take steroids?

No.

Steroids are for fools. The long term side effects and after effects can be horrendous.

According to "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" there is no proof of this. No long term studies have been done and they interviewed a guy in his 40's who was using them for 20 years and a guy in his 70's using them for 40 years. Both looked better than 99% of guys in their 20's and had no health problems.

Using them wisely is the key.
 

Warboss Alex

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Unless you're a competing bodybuilder who's taken himself as far as possible naturally - I don't see why anyone would want to take steroids anyway.

Lots of casual gymgoers use them (1 in 300), but neglect basic principles regarding training and diet - people have to get those sorted out first before they even think about chemical assistance.
 

Fatality

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Originally posted by Warboss Alex
Unless you're a competing bodybuilder who's taken himself as far as possible naturally - I don't see why anyone would want to take steroids anyway.

Lots of casual gymgoers use them (1 in 300), but neglect basic principles regarding training and diet - people have to get those sorted out first before they even think about chemical assistance.
I agree

I'm just saying steroids aren't as dangerous as people seem to think. There is zero proof that they have ever caused a person's death or major health problems..
 

manuva

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What a pointless post Fatality. A post like that really has no point in a topic aimed at newbies, other than to deliberately stir up controversy to draw attention to yourself.

I never said steroid use would cause death. I said they are for fools. The list of side effects associated with steroid use (many of them serious) is as long as my arm.

Simply because one study out of thousands claims that there is no long term risks, or because 2 individuals out of hundreds of thousands have no apparent adverse affects DOES NOT MAKE IT SAFE OR HEALTHY.

There are people out there who have smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 40 years, and appear to be in perfect health. Should we now consider cigarettes aren't all that bad? Maybe if we smoked them in moderation we'd be alright?

If you want more info on steroids, DAFS on google, and pay attention only to information listed by proper medical bodies based on clinical studies.

Off the top of my head steroids cause:

severe acne

liver damage

prostate problems

reproductive problems

uncontrollable aggression ('roid rage')

depresssion, suicidal behaviour, acute psychosis

and hair loss


Steroids have also proved to be dependance-causing, ie addictive. So basically, to take steroids is to risk getting acne all over your face and back, losing your hair, getting depressed and maybe suicidal, damaging your liver and your testes to the point where they are unable to function adequately. And it's very difficult to stop taking.

You MAY put on muscle faster (if you are an advanced lifter, if you are beginner or intermediate the results will be negligable) but the trade off is going bald and pimply, limiting your ability to father children, getting wildly agressive and possibly suiciding.

I stand by my first post. Steroids are for fools.
 

Fatality

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Originally posted by manuva
What a pointless post Fatality. A post like that really has no point in a topic aimed at newbies, other than to deliberately stir up controversy to draw attention to yourself.

Draw attention to myself? On an internet forum?

You can think of it as a pointless post if you want. I was just pointing out your bull****. The rest of your stuff was good though.

There is no proof that they cause the side effects you listed other than acne due to your skin being more oily. A good shower will fix that. Also baldness but only if baldness is in your genes. Steroids can make you go balder earlier but if it isn't in your genes you won't go bald. No long term studies have been done to prove they cause the others.

Depression is possible because when some guys come off they lose all of their gains. That would make me depressed too.

"Roid rage" is an excuse for being an *******. I recently read an article where some loser blamed steroids for the reason he robbed a bank lmao
 

BrotherAP

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Originally posted by Warboss Alex
And as for model looks - I'm afraid if you're destined to be a model, you'd already look like a model, even at 15. Sorry but that's the truth.
If by model looks, you mean facially... sure. You don't mean to imply that somebody with a soft body is doomed to never have a six pack with nice pecs do you?
 

Create Reality

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Originally posted by manuva
4) Part of my body is very sore after my workout - what should I do?

Rest. Post-workout soreness usually effects your body 24-96 hours after you workout. It is referred to as Delayed Onset Muscle Sorenss (DOMS) and is normal. During your workout you have (hopefully) placed enormous stress on your muscles, and now they need to repair. That is the soreness you are feeling.

Massage and/or a hot bath will usually help this (but not fix it completely) because it increases blood flow to the area, accelerating healing.

Rest is an integral part of gaining muscle anyway - muscles don't grow in the gym, they grow afterwards as they repair from your visit to the gym.

If you have a sharp pain, or anything causing discomfort which you feel may be more serious than DOMS, see a specialist. Don't work out with it - if it hurts then it hurts for a reason, your body is trying to tell you something. Pay attention to it.
YOU WILL GET USE TO DA PAIN! And the intensity of DOMS is far less after you have conditioned your muscles over a few weeks by training. If pain is super intense when you first start a workout plan, take 2-3 day breaks in your splits, instead of 1-2. For example if you work your chest group on day 1, and then your back group on day 3, you are gonna be super sore on day 4, and you will be sore everywhere, not just the chest or back. So my advice is to take longer breaks between days when first starting, but gradually close the gap soon after (~1 month).

Yeah and remember to squat.
 

Warboss Alex

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Re: Re: 10 THINGS FOR ALL NEWBIES TO KNOW BEFORE POSTING

Originally posted by Create Reality
YOU WILL GET USE TO DA PAIN! And the intensity of DOMS is far less after you have conditioned your muscles over a few weeks by training. If pain is super intense when you first start a workout plan, take 2-3 day breaks in your splits, instead of 1-2. For example if you work your chest group on day 1, and then your back group on day 3, you are gonna be super sore on day 4, and you will be sore everywhere, not just the chest or back. So my advice is to take longer breaks between days when first starting, but gradually close the gap soon after (~1 month).

Yeah and remember to squat.
As a total newbie you might want a couple of weeks of fullbody workouts, straight sets, 1 set per exercise per bodypart, to prepare the CNS for the rigours of squats and deadlifts to come ..
 
T

tj

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Number 3 is completely wrong. It should be altered for respect of the members herein.

If someone doesn't agree with the legal restrictions..that is fine and I agree that everyone should obey the laws. However, to say that natties can achieve the same results is completely false and misleading and perhaps even dangerous.

The health risks aka threats is bogus-media hype as well.


I could expound further...but I will leave that up to the mods.

peace
 

Heizen

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My response to #3

Steroids should not be used by newbies. It's something only advanced and experienced (5+ years) should use. It is something that when used INCORRECTLY can cause massive amounts of damage like you said but when used correctly can lessen the potential for damage massivly. Of course there is always the chance for side effects depending on your genetics, but the majority of stories out there one steroids focus on people who either didn't know what the hell to do correctly, or were just stupid.

Health risks are blown out of proportion and don't focus on people who have not used them correctly. Guys who think they can run dbol year round, and are surprised when they screw up their system.

Since when as this forum been about doing things for girls? If girls said they LOVED a large gut would you start pigging out? You should be working out because you want the change, and if you choose to do it with steroids SAFELY and not being stupid about it, then I say go for it. You seem to think, just like another poster in this thread, that by running a cycle you immediatly turn into Ronnie Coleman. It's that kind of attitude that leads to such a negative image for steroids.

It's like working on a car. People who research what they are doing and possibly have someone help them can turna junker into a great car, but the person that just starts wrenching by pulling off parts will get no where and have a wrecked car in the process. Thats why steroids are nothing to be messed with.

And to clear up any confusion, I am natty, for this reason. I have been exposed to, and have been researching steroids and talking to experienced users for some time because they are a large part of bodybuilding like it or not.
 
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