6 Mistakes A Workout Newbie Should Know

It has always been hard for me as a newbie in weight training to know which workout  is healthy for my body and right for my age. When I was in high school I've always wanted to get that 6 pack abs that some of my colleagues had with no sweat at all. The picture that's been stuck in my mind ever since I had the aspiration to get that 6 pack abs was to hit the gym and burn the fats that are covering my (abs?) which I believed that is already there. So I started to sneak through the gym with out paying the dues and unfortunately without enjoying the benefits of being thought of the proper program for my muscles and the proper diet. Lift that, raise this, carry this today and again tomorrow and the same heavy weights the next day. No eating of breakfast (what i believe is the best way to loose fat) and when its lunch and starving, eat a platter of rice and viand. I made all this mistakes sadly just to impress the opposite sex but then I ended up short and stout. Yet its still not the end of days...

I am writing this not just to humiliate myself  but to propagate to every hopeless romantic out there or self-indulgent mutant like me(or is it just me?) to unwind and  loosen up... I have tips for you.

To know what to do isn't just what is important, To know what not to do is crucial too...

 Just to tell you I am hitting back the gym and I have learned a lot of things which I am going to share to you.

In this first article on work out programs, my goal is to cover what you should not do while lifting. Avoiding mistakes is as crucial as knowing what you are to do if you want success in the gym. Don't do any of these next six mistakes aside from the mistakes I mentioned earlier and you will go along way to success.

1. Don't Lift Without A Trainer.

Regardless of how many magazines you have read or how many videos you have watched, have a trainer to teach you what to do and have him or her  watch you to make sure you are performing the exercise correctly. You could think this one is obvious. You might end up injured and quit workout forever. (Thank God it didn't happen to me!) There are right and wrong way to perform an exercise and you will not learn the right way if you don't have an expert to teach you. If you can't afford one, Forget it and go jogging in the plaza.....

2. Don't Be Afraid To Ask Questions.

You are not expected to learn everything in a day or two or even a week, a month or so.  Everyone in the gym is learning and the only way you can learn is to ask someone. You can ask your trainer or for some reason you can't you can ask someone who's in between set. Most lifters would take a minute or two to teach newbies because somehow they can remember of being newbies themselves. Or if you are still uncomfortable then you get home, turn on your pc and browse on Google, There are plenty of web forums out there that you can post you question with. You will get you answers for sure.

3. Don't Try To Impress the Big Guys

I know how intimidating it is to be in the gym and the hottest guys on earth is there lifting every plates. You feel like you want to prove you belong and you try to set a world record and you might tend to carry sets that are out of your program and try to pretend as if you won't sweat blood out of it. You might laugh at some bigger guys who lift lighter weights than you do. They have their programs for them to follow and so do you. It is ok to start with a light weight to make sure you have the form down and know what muscles you are supposed to feel working. Eventually you will get to where you are lifting the heavy iron, but it takes time. That actually leads into the next tip.

4, Don't Waste Your Time On The Opposite Sex.

Let's be serious. We all started this endeavor for many reasons. One reason is common among all of us. We want to hook up with some hot girl and there is no shame in admitting it. The fact is though, although we all want to meet our future love interest in the gym, there is work to be done. You are not going to build up that body to impress the chick if you don't work at it. For now, avoid staring and trying to get the attention of the hottie and focus on the task at hand. 

5. Don't Be Impatient.

I don't want to burst your bubble or your ego, but this isn't going to happen overnight. That is just a fact of life in bodybuilding and fitness. Have you ever heard the expression "good things come to those who wait"? wahaha Well, it kind of applies here. Although you should work at achieving your goals, being patient and knowing that it comes with time will keep you from getting frustrated and that will keep you motivated to train in order to eventually meet those goals. Deal with curling the 15's or 20's for now and with time and effort, you will get to the bigger dumbbells. Patience is definitely a virtue in this game. 

6. Don't Be the "Intense Guy"

I am sure you see him and if you don't, you sure will hear him. In every gym there is the one guy who feels the need to scream his head off and yell with every rep like his life depends on him accomplishing it. The fact is most people look at him like he is a few plates short himself. You can put in hard work and give effort without being the star of a fitness horror movie. The grunting and screaming isn't necessary to make yourself appear strong, intense, or "hardcore". Save yourself a lot of humiliation and don't do this. Your fellow lifters might ban you from getting inside the gym the next day. lol

Conclusion

Now there are some things that just can't be taught in the weight room. A lot of knowledge in lifting comes with experience but these six tips I just gave you will go a long way in helping you master the iron and get you on your way to accomplishing all of your bodybuilding goals and then some. Best of luck on our iron journey! 

Gain muscle or burn fat?

This year's new years resolution -- To gain muscle or to burn fat? Seems like a stupid question, and it actually is, because to build the body of your dream you need both. Many beginners pay attention to gaining muscles mostly, but to define them you need to burn some fat also. A proper nutrition, weight training and cardiovascular exercises are key points on your way to defined muscles 

Fat Loss Process

To start fat loss, you need to eat in small portions and drink not less than 7-8 glasses of water per day. This will not allow the metabolism to slow down. In addition, it prevents you from overeating as a result of the widespread famine that comes when you are not eating. Eat 5 times a day to 300-500 calories. Also try not to take a break between meals more than 4 hours. But the key point here is to create a small deficit of 400 – 500 calories per day. Do it with respect to balance of proteins, carbs and fats in your meal and you will feel that your body have started to use it’s own fat in order to meet your energy demand. Remember, that if you don’t take enough protein, it will affect your muscles; and if you don’t take enough carbs or fats, it will affect your energy system and vitamins adoption.

Anaerobic Training for Fat Burning

Anaerobic training is the next step to defining your body. Cardiovascular exercises (cycling, swimming, running, etc) performed with some intervals in-between is much more efficiently in accelerating metabolism than the measured aerobic workout. Interval training will burn more calories per minute and speed up your metabolism for several hours. Desired volume loads with the weights in combination with intensive interval training can keep your metabolism at a high level for at least 24 hours. Perform 3 or 4 sessions a week in the morning. Strength training is also effective way to burn fat, though. Kilogram of muscle mass burns 9 times more calories than kilogram of fat mass. So do not forget to perform your usual weight workout.

Conclusion

When you’ve limited your calories intake and incorporated cardiovascular exercises into your weight program, the result won’t take long to be seen.

Taylor Lautner’s Workout Secrets

If you have been watching the famous vampire series, Twilight, then you have watched as Taylor’s character “Jacob,” transformed  in front of your very own eyes.  We aren’t talking about his on screen transformation from human in to werewolf,  but rather the transformation of Taylor into a muscular man from one movie to the next.  His portrayal of a werewolf required some SERIOUS workout routines to make his character believable.

Men’s Health featured Taylor and gave the world some insight into his weight gaining routine.  Even if your goal isn’t to gain weight, his workout has some good tips to help you find the lean wolf in you!

Taylor gained a total of 30 pounds in one year for his transformation into a werewolf.  He did this through hard work and eating right.  There are always some tricks of the trade.  In his case, he worked on heavy “negative reps.”  This means you lift about 50 pounds over your normal weight.  With a spotter, start at the top of the rep and slowly lower the weight down (this is the “negative” portion).  Since doing heavy weights  is hard on your body only preform 2-3 sets and do it every other week.

Among other alterations, Lautner also changed his routine frequently to increase his strength and keep his muscles guessing.  This challenges your body and forces it to adapt and change.  This is very important in every routine whether your trying to lose weight or gain muscle.  Change in routines can be in the form of the exercises OR even the repetitions.  If your body is used to 12- 15 reps with light weight, then change it up and do 8-10 with heavier weight.

Challenge all of your resistance points. Resistance bands appear to be easy, but when paired with weights they create a training routine that has tension at every point in each repetition.  Lautner used them in combination with a squat bar by using heavy duty tension bands that are anchored to the bar as well as heavy weights on the floor.  During most squats, there is a rest period at the bottom and top of each squat.  With the tension bands there is no breaking point, creating tension through of the whole set of squats.

Although cardio is great for leaning out, in Taylor’s case, he had toavoid “over doing” the cardio due to his naturally thin physique and tough calorie burning routine.  If you are looking to lean up and aren’t concerned about burning too many calories then long bouts of cardio are ok.  However, if you are looking to have a natural balance of muscle on your body then you are better off doing moderate cardio and eating a lean diet to have maximum muscle definition.

Don’t over work your abs and do a combination of moves to hit your abs from all points.  This is what Taylor does to keep his abs in 6 pack formation for all of his topless shots.   I agree with his outlook on abs.  Always mix up your ab routine with a variety of different types of ab workouts.  You don’t have to only do crunches to get that flat, defined stomach.

Set goals!  This pertains to your workouts, your calories, your resting days, and the types of foods you eat.  Above everything else, you must have a plan to get cut and lean like Taylor.  No one looks this good without goals for every aspect of your routine.  If you want an awesome body then you must make goals, plan and watch as your body transforms within weeks!  There is a werewolf in us all; when preparation meets execution there is always success.