Veteran Thread Training Tips

[florencenoir]

Training Tip No8
Get the pyramid right
Here in the UK we have a phrase from wayyyyy back in the day which goes 'don't put the cart before the horse'. I'm reminded of that when I see guys think they can't train (even beginners) without drugs. Yet the reality is, even if you're an out and out fkin freak, the LEAST amount of time you should train before steroids is 2 years. And those two years should be like you're in prison or a monk. Meals on time, lights out on time, training 100% every time. Even then Evo's advice is ALWAYS gonna be don't use gear until you hit the right age (not 18 then).

When you see (and you do see them) average looking guys discussing peptide use the 'cart's' way out in front. The TOP of the pyramid is insulin, peptides, GH and so on. Not the bottom. What's the point of using pro and competition drugs to 'look good on the beach' If your diet is crap, if training is half-assed then FORGET the tip top stuff.

Get the basics right first

Man... this also should be on the the first five tips... I say it all the time... Results should come without drugs... in strength and aesthetics.

I repeat and repeat, specially for women who approach me to help with drugs. I always tell them that for us ladies... we need to be extra careful because we can have all virilizing effects without aesthetics results. Most of the time only with diet and training, specially TIME, women have great results and most of them give up the idea of ​​using drugs.

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[Mobster]

Man... this also should be on the the first five tips... I say it all the time... Results should come without drugs... in strength and aesthetics.

I repeat and repeat, specially for women who approach me to help with drugs. I always tell them that for us ladies... we need to be extra careful because we can have all virilizing effects without aesthetics results. Most of the time only with diet and training, specially TIME, women have great results and most of them give up the idea of ​​using drugs.

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Great Flo. Using DNP without a diet... stupid. People do. Then they, in spite of many warnings, will double the dose 'cos double the dose means double the loss right' (the answer is no). And that's just one example of ass backwards thinking.

 

[Mobster]

Training Tip No9
Keep A Log
Although there are apps I prefer using a pen and a notepad or book. The simple act of writing it reinforces it over using an app. Don't get me wrong the better apps can and do track progress using algorithms. But so does flipping back and looking. Keeping one online can also help with having others look at it offering tips and support. It doesn't matter if it's a dietary log, bodybuilding log or strength log.

Here's the thing. If you've been training for any length of time you'll see members at the gym who wanna lose weight, but don't. Who want big arms, but don't have them. Who wanna be stronger but aren't. And yet they've been using the gym for FKIN AGES. Sometimes FKIN YEARS! WTF??!! Now either they fool themselves better than the line of BS they gave you or they're convinced by being in the gym equates to progress.

Now I don't give a f**k what it is you're trying to achieve. Lean and mean is as fine as HUGE and nasty. But if you've made zero progress... why? So write down the aim. Work out how you're gonna get there. Hit the numbers. And log it. Yes you'll have sessions where you can't do it every time. That's ok. But over weeks, months and years you should be making small but steady steps towards the target. One more rep than last week = progress. And in the heat of the moment did you do 10... or was it 11? And then trying to remember that a week later... forget it. So write it down. Use a LOG

 

[florencenoir]

Great Flo. Using DNP without a diet... stupid. People do. Then they, in spite of many warnings, will double the dose 'cos double the dose means double the loss right' (the answer is no). And that's just one example of ass backwards thinking.

For women then... diet pills are like jujubes... most of the women who go to my practice have practically tried every "magic pill" ... the only thing they have not tried is to change their eating habits.

Losing weight is easy, drugs and extreme diet will shred 10kg of weight (not necessarily fat) in 1 month but... how people intend to maintain the loss? Sustainable maintenance is difficult. So... changing habits while losing weight, for me, is the best strategy... when you reach maintenance is much easier and diet itself can be much less stressful.

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[florencenoir]

Training Tip No9
Keep A Log
Although there are apps I prefer using a pen and a notepad or book. The simple act of writing it reinforces it over using an app. Don't get me wrong the better apps can and do track progress using algorithms. But so does flipping back and looking. Keeping one online can also help with having others look at it offering tips and support. It doesn't matter if it's a dietary log, bodybuilding log or strength log.

Here's the thing. If you've been training for any length of time you'll see members at the gym who wanna lose weight, but don't. Who want big arms, but don't have them. Who wanna be stronger but aren't. And yet they've been using the gym for FKIN AGES. Sometimes FKIN YEARS! WTF??!! Now either they fool themselves better than the line of BS they gave you or they're convinced by being in the gym equates to progress.

Now I don't give a f**k what it is you're trying to achieve. Lean and mean is as fine as HUGE and nasty. But if you've made zero progress... why? So write down the aim. Work out how you're gonna get there. Hit the numbers. And log it. Yes you'll have sessions where you can't do it every time. That's ok. But over weeks, months and years you should be making small but steady steps towards the target. One more rep than last week = progress. And in the heat of the moment did you do 10... or was it 11? And then trying to remember that a week later... forget it. So write it down. Use a LOG

Exactly how can you manipulate the variables of you training or diet if you don't know what you are doing.

Like the phrase... If you don't know, you don't grow.
And progression is not always linear.

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[Qwincobi]

Very true. Press 200lbs overhead, bench 300lbs or dips with weight added and you don't need tricep isolation exercises.

So courtesy of Stevesmi

Training Tip No3
Compounds first
If, as above, you can master the form then learn to move heavy weight in what we call the compound movements then you'll not only be strong but, genetics allowing, be a big (or bigger) mofo.

Compounds, simply put, use the biggest amount of muscle tissue. Examples like chins working the grip and forearms just holding the bar, biceps, back and rear delts in the actual pull up and so on. Squats (over the leg press) cos not only are you working the hams and quads but also (just for balance) calves and your core.

In my older books they suggested an average Joe ought to try to work to the following: 300-400-500 (that's bench, squat and deadlift). Start repping those and you'll start looking like a monster. Throw in 200lbs overhead, 100lbs on dips and chins and you'll be in the 5%. Look around any gym and see if it's not true.

Dont forget that not every movement should be locked out.

Barbell shoulder press (seated).

i see lots of people locking the elbows at the top of the movement which removes the tension on the shoulders and puts most of the stress on the elbow joints.

Preacher curls
Preacher curls shouldn't come up all the way because the weight will just rest on the elbows/forearms that are resting on the bench. and etc.

usually this is because of a misconception about full range of motion.

 

[Mobster]

For women then... diet pills are like jujubes... most of the women who go to my practice have practically tried every "magic pill" ... the only thing they have not tried is to change their eating habits.

Losing weight is easy, drugs and extreme diet will shred 10kg of weight (not necessarily fat) in 1 month but... how people intend to maintain the loss? Sustainable maintenance is difficult. So... changing habits while losing weight, for me, is the best strategy... when you reach maintenance is much easier and diet itself can be much less stressful.

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I'll add a tip on that now:

Training Tip No10 and 11
Keeping gains and maintaining losses.
Whether you want to add and keep muscle or lose fat and keep it off the same tip applies. You need to adjust to the new weight. I'll use a simple, if inaccurate, example or two;

Let's say you was 200lbs on 2800kcals. You went on cycle and added 5lbs. Now you're 205lbs. To gain the 5lbs you ate 3200kcals. If you wanna keep the 5lbs you'll need to eat more than the 2800kcals that you did when you weighed 200lbs

The same analogy applies to fat loss. It's no good taking a bunch of drugs and working out like crazy (inc cardio) as well as cutting 400 or more calories from your diet. Then, having hit your loss target (lets say 200lbs down to 195lbs) reverting to the exact same diet you was eating before.

And this happens all the fkin time. Then the person will blame their genes, the drugs, their coach/nutritionist/diet guru, the diet, the size of ducks in the local parks pond (lol). Anything except for the fact that they didn't make the adjustment they needed to. And it's pretty much that simple.

 

[Dustin74]

Thank you for the exercises

 

[Mobster]

Thank you for the exercises

Let us know how you get on.

 

[Mobster]

Training Tip No12
Being analytical
It's all too easy to enjoy your training, diets and even steroid/sarm cycles without looking to see if improvements could be made. Let me give an example of a mistake I made some years back.

I was allowing my form on overhead seated presses to get stupidly bad. My right arm would be locked out and my left only half up. At some point I realized how silly this was. Backed off by taking 20-kilos / 44lbs off the bar. I then restarted with a very much better form. Six or so weeks later I was back to 120-kilos for reps but with a LOT better form. In my case not only was the form an issue but so was my ego.

Look at what you're doing and what you've done and see if improvements can be made. Do this constantly.

 

[Mobster]

Training Tip No13
Learn From The Best
This is less 'please grant me their genetics' (best of luck applies ha ha) and more 'what good habits do they have'. There will always be freaks who seemingly only have to merely look in the direction of a weight plate and... boom! Instant muscle. Others, even last years Worlds Strongest Man (and somewhat of a freak himself) learned how to get big, train and so on by looking at the techniques of others. Eddie Hall has mentioned how he watched fellow WSM Brian Shaw's technique, followed guidance from Andy Bolton and so on in order to get the famous 500-kilo deadlift.

Now if a (at one point) 433lb behemoth needs to learn so do the rest of us. Who can forget watching Arnie and Franco, fan like, observing another pro (Ed Cornea??) killing the posing in the film Pumping Iron. What Ed did, better than the others, was 'pose between poses'. Arnold and Franco learned the judges watched you ALL the time not just when you hit a double biceps. Ed was NOT Mr O material but as a poser... he was killing it.

I've bios here and I read fellow strength athletes interviews from time to time and regardless of the sport there are habits and nuances we can learn. I recall reading famous alcoholic but also amazing in his prime George Best's Bio and he, as a kid, spent sometimes 7 hours a day kicking a ball into set spots he'd chosen on his mum's house wall (which explains somewhat her own drinking habits... oof). That many hours a day soon equates to the old 10000 hours to master something analogy. Ditto reading of another soccer player David Beckham playing Sunday league footy and being supported even through pro-level by his adoring parents. In his case having a good support team or network is the lesson learned and I don't play football

 

[Mobster]

Training Tip No14
Look After Your Joints
Trust me on this. You might not thank me today but you'll sure as f**k thank me in the future. Top of the list are your shoulders, followed by elbows, knees and wrists. And what's really crazy is it's oh so easy to sort out.

Warm ups are key. Followed by rehab and then joint formula products. If you MUST use supports use them sparingly. While they do help worn and injured joints wearing them all the time is as bad. I've attended strongman comps where the rules didn't allow for some aids and athletes who had got a little too used to them were at a disadvantage.

Do rotator cuff work. Don't say I didn't tell you.

 

[Mobster]

Training Tip No15
Don't Over-rely On Stims
So I see a LOT of pre-workout products on the market. Way more than even just a few years ago. What I also see, especially on UK forums, is questions like 'I don't get anything from Product X... should I try product Y?'. What the users forget is that OCCASIONAL use is ok. But using something EVERY SINGLE WORKOUT is a silly idea. If you need, as we say here, to be 'off your tits and buzzing' just to go some weights then you've got a problem (probably involving white powder which is sniffed up your nose on a Saturday night). I can have a great workout on a single cup of coffee. So can you

 

[Mobster]

Training Tip No16
More Isn't Better
Better is better.

Diet wise, by way of example, 200g of protein is a fair old amount for most Joes. 500g doesn't mean 2.5x the gains. Guys can grow on 3 days training so think hitting the gym 7x a week is better. Same with PED's.

What's kinda crazy is even pros can fall to these mistakes. We have a world class female long distance runner here who ended up both injuring herself and making herself really quite ill by over doing it.

The key is optimal over maximal. The sweet spot over 'too fkin much'.

 

[florencenoir]

Training Tip No12
Being analytical
It's all too easy to enjoy your training, diets and even steroid/sarm cycles without looking to see if improvements could be made.... Look at what you're doing and what you've done and see if improvements can be made. Do this constantly.

That's a tip for life, not only training.

How can you improve in something if you don't know what you are doing and you don't know where to go?



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[Mobster]

Training Tip No17
Less is more
Following on from Tip 16 and something I personally do (see my log on the forum) is I'll rotate back exercises. So I'll do one direct back movement per back day. Then the next session I'll do another and so on. I could probably stand to do this with other body-parts. It's a part of, as I understand it, DC training (DC = dog crap). The idea being it takes a LONG time to feel tired or over trained on a movement.

Using my back workouts as an example I can do pulldowns (various hand and grip positions), T-Bar Rows (I don't do this but we have one), Low Cable Rows, Dumbbell Rows and three kinds of Iso-Lateral Rows (high, mid and low) and we even have a Pullover Machine. Throw in barbell rows and deadlifts (a staple for me). So that's 9-10 weeks worth right there. My only problem (we should all be so blessed haha) is I can max most of the kit out - even the 90kilo / 198lbs dumbbells for rows

Even those of you who regularly do three exercises per bodypart have 3 weeks worth to play with. Mix up the volume for a change too

 

[Mobster]

Training Tip No18
Meal Prep
This is a very simple easy to do thing that some guys, as we say here, 'make a meal of' (it's a saying meaning to over complicate). Ironic eh?

Anyway. I just started a job involving 12 hour shifts. Trust me I'm not coming home after getting up at 4am, leaving at 6am, starting at 7am. Then doing all that in reverse only to come back and start cooking from scratch. So, like a bodybuilder, I cook ahead of time. I COULD use a ready meal (and occasionally do) but we're all about proper food here right?

A simple fix we've suggested on Evo is taking 12 chicken breasts. Place them on foil. Season 4 one way, 4 another and the last 4 different again. And cook. That's at LEAST 6 meals if not more when added to (for example) rice.

 

[m1z1996]

So, then my

Training Tip No2
Hangs for time
Hanging from a chinning bar for time will improve your grip. Aim for a minute. Two is right up there. Start with 3 x 20-seconds,. Then 3 x 25 and so on

gunna try this, didnt know it helps with grip. Deadlift has suddenly plateued not due to my strength but due to the fact i let the bar go too easily.

 

[Mobster]

gunna try this, didnt know it helps with grip. Deadlift has suddenly plateued not due to my strength but due to the fact i let the bar go too easily.

Back when he was struggling to break the 1000lb barrier on deads Andy Bolton had one hand opening as he got to the top. It happens to the best

- - - Updated - - -

Training Tip No19
Time Is Everything
I've seen people asking about the best time to do this, that or the other. Diet, when to take pills, train etc etc

And you're waiting because... GET IT DONE TODAY!!

 

[Mobster]

Training Tip No20
What Times Best To Train
There's SOME science to support the following but, as I've said in similar threads, the body can and does adapt

For cardio I'm gonna say first thing. If you can before work. Like lifting weights it'll affect your metabolic rate for some time after.

For the average non-lifting Joe we have two peaks of energy. Both are affected by nature (sun rise and sun set). As such they move through the year but essentially it's mid-morning and later afternoon. And cos of the so-called 9-5 that means between 10-11am and 5-6pm.

One could also argue about when our natural test levels peak but one is on waking (hence 'morning glory' (aka a hard on)). But even when I train early as f**k it's still 2 hours after waking lol