For newbies: gain an inch/inch and a half in muscle mass without steroids in 3 months

**Kreatine_Kid** · 08-30-2005, 07:27 AM

Alright Ive been a member for a while but a bit of a lurker. The main reason is because I go by the ethos of "if you havent gone anything intelligent to say, dont say anything at all" this has resulted in a low post count, but I intend to be more of an active member.

ANYWAY, back to the topic. Now this is based on something Ive read somewhere but by a practice Ive actually taken and seen the results. Im posting this so hopefully the new guys, who feel they need to "get big, FAST!" stop and have a read before contemplating going down the dark path!

I went from just under 15 inch biceps to just over 16 in three months. I put on at least an inch allover as well, chest, quads etc. There is no secret to how I did this, I used no steroids of any type. The only anaboic substance I used was food, and good old whey protein. I will share how I did it but I will give a back ground of me to date.

Ive trained on and off for 4 years, the last years seriously. Recently though Ive seen the biggest gains in years and this is how.

Before I changed my training technique Im was doing what Im sure a lot of you guys are doing but wont admit it. My training technique was "ego training". I was going religiously to the gym 4 days a week. Lifting heavy for 4-6 reps and going home, absolutley shattered. Now here was the thing , I wasnt really lifting the weight, merely pushing it, till I bust a sex face and then dropping the weight back down and then repeating. I did this for at least 11 months and I swear I saw no difference. This is what bugged me.

Then I decided enough was enough and time to change. First thing was I dropped the weight considerable so not only could I bust out at least 8 reps but, and this is the important bit, I could flex and contract the muscle at the peak of each movement. So bicep curls instead of just pulling them up and down in two movements, it was regimented. It was Lift, flex and then lower, three movements really.

I did this with everything I did and not only were my muscle's sore as hell but DAMN, I was getting growth I hadnt seen before. Then once I was getting the contracting of each muscle down to a tee, and making sure the from was perfect, I noticed I started getting stronger as well!

These days Im back up to the weight I was pushing before, and in the three months I started doing this Ive added and inch all over and but Im lifting heavier weight than before as well.

I know that you may look at more experienced lifters i the gym hauling huge weights and look massive. I can guarantee though that these guys have been training for TIME, putting in the effort and the form. Its tempting to think "hey there, doing tricep push downs with 90kgs and they are huge, so thats what I have to do to be as big as them!" This is not the case, these guys bodies are accustom to it. In order to get that big you have to build up to it, even an oak tree started as a tiny seed!

I appologise for the length of the post, but what Im trying to get across to the new guys is you dont HAVE to lift huge weights to start off with and you dont NEED steroids to get big quick. All you need to ensure is that along with a good diet (at least 5 small, protien rich meals a day) and STRICT training formswith weight you can control you can get what you want naturally. It is possible to get ripped and strong, just make the right start and keep doing it.

I think the best quote I can give to finish this post off with is from Chris Cook

"control the weight, dont let the weight control you!"

NB: for the frequent users of the forum please dont flame me for stating the obvious, but I think a lot of new guys fail to do this in there quest to get big. I guess Im just trying to save people a few years of wasted training like myself

**Flexor** · 08-30-2005, 08:09 AM

Quite a good post...I used to do the exact same thing as you, which was just lift the weight and put it down but very early on I realised just how important contracting and squeezing the muscles was on every rep.

Maybe this will stop newbies posting "I wanna gain muscle mass fast, how do I do it", as they're first post. Cuz that is DAMN annoying

**freakintraining** · 08-30-2005, 12:42 PM

yo bro grwat post i see it everyday in the gym especially younger guys 17-20 just throwing around weights NO form what-so-ever, and i want to explain to them but i dont i just go one with my business....so all in all good post

**Machdiesel** · 08-30-2005, 01:52 PM

Another hudge pitfall i see people falling into is the 5 day a week, 1 muscle a day workout out. Yea for a bodybuilder this works, but for mst people this is not the optimal way to grow. If you wanna grow you have to hit your big muscle groups, and work on core exercises. Ive recently changed my workout to mondays n fridays i do flat, incline, squat and clean, then wed i do lat pulldowns n arms, n thats it, in a month ive grown, and gained more strength then i ever did. its funny cause u see the same guys in the gym all the time, always doing the same exercises, the same weights, n their the same size, its crazy. Shouldnt these people be getting bigger and stronger???? just food for thought ive posted about this once or twice so i dont wanna ack ur thread or go on a rant, but man if people would jsut try this theyd LOVE IT

**needmorestrength** · 08-30-2005, 07:46 PM

great post.. I would add that its beneficial to use the 3/2 tempo as well

**needmorestrength** · 08-30-2005, 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by Machdiesel

Another hudge pitfall i see people falling into is the 5 day a week, 1 muscle a day workout out. Yea for a bodybuilder this works, but for mst people this is not the optimal way to grow. If you wanna grow you have to hit your big muscle groups, and work on core exercises. Ive recently changed my workout to mondays n fridays i do flat, incline, squat and clean, then wed i do lat pulldowns n arms, n thats it, in a month ive grown, and gained more strength then i ever did. its funny cause u see the same guys in the gym all the time, always doing the same exercises, the same weights, n their the same size, its crazy. Shouldnt these people be getting bigger and stronger???? just food for thought ive posted about this once or twice so i dont wanna ack ur thread or go on a rant, but man if people would jsut try this theyd LOVE IT

I agree to a certain extent.. You still need to train smaller muscles directly and dead lifts are also a concrete block in the foundation. I also wouldn't tell average joe to train chest twice a week. But works for you is great!

**Machdiesel** · 08-30-2005, 08:31 PM

i agree that this isnt for everyone, but i def think that this type of workout should be worked into someones routine. Meaning maybe for 3 months u do something like this then switch back to their normal routine, it has wokred wonders for me so just wanted to spread the word

**c_ville** · 08-31-2005, 02:17 AM

Funny how you mention this; I have just taken up a similar technique in my workouts. My ego got in the way of my success... I used to focus on primarily how much weight I could move, rather than the quality of the excercise. Not only is the more focused and controlled tempo more gain-wise beneficial, but lifting too heavy without proper form ... is simply dangerous. I'm glad I came to this realization at a relatively early stage in my training.

**Kreatine_Kid** · 08-31-2005, 02:38 AM

Totally agree. Form is right up there with diet IMO. I see guys the same height as me, and Ill go over to do some tricep push downs on a V-Bar. Load about 50kgs (hammer strength mind). Then with my elbows kept tight into my body and not allowing them to move and with a straight back, grind out 10 - 11 nice and slow reps, feeling the stretch with each one. Ive seen them snigger, but it doesnt bother me. Im there to train, infact Im an anti social ****er these days, its head down and train, train, train. Then what gets me, is when I move on Ill watch the same guys whack the pin all the way down the stack and add more weight on. Then these guys will like hunch over leaning down on the bar and then with their arms flared out like a chicken, lean into it an push down for like 5.

But its the same with every thing, they whack the pin for the full stack on a lat pull down and jerk back real hard with all there body then at the last minute, bend their arms to resemble some kind of pulling movement!

Now dont get me wrong, Im not the type of guy to try and tell anyone how to train, I mean, its your body, you go wreck it up as much as you want. You would think though after all this time they would think "hey maybe this isnt working for me!"

Gotta admit though, It does make me chuckle thinking about it on the way out!