'Help the newbies' topics

[Pseudonym]

Some time ago, some clever person suggested a sticky topic in each forum to help the newbies with a basic routine/diet/etc.

I wasn't madly keen on the idea at time - mainly because I've never known 2 bodybuilders who can reach complete agreement on the best training methods, and trying to find consensus with the entire forum seemed like it was asking for trouble.

There were probably other reasons too, but now that I've mulled it over for a couple of years, I'm starting to think the idea has merit.

What do you reckon? Can we write a set of generalised "Newbies" articles without causing a civil war between hi-rep and low-rep trainers? If so, what basic topics should we cover?

[rose]

I think a new Hot Chicks topic would help my b00bs the n00bs muchly :nod:

(joking sir!)

Seriously, it's a great idea!

[Specter]

A most excellent idea Sir! You will have my full wacky co-operation and support in this! 8)

[roadie]

good idea

there is a good starting point with the info under 'resources' maybe refine that info into the forums as stickys....

each topic (diet, routine, mens/womens) could perhaps be split up into different goals....muscle gain, fat loss, 'toning up', that way different netxperts can have there say in different posts.

[Beef]

yeah thats a great idea. saves the same questions being asked over and over again :nod:

[runveerun]

Sounds great Pseudonym, is there a way it could be divided up into a few basic training methods just giving a brief outline of each? Basic BB nutrition would be good too as the same questions are asked about this over and over. Maybe with links to fitday etc?

[Gym rat]

That is a great idea to have and have info on the diffrent supplements and mags that are out there ie flex,muscle and fitness,ironman,muscle mag etc.

[Grover]

W

Good idea , but odds of 5 to 1 that it becomes a for against argument amongst certain members!

[startinfromscratch]

AHAHA!! SUCCESS!!

im the one that posted a while ago re - stickies, and suggested that its done in a way where any members can submit 'posts' on a particular topic, eg creatine, to the mods.

the mods will them copy/edit/use/throwaway all the info, be left with a sticky. so basically, we write them, mods approve and post them...

2c

[Pseudonym]

Ah, well then, kudos to you, Startin! You see - suggestions are taken on board, carefully considered, and then incubated. Possibly for some time. But the point is, they're not discarded! :grin:

Good idea , but odds of 5 to 1 that it becomes a for against argument amongst certain members!

Grover, I think you're probably right. Still, we might as well find out for sure!

So... let's start with diet.

Assume we're talking to an absolute beginner. They might be trying to bigger. They might be trying to get smaller. Male, female, young, old - we don't know. So any articles are going to have to be fairly generalised.

We can use the Bodybuilding for Beginners articles as a base. What else would a newbie want/need to know?

[Beef]

calories- they need to understand what calories are and how to check how many cals are in particular foods, etc. a calorie calculator could be helpful

[roadie]

for not only the newbie but write down measurements / weight at the start...maybe take a photo....so that you can see if things are changing

[greyghost]

Suggestions are taken on board, carefully considered, and then incubated. Possibly for some time. But the point is, they're not discarded! :grin:

I'm going to use this at work, for all those people who get pissy because they're idea isn't instantly acted on. :nod:

[Pseudonym]

calories- they need to understand what calories are and how to check how many cals are in particular foods, etc. a calorie calculator could be helpful

Good call. We can make our own nifty little calculator form. So, what's the best formula to use?

[Jigga]

Some time ago, some clever person suggested a sticky topic in each forum to help the newbies with a basic routine/diet/etc.

I wasn't madly keen on the idea at time - mainly because I've never known 2 bodybuilders who can reach complete agreement on the best training methods, and trying to find consensus with the entire forum seemed like it was asking for trouble.

There were probably other reasons too, but now that I've mulled it over for a couple of years, I'm starting to think the idea has merit.

What do you reckon? Can we write a set of generalised "Newbies" articles without causing a civil war between hi-rep and low-rep trainers? If so, what basic topics should we cover?

This.

A cal calculator could be kind of nifty or just a quicklink to one online. Educating people on how to eat I think wouldn't involve a lot of controversy and is more important imo than teaching them how to train.

[Draft]

IMO best bet would be to set all the major formulas out because each seems to require progressively more information (not everyone may have their bf% for the Katch-McArdle for example).

Setting out the basic calculations would be a good start though, maybe some spreadsheets attached to make things easy for people, those aren't hard to do but simplify things once they are made. Probably should stress that optimal calories are a moving target as well (i.e., as you increase weight you need to increase intake to keep gaining and vice versa).

Links to sites like fitday, nutrition data, and calorie king would help. I suppose a spreadsheet of most common foods nutritional data by weight is a little to much effort to build.

[startinfromscratch]

pseu, i reckon something like this.. feel free to throw in rubbish..

Nurtition - the basics

If your new to bodybuilding nutrition, there is a huge amount of information out there for you to see, and unfortunately its not all a consensus. Its up to you to see as many different opinions as possible. So, the basics:

Macros - Carbs,fats,protein?

When - meal timing

How much - the million dollar question!

What - what foods to eat?

WHEN?

regardless of what your eating, or your goals (gain/lose weight), you should endeavour to eat a meal (what comes later) every 2-3 hours is ideal. missing a meal, or being late with one meal isnt the end of the world. but consistency is the key, as is organisation. planning ahead is what makes or breaks eating plans. example - most people wont cook their rice/meat everyday, to save time i cook approx 3 days worth or rice at a time. it takes time to get good at foward planning your nutro, but it soon becomes second nature!

WHAT?

'Clean' food is a term you will see alot here. Youll want to make your meals mostly out of whole, unprocessed foods. If you look at what the typical foods are that make up bber diets, youll see some foods recurr alot. Natural, whole foods. Usually, foods that are predominantly made up of one macronutrient (carb/fat/protein). Rice for example, used as a source of carbs, as its a natural, unprocessed food thats calories come mostly from carbs. Chicken - another food common here. Excellent source of protein, low in fat/carbs. Again, something youll have to look into before you can construct your diet. Thats another whole topic though. Happy researching!

MACROS?

There are 3 macronutrients - carbs,protein,fats. alot of the foods that you will see in bber diets tend to, generally, be there as a source of one of those macros. A meal of chicken and rice, for example - the rice is the source of carbs, the chicken is the protein. I should point out that most foods contain at least some of all 3 macros, but most whole natural foods are predomidantly made up of one macro. You should tend to try and spread your macros evenly over your meals, particularly protein. If your taking in 200g protein, and 5 meals per day, you would endeavour to spread it out as 5 40g serves. So, the next step is to figure out the ratio you want to adhere to. The ratio i refer to is this: - of the total calories youl be aiming to eat daily, what % of those calories will come from each macro. there is alot of debate as to ideal ratio's, and the ratios for different goals vary. an example is:

weight gain P30% C50% F20%

weight loss P50% C20% F30%

just emaples ^^, not gospel. ratios are well worth looking deeper into. So now, the big question - how many calories do you need??????

CALORIE INTAKE?

First step - how many calories do you need to maintain your current weight? this is your starting point. To work this out, you will need a starting point. Use an online calculator like these:

*insert calcs here*

Use these figures as a starting point, and adjust the total depending on what your weight does - ie if your bodyweight goes up, you are above maintenance calories, so scale down maybe 300 calories. if your weight is dropping, you are on less than maintenance. Alot of factors influence how many calories you need. Body make-up, metabolism, weight, how much exercise you are doing etc. but once you have your maintenance figure, you can alter it to suit your goals. So, you want to gain mass? if you have an accurate knowledge of your maintenance figure, simply add 300-500 calories to it, and your weight will slowly climb up. when that level of calories becomes maintenance (youve gained weight), to keep growing, rinse and repeat etc... but in the beginning, keep it simple.

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[Jigga]

Could do with some tidying up - on the whole I like it. I have a lecture to get to in 30mins but when I have some free time I would like to have closer look at the structure/content of what you wrote and whether it's comprehensive.

[SportySpice]

I too think this is a really good idea, given the amount of information out there, and the lack of consistency between it all. Under the "Resources" tab, however, there already is a set of articles pertaining to beginners, so maybe it will just be a matter of updating and rejigging these articles, and moving them to the forum to which they relate. That way there won't be a double up, and less of a risk of confusing newbies even more.

[Draft]

Ok, I tried to make a calorie calculator spreadsheet that covers all the formulas. Since Cunningham used quite different definitions of activity level though it probably doesn't work in quite as well.

Please let me know if there are any glaring errors etc (something I famous for). I tried to test it a bit though.

BMR Calc.xls

[Beef]

calories- they need to understand what calories are and how to check how many cals are in particular foods, etc. a calorie calculator could be helpful

Good call. We can make our own nifty little calculator form. So, what's the best formula to use?

i've been thinking about this.. i can't really come up with a formula, never have been much of a mathematician

but a really useful site for the diet/nutrition side of things is http://www.nutritiondata.com. it's got a bmi calculator, calorie calculator, and in-depth analysis of pretty much any food you could imagine

[Pseudonym]

I was hoping some of our PTs could chime in here. What formula do you guys use for your clients?

The alternative is not to give a formula, but get the newbie to calculate how many calories their current diet consists of, then correct the protein:carbs:fat ratios if need be, and adjust the calories up or down to suit their goals. Maybe that method would be more applicable to a wider range of people?

[Optimass]

Every client is different IMO - but at the risk of starting a 10 page debate and in order to progress .... for the PTs

Your client is a 70kg male 5'11 age 22 years. Moderately active through school but not currently exercising regular. Is relatively lean. But has a basic understanding of exercise in the gym.

(we'll do a female scenario after we agree on a basic male routine)

[Optimass]

This could be handy

WeightLossCalculator_v4.xls

[haakuturi]

Great idea - why not take it a little bit further and turn it into a wiki? That way discussion & collaboration are possible...