a place to start

[alfresco]

I love reading the Beginners Forum. It's the first place I head when I log-on
and it's a place where my / our experience can make a real difference.

But don't beginners talk about diet and training anymore? At this stage of
the game, these two things are the only factors that are under our direct
control, yet they are rarely talked about in any detail.

And what's up with all the drug questions? And what part of "beginner"
don't they understand? Since when do start out driving a race car, with all
it's inherent advantages and disadvantages, before you can even back
Daddy's car out of the garage?

Guess you have to start somewhere, have someplace to get your questions
answered (as if it hasn't been asked here a million times before; try using the
search function).

So if you are wondering why you get so few responses to your inquiries you
can start by having the common courtesy to post up some pics, tell us about
yourself, your experience, and goals.

Is that too much to ask?

And please don't bother asking me who died and left me in charge as I have
yet to come up with a intelligent, respectful response.

 

[drob29]

well said bro. I have been away from the board for a bit. Last time I was here more senior members were involved in the beginners thread (tkav, oldfella, dad..to name a few) but I dont see them chiming in now, although like I said I was away and have not been around much, could be they are busy with life as I was for a bit. (I mean who am I to bitch, I was away for a few months) It's all good.

But you make an excellent point in your post.

I recently added my 2 cents into a thread where the member is 5ft 11, 170 lbs (who had been training "9 months!!), and was told by this member that I was being unreasonable for asking him to wait until he was heavier and more experienced. His theory was that he could add in 25 lbs of muscle and keep most of it, and why not do that in 3 months as opposed to waiting 2 years to accomplish the same goals?

In my opinion PM beginners forum should not read like a snapshot from getbig.com, but without new members who have an open mind, and more senior members who are willing to help, what else can be expected? A while back ( a year or so?) there was a thread up on the main board about new members, and why this was PM, and how with all the other resources out there PM should not be the place for brand new people to hang out. Others chimed in that everyone started somewhere and everyone needs help (OK, I am paraphrasing and I took the artistic license to drive my point, but the point remains).

Without other senior members adding to the beginners forum IMO we can expect many more 170 lb 5 ft 11 members who have been training for 9 months to truely think they can add (then keep!) 25 lbs of size by running a cycle.

Yes it begins with qualified posts by new members who are willing to listen. It also has to include more input from older members, myself included.

 

[gelatine]

Ultimately, diet is going to be the predictor of success, but there's only so much that can be said about it, the rest is willpower and determination. Additionally, different diets work for different people. I know I fail at higher carb approaches, and what works for me is 50-100g of carbs on off days, 150-250g on workout days, with 300g of protein and 100-200g of fat a day. Some people wouldn't have any energy and would suck on that kind of diet. I in turn would get bloated, fat, and tired on a high carb diet. Fortunately, I wouldn't expect a new trainee to take more than a few months to get a general idea of what works for them, and a year to dial it in.

Same goes for training - you have to play around with different programs to find out what works for you - no one else can tell you program X is the best for you, you need to work it out. This takes longer than diet to really figure out, 2-3 years if you're smart about it and have a good mentor looking at your results to help you figure out what's really working.

With gear, you still see individual effects, but out of necessity the non-competing user must cycle once or twice a year at most, so it can take over a decade to get the essential experience with them all just for yourself. They take the longest time to fully understand, and are the most asked about as a direct result. Add their legal status and mystique into the equation, and they're the hot topic on the mind of every intermediate bodybuilder who's seeing their novice gains peter away.