Bodybuilding wisdom you've gained over the years

[b-boy]

hunter or brett themselves destroy their digestion, e.g. by not eating vegetables, so their body does not have the necessary amount of fiber to digest all these kcal and instead of fixing the problem, they only make it worse - then it is not surprising that they end their careers earlier because of such stupid behavior simply spoils their health

YES ^^^^

 

[fisther69]

A strong posterior chain(back, hams, glutes) makes all the other shit so much easier…can’t build a house on a shitty foundation

 

[Performance Based]

More of a human performance aspect.

1) Set realistic goals and have a road map to get there. Accept that you will get injured, delayed and life will happen. While working towards these goals do not fall from a baseline level of fitness you have established for yourself.

2) Listen to your body and actually have the ability to track and quantify your data. IE resting heart rate, REM sleep, Deep Sleep, HRV. If shit isn't looking good - figure out why and fix it. Take the day to recharge.

3) Sodium - dear god why did I ever listen to anyone ever say sodium was bad. High quality sodium and electrolytes. Now.. yes please. Later... yes please.

4) Promote longevity - Chase ridiculous feats, do not spend two years chasing them where they destroy your body.

5) Health is key - Do not abuse compounds, whether it is Ibuprofen or experimental peptides.

6) Physical therapy, mobility/joint mobilization work pay dividends. Spend more time here. Always.

7) Not attempting to offend here - do not try and be "bodybuilder" big. We all want to look a certain way, this will destroy your performance in all facets.

 

[fisther69]

More of a human performance aspect.

1) Set realistic goals and have a road map to get there. Accept that you will get injured, delayed and life will happen. While working towards these goals do not fall from a baseline level of fitness you have established for yourself.

2) Listen to your body and actually have the ability to track and quantify your data. IE resting heart rate, REM sleep, Deep Sleep, HRV. If shit isn't looking good - figure out why and fix it. Take the day to recharge.

3) Sodium - dear god why did I ever listen to anyone ever say sodium was bad. High quality sodium and electrolytes. Now.. yes please. Later... yes please.

4) Promote longevity - Chase ridiculous feats, do not spend two years chasing them where they destroy your body.

5) Health is key - Do not abuse compounds, whether it is Ibuprofen or experimental peptides.

6) Physical therapy, mobility/joint mobilization work pay dividends. Spend more time here. Always.

7) Not attempting to offend here - do not try and be "bodybuilder" big. We all want to look a certain way, this will destroy your performance in all facets.

We have never spoken, but we are like minded career wise.

With that being said, I feel another one could be added…be competitive, but don’t go overboard…

 

[Pheedno]

mobility - stability - strength
take care of your connective tissue as much as you mind your muscle

Individual but for organs/health forget the orals unless competition or sport specific

 

[pickapeck]

Vagina is nemesis.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

1. Your body is the best "guru" to listen to.
2. Eat real food for heavens sake.
3. For injuries, skip the drugs and do the req physical therapy. I cringe every time I see, "What drug protocol for torn/detached [insert bodypart]?"

 

[Biggerp73]

More of a human performance aspect.

1) Set realistic goals and have a road map to get there. Accept that you will get injured, delayed and life will happen. While working towards these goals do not fall from a baseline level of fitness you have established for yourself.

2) Listen to your body and actually have the ability to track and quantify your data. IE resting heart rate, REM sleep, Deep Sleep, HRV. If shit isn't looking good - figure out why and fix it. Take the day to recharge.

3) Sodium - dear god why did I ever listen to anyone ever say sodium was bad. High quality sodium and electrolytes. Now.. yes please. Later... yes please.

4) Promote longevity - Chase ridiculous feats, do not spend two years chasing them where they destroy your body.

5) Health is key - Do not abuse compounds, whether it is Ibuprofen or experimental peptides.

6) Physical therapy, mobility/joint mobilization work pay dividends. Spend more time here. Always.

7) Not attempting to offend here - do not try and be "bodybuilder" big. We all want to look a certain way, this will destroy your performance in all facets.

I like all of this but I don't want to accept #7

 

[Sixfoottwo]

1. You're still fat, stop thinking it's time for a rebound. Last cut I got legit lean tho.

2. Eat your veggies, don't think it "takes up too much space".

3. Just use the AAS you handle well, not the stuff you'd like to be able to handle.

Something about cardio and it not hindering any gains and it being worth the extra 10 to 20 minutes but I haven't really figured this out yet

 

[alfresco]

1. Sooner or later you will have to think more about your health, or there will not be a later in life.

2. Don't believe someone who is selling you products who have their own studies and not outside unbiased studies that are not selling that product.

3. BigA nailed it, it is about consistency.

4. There is no secret steroid cycle from Pros. Some just take bigger amounts plus genetics. Stop looking for that magic unicorn.

5. If it isn't broke, no need to fix it.

6. Test works, with GH better, include insulin to that and the best combination. If you don't compete, take the minimum amount to grow, eat good and train harder.

7. Too many people believe gurus and not listen to what has been working for them. Question something that doesn't sound right, I don't care what name they have.

8. Everyone is a guru or personal trainer on social media nowadays. Only 5% actually know what they are doing.

9. Most people don't track calories and macros and wonder why they don't grow. I can tell you what I ate a few years ago. Apps make that easy and takes little time. Don't guess at what you eat.

10. MODs don't have boring lives, lash out in anger and take their problems out on you, nor do we hate people. We are honor to have this position and just want everyone to get along. We are actually good guys.

 

[alfresco]

Everything else being equal . . .

When in doubt, train less.

 

[qbkilla]

2 things I read I agree with 100 percent

1. yes to real physical therapy to heal injuries. there is no little bottle of peptides that is going to heal a muscle strain, tear, tendon strain, or tear etc. "what peptide for my sore shoulder??" Placebo is great.

2. I agree a grown man who trains hard should be hungry. Maybe not hungry for chicken and broccoli 10x a day but there should be foods you WANT to eat. if your grinding up your food or dreading meals either your on some meds you might want to reconsider that mess with your digestion, you may be eating too much (overeating, insulin sensitivity is low) and too fat, or your making poor food choices. if you only eat dry chicken breast 4k might seem like alot, if your getting good fats and carbs and some tasty food thats 2 meals.

 

[alfresco]

2 things I read I agree with 100 percent

1. yes to real physical therapy to heal injuries. there is no little bottle of peptides that is going to heal a muscle strain, tear, tendon strain, or tear etc. "what peptide for my sore shoulder??" Placebo is great.

2. I agree a grown man who trains hard should be hungry. Maybe not hungry for chicken and broccoli 10x a day but there should be foods you WANT to eat. if your grinding up your food or dreading meals either your on some meds you might want to reconsider that mess with your digestion, you may be eating too much (overeating, insulin sensitivity is low) and too fat, or your making poor food choices. if you only eat dry chicken breast 4k might seem like alot, if your getting good fats and carbs and some tasty food thats 2 meals.

I agree in part, 1st part, yes. 2nd part, partially. because . . . most people
do not know what true hunger is. A little twinge that says I am hungry,
I could or should eat vs I am so hungry I could eat the asshole out of a
dead maggoty skunk. Now that is hungry and when it is time to eat and it
does not matter how many times a day. Just don't get fat.

Otherwise it is habitual over eating that could in fact have a detrimental effect.
Just wait . . .

 

[carbs]

I learnt there's way more important things in life than muscles and steroids...

Wish I knew this when I was young and used my time, money and energy on other things.

 

[D2]

as 1 grow older, better to use more dumbbells n cables exercises. And avoid extremely low reps.

 

[xpoc]

Everything about bodybuilding is a facade, smoke and mirrors. What you SEE is often times the opposite of what it is. When I first started lifting in 1984 I wanted to be big and strong like the bodybuilders at my local gym. I figured they would be impossible to beat in a fight. They could hit a baseball further than a MLB player. They could tackle harder than an NFL linebacker. They were super healthy and would live forever. What I learned was it is simply a lot of work for cosmetics, presenting a false image of all I was drawn to in the first place...like a Hollywood movie studio. But the backlot tells the true story. I have seen so many bodybuilders (friends) get knocked out by seemingly out of shape guys who are simply more skilled in fighting. I have seen many bodybuilders absolutely look embarrasing in sports (which is why many guys get into bodybuilding to being with). And, finally I have seen many bodybuilders including friends crippled or die at a young age due to the price it pays to be huge.

At the same time, I still love it because I control my destiny. I LIKE looking good for a 50+ year old. And I assess my risk/rewards of the bodybuilding lifestyle. I won't take risks that others might take...and as a result I am not huge. So instead, I prioritize minimalizing the risks, while still looking for little victories. In my eyes, bodybuilding is a marathon, not a sprint. I would rather look "good" for 4-5 decades and live a long "healthy" life instead of looking "amazing" for a few years and paying the price later. But, if someone wants to be the BEST, I am cool with that too and it is inspiring to see them take those risks I am unwilling to do so. Ultimately bodybuilding is awesome because it can be adapted to whatever you prioritize.

 

[Tomgrass]

When you think you are in a good shape somebody will show you that you are wrong….

 

[FK86]

When you think you are in a good shape somebody will show you that you are wrong….

Absolutely.

To be honest, these days my HIIT cardio motivates me more than my weight workouts. The progress is so much more rapid and translates into better overall fitness. I am the only one that does true HIIT at my gym (at least at the time I go). I use the Life Fitness recumbent bike and do eight 15-second intervals. When I first started, my intervals were at resistance level 15 and my rest periods were at resistance level 10. I needed two full minutes in between them. Pathetic. Now I can do resistance level 25 (the highest the machine will go) with rest periods still done at level 10 and I only rest 45 seconds.

I'm of the belief that a true HIIT interval is between 10-20 seconds. If you can go longer you're either not pushing yourself or your physical and cardiovascular fitness has transcended that time frame. It's still hard work, but it's no longer HIIT. When I'm able to do 25-second, 30-second etc intervals, they're going to suck, but my fitness will have exceeded that HIIT window. I won't really care though because I'll feel like a machine.

 

[TeaMan]

I might not be the most advance one on this forum, but one biggest thing i lear is > stop making constant changes, and stick with one approach for a long time to figure out it's good or bad for you, even if you get "better idea" every two hours. That shit give me more, then any steroid, peptide or training plan i ever used. And i learn it from working with my former coach over the years. Thats gold and im gonna be gratefull for that to the rest of my life.

 

[qbkilla]

One thing I've learned, figure out the things that matter and spend your time focusing on them.

Some examples..

I used to read online about the optimum pre workout shake, meal, supplements. None of that matters. I should have been focusing on form, delts.. triceps, some areas if your not genetically gifted heavy weight isn't enough you need to properly stimulate the muscle.

How many people spent countless hours on datbtrue forum a lawyer from Arizona who was talking about peptides for growth, healing, longevity to sell" pharmacy grade" aka Chinese as "tom" when they don't count calories, train with intensity, or get 8 hours sleep?

The things that matter are the same things they mattered in 1995. When "optimizing" focus on the things that matter not every next best thing that you read about online.