10 Things Beginner Lifters Need to Know

_benjammin

Nice post by Bret Contreras:
http://bretcontreras.com/10-things-beginning-lifters-know/
Cliffs:
1. The Exercises Become Easier Over Time
2. Sweating is Overrated
3. Soreness is Overrated
4. Cardio is Overrated
5. Strength is Underrated
6. Consistency is the Name of the Game
7. Neural Improvements Precede Hypertrophic Improvements
8. Hypertrophy is Your Friend
9. You Can’t Out-Train a Crummy Diet
10. Suffering and Progress Aren’t Linearly Correlated

Titanuim

Great article. I am a huge Bret Contreras fan.

I think the title is a bit misleading though, as it is not just for beginners and a good reminder for those that have been lifting for a while.

JoRocka

Nice post by Bret Contreras:
http://bretcontreras.com/10-things-beginning-lifters-know/
Cliffs:
1. The Exercises Become Easier Over Time false
2. Sweating is Overrated true
3. Soreness is Overrated true
4. Cardio is Overrated true
5. Strength is Underrated true
6. Consistency is the Name of the Game true
7. Neural Improvements Precede Hypertrophic Improvements true
8. Hypertrophy is Your Friend meh
9. You Can’t Out-Train a Crummy Diet true-ish
10. Suffering and Progress Aren’t Linearly Correlated true

not to shabby.

monolith66

Number 6 is especially important, imo.

_benjammin

Nice post by Bret Contreras:
http://bretcontreras.com/10-things-beginning-lifters-know/
Cliffs:
1. The Exercises Become Easier Over Time false
...

not to shabby.

In the context of a true beginner I think it's true.
As detailed in the post:
Starting out, nothing seems to feel natural. Asymmetries are abound, rhythm is lacking, and coordination is terrible. This is especially true for compound, multi-joint lifts. Maintaining good mechanical form is incredibly difficult, especially as load and effort increase. The ability to contract certain muscles or feel certain muscles working during movements can be challenging at first, and cues like, “stay tight” don’t seem to make much sense early on. Going to failure leads to terrible break-down in form, as does performing anything heavier than a 5RM. Don’t worry, this all changes over time.

The good news is that every single training session, you’ll be rapidly increasing your stability and coordination. Every week, the lifts feel more and more natural. In 2-3 months, most of the lifts will feel right, and in a year, you’ll feel quite confident in your form and exercise competency. You’ll be able to get much more out of heavy lifting, and you’ll be able to hold much better form when taking a set close to failure. Make sure you consistently use strict form – your nervous system will be grooving motor programs so they become roughly automatic, and you want these memorized motor patterns to be solid.

But, a heavy squat or DL never gets easy.

marwanoci

need to know something if you can help
i just start my app yesterday , and today i burned about 840 cal so he added more cal to my daily cal goal !!!!!
my daily cal is 1200 and he added the 840 extra ... can anybody tell how it work if i should follow the app and eat more or going on with my 1200 cal per day !!!
thankssssssssssssssss

msf74

Re: 1 I think the point was not the effort becomes easier but rather the ability / techniques needed to execute the effort becomes easier over time.

Clearly to progress you need to expose your body to greater level of stress than it was accustomed to previously so that never becomes "easier."

I thought it was a reasonable article for its intended audience.

TAsunder

I had the most success when the routine was changed every couple of weeks. The gym I went to believed this was important because progress drops off once your body acclimates to a particular movement. Not sure if that's what they meant by consistency.

JoRocka

Re: 1 I think the point was not the effort becomes easier but rather the ability / techniques needed to execute the effort becomes easier over time.

Clearly to progress you need to expose your body to greater level of stress than it was accustomed to previously so that never becomes "easier."

I thought it was a reasonable article for its intended audience.

yes- this. precisely my thought- only I was not well caffeinated. so you win.

msf74

Re: 1 I think the point was not the effort becomes easier but rather the ability / techniques needed to execute the effort becomes easier over time.

Clearly to progress you need to expose your body to greater level of stress than it was accustomed to previously so that never becomes "easier."

I thought it was a reasonable article for its intended audience.

yes- this. precisely my thought- only I was not well caffeinated. so you win.

Lol. It is the afternoon over here and I was well past my 2nd Americano when I wrote that post so let's call it a draw

BarbellApprentice

Thanks for posting this, Ben.

osothefinn

need to know something if you can help
i just start my app yesterday , and today i burned about 840 cal so he added more cal to my daily cal goal !!!!!
my daily cal is 1200 and he added the 840 extra ... can anybody tell how it work if i should follow the app and eat more or going on with my 1200 cal per day !!!
thankssssssssssssssss

Did you run for a couple hours? Otherwise I'm skeptical of an 840 calorie burn.

_benjammin

Happy new year bump.