Comment by matwood | Hacker News Reader

Comment by matwood | Hacker News Reader

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Learning the minute details of weight training, nutrition, and other (important!) subjects is for marginal gains on top of a base level of fitness which the majority of the population lacks.

This point cannot be stressed enough! I've been strength training for years and have seen way to many people over think what needs to be done. Friends who just start working out come to me with questions like 'what if I miss a rep on my workout' or 'should I use avocado oil instead of olive oil'? Huh? It's not that complicated. In fact it's quite simple.

Learn enough to do the basic exercises safely and then...GO DO THEM! When you can do them with a certain weight, add more weight. Repeat. As an aside, a close second to the first point is to log everything. It's hard to improve if you're not measuring.

The problem is the same one that comes up with diets. People are looking for an easier solution when there simply isn't one. The person who gets to the gym and busts their ass a few times/week will be way ahead than the guy stuck sitting on his computer researching the best way to do finger curls[1].

[1] And another pet peeve. Skinny guys doing 20 sets of curls. Please go buy a book like mentioned above and just follow a workout from it. If you're doing enough pulling like you should, curls can usually be skipped all together.

I highly endorse the above. Most people fall into the same trap as careless developers trying to optimize a program: they focus on what is easy, instead of what will make the largest difference.

I would only modify one your post in one way:

    < As an aside, a close second to the first point is to log everything.
    > As an aside, a close second to the first point is to LOG EVERYTHING.

As a minor addition, after you have engaged in the "GO DO THEM" and the "LOG EVERYTHING" part for a while, you'll notice when you reach a plateau. This is the time when asking for help/interneting/optimizing is helpful. Usually I'm not eating enough, your mistakes may vary.

One more tip: most of the big guys at the gym are friendly. If one of them asks to work in, let him, and ask him to watch your form during your sets.

One more tip: most of the big guys at the gym are friendly. If one of them asks to work in, let him, and ask him to watch your form during your sets.

Most people at the gym are either itimidated by, or presume that the biggest, buff guys are the most unfriendly.

The fact of the matter is, they have put a lot of time and effort into something they enjoy or are good at and are more than willing to help out with advice.

If you feel you're doing something wrong, or not sure .. just go and ask.

But be aware that lots of people at the gyms (especially including employees) are doing the exercises with bad form, or concentrate on the wrong things (i.e. endless curls, and you almost never see squats).

Get a book like `Starting Strength'. Then talk to the guys in the gym. There are generally helpful---but it's useful to have non-bullshit source to compare their suggestions with.

Good point, results do tend to speak for themselves .. a guy with pins for legs and gorilla arms obviously wouldn't be a good starting point for squat technique

Yes. And some people may take steroids, so they get strong without needing much proper stimulus.

I don't think this is true. My understanding is that steroids speed up your recovery phase - you can work out 7 days/week (and make commensurate gains) instead of simply 3 days + 4 recovery days.

They certainly don't prevent you from destroying your back during a deadlift with poor form.

What about the stuff that makes cows gets muscles while just standing in the stables?

You are correct. Steroids allow the user to work harder and more often.

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