Thursday, October 25, 2012

Getting Huge 101



Guys all want to get big and shredded. Girls all want to get leaned and toned. But how do we start?


Defining Your Goals

Most beginners to the fitness world have one of three goals - they want to stop being fat, they want to stop being skinny, or they want to "tone up". All of these goals are achieved the same way - by losing fat and building muscle. The only difference between these three goals is the degree to which each applies. Improving the way you look is 80% about diet. To lose fat, gain muscle, or "tone up", you have to eat correctly. This should be your first priority and your only priority for a period of time. Getting your diet in check is that important.
A quick note about the term "toning". Toning is just a matter of losing fat and building muscle. Fat does not "turn into" muscle - fat is lost, and muscle is gained. Additionally, losing 3lbs of fat is done in exactly the same way as losing 30lbs of fat. Building 3lbs of muscle is done in exactly the same way as building 30lbs of muscle. It's just a matter of degrees. So for those looking to "tone" - be aware that you actually have two goals: to lose a small amount of fat and gain a small amount of muscle.

Fixing your Diet

"Fixing your diet" means being conscious of what you eat, and how much you eat. The best way to do this is to track your calories for a few weeks - using a calorie tracking application or pen and paper. After you get a handle on what you are eating, it's time to figure out how much you should be eating. To do this, we need to figure out your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, or TDEE (see here or here), and adjust it based on whether or not your goal is to gain muscle or lose fat. If you wish to gain muscle, eat over your TDEE. If you want to lose fat, eat under your TDEE. The more you go over or under (within reason), the faster you will see results. It is, however, a better idea to remain conservative and stay within 500 calories above or below.
Remember: it took you a long time to get in the state you're in; it will take a long time to get out of it. Don't rush it.
In terms of what foods you should and should not eat, calories matter more than specific foods.

Adding Exercise

Once the diet is in check, and you can eat properly, it's time to add exercise into the mix. What type of exercise you choose depends on your goals and what you like to do with your free time. The most important thing is that you find something that you either like doing, or really want to do. You don't need to choose a certain type of exercise because it's what you feel you're supposed to do. There are many choices. If you find something boring, then try something else!
As a beginner, the most important thing you can do is leverage someone else's knowledge to learn how to exercise properly. To do this, use a plan that a professional has created for beginners, not one you created yourself. You wouldn't work on your own car, why try to work on your own body in the same manner?
Exercise can roughly be broken down into three categories:
If you still need help selecting an exercise program, try the program picker website. It has collected all the standard information we have in this FAQ, reduced the number of questions to a bare minimum, and recommends the best program for you to meet your fitness goals.

Source has been redirected from Reddit.com 
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