another newbie..

N

namemattersnot

New Member
Re,
Right away I would like to apologize if some of my questions overlap with those addressed in the FAQ (I did read it but still am confused about certain things).
I am 6"2 and weigh 165 pounds, so I can be classified as "ectomorph" yet in appearance I do not look that "skinny". I live a sedentary life and haven't been to the gym for the past N years.
I bought "Volumass 35" (35g protein, 2.5g creatine, 0.5g taurine, 10g BCAA and 8g Glutamine) and Creatine Monohydrtate to facilitate my diet, training and weight gain.
Thanks to the web site, I fugred out my diet but.. got stuck when figuring out the excercise program. I decided to do HTS instead of BFL and other "popular" programs.
So, my questions are as follows (unfrotunately where I live there is no one to help me out, hence I resort to seeking advice from on-line resources):
1) Since I haven't been very active starting excercising will hurt a great deal the next day. Recalling my last visit to the gym, I required a week of recuperating due to overexerise. How do I "safely" start and how does this start tie in with the HTS program?
2) Should I start taking creatine right away with the whey protein supplement (it also has 2.5 creatine per serving)?
3) How would I determine my max load for the first day of the first week and what if I can't increase it by 5% the second day?
4) After the second week and starting with 10 reps, what is the optimal formula to calculate the amount I should lift (is is the 2nd week end amount - 10% with 5% increase each other day?)
5) Some people say that excercising 3 times a week will not bring any results compared to going to the gym 5 times a week and excercising 1 mussle (or group of mussles) 1 day a week.
How true is this statement?
6) It was mentioned that there are big and small mussles. Could someone please tell me which ones are big/strong (hence where I should apply more weight) and which ones are small/weak?
7) When and should I start taking "tribulus"? A store salesman tried selling it to me but I decided to wait and see what people advise.

That's about it. I apologize if some of these questions were addressed before, I just couldn't find an answer.
Thank you in advance! I'll be a happy camper if this program adds few pounds to my lean "greek statue-like" body.
 
If you do HST as indicated, the soreness should not be debilitating. Your body will quickly become acclimated to the exercise and soreness will never be as bad as when you began.

Bear in mind that the sensation of soreness in muscles (DOMS, the good kind of sore) is a neural sensitivity to chemicals released by the muscles after exercise. It is not an indicator that you can not work those muscles again. In fact, more exercise is one of the best treatments for severe DOMS (it flushes the muscle with fresh blood.)

So don't let soreness stop you from going back in two days; work through it. In the near future, you'll find you hardly get sore at all. (You will still have the tightness, warmness, and slight size increase after exercise, but you will not perceive it as painful once your nerve endings are accustomed to elevated levels.)

This is not to be confused with the pain caused by an injury!
 
to answer some of your other points:

>>2) Should I start taking creatine right away with the whey protein supplement (it also has 2.5 creatine per serving)?

the usual dose is 5g/day, some people take several doses per day teh first week to reach saturation quicker.

>>6) It was mentioned that there are big and small mussles. Could someone please tell me which ones are big/strong (hence where I should apply more weight) and which ones are small/weak?

the size of the muscle just affects how much weight you can use for exersices that depend on it; using the HST rep scheme will take care of this.

>>7) When and should I start taking "tribulus"? A store salesman tried selling it to me but I decided to wait and see what people advise.

never; it is worthless IMO. the only supps i would recomend would be creatine, fish oil and a multivitamin. (& protein)
 
"1) Since I haven't been very active starting excercising will hurt a great deal the next day. Recalling my last visit to the gym, I required a week of recuperating due to overexerise. How do I "safely" start and how does this start tie in with the HTS program?"
AND
"3) How would I determine my max load for the first day of the first week and what if I can't increase it by 5% the second day?"
AND
"4) After the second week and starting with 10 reps, what is the optimal formula to calculate the amount I should lift (is is the 2nd week end amount - 10% with 5% increase each other day?)"
This is probably the best program I've ever seen for beginners, and I've seen and done them all. To start with HST, you basically do one workout that's all about figuring out how much you can lift in each exercise for 15 reps, 10 reps, and 5 reps. So it's just guessing and trial and error until you know, and write those down. Then you take an SD- which is just a long break- for 1 to 2 weeks. After that, you start the first cycle of 15s. But that first workout will be at a much lower weight than you could lift, which also ensures you will be able to add weight, so soreness won't be a problem at all until much later on in the cycle. On week 3, starting on 10s, you go back to what you wrote down at that first "trial" workout for your 10 Rep Max. Each cycle starts far below what the Rep Max is and builds up to it. If you could do Bench Press 10 times with 80 lbs., you subtract roughly 5 lbs. for each workout moving backwards. So that last workout of 10 reps would be 80 and the one before that would be 75, all the way back to the first one, which would be 55 lbs.
"5) Some people say that excercising 3 times a week will not bring any results compared to going to the gym 5 times a week and excercising 1 mussle (or group of mussles) 1 day a week.
How true is this statement?"
First you need to know there are a million variations and opinions, and again, I've tried them all. As I said before here, this is the best program I've seen for beginners, and this site has a million good people who will eventually answer any question you ever had about exercise. So I say try this program and come back here whenever you have questions. And don't worry about anything others tell you until you know for yourself.
And don't waste money on supplements until you learn more about them- those salespeople are there to make money. Just eat right and worry about that later. :)
 
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