PQ: Da Bullpen Muscle Building for Beginners
PQ:
Da Bullpen
By George “Da Bull” Peterson III
Muscle Building for Beginners
Q: George, I am 15 and have been training for just over a year now. What is this best training and nutrition advice you could give to someone that is my age?
A: I was a full 10 years older than you when I started, but I can definitely relate to being a beginner and trying to find the right information. The best investment I made in terms of training knowledge was a copy of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. It’s well over 700 pages and has photos showing you how to properly do hundreds of exercises.
As far as eating, all your meals should consist of a protein, a carbohydrate, and a vegetable. You want to eat a complete meal like this five times a day, about every three hours the whole time you’re awake. You should measure out your portions so you can make adjustments up or down depending on your results. For instance, start out with 5 ounces of protein, 6 ounces of carbs, and a cup of veggies. If you’re not gaining any weight, increase by an ounce each for protein and carbs, and so on. Pay attention to which foods your body seems to digest well, and which foods give you an upset stomach or seem to sit in your belly for hours and hours.
Take your time and be patient. I know at 15 you want to see results very quickly, but understand your body still has so much maturing left to do. Build a nice, solid foundation of size and strength. Be sure to warm up, use good form, and avoid “stunt lifting” that can get you injured. You want to be training and gaining for many more years!
Finally, be on the lookout for people who can help you. When I first started out, I met someone who helped me get to another level. Then I met someone who helped me get beyond that, and so on. It’s you building your own body, but remember there are many others who have knowledge and experience to pass on to you that can help you avoid making mistakes and make faster progress.
Olympia Training Split
Q: What was your training split while getting ready for the Olympia? Are you hitting weights twice a day now?
A: No. I’ve never done two weight-training sessions per day. I train once a day, almost always in the afternoon. My current training split is:
Sunday: Chest
Monday: Active rest: calves, abs and cardio
Tuesday: Shoulders
Wednesday: Back
Thursday: Active rest: cardio
Friday: Arms
Saturday: Legs
Other than calves, I hit every body part just once a week. My coach Justin and I are both huge advocates for rest and recovery as being crucial to muscle growth. Working a muscle too often leads to overtraining, and you can actually end up losing muscle mass over time. This schedule has worked very well for me as I have consistently added quality muscle year after year.
Tattoos and Bodybuilding
Q: What do you think of tattoos and bodybuilding? Other than having them on the forearms, where a lot of pros seem to get them, do you think that it can hide the deep details in the muscle when on stage in other areas of the body?
A: It all depends. I’ve seen some guys with full back pieces that did take away detail in their rear poses. It’s not too bad if the tattoos aren’t too big. I have a few tattoos on my shoulders and on the outside of my arms. They’re small and hard to notice. But if you have a big eagle flying across your chest or your back, that can be distracting and take away from the lines and flow of your physique. If you plan on competing, especially if you aspire to be a pro, I would take it easy on the ink and restrict them to the arms and shoulders. I can’t leave out the factor that your skin tone/complexion plays in all this. Obviously, I have dark skin and my tattoos are black ink. Once I have a couple of coats of Pro Tan on, you can’t even see them at all. If you’re very light-skinned, all your tattoos are going to stand out that much more, even when you have your stage color on.
Lagging Delts? Hit All 3 Heads
Q: My delts are really lagging; any ideas for what I should be doing?
A: Make sure you’re hitting all three heads of the muscle in every workout – the front, sides, and rear deltoids. A typical shoulder workout for me is seated dumbbell presses, dumbbell lateral raises, dumbbell rear laterals, shrugs, and upright rows. That routine covers all three heads, so try that. Use good form and strive to feel the individual heads of the deltoids working with every rep rather than just throwing weights around. Also, with any lagging body part, you might want to consider having your high-calorie day or cheat meal on the day you train it. If you’re going to have Five Guys or whatever, make sure all those calories are going to good use!
Ronnie: Most Inspirational Olympia Champion
Q: Of all the great Olympia champions, who inspired you the most and why?
A: I’d have to say Ronnie Coleman. When he won his first Olympia title in 1998, I was like wow, look at this guy! I’d never seen a human being with that level of extreme development. The first video I saw was him winning, and then I started watching his training videos. I knew I would never lift as much weight as he did, but it was still so motivating to watch. It hypes you up!
Online coaching info at http://www.dabullcoaching.com
Redcon1 Stack
Upon Waking
Double Tap powder, 1 scoop
With Breakfast
GI Juice, 1 scoop
Pre-workout
Total War, Big Noise and MOAB all together, 1 scoop each
Post-workout
Breach
2 scoops
Middle of the Day
Double Tap caps, 3 capsules
Evening
Silencer, 3 capsules
Before Bed
Fade Out, 1 scoop
For more information, visit redcon1.com
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