Originally Posted by BigWSLosAngeles
Advice please?
I am a newb too, so take my advice for what it is worth.
I have experienced modest gains, but I will not report them here until my one month anniversary.
I believe that growth is a combination of genetics, intensity, duration, rest, nutrition.
Genetics - Expect fairly substantial range but low overall variance. This means that there will be freaks, and there will be extreme hard gainers, but most people will have about the same capacity to change. Hypothetically, everyone can experience some gains.
Intensity - Without sufficient force and pressure, the body will not respond to external stimuli.
Duration - Without sufficient duration of intensity, micro gains will be lost to the tendency for “tissue memory” (for lack of a better term)
Rest - Cell repair requires rest
Nutrition - There most be an appropriate chemical balance and plenty of available calories and nutrients.
I hypothesize that the greatest variance in reported gains would be attributable to Intensity and Duration (having to assume that most people are similar on the other three).
So, I think part of being a newbie is finding the appropriate levels of intensity and duration to trigger change, and continually increasing one or the other over time to assure continued change. My quest is to gradually experiment with myself to provide enough stimulus to change without actually causing irreversible damage.
The “newbie routine” looks safer and safer the more I do this. However, I think you have to keep pushing yourself, but VERY gradually and listen to your body.