Weight Training Tips - Training, Diet & Supplements!

Welcome to the weight training tips section! I am constantly updating this section with new tips on weight training, diets for growth and fat loss, supplements and motivation.

Let’s make this the biggest list of weight training tips online, if you know any good tips that I haven’t mentioned here leave them in the comments at the bottom of this page and I’ll add them and credit you. Thanks!

Quick jump to sub-sections of this page:

• Weight training tips
• Diet/nutrition tips
• Fat loss tips
• Supplement tips
• Motivation tips

Weight training tips:

1. As a general rule, always do compound exercises before isolation exercises. Compound exercises are the big muscle builders, and always require much more energy than isolation exercises. Hit the big exercises at the start of your workout, then move onto smaller isolations.
2. Big movements build muscle. You should always do bench pressing, squats, deadlifts, pullups, rows, shoulder press and curls is you want to get big. Think of these as the exercise “staples”.
3. Building muscle is not all about moving as much weight as possible. It’s about stressing the muscle. You should always lift slowly, with controlled technique. Stretch the muscle at the bottom of the movement and squeeze the muscle at the top!
4. You have to squat! Squatting is the biggest muscle building exercise there is, and not just for legs! Squatting involves so many muscles and is so taxing on the body that it forces the body to release growth hormone. This effects all muscle growth, not just the legs.
5. Aim to improve at least one aspect of your workout from the previous week. It could be a few extra reps, a bit more weight, whatever. Just keep moving forward!
6. Don’t over train! Less is more, you need time to rest. Never work a muscle group if it’s still sore from the previous workout.
7. A training log is your ultimate training partner!
8. Always plan your workouts. Know what you’re going to do before you walk into the gym. Plan the workout in your head, think about what you want to do, what you want to achieve out of the workout. Then go in with intensity!
9. Prioritize your training to bring up lagging body parts. Know what areas you need to improve, and make them the main focus of your training.
10. Pick a workout that suits your goals, then stick to it until you are no longer getting stronger or bigger. Don’t change your workout every time you hear of a new training technique or plan!
11. Always train the weaker side of the body first. Most people have a weaker side, usually the left. If you’re doing single arm exercises always hit the weakest first.
12. Don’t “lock out” at the top of movements. Always stop just before the joint lock out, this keeps the stress on the muscle and makes it work harder! This is especially important in squats and bench pressing.
13. For hypertrophy (muscle growth), keep your rest times between sets to between 45 and 90 seconds. For endurance, rest shorter than this, and for strength (1-6 reps) rest longer than this.
14. Be consistent! Consistency is crucial to getting bigger and stronger. Like I said before, know your training, know your goals and focus on achieving them. Don’t take short cuts, don’t skip workouts, stay on track.
15. Most gyms play rubbish music. You know what music fires you up, what you want to work out to. Buy an mp3 player and use it for every workout. It also helps you zone in by blocking out other distractions like other people talking etc.

Muscle building/weight gain diet tips:

1. Top tip for bodybuilding dieting is - learn your diet! When you first start your muscle building diet plan you need to learn everything about the food you’re eating. I mean everything. How many calories, how much carbs, protein and fats in every food group. The more you learn about food the easier it will be to plan your diet, both for growth and fat loss. It’s a good idea to pick up one of those little books that has the calorie content of foods, makes planning meals much easier.
2. Healthy first, tasty second. Treat your meals like fuel for your body. You should control exactly what goes in and when. Take control of your diet!
3. Getting the calories you need to build muscle can be tough, especially if you work long hours. On a Sunday afternoon spend a few hours preparing your food and refrigerate/freeze individual portions which you can quickly heat up and serve.
4. Keep hydrated. Dehydration can lead to a whole array of health problems, from kidney stones to headaches. Divide your bodyweight in kilograms by 30 and that will give you an idea of how much water you should get daily. For example, a 90kg man should drink 3l of water ever day.
5. Essential fats are essential for bodybuilding. You should be getting a good balance of omega-3, omega-6 and omega-9. Products like Udo’s oil can give you a perfect balance of essential oils. For more information see the role of essential fats in bodybuilding.
6. One of the most basic tips for bodybuilding diets is eating frequently. You should aim to eat every 2-3 hours. Spread your calories out evenly throughout the day.
7. Buy in bulk to save cash! Loads of products can be bought in bulk and usually at much cheaper prices than in your local supermarket. Some examples are chicken, rice, ground beef, pasta and eggs.
8. Eat loads of complex carbohydrates. You should be eating complex carbs with every meal except for your post workout shake. Complex carbs provide you with the long lasting energy you need to train hard. Good sources of complex carbs are brown rice, potatoes, pasta, wholemeal bread, oats etc.
9. Plan your snacks. Common snack like chocolate or potato chips have little to no nutritional value. Plan your snacks by having the right foods available to munch on. Also keep a few choc protein bars laying around to kill those chocolate cravings.
10. As you increase your weight you need to increase your calories! Add around 100 calories for every 1-2 pounds of weight gain. This varies from person to person, if you’re not gaining weight add calories until you start growing again.
11. Eat a good well rounded meal containing plenty of protein and complex carbohydrates about 1.5 hours before your workout. You can supplement this with a small pre-workout meal or pre-workout supplement closer to your workout. But most of your energy is going to come from this meal so it’s very important.

Fat loss tips:

1. It’s important to lose fat and not weight. Cutting your daily calories by too much tells your body that there is a “famine” happening. The body’s first reaction is to try and store fat making it much more likely that you will burn muscle not fat.
2. Research has shown that low intensity exercise done first thing in the morning before breakfast is a great way to burn fat. The exercise must be low intensity though, high intensity exercise is more likely to burn muscle and now fat!
3. Taking caffeine before a workout has been shown to improve fat burning by releasing more fat out of cells when compared with regular training.
4. You are much more likely to burn actual fat after your weight training workout. This is because the body’s first fuel source (glycogen) has been almost completely depleted when you’re weight training. With glycogen depleted, the body is much more likely to use fat as a fuel source.
5. If you’re taking supplements that contain caffeine for fat loss, make sure you cycle them. Too long on large amounts of caffeine can make your body dependent on it.

Supplements tips:

1. Take meal replacement shakes to work with you. Instead of having a snack, have a meal replacement shake that gives you more calories, more protein, more amino acids and more carbohydrates per serve.
2. Always read reviews on the supplements you want to try. I always research before I buy, the web is a good place to get people’s opinions. You can read user reviews on sites like this one or you can read my supplement reviews in this category.
3. Your post workout shake is so important! Check out my post, the best post workout shake for exactly what to put in your post workout shake.
4. Drink a whey protein shake with around 40g of protein as soon as you wake up in the morning. After a good nights sleep your body has used all available protein and amino acids, having a whey shake with water will get more nutrients into the body as quickly as possible.
5. If you have a skinny build, use weight gain supplements. Good weight gainers give you a huge boost of calories, as well as essential ingredients for muscle growth like protein, glutamine and amino acids.
6. Use dextrose in your post workout shake. Dextrose is the simplest of simple carbs and will give you the best possible insulin spike. Nothing else compares.
7. When testing new supplements make sure that you create a good test environment by not changing your diet/training and only testing one supplement at a time. This is the best way to see if supplements are working for you.
8. If you’re over 30 there’s a good change you’ll benefit from testosterone booster as once we hit about 30 testosterone production in the body starts to slow down.
9. To avoid dehydration, drink plenty of water when supplementing with creatine.
10. Creatine should always been taking with either dextrose or grape juice.

Motivation tips:

1. Always take before and after photos. Photos are a great way to see how you are changing your body. Even small change are usually easy to pick up in photos. Then when you look back to old photos (more than a year for example), you’ll see the huge changes!
2. Mentally prepare for every workout. Think about what you want to get out of it, what goals your have. Know what you’re going to do before you step foot in the gym. Focus on your goal for the workout.
3. Set yourself small achievable goals that you can hit every week or two. Hitting goals is an instant motivator. Don’t set yourself unrealistic goals.
4. Keep a training diary which details every workout, every rep you lift. You can use this to look back at how much stronger you have become and work out weak areas you need to improve.
5. Get involved on the web with others that are trying to do the same as you. Forums like Muscle and Strength’s Natural bodybuilding forum are great places to chat to people who are experienced lifters who can really educate you. They’re also a good place to meet some people and talk about muscle and fitness!
6. Get fired up for your workouts by watching bodybuilding videos. There are plenty of training videos online that can easily get you fired up to train!
7. Get down to natural bodybuilding competitions & fitness shows. Nothing gets you motivated like seeing what some guys can achieve naturally. Some of the natural guys kicking around today have amazing physique.

If you have any more tips leave them in the comments below! Thanks!