Disclaimer: I still count myself as a beginner. Barely have five-six months of experience under my belt. Decided to join the discussion here a few days ago after I found out the existence of this subforum.

So let's talk about beginners, and being one. We were all there at that point. I suppose I don't exactly have a main argument except a few things that I found online that were interesting. I want to also share my experience so far as I've been lifting. Maybe you guys can address the below points, or maybe share your experience as beginner?

Questions:

For example, why do trainers (Jason Blaha, in particular) stress that beginners should find a programme, stick with it, and don't mess anything (Add isos, change sets, reps etc.). I understand that the number of reps and sets change the workload on your muscle and hence affects whether the fibres strengthen or the muscles "pump" (Correct me if I'm wrong), but why the extreme rigidity? Is overworking a serious problem?

Another thing that I don't particularly understand is why the notion against "brosplits" aka the random choice of exercises to work separate muscle groups according to muscle group days. I mean, is there a real issue behind brosplits? This "programme" seems to be under a lot of fire from Reddit, Bodybuilding, etc.

Experience:

With that, I wanna talk about my experience. I've always wanted to lift (Since I was 16 lol), but I didn't have access to a gym due to me being in a boarding school. It was only when I was 19 I realised there were two pay-per-entry gyms around my area (Subang), then I told myself that unlike the previous years, I really don't have an excuse this time. So I've been an active lifter since. Started with brosplits (Shoot me) with no clear aim, then started StrongLifts a month back, today I'm switching to ICF 5x5 as it's a more wholesome programme with good volume distribution. I've set my goal to strength for now. Don't really know why, but maybe because I believe that strength is the basis for bodybuilding. Could be wrong.

Since I'm situated in a boarding prep college, my friends and I set up a home gym with a barbell and a few dumbbells. Kind of maxing out on the weights we have already, so I'm planning to go to the college gym. When I'm home, I go to either Blitz or War3house. I'll be a more frequent War3house goer, because they have more bars. Also signed up to a Celebrity Fitness gym that's opening in Mid-June.

Also, I've met a bunch of guys along the way. There was this dude who was really helpful when I started, and taught me how to squat and deadlift. Also taught me some variations. I've also seen skinny guys with sibeh so high face staring at people intensely while doing 5 lbs curls (Funniest thing ever). And unfortunately, the arrogant "musclehead" types, but they're really a minority. Most people I've interacted with were nice.

Anyone wanna share their beginner experience/story?

This post has been edited by afif95: May 5 2015, 12:17 PM