Qualified and experienced PT here to help

Hey guys.

Just thought I'd pop in and say that I am a qualified personal trainer and I have been lifting/training for about 7 years.

The fitness industry is not quite black and white, there is a lot of information out there.
Sometimes there is no right and wrong, there are many different ways to achieve a fitness goal. The body is very very specific in how it develops so it will all depend on what goals you have set for yourself.

I have extensive knowledge on fitness and nutrition, so if you guys have questions I will try answer to the best of my ability, please try keep questions as specific as possible.

AG

 

I currently work a professional job and this is my main career. I got my PT certificate III and IV in fitness in 2011, I did it as a back up just incase I did not get a job in my field of expertise. I obtained it in New Zealand. But more importantly than a piece of paper I do have real world experience in training people, back when I worked part time to make some side $$$. I have a background in power lifting and I've competed at 83kg and 93kg respectively.

and to Orion: If aesthetics is your main goal then I gotta say that abs are made in the kitchen. There are many ways to achieve this but I Highly Recommend Stronglifts 5x5.
Great program for beginners and seasoned lifters. They even have an APP and a LOT of info on their website. I cant link their website here but google it.

 

Raw. IPF rules. I've tried training a few times with bench suit/squat suit/wraps etc with my friends who compete equipped but it wasnt for me. I actually have piriformis syndrome atmo so I'm just doing light stuff with boxing

 

Bench is my lift. And yes I've used the good ol slanger. Its strange but I never trained with it. I've hit some bench plateus what I did the break them was more volume and accessory work. Lift heavy, try pause press, heaps of OHP and be in a slight calorie surplus with good macro balance

 

TBH just trust the process, its hard to speed up as a natty if youve been lifting for a while and no longer a beginner/amateur with the linear gains

 

Are there any books regarding nutrition and calisthenics you would recommend?
Dumbass friendly, I-willingly-acknowledge-you-will-not-get-my-jargon-and-are-probably-five books, ideally, hah.
I never read any workout books because the fitness industry is ever-changing. Everything is available online. I highly recommend startingstrength website(google it)
I also highly recommend some you tube channels like Omar Isuf, scott herman, Alan Thrall, Jeff nippard (not sure if natty but his science is on point) and picture fit. There are a few guys out there who give advice who are on steroids I would try avoid these guys until you gain more experience and then you can make up your own mind. Theres nothing wrong with steroids, its their own decision, but these guys are trying to make money and sell their brand to you, so for a newish lifter its unsuitable. A lot of young guys these days see a completely shredded and huge guy and assume its A. attainable naturally B. achievable within 1-2years, when those guys have been lifting for well over a decade.

Other questions:
- Can white rice get in the way of getting into shape or increasing strength? Brown rice tends to be expensive where I am.
Also, my diet is vegetarian(Indian, we have like dals and stuff), but I am not looking to bulk up in a heavy duty manner and am ok with slow progress, so...is it alright if I don't go all in on boiled eggs and tofu and the like? And just ensure I have a banana and some milk after a workout, plus plenty of wheat with my rotis and shit?
Its not white rice or carbs or fast food that makes you gain weight. Weight is purely a factor of energy in vs energy out (Kcal). If your body uses 2000Kcal a day
and you eat 2500Kcal.. well... youll gain weight, if you are training, some of this will be muscle. It does not matter what you eat when we are talking about purely energy balance. So you could eat 1500Kcal of fast food and lose weight..... BUT will it be healthy? No. Because you'll be hungry quickly and it is high in fat. I would suggest keeping fast food etc to a minimum and try stick with low GI foods/wholegrain foods. There is a way to calculate how much energy your body requires to maintain weight. this is called TDEE, based on factors like weight, exercise volume and age/gender etc but for now stick with 3 balanced meals a day. Dont eat if you arent hungry.

Another thing I want to mention is try not to focus so much on your weight. Weight is purely the force we are exerting on the ground. You could be 100kg and ripped or 100kg and high body fat. Its body composition you are after. For newish lifters, simply foccusing on a better diet and training hard will produce great results. I used to spend 20minutes a night before bed researching, this, over time adds up to good knowledge as you get exposed to many different types of information.
- Any tips on getting forms correct if you train exclusively by yourself? I try to use a camera and see how I have done afterwards(wow were my hips low in my push ups lol), but maybe there's something else I can focus on. Recording is the right step. Watch you tube videos (not just one)

- Pull ups - how necessary are they? Can I just focus on squats and push ups(wall/incline/normal) in the beginning?
Pull ups are important. If you cant do clean one just start on the pull-down machine

- Tighten your core. Keep your core tight. I, have, never, understood, this. Do I just pull my stomach in?! Is that it?! Oh god whhhhyyyy.
It doesnt mean suck your stomach in, dont be discouraged as your brain is new to this and trying to establish a mind-muscle connection. It means you tense your ab muscles, you dont have to see abs to tense them, everyone has ab muscles.

- Any general advice on ensuring I don't accidentally lose muscle mass instead of marginally gaining some, nutrition wise? I am like, 59 Kg now after a heavy reduction in sugar and am still in danger of losing weight, so while I like my exercise(and my god do I want to get my forms correct or so help me god/preferred-creative-force I will burn this planet down and move to Mars in a self-insert Doctor Who fanfiction) I would like to ensure I don't break my body while...exercising.
Back to calorie balance. If you have started training and you didint used to before youll need to eat more.

- Weights. I have none. Not an option. Can I use filled up water bottles? Plastic bags filled with random shit? Or just calisthenics. Pls tell me I need no makeshift weights and can do calisthenics the rest of my life. Lie to my face(not actually, me attempting humor here, and other random points, in this post) please, TELL ME DIS BE TRUE.
Lifting heavy does recruit more muscle fibers, but its not the end of the world if you dont have access to weights. Body weight exercises are fine but you'll have to push yourself pretty hard. However it all comes down to specificity in why and what you are training for. A bodybuilder/physique model trains to look aesthetic and hypertrophy so thats what their body will be made for. A marathon runner trains for marathons. A power lifter/strongman trains to lift as much weight as possible. A MMA fighter trains to fight MMA style. A boxer trains to box. At the beginning it doesnt matter to much, but as the years go by your body will adapt itself to the stresses you are presenting, it will develop very very specifically.

Note* This is a lot of information for a newish guy and it may overwhelm you, I know it, I was in your shoes before like many others, over thinking many factors.

Keep it simple! Train hard, eat balanced meals, get good sleep, look at those resources I wrote here.

 

"More casual question for funsies - Workout music, yay or nay? I personally am torn on using badass instrumentals sometimes and just treating it as a meditative exercise at other points, listening to the treadmill or other noises around me"

Personally when I gym its sort of a 'zen' time for me. I plug in my earphones and train. Sometimes I train with others it. Do what you want. Listen to what makes you happy, music is there to make you feel emotion. I listen to dubstep, club, house, electro, rock, metal, jazz, instrumentals, drum and base... you name it. If I like it i'll listen to it!

 

I think you need to break down other factors too. Sometimes its not just programming, it could be lack of sleep, lack of calories, missing a macro (for example in my personal opinion, for the average hobbie lifter cutting out carbs or fats completely is not a good idea, you need these to build muscle, its not all about protein.)

back to training freq, yes, smaller muscles/accessory work can help but to bench more weight, you simply have to bench more (strictly talking about programming not any other factors). What program are you running at the mo? What is your current max and what is your body weight? Maybe consider a bench program!