Is this advice good or bad? (Several situations)

[John04Civic]

So I am at the gym today and.. I get the following advice.. Give me an easy Good advice - Follow it, or Bad Advice - and WHY not to follow it.


1.) Your routine should always be changing
Meaning, that I should cycle out exercises. Such as week 1 low incline DB Press, week 2 DB Press on a medicine ball, week 3 something else, and then back to week 1 again.

2.) You don't need to bulk to gain muscle, just eat healthy.
Meaning, eat the food groups, and just eat reasonable, but not a lot, and growth / toning.

3.) Pinch your shoulder blades together when bench pressing
This was COMPLETELY unheard of, but I tried it, and I felt some muscle pulling in my traps, which I guess was supposed to happen according to the guy. He said "You are using muscles you haven't used before" ... Right.

[KingWilder]

So I am at the gym today and.. I get the following advice.. Give me an easy Good advice - Follow it, or Bad Advice - and WHY not to follow it.


1.) Your routine should always be changing
Meaning, that I should cycle out exercises. Such as week 1 low incline DB Press, week 2 DB Press on a medicine ball, week 3 something else, and then back to week 1 again.

2.) You don't need to bulk to gain muscle, just eat healthy.
Meaning, eat the food groups, and just eat reasonable, but not a lot, and growth / toning.

3.) Pinch your shoulder blades together when bench pressing
This was COMPLETELY unheard of, but I tried it, and I felt some muscle pulling in my traps, which I guess was supposed to happen according to the guy. He said "You are using muscles you haven't used before" ... Right.

1) You can do that, not sure that it matters that much. I usually change up my routine every 6 months or so.

2) You need to eat over maintenance calories to gain weight (muscle or whatever) period. If you're just eating healthy and not counting cals how are you supposed to know if you're eating enough to gain?

3)...

[RBB]

So I am at the gym today and.. I get the following advice.. Give me an easy Good advice - Follow it, or Bad Advice - and WHY not to follow it.


1.) Your routine should always be changing
Meaning, that I should cycle out exercises. Such as week 1 low incline DB Press, week 2 DB Press on a medicine ball, week 3 something else, and then back to week 1 again.

2.) You don't need to bulk to gain muscle, just eat healthy.
Meaning, eat the food groups, and just eat reasonable, but not a lot, and growth / toning.

3.) Pinch your shoulder blades together when bench pressing
This was COMPLETELY unheard of, but I tried it, and I felt some muscle pulling in my traps, which I guess was supposed to happen according to the guy. He said "You are using muscles you haven't used before" ... Right.

1) bull****. you always hear people say this, and that you need to "shock" the muscle. its just not true. your muscles need stimulus and fuel to grow. it doesn't matter how you go about achieving that stimulus.

2) bull****. you don't have to go on some crazy bulk to gain weight, but you must be over your caloric maintenance point to gain weight. most people need a plan to do this, not just eating reasonably. figure out your maintenance point and go over that everyday. how much you go over depends on how fast you want to gain weight.

3) this is actually true. pull your shoulder blades back and keep the back tight.

[Sensei]

1. Not completely true or untrue. Novelty in training is important, but a little can go a long way. If you consider "periodization" as change, then yes, I'd say follow that advice.

2. Well, I'm not a big fan of "bulking" if it means having to follow JM Blakely's Big Boy's Menu Plan http://wannabebigforums.com/showthread.php?t=78823 BUT it depends on your goals. I don't think most people are disciplined enough to monitor their diets carefully enough to put on 100% pure muscle weight.

3. True. Imagine pulling the bar apart or trying to bend the bar while benching - it should help you maintain upper back tightness while benching and help protect your shoulders.

[John04Civic]

Alright, thanks for the comments fellas.

I do keep track and I am moving slightly over maintenance every week. I am doing 2800 a day (2500 maintenance right now) and when I stop gaining I will add some more cals. That is my plan.