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1. Not switching up work outs. this is definitely number 1 by FAR. A LOT of people fail to do this, they think doing flat bench (or any work out) every week is going to get them strong when its really hurting their potential gains. by switching up your work outs constantly your muscles can't adapt and therefor trigger's more muscle growth and strength. even bi-weekly switching isnt enough. say you do push downs and skull crushers for triceps one week, you shouldnt be doign them again for 3+ weeks AT LEAST. if you search you'll find dozens of work outs per muscle group so you'll never find yourself saying "but there isnt any other work outs for that muscle".

2. Not eating enough. when your body doesnt get the necessary calories it needs to function and grow it will turn to your own body to fulfill it, and no it wont just consume the fat on your body it consumes MUSCLE (omfg scary!). it is scary especially for people who want to make gains and body builders, so NEVER starve yourself to be thin. it will severely harm gains and just eat away at your progress more so then your fat.

3. Not consuming enough protien. this is very common because the amount of protien needed for body building is extremely high. you need a little less then half your body weight in grams of protien, so if you weigh 200 lbs then around 80-90 grams of protien is needed daily.

4. Not doing leg work outs or barley ever doing them. working out your legs is absolutely 100% crucial to making gains in your upper body (and lower of course). a lot of guys barley ever do legs or never do legs because they only care about their upper body and how it looks but the hilarious irony is they would be makign way more gains in their upper body by doing legs. why? because your leg muscles are the largest muscles in your body and by lifting heavy weight with them you release loads of growth hormones and testosterone into your body greatly increasing your overall gains.

5. Not enough sleep. pretty simple, if the body doesnt have enough rest \ to repair and grow in your sleep your gains will suffer severely. not to mention being tired so you cant give your all in your work outs.

6. improper form. i see this a lot in the gym as well, people doing certain exercises awkwardly or just plain wrong and potentially making it dangerous. such as leaning backwards/swinging backwards when doing standing up bar curls, this means your using WAY too much weight then you can actually do, your using your momentum and your back to lift the rest of the weight your biceps cant and just hurting yourself in the end. some body builders will do a couple improper reps at the end of some of their work outs once they have already maxed out but i dont recommend it at all.

wrong, there are studies proving you get 90%+ of your muscle tearing for strength in the first 45 minutes of your work out. this of course does not include steroid users, which i do NOT recommend anyone taking, stay the F*$K away from them. you should NEVER work out more then 80 minutes, anything over that will turn into cardio (cardio IS important but only on cardio days). even working out with friends should not take you that long if your serious, standing around 'BSing' for the majority of your work out will have severe effects on your muscle growth.

doing reps very fast is extremely dangerous, even when properly warmed up you can severely injure yourself by doing reps too fast especially with high weight. doing reps too fast results in improper form and will also cause you to make gains less frequently. proper form is ALWAYS better. on your last couple reps while maxing out using slightly improper form is ok for EXPERIENCED body builders, but id stay away from any type of improper form in any work out. doing reps too slow will burn yes but it will result in very slow muscles and that extra power from the "pump" will increase your muscle size ten fold compared to very slow reps.

i hear this ALOT and im sure you have too. "light day" is very bad for strength and muscle growth if done too frequently. doing too many "light days" takes away from your strength training and just gives you more cardio. BUT doing the right amount is also just as important, because you need to "shock" your muscles for extra growth and strength. so in this sense doing the same work out every day is VERYYYY bad, i cant emphasize this enough. if every chest day all you do is flat bench, your only cheating yourself. yes you will get stronger/bigger by lifting weights BUT changing your work outs constantly is the MOST important and will make you way bigger and way stronger way faster. one day do flat bench and incline, next chest day (typically 5+ days later) do dumb bell press, then next chest day do the machines and so on and so forth IF your working out your muscles good enough, they should be sore for 4-5 days and then on the 5th day ish you can work it out again, obviously if the last time you worked out wasnt enough and you were barley sore you can work it out sooner). "ive been working out a long time and i no longer get that sore" - if this is the case then your a HUGE noob and your working out wrong and/or not good enough. ive been working out constantly for years and i get sore after EVERY work out.

using the movie "300" as an example. yes there abs were extra emphasized in the movie with special effects but that doesnt mean those guys werent all still ripped and in amazing shape. they did a training regiment of 3 months and NEVER did the same work out twice, impossible? you can do nearly 30+ different work outs for your chest alone.

SO horribly bad for you. not only can this also be a major factor in injuries your not doing yourself ANY good either. when you lift weights your muscles tear, when they repair they grow stronger and more dense to 'adapt' to what your doing. working out sore muscles is simply re-tearing already torn muscles, and it hardly does you any good. you pretty much wasted a work out day. a good rule of thumb is the day AFTER your completely not sore is the day you should work out that muscle group again. you'll notice way more strength in fully healed muscles.

i see alot of people working out and taking less then a minute in between each work out, if its your occasional "light day" then this is fine. but for heavy weight lifting it should be far from this. taking 3-4 minutes in between sets. ill explain in further detail below in general weight lifting guidelines.

for strength and size this is very bad, doing cardio before OR after your weight lifting is only robbing your weight lifting gains. lightly jogging for 5-10 minutes before is alright anything more/faster is bad. BUT if you do jog it is NOT a warm up substitute, even if you jog to warm up you STILL need to do warm up sets to avoid injury. I'd say just save cardio for cardio days. "omfg we have CARDIO DAYZ?!" yes sir you need to mix in cardio at least 3+ times a week to help your endurance, because if you lack endurance you'll get pooped out way too fast during your heavy lifting, "but but... you said to stay away from doing "cardio" like 4 timez..." i said stay away from turning your WEIGHT LIFTING into cardio. cardio days can be cardio of course . below i tell you how to warm up.

this is something i see alot of people doing, in between sets they stretch out their chest or arms preparing for the next set or work out, stretching SORE muscles when your at home and out and about is great, but stretching DURING your work out is very bad. it releases some of the blood from your muscles and makes them weaker, therefor you will get less of a work out if you stretch during. warm up before work outs, you can even stretch BEFORE to make yourself more limber and then stretch after, but do not ever stretch during.

wrong, so so wrong. even not including my own personal research into this there has been many studies proving that after your first 1-2 muscle work outs anything extra your basically doing cardio and your not getting any stronger and not doing your muscles any good strength wise. sure it gives you more endurance but NOT for strength or size. so stay away from doing 3+ bicep or tricep work outs each day. if your doing your larger muscle groups like legs, back or chest doing incline/decline/flat bench is NOT what i mean, im saying doing flat bench, then doing flat bench machine, then flat bench with dumb bells all in the same day is pointless. SAME part of the muscle being worked out multiple times is what you need to avoid. a lot of times when i work out my biceps or triceps ill only do 1 exercise, but ill do like 7-8 sets and/or a drop down set as well

first time going to the gym:

1. first thing you want to make sure you are well hydrated, always. and drink water while working out, BUT never chug water or drink large amounts, slowly sip it in between sets. contrary to popular beleif (i should add this) do not drink protien shakes or anything designed to increase muscle growth DURING your work outs. you can take a pre-work out supplement such as C4 or Jack3D (NOxplode is popular but has some nasty side effects on alot of people, not to mention the redonkulous price)

2. first day you want to be VERY careful to properly do ALL work outs, and to NOT over do it. ive over worked my muscles before and its painful and takes WEEKS to recover. this is true with first timers and anytime you quit for long periods of time and then come back.

3. whenever you do any work out with free weights and if you plan on going heavy till the point of failure ALWAYS have a spotter. never risk it. mostly all people in the gym are happy to help you out and spot you, ive been to hundreds of gyms and ive only met rude individuals once or twice, body builders are some of the nicest people you will ever meet, because they work off their anger at the gym . seen some real nasty things happen without spotters. one time i got stuck under the decline bench press for 10 minutes waiting for someone else to walk by, embarrassing to the max. and bruised my chest. ouch

first day work out routine (for absolute beginners):

your work out will be very short but dont worry, you'll increase with time, but like i said never too long. start with whatever muscle suits you, i can pick for you. chest day.

i would do flat bench press with the bar. always carefully control the bar, ALWAYS use freakin clips, ive seen retards have the weight fly off and almost kill someone. idc how light it feels, ALWAYS use clips on every set and every piece of work out equipment that uses them.

do your warm up set like i explained in my OP. then move up 10-20 lb's per set to start. NEVER EVER do giant weight jumps, again a very easy way to hurt yourself. beginning id only do 2-3 sets max. and do NOT max out, your not ready. after your warm up do another set or two of just 10 reps with some difficulty. your getting your muscles used to lifting weights.

its important to think of your muscles as people, and the weight being a favor. if you ask too big a favor too fast without slowly building up to it, there going to get pissed off (hurt).

if you have never been to the gym or done much for push ups you should be pretty sore from just doing this. maybe you can handle more but i personally would not risk it as a first time gym goer.

your going to do this to each muscle group every OTHER day, your not even close to working out 2 days in a row. do 2 muscle groups per day every other day to start, eventually you can move to working 4-5 days on, 1-2 days off a week. NEVER work out 6-7 days a week. your body needs a rest even if you have unsore muslces you want to work out. if you want you can do cardio in between weight lifting days. this would be a good idea.

so id say:

MONDAY:
chest - flat bench, WIDE grip 2-3 sets. (all includes warm up as a set)
back - pull downs, WIDE grip. 2-3 sets
back - seated row. 2-3 sets

TUESDAY:
abs
cardio

WEDNESDAY:
biceps - dumbell curles 2-3 sets
triceps - pushdowns 2-3 sets

THURSDAY:
break

FRIDAY:
legs - squats 2-3 sets
legs - leg extensions 2-3 sets

SATURDAY-SUNDAY:
break

NEXT MONDAY:
if chest is still sore, start tuesday-wednesday, not a big deal for first timers to skip alot of time at first because of prolonged soreness.
chest - dumbell flat bench 2-3 sets
back - pull ups - WIDE grip (if you cant do them, use the pull up/dips machine that helps lift you up weight weight)

TUESDAY:
cardio
abs

WEDNESDAY:
Biceps - bar curl 2-3 sets
triceps - dips (if you cant do those yet start with the dip machine) 2-3 sets

THURSDAY:
cardio
abs

FRIDAY:
break or legs if you can
legs - seated leg press 2-3 sets
legs - reverse leg extention 2-3 sets
legs - calf raises with weight 2-3 sets

SATURDAY-SUNDAY:
BREAK

Rotation:
During these first few weeks do NOT max out yet, use light weight. but remember if your stopping at 8 reps or less and your not literally going to failure, your only cheating yourself. from here you will repeat the muscle groups and cardio twice a week with abs but constantly switch up your work outs to different exercises so your muscle never adapt. around the 4th week id suggest start maxing out at your leisure on certain exercises, be sure to always use spotters for exercises like squats and bench when maxing out, ALWAYS. and always use clips no matter the weight, ive seen retards have their weight fly off and break them because they think they dont need clips. dont be one of those morons.

IMPORTANT:
you will hear alot of people say diet is just as important if not more important then your actual work out. im here to say that is some truth to that but not like most people think. for getting bigger/stronger you do NOT need to "go on a diet", you just need to consume enough protien and calories a day. for getting ripped, YES its more important then your work out. i for one eat like a garbage disposal, i eat pizza cake ice cream candy and not rarely, hell i eat pizza once every 2 days on average, not alot of soda though. but i incorporate LOTS of high protein foods such as tuna/chicken/steak as well as a high protein shake directly after EVERY work out. with cardio days and working out 5-6 days a week you'll burn plenty of calories to stay thin while getting bigger. if you WANT you can go on a diet to help you get thinner/ripped as you get bigger. but thats entirely your choice, im just here to say its not necessary to eat vegetables and stop eating your cake to gain size and strength. lol(within reason, if your pounding junk food like a mad man id say cut back a bit)

Say its chest day (i use this example alot because people LOVE chest...yay boobies!). you want a warm up set first ALWAYS on EVERY work out, yes sir EVERY SINGLE WORK OUT, with OUT cardio. throw on some 25's to begin with (or 45's if your BAWF and thats super light to you and you can bench about 250+) and do 10-15 reps, if your very weak you may need to warm up with just the bar, no need to be embarrassed we ALL have to start somewhere. if your still not sure, base your warm up set on a weight that feels light enough to do 10-15 reps with general ease, not to were its like pumping air, but not really much trouble when you reach rep 10 or 15.

then wait about 2 minutes then do a weight you can push up about 6-8 times. 6 to 8th rep being pretty difficult to push up. then wait about 3-4 minutes. then weight that you can do about 3-5 times, 3rd or 5th rep (depending on what you get to before failing) being VERY difficult to push up and you should be pushing with all your might. you dont always have to max out to 1 rep every time, but definitely do it (WARNING - maxing out is NOT for beginners, see beginners guide and general work out before maxing out). your reps should be controlled and steady, if your wobbling or rocking your body a lot you need to go down in weight.

good supplements to take to increase your gains.
-Creatine: this improves performance and helps you last longer and get in some extra reps by using water you consume, if your taking this you HAVE to drink TONS of water, or else it has no effect. you see all those big guys walking around with a gallon jug of water? thats because there taking creatine. and hydrating in general is great but you'll need extra for this to work. BUT water poisoning is a VERY real thing, typically drink 8-12 glasses of water a day, and NEVER consume it all at once.
-Pre-work out enhancers: gives you energy to help you pump harder, i recommend C4 or Jack3D. NOexplode is very popular but its extra expensive and has some nasty side effects (ED, diahrea, headaches).
-Protein powder: gives your body the protein it needs to repair and build bigger stronger muscles. this is needed IF you dont consume large quantities of protein rich foods. its VERY hard to consume the proper amount of protein without this, because you'll need a little bit less than half your body weight in protein in grams (not lb's ) a day and if your heavier, you'll be eating a whole lot of tuna and chicken, lol. i get tuna'd-out real easy. so i drink one of these after every work out.