2 questions

[itk0i]

Hey Mr. Rippetoe, before I say anything I just would like to say what an honor it is to even be able to ask you a question.

Okay so I'm 20 yo and I'm sort of a wreck lol. I'm 6', 175lbs, about 19% BF, 36 inch waist. I need muscle and I need to lose fat, so for the longest time I didn't know whether to bulk or cut. After being stuck in this 2 dimensional thought pattern for some time, I was just recently given the wise advise to stop over complicating things. Being that I am new to lifting I was told to keep it simple, don't bulk, don't cut, don't count! To just eat smart, eat healthy, get on a good beginners program (particularly your program), and that results will come in strength, muscle gain and fat loss, all of course in time.

Now this is a 2 part question:
1. So I was curious what you felt about this advise I was given, do you feel that it's fairly good advise? and do you advise the same?

2. My 2nd question has to do with the workout specifically. I am pretty sure that the way to do the workout for optimal results would be exactly how you prescribed. However my problem is, the gym I currently belong to is very small and the only free weights available are dumbbells. I realize that this is a problem being that it is a Barbell workout. I would join another gym but neither me or my family are financially able to afford that right now. So I was wondering if I could get the same results, the same gains or similar results and gains doing the workouts with DBs rather than BBs. It hurts me to even ask that given the fact that your workout seems to be a masterpiece, but I don't have a choice unfortunately.

I want to thank you for taking your time out to read my questions and I look forward to hearing from you.

[Mark Rippetoe]

A simple program is always appropriate for a novice. The old bulk/cut model is a holdover from the muscle magazines and their fictional version of human muscular growth. So the good news is that you have been given good advice.

The bad news is that the progress possible with a novice linear progression is only accessible with barbells. Dumbbells are useful for assistance work, but they cannot substitute for barbells because they can't be handled with enough weight, and you don't need any assistance work right now. You will have to decide what it's worth to you to have access to the proper equipment, and if your goals are worth pursuing you'll need to find a way to make it happen.

[DickFace]

A simple program is always appropriate for a novice. The old bulk/cut model is a holdover from the muscle magazines and their fictional version of human muscular growth. So the good news is that you have been given good advice.

The bad news is that the progress possible with a novice linear progression is only accessible with barbells. Dumbbells are useful for assistance work, but they cannot substitute for barbells because they can't be handled with enough weight, and you don't need any assistance work right now. You will have to decide what it's worth to you to have access to the proper equipment, and if your goals are worth pursuing you'll need to find a way to make it happen.
Hi Mark, would you mind elaborating on this?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Sure, DickFace. The bulk/cut approach holds that you can either add muscle or lose bodyfat, and that all training should be concerned with one or the other. This assumes that aesthetics is the criterion by which progress is measured, that pictures therefore tell the story, and that picture magazines can be the arbiters of success. This type of thinking completely ignores the performance aspects of training, and performance is much more easily and rapidly influenced. Rapid, quantifiable progress keeps motivation high, much higher than waiting for a six-pack that may or may not show up.