just starting out

Hello, I’m interested in starting a workout program but i need a little advice. I recently signed up for a gym membership so I have access to a lot of equipment.

My goals are quite simple i think, I’d like to add about forty pounds of muscle all(i have all the time in the world), and get down to about 12% bodyfat. I have three days a week mwf to workout at the gym and I can run and do chin/pull-ups on tu, th, sat. Actually I’m mostly looking for effective workouts for all parts of the body, sadly I’m having trouble finding them.

I’m currently 215lbs, 22% body fat. Also I’m concerned about overtraining. Any help will be greatly appriciated.

Look up the three day split. For proper form and everything especially starting out get a trainer for a few sessions and tell them the excercises you need instruction on. Otherwise you will be doing pushups on a ballance ball instead of putting on any real muscle.

On day 1 I would do bench press flat, incline bench, decline bench, then overhead press(shoulder press) If you have energy left do dips to finish it off but you should be spent by then.

Day 2 I would do pullups, deadlifts, barbell rows(cable rows, dumbell rows will work fine as well)

Day 3 Squat Clean and Jerk this should be the first excercise regardless since it will require the most energy, squats, good mornings, prone leg curl. If you feel like training calves that’s fine and dandy but you use them all day everyday so it is more of a vanity lift in my opinion.

That should be a pretty solid compound lifting program. Once you start seeing results you can do so isolation type excercises but what I listed will give you a pretty strong program to start with.

Personal opinion of course but get a pair of converse “chucks” or lifting shoes for leg days. You don’t want to do cleans in running shoes trust me.

cool, thank you very much

Hi Enderz – I would focus on your nutritian and cardio to lose the body fat – nutritian is the most important thing – the right nutritian habits is about 80% of what you need to do to lose the body fat – Cardio excerise 30-60 min a day at a level intence enough to make a deference, maybe 140bpm ( ask your doctor) – I would do your cardio every day, maybe one day off a week if you like – Weight lifting needs time of rest – If your just starting out I would use a simple circuit training routin at the gym you joined (somethig to cover all the major mussel groups) – Just remember It probley took many years for your body to get into the shape its in now…..so it will take a long time to get it back to where it should be – FOCUS – COMMITMENT – NEW HABBITS – NEVER GIVE UP – slow changes are best – Have fun

More than half hour of cardio is going to hurt your muscle gains since his goal is 40 lbs of muscle.

The problem is that you can’t really lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. So you gonna have to go through phases, bulking, then cutting.
Bulking, through lifting heavy and increasing your calorie intake (mostly proteins), and cutting by doing more cardio and lowering your calorie intake.

I haven’t find a way to do both at the same time…

oh the weight goal is a lower priority goal. slightly more long term. I figure that if I can put on muscle and get into a general fit shape my basal metabolic rate will increase which will make losing the weight less of a conscious process and more of a natural…correction(wrong word but close enough)

And thanks very much for all the input you’re all very helpful

Enderz,

Take a look at this article: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/mu…

I also think you need to be realistic about your muscle gain goals. If you plan to remain drug-free, I’m not sure your goal is attainable any time in the near future as it’s not possible to replace every pound of fat loss with muscle on a 1:1 ratio (again, if you’re staying drug free).

Susan
www.catapultfitnessblog.com

Enderz,

Take a look at this article: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/mu…

I also think you need to be realistic about your muscle gain goals. If you plan to remain drug-free, I’m not sure your goal is attainable any time in the near future as it’s not possible to replace every pound of fat loss with muscle on a 1:1 ratio (again, if you’re staying drug free).

Susan
www.catapultfitnessblog.com

oh yes drug free i have 4-7 years to accomplish this I would really like to be on ninja warrior(a japanese competiton check g4) thank you for the information and the concern it’s very helpful

enderz, if you are looking for a workout then the one I’m doing the 5×5 is a good one. You need full body workouts and compounds to gain muscle and burn the fat.

www.stronglifts.com has the 5×5 as well as tons of other advice on form and nutrition, etc.

hi..new to this site and not really sure how/where to post topics..or set up a profile, but here goes..
I am 39, very active and trying to lose 10 lbs..my body frame is very small on top ( 27 inch waist) but like most women, larger at the bottom ( hips 36”, thighs 23”) although I work out on average 3-5 days a week, I am sure that I need to re-vamp..my results are that I have lost at least 30 lbs within th past two years but my loss is very visible above the waist- in fact my face looks too skinny. Can anyone suggest a routine where I can tone up all areas but focus my loss more on below my waist ( if that is even possible! )

@JULIE814: I’d say that squats is a pretty good exercise. It won’t make you bulk, so don’t be afraid of that and it should help.
You must know though, that you can’t target an area and spot reduce fat, it’s a global process.

You could run or use an elliptical trainer to tone your bottom.

If you’ve lost 30lbs so far, you did a very good job and you should be really proud of yourself.

Let us know more about your current workout, and there will probably be a lot of people here that can help you revamp it. One thing for sure, it is good to change your routine and “surprise” your body with new exercises.

Welcome to the site Julie!
Unfortunately, it simply isn’t possible to spot reduce. I tend to have the same problem as you (and many women) being larger on the bottom and when I lose weight the first place it’s noticeable is in my face.

Congrats on your weight loss to date. Losing 30 lbs is incredible. With that said, do you really need to lose an additional 10 lbs, or do you just need to start firming up? Something to consider if you feel you’re already looking to thin on top. If the last 10 lbs are in hopes of changing your body shape … you may have unrealistic expectations.

You’ve shared your age … can you also share your current height and weight?

Susan
www.catapultfitnessblog.com

I have to agree with the idea that your face seems to thin out before anything else. My face is looking thin. It’s actually a bit strange looking to me, though I’m sure that its a positive thing.

I am not a trainer. So, take what I say with that in mind. In fact I’m pretty much a newbie. There was a time many years ago when I thought I knew what I was talking about. In fact, when I was in the service they made me the “Trainer” for my company. Anyone who wasn’t meeting there physical fitness goals had to work with me 5 days per week. Strange, huh? Now I realize how little I actually knew.

All that said, I have to say that I’m pretty pleased with the workout routine that I’ve finally settled into (after about eight weeks of trying to figure out what to use). What I’m basically doing is three days of full body workouts Mon, Wed, and Fri. Then on Tues and Thurs working on cardio, and adressing some areas that I don’t feel are getting hit on my other days. For me that leaves Calves, and forearms. I also use that day to do isometrics. During my lifting days I only do four or five exercises. Each is some variation of the deadlift, squat, pull up, and bench press. I don’t have access to alot of equipment. So, I’m doing alot of single leg stuff like Bulgarian Squats, Single Leg Romanian Deadlifts to increase the resistance. Also Dips, Chest Press, Shoulder Push Press, Rows, Lat Pulls and Pushups. I do 4 sets of 4 reps on Monday. 3 sets of 8 on Wednesday, and 2 sets of 12 on Friday. I didn’t come up with this on my own. I got it from a T-Nation article called Hacking your Workout.

I like that this workout involves the basic tried and true exercises that are known to work. For my goals (Increasing overall strength and athleticism) its great. I don’t need to isolate my biceps and get all ‘swolled! I just need to get healthy and develop a baseline of strength. I can do this workout in about 40 mins (Mondays are the toughest, that usually takes an hour). This workout hits the heavy weights for strength, and the lighter weight higher reps for endurance. I dig it.

Thank you to all- for your advice and support. This was just the type of site I was looking for.

My current weight fluctuates between 125-130 lbs, usually I maintain at 127. I am 5ft1. Many people see me and say I am thin, however for my height I would think an ideal weight is 115, but again, my upper body is very thin, so much so that I am hesitant to lose more weight and whatever womanly curves I have left-lol..

I lost the weight by lots of cardio at the gym and cutting back on portion size-sadly, I ate alot of bad foods still; carbs, sugar, fried foods. I worked out alot at home in the past few months varying my routine with alot of DVD’s from the Beachbody team ( yoga booty, Slim in 6).. and with the start of the new year I have cut out most carbs, sugar and fried foods and have started 5Factor Fitness, not sure if you heard of it. It is 5 minutes of light-moderate cardio, 10 minutes of strength training,5 minutes of core training, and you end with 5 minutes of cardio.I alo think that I have not maintained one routine targeting my problem areas, but thats why I am here.. hoping that the xperience and knowledge will guide me in the right direction!! :)

• Iron Dave, will a stationary bike work? I don’t have time to get to a gym, so have to exercise at home :(
  **Susannyny, depends on who you ask-lol..I would say tone up, but my upper body is actually looking pretty good, women have even asked me what exercises I do,my arms have definition and aren’t flabby.. but in all fairness, I think most of that comes from genetics, I only wish my genetic make up included thin thighs- lol

I hear you Julie! Listen … I’m 5’7 1/2” tall, weigh 120 lbs right now and still can see cellulite on my thighs. Yes, it looks better at 120 lbs than it did at 140 lbs, but regardless of how much weight I lose … I’m still going to see cellulite on my thighs.

If you’re watching what you eat, exercising and generally taking good care of yourself, at some point you just have to accept your flaws. It’s what makes us human.

With that said, based on your last posting I do have a few thoughts and you’ve already hit the nail on the head. 90% of how you look is based on Nutrition. You can do cardio and strength training until you’re blue in the face but you cannot out-train a poor diet.

My recommendation to you would be to

1) remove all processed foods from your diet
2) add a minimum of one serving of vegetables to every feeding opportunity
3) if you’re doctor gives you the go-ahead, incorporate HIIT into your training protocol 2x/week

I’ve blogged about HIIT previously, so you may want to take a quick read of these two postings:

http://blog.gyminee.com/more-research-supportin…

http://blog.gyminee.com/understanding-epoc/

Susan
www.catapultfitnessblog.com

lift heavy weights and eat clean. don’t worry you won’t get big.

@Julie: stationnary bike should help you tone your lower body. I don’t have a lot of experience with those so I’m not sure.
One thing is that if you need to work your lower half because this is where your bigger muscles are.

From your picture, you do seem to have a very thin face, but I think the proportions of the picture are not correct…

Interval training (HIIT) is a very good way to go. Read what Susan has to say about it, she’s very knowledgable and always has good advices (better than mine!).

Remember to check with your gym to see if you get any free sessions with on-staff trainers—they’ll help you build a routine, and as importantly, will walk you through the routine and check your form.

Thanks everyone..kimlin85-you look fantastic, your progress photos really depict the results of your hard work. I read about HIIT, and in fact, I think the book that I am reading now ( 5 factor ) is pretty much the same thing- I know it certainly fits into my schedule! But Susan, thank you because your information was very informative

Unfortunately, due to work/life commitments, all of my workouts have to be at home, so I only have free weights, but 5Factor exercises use those, a stability ball and bench..hopefully this will work!

free weights are the best anyways, so thats a good thing. i really think if you started some lifting and HIIT you will get the results you want. the hard part (losing lots of fat) has already been accomplished.