bit of advice....

arc_of_time_

arc_of_time_

arc_of_time_

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Joined
17 Oct 2005
Posts
289
hello all.

im looking to lose some weight/tone up. Not looking to become arnie or owt, just get down to a weight i look and feel more comfortable.

im currently 16 stone - 6 foot. My highest weight was around 18 stone which was pretty stupid, but managed to lose 3 stone last year. Over the past year the weight has started to creep up again so im looking to stop this and get down to around 14 stone and as i said, tone up somewhat. I go to the gym and do quite a bit of treadmill and bike work, and football once a week, but as naive as it sounds, its quite demorilising not seeing results straight away (god that sounds stupid when written down)

Sorry to start a whole thread with GordyR's fantasically insightful thread. but being somewhat of a novice id just like some advice in leymans terms, real beginners level. a whole thread is a lot to take in and you end up forgetting one thing trying to remember another

Im basically looking for advice on how much exercise to be doing, what kinds of exercise (ive looked at various threads and websites but it all seems to be aimed at gym pros *for want of a better word*)

Im basically wandering such things as

what are the best type of meals to eat before exercising, and how long should be between eating and gym

what exercises i should be doing

how often i should be doing this exercises, and for how long.

best ways of keeping track of progress etc


any help is much appreciated
 
gordyr's thread is basic as you need.

You dont need it to be more basic. Just look at the opening posts, they are most important :)
 
Hi mate, I've posted a reply to a fella in a similiar boat to you, the thread is short and to the point, so it may be more helpful.

GordyRs thread is really very good, and very concise, so I'm struggling with what you've got a problem with. However, I do completely understand that initial motivation is hard. Its not just you, everyone has the same problem. Even those who've been at it for years, or who're trainers themselves, often find getting back after a break very tough. Fact of the matter is you're making an effort, and that's what counts. Results WILL come, but you've got to put the time in and wait a couple of weeks. Initial results should be pretty rapid.

To answer your questions:
It's best not to eat anything large four hours before the gym. Smaller meals no more than two.

Good meals include: Beans on toast, jacket potato and tuna with v, light mayo. Good snacks include: four oatcakes with cottage cheese + slice of pineapple.

For the rest, you should be speaking to the instructors at your gym. They'll spec you a bog-standard cardio and weights session 3-4 times weekly. Which as a novice is exactly what you'll need.

Take a look around here, there's been loads of threads detailing loads of info. I'm afraid no one can tell you exactly what to do, you've got to experiment and see what works.

For the next 8 weeks, focus on the session plan your instructor puts together and keep reading up around here. The few few weeks are the most daunting. Stick at it :)

Good luck,
Ant :cool:
 
Thanks thats the kind of advice im after, just very simple things. I think my problem with the other thread is finding what bits apply to me, and being a thread on bodybuilding, its confusing as to which bits are made for people aiming to those get big and those who wish to somewhat get smaller!

cheers
 
platypus said:
If you want to lose weight, running is your frend ;).
Click to expand...

This man speaketh the truth, he also wrote an excellent running sticky ;) Can be tough on the knees mind, especially if you've a few extra stone to shift, and your technique is lacking.

Forgot to mention, hydrate! Drink water throughout the day. Aim to get 2.5 litres in on training days. Get a pint (not of stella! :p) Down you 30-40 minutes beforehand.

Good luck,
Ant :cool:
 
Well toasted brown bread is good, and baked beans are 'alright' but the protein profile and content in them isn't great if you're body building.. There are much better alternatives..

Then in terms of beans on while cutting theres a lot of carbs and just some rubbishish protein :p

I still have them with cheese though sometimes as its quick easy and yummy!
 
gareth.e said:
Well toasted brown bread is good, and baked beans are 'alright' but the protein profile and content in them isn't great if you're body building.. There are much better alternatives..

Then in terms of looking at them while cutting theres a lot of carbs and rubbishish protein :p

I still have them with cheese though sometimes as its quick easy and yummy!
Click to expand...

And if you came to me for training advice I wouldn't be suggesting baked beans. I'd be suggesting lean white meats / fish and steamed vegetables and smaller amounts of starchy carbs, and only from wholemeal sources ;)

Likewise if I were instructing at the OPs gym, when he came through the door I wouldn't spec him a four-day split and start him off dead-lifting until he thought he was going to vomit ;)

And 4 hours because the OPs metabolism and digestion transit will be slower than a trained individual like yourself. It's all relative.

Sorry for not elaborating, just trying to be simple. I should have told the OP to choose wholemeal though, that's my bad.

Ant :cool:
 
Yeah you should be careful not to lift anything too heavy or you will just pile on unsightly muscle in a matter of months. Within a year it will be difficult to get out of rooms due to your expansive shoulders.

I completely agree with wanton here, baked beans on toast with gym-instructor ascribed medicine ball one legged squat variations. That will have you looking like someone out of 300 in no tme flat
 
Ultra_Extreme said:
Yeah you should be careful not to lift anything too heavy or you will just pile on unsightly muscle in a matter of months. Within a year it will be difficult to get out of rooms due to your expansive shoulders.

I completely agree with wanton here, baked beans on toast with gym-instructor ascribed medicine ball one legged squat variations. That will have you looking like someone out of 300 in no tme flat
Click to expand...

Nice post. Where's the attitude come from?

When you started lifting did you know what you were doing? Did you follow the bodybuilding bible to the letter? You were just as uninformed and nervous as everyone else, and made a choice based on vanity.

It's called progression, it's very hard for most people to make an instant life change. As you train, you learn more, and it becomes more important to you, you gradually adjust your eating habbits, you train more effectively and you begin to live the lifestyle.

The OP has no experience. And wants simple, easy advice from which he can begin his journey.

Ant :cool:
 
no he wants spoonfeeding some magic potion, he doesnt want to put the work in to even understand and follow gordyR's very simple sticky. Instead he's hoping someone can say "sure cut down on pizza and do some ab crunches and women will fall at your feet". I agree my attitude in the last post is hardly supportive but in my eyes someone needs to put in the effort to at least get themselves off the starting blocks.

Of course when i started i was just as uninformed and naiive, but i read, and i read and i read some more. I found out everything i could about every aspect of bodybuilding. By my sixth month of training i had an understanding of endocrinology and hormonal roles in muscle growth. I knew about physiology of the human body and could name each muscle and its agonist. I knew about fibre types, activation thresholds, motor fatigue. I knew how to manipulate an exercise program and diet plan to achieve my goals.

Im not suggesting the OP become some kind of weightlifting savant. Just that he puts at least some effort into study, enough to at least get him going. The mental image for me of someone reading gordyR's sticky and going "oh its all too hard and complicated" is the same disparing image i have of most trainers going to the gym twice a week and the pub 3 times and expecting to be arnie.

Training is hard, changing is hard, i'll be damned if im going to waste time posting the same generic beginner help BS to people who do not appear to have what it takes to get anywhere. I appreciate im making sweeping (and rudely dismissive) statements about who and what the OP represents but the facts stand. Theres a difference between being nice and wasting time, i'll always give good advice, at least good opinion, to someone who has shown themselves to be hardworking.

AoT: Please spend some time reading articles at www.t-nation.com then read up on some exercise information @ www.exrx.net then scope around forums for as much nutritional info as possible, read the gymratz thread all the way through as well as the sticky. Every question you could possibly ask has been asked a thousand times and the answers are out there (and in here) on the web for you. They wont be any different if given to you specifically. The most important tip i could give you at this point is -

Read all you can, but dont read with an intention to start training, start training and read WHILST training, there is no substitute for getting on with something.
 
I take a huge amount of pride in how dedicated I am to training, and educating myself, just like you.

But who the hell is anyone to judge the OP for putting in a level of dedication that he's happy with. It may not be to your standards or anyone elses, but that doesn't make us right :) Perhaps the OP has better things to do with his time than understand the sliding filament theory and the interplay of myosin and actin in the myofibrils during muscle contraction (see we can all use big words, but it doesn't make us better than anyone else).

Bottom line, train how you want to train, live how you want to live. If someone comes to me for advice I'll give it to them on a level that is suitable for their level of understanding, but I won't judge, or deride them, for being less dedicated or informed than me.

By the way, last sentence was brilliant ;)

Ant :cool:
 
WantoN said:
By the way, last sentence was brilliant ;)

Ant :cool:
Click to expand...

ha, i have a m8 who comes to me every other week telling me all about some new hypertrophy specific training plan he's been reading about, he likes to tell me all about amino acid profiling of soy protein and how its superior to whey.

He hasnt trained in over a year and all he eats is junk. He's always planning and never doing.
 
arc_of_time_ said:
hello all.

im looking to lose some weight/tone up. Not looking to become arnie or owt, just get down to a weight i look and feel more comfortable.

im currently 16 stone - 6 foot. My highest weight was around 18 stone which was pretty stupid, but managed to lose 3 stone last year. Over the past year the weight has started to creep up again so im looking to stop this and get down to around 14 stone and as i said, tone up somewhat. I go to the gym and do quite a bit of treadmill and bike work, and football once a week, but as naive as it sounds, its quite demorilising not seeing results straight away (god that sounds stupid when written down)

Sorry to start a whole thread with GordyR's fantasically insightful thread. but being somewhat of a novice id just like some advice in leymans terms, real beginners level. a whole thread is a lot to take in and you end up forgetting one thing trying to remember another

Im basically looking for advice on how much exercise to be doing, what kinds of exercise (ive looked at various threads and websites but it all seems to be aimed at gym pros *for want of a better word*)

Im basically wandering such things as

what are the best type of meals to eat before exercising, and how long should be between eating and gym

what exercises i should be doing

how often i should be doing this exercises, and for how long.

best ways of keeping track of progress etc


any help is much appreciated
Click to expand...

If you really are serious about making significant changes to your body, find the most hardcore gym in your area, make friends with as many members as possible, and just muck in with them! IMO thats the best possible way to gain knowledge. Bodybuilding really isn't complicated at all! Get yourself a dedicated training partner.

The problem with looking for answers on the internet are many. T-Nation forums, for example, are full of guys who talk like they're pros...but you can bet your bottom dollar that many of them are just lads who have too much time damn on their hands, read into psudoscience and generally fill their minds with unnecessary rubbish. Internet ego's make me lol. Seriously, you could do just fine without ever having to read up on the internet at all.

Good luck, enjoy your training! :)
 
Jeffstar said:
If you really are serious about making significant changes to your body, find the most hardcore gym in your area, make friends with as many members as possible, and just muck in with them! IMO thats the best possible way to gain knowledge. Bodybuilding really isn't complicated at all! Get yourself a dedicated training partner.

The problem with looking for answers on the internet are many. T-Nation forums, for example, are full of guys who talk like they're pros...but you can bet your bottom dollar that many of them are just lads who have too much time damn on their hands, read into psudoscience and generally fill their minds with unnecessary rubbish. Internet ego's make me lol. Seriously, you could do just fine without ever having to read up on the internet at all.

Good luck, enjoy your training! :)
Click to expand...

I find people in most gyms talk more poop than knowledge...
 
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