Routine Help

Sylv

Sylv

Sylv

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Joined
3 Jun 2006
Posts
558
Location
Saafend
Right so here it goes. Last Monday I packed up the cigs after 5 1/2 years of smoking (using nicotine patches), dusted off the gym membership card and decided I want to get "into shape" the final push was probably the girlfriend and a comment she made lol. Either way, I gave myself a week for my breathing to improve before I returned to the gym. I set myself 3 goals and a set of rules to obey:

Goals
1. Reduce weight to 11 - 11.5 stone [Currently 12.13st - I'm 23, 5ft 11]
2. Improve breathing capacity
3. Build muscle (I don't want to be bodybuilder big, just enough, I'd say
"Tone" but I think GordyR may hurt me)

Rules
1. No Beer - Only vodka/diet mixer and keep it MODERATE
2. No Takeaways
3. Replace fizzy drinks with water or juice
4. Don't eat highly saturated fatty foods when hungry
5. Eat 3 meals a day, snack on fruits when your hungry

Now I've read the sticky threads and I'm still confused of what would be best for me. I've written up a spreadsheet that will record gym attendance (total hours), weight loss/gain and any other exercise that I do. I'm taking this very seriously.
I went to the gym yesterday for the first time in 4 months and It wasn't too bad, although I only did 10 minute warm up on the treadmill, 15 on cross-trainer and 10 minutes again on the treadmill before stretching off and warming down - needless to say I have no idea what I'm suppose to be doing in there. I really need some help with a routine that will help me achieve the above goals. Is my target weight too low for age/height? As it comes to diet, today for example:

Breakfast -2 weetabix with skimmed milk, glass of OJ
Lunch - Jacket potatoe with veggie chilli
Dinner - (Yet to come) Fish, new potatoes and vegetables.

Drink wise I've had 2 bottles of water.
I'm sitting here and I'm very hungry and it's only been 3 hours since I last ate, I'm not sure whether it's because I'm psychologically craving cigarettes (physically I can't be because of the patches) or what. I don't want my metabolism to hit a brick wall and I put on more weight.
 
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Some tips:
1. Eat at least every 3 hours.
2. You won't be able to build muscle and lose weight at the same time.
3. calories in < calories out = weight loss
4. Toning is loss of body fat

So as long as you eat less than you burn, you're okay.
In the gym, you don't need to be there for more than 15-20 minutes

do HIIT
http://www.intervaltraining.net/hiit.html

this is difficult on the treadmill, but can be done on the rowing machine, bike, or cross trainer.

You want to lose a stone, that should be possible, given the right diet and exercise, within a year. Maybe quicker than that.
 
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So I should stay away from weight completely and just do pure cardio or is some lifting good? How many times a week should I be doing this, I know taking a break is just as important as working out? I've been looking at gym 4 and a 5 miles run with a mate once a week.
 
Well, you'll have to ask yourself, do you want to shift the fat or build up muscle first?

If you want to burn fat, then cutting back in your diet (though not too drastically) and doing HIIT twice a week should be enough to get you started.
 
Just get into free weight lifting; you'll lose the fat easier as long as you have a good diet. Plus once you get into it is a lot more fun than doing pure cardio and it will help improve your breathing.

At your height I really don't think you need to be under 12 stone, in fact it would be difficult to build any significant muscle if you wanted to reach your target weight.

Also by lifting weights you're not going to become "huge" over night, it takes years of eating correctly and lifting to become the size of some of the members here.

Nevertheless, if your happy just to remain a slim shape hit the cardio.
 
Sylv said:
So I should stay away from weight completely and just do pure cardio or is some lifting good? How many times a week should I be doing this, I know taking a break is just as important as working out? I've been looking at gym 4 and a 5 miles run with a mate once a week.
Click to expand...

Personally I would say that if you are going to be doing some lifting in the future, now is a great time to start learning the lifts.

You will find that lifting heavy weights will get your heart racing which combined with the right diet and some cardio, should see you losing fat.

Thats the approach i took after seeing the success that Dark Shadow had on here.

Just hope that I can make the kind of mass/strength gains hes been getting!
 
also to add
*commit to 3 times a week and keep to it.
*eat right, its more important than the gym bit i reckon
*have realistic expectations, can take a while to see changes
 
1) As you're just starting out it is possible to some degree to build muscle and lose fat, so definitely start on the weights. Get a routine worked out and stick to it for a couple of months before you look to mix it up - 3 day split is ideal to get you doing a variety of lifts.

2) I think your target weight is too low for your height. If you add muscle any fat you have will be less pronounced too so don't rely on the scales - the mirror will tell you more accurately if you're where you want to be.

3) Cardio is probably a good idea but as you've just come off the cigs HIIT may be a bit extreme. Give it a go by all means but true HIIT is painful as hell and I know I wouldn't want to do it if my lungs weren't used to working that hard.
 
I appreciate all the replies.
For the time being I think I'm just going to ease myself in with cardio, at the moment I'm only really concerned about reducing body fat. I'll hit the gym 3 maybe 4 times a week and dedicate 2 of those to cardio, the other for lifting.
I've made my primary target to 12 stone now, once I get there I'll see where it takes me. I'll only allow myself to get down to 11.5 as a bare minimum, obviously it's going to be a lot of hard work and I know it'll take a lot of time.

So what I'm understanding is - With a good mix of cardio and lifting, combined with a calorie controlled diet, I'll reach my goals?!
 
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Yes, as long as you don't eat more calories than you burn, you'll reach your goals :)

If your diet and training are good, you should see some form of improvement soon, obviously not straight away.
 
Well I'm only on day 2 of this diet and I'm struggling, guess everything takes time to adjust. Once again, thanks all.
 
anant_shah94 said:
Some tips:
2. You won't be able to build muscle and lose weight at the same time.

In the gym, you don't need to be there for more than 15-20 minutes
Click to expand...

say what?

It is VERY possible to build muscle and shed a lot of bodyfat at the same time. countless people can do it, I did it, forget the cutting/bulking stuff. everybody can gain lean mass and lose fat at the same time, don't be afraid to eat healthy food.

As for the gym, hit the weights, it's so much more fun and less boring than cardio.

avoid overtraining, and yes, limit cardio sessions to 15mins or so, hiit is good, but you'll get even better results with a weights training programme.
read the sticky.
 
anant_shah94 said:
In the gym, you don't need to be there for more than 15-20 minutes
Click to expand...

lolwut.jpg


It's true that you don't need to be there for ages, but almost nothing can be achieved in 15-20 minutes. Even a HIIT programme with a decent warmup and cooldown can't be done in 20 minutes.
 
A month would be too quick

losing a pound a week it can be done in 14 weeks, losing 2 it can be done in 7.

To do it in a month you'd have to lose around 3.5lbs a week, which is a little much.

So I suppose I was wrong, sorry, it can be done in a few months.
 
I was hoping 11.5 by Mid-Jan aslong as I'm strict over Christmas. It's a bloddy struggle to adapt to this diet. Comes with time like everything else I guess.
 
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