Fitness noob; need help getting organised and started.

B

bonoz

0
Hello everyone,

I want to lose a little bit of weight and simply get toned. I don't want to build bulk, but rather have muscles but also be slim and toned.

Now I understand that I would first have to lose weight to do that, then other kinds of exercises. I want to lose at least 7-10 lbs.

What I wanna know is how should I get started and organise my work out schedule for my goals? how much time should I give each work-out session and what I should do and how frequently I should do it.

I've read a few articles about the type of exercises and diet I should be doing, but I have never really had a work-out schedule.

Also, I like to work out at night a few hours before I go to bed so I can replenish my energy by sleeping at night; if I work out in the morning won't I be tired and drained for the rest of the day?

So that's what I need help with; thanks :).
 
Well I'm sure some of the more knowledgable members will help you out, but I'll throw in my .02 since I'm in a similar boat. I work out five times a week Monday through Saturday. I do cardio three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for thirty minutes. I do my strength training on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for an hour with a personal trainer.
 
Prism has a nice structure, milkyway kid gave awful advise. 3 days a week of lifting, doing compound lifts, pretty heavy, will help maintain the muscle you have while you are working at losing fat. Cardio 3 days a week is great, HIIT a couple times, steady state a couple times, whatever you can or want to do will greatly assist in burning calories.

Diet of course is key when losing fat though, make sure you are in a 300-500 calorie deficit, whether it's through reducing calories, burning more calories, or both. I prefer to work out in the afternoons and evenings, but I know plenty of people who workout in the mornings and love it, whether it's mood lift or whatever. Just lift hard and heavy, eat right and in a deficit, and do some cardio to speed things up, and the fat will melt off.

7-10 pounds is a small and attainable goal, but don't be discouraged if it takes time. 1-2 pounds of fat loss a week is optimal, so it could take you almost 2 months.
 
PrISM said:
Well I'm sure some of the more knowledgable members will help you out, but I'll throw in my .02 since I'm in a similar boat. I work out five times a week Monday through Saturday. I do cardio three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for thirty minutes. I do my strength training on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for an hour with a personal trainer.
Click to expand...

That's more like six days isn't it?

What do you do in strength training? do you work on a particular muscle group on each particular day? How is the personal training helping you?

Thanks.
 
MarkMyWords said:
Prism has a nice structure, milkyway kid gave awful advise. 3 days a week of lifting, doing compound lifts, pretty heavy, will help maintain the muscle you have while you are working at losing fat. Cardio 3 days a week is great, HIIT a couple times, steady state a couple times, whatever you can or want to do will greatly assist in burning calories.

Diet of course is key when losing fat though, make sure you are in a 300-500 calorie deficit, whether it's through reducing calories, burning more calories, or both. I prefer to work out in the afternoons and evenings, but I know plenty of people who workout in the mornings and love it, whether it's mood lift or whatever. Just lift hard and heavy, eat right and in a deficit, and do some cardio to speed things up, and the fat will melt off.

7-10 pounds is a small and attainable goal, but don't be discouraged if it takes time. 1-2 pounds of fat loss a week is optimal, so it could take you almost 2 months.
Click to expand...

What are compound lifts? HIIT? steady state?

So it is a combination of calorie intake and burning that results in some weight loss? So if I minimize my calorie intake, watch what I eat, rather than heavily restricting my diet, would that be effective enough?

I'm not trying to lose it in a short amount of time. I'm not exactly overweight, I'm just right on the upper edge of normal weight range, so eventual results will be fine by me.

What is the best cardio? running? cyclo-peddling? swimming? stair-climbing?

and

What is the best muscle building technique? or should I simply try them all?

Thanks a lot!
 
Compound lifts are lifts that employ a greater number of muscles in the body. First, I'll explain isolated lifts, ones you probably don't need to be worrying about now. An isolated lift is one that literally isolates one muscle group. A bicep curl is an isolated lift, with your elbow being the only joint moving, and you are trying to isolate the force in the biceps. A compound lift will cover far more muscles, making it a more functional movement. In real life situations, you rarely isolate a muscle, it is usually many muscles working in conjunction, so why not lift in this manner as well? A compound lift would be a pullup, the upper back is used, shoulder muscles, biceps, forearms. Other great compounds are deadlifts, squats, lunges, rows, dips, bench press, etc. Research these and you will see what I mean when I say they use several muscle groups.

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. You can apply this method to any traditional form of cardio. Running for example. Instead of just working up to 6 mph, and running at that speed for 40 minutes, HIIT has you change things up. You sprint all out, as fast as you can possibly manage for say 20 seconds, then rest for 40-60, and you repeat this several times. Your current fitness levels will dictate how long you can go, how long your sprints are, and how long of a break you need in between sprints. Regardless of fitness level though, the idea is to get your heartrate up to 90% or more of it's max. The workouts are short since they are so intense, but the aftereffects are great. EPOC, Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption will occur for hours after you do HIIT. You will be sitting at home having a meal later that day and still be burning higher than normal amounts of calories. HIIT is excellent for fat loss.

Steady state is just running or biking or whatever at a regular, maintained pace. Running at 7 mph for 40 minutes would constitute a steady state run. Biking at 80 rpms for 40 minutes would be the same.

Eating right, and just minimizing it a bit is ideal. You don't want to drop the cals drastically, but rather lower them a bit, and use exercise to burn off extra energy. Your body will then look to fat stores to make up for extra energy.

The best form of cardio is the form that you enjoy most. Seriously, it's that simple. Don't do one if you hate it. I prefer to run, it feels the most effective to me, keeps me entertained, and I just enjoy it. If biking is your thing, do it!!!

I am not sure what you mean by "muscle building technique". Muscle building happens on a micro-level, and that's all your body's doing. You can only do 3 things to move it along. Eat well, and in a surplus, lift to stimulate the muscles and cause microtrauma (little tears in the muscle fibers) and rest, rest, rest. Understand though, that it is one or the other here. You are either losing fat by doing the HIIT, steady state, lifting, and eating below calorie maintenence, or you are building muscle by eating in a surplus, lifting heavy, and avoiding cardio. Don't try to do both, just focus on one goal, then switch to the other when you're ready! Good luck!
 
Great bit of information, thanks very much. I definitely like the HIIT method; I don't really like to run for extended periods of time at a slow pace, though I like the idea of sprinting.

1) If the idea is to get the heart rate to a max then whatever means I am using to get it up should be fine right?

2) Though how do you know when you have reached your max or when should you stop your HIIT?

3) Also, is there a different burn-age of calories for different people? say some people reach their max quickly and tire out quickly, will they burn more calories than someone who doesn't max out quickly and don't yet reach their limit?

4) I am looking to simply lose weight and just get toned. I don't want to build bulging muscles but just want to get into shape. So for that I should first focus on losing weight, and THEN work on any muscles? or can I do cardio + some lifting in between?

5) So if I were to make a 5 day schedule like so:

M- Cardio (Running/HIIT/Swimming) -- 20 minutes or whenever limit reached.
T- Lifting (Compound) -- 30-45 minutes.
W-Cardio (Running/HIIT/Swimming) -- 20 minutes or whenever limit reached.
R- Lifting (Compound) -- 30-45 minutes.
F-Cardio (Running/HIIT/Swimming) -- 20 minutes or whenever limit reached.

Is that a sound workout schedule?

Thanks very much once again!
 
bonoz said:
Great bit of information, thanks very much. I definitely like the HIIT method; I don't really like to run for extended periods of time at a slow pace, though I like the idea of sprinting.

1) If the idea is to get the heart rate to a max then whatever means I am using to get it up should be fine right?
Click to expand...

Correct.

But keep in mind, if you run on a treadmill, you needn't sprint ' faster ' per say - you can stay at the same speed and simply increase the incline to achieve a hard interval instead. Same for a stationary bike - hold your rpm constant but increase the resistance to achieve a hard interval.

bonoz said:
2) Though how do you know when you have reached your max or when should you stop your HIIT?
Click to expand...

You can stop after a pre-determined time interval like 20 seconds, 30 seconds 60 seconds etc during a work interval. Usually, when referring to HIIT, it simply means you go as hard as you can during your work interval which means you also go hard as you can until you can't go any longer - i.e either due to lactic acid or you are completely winded etc.

bonoz said:
3) Also, is there a different burn-age of calories for different people? say some people reach their max quickly and tire out quickly, will they burn more calories than someone who doesn't max out quickly and don't yet reach their limit?
Click to expand...

Correct.

Depends on your weight, your fitness level, the intensity and duration of a given session and ( to some extent ) the type of exercise you choose ( i.e stationary bike vs treadmill etc. etc. )

bonoz said:
4) I am looking to simply lose weight and just get toned. I don't want to build bulging muscles but just want to get into shape. So for that I should first focus on losing weight, and THEN work on any muscles? or can I do cardio + some lifting in between?
Click to expand...

For beginners, it is possible to lose fat and gain some muscle mass both at the same time. However, if you want to achieve a ' significant ' change in either one, it is best to focus on one goal at a time. To lose fat, diet is a key element you have to be savvy of what your calorie needs are, how to track those calories and what sound nutrition look like. I summarized 5 steps that can help you in this regard in this thread ( check it out )...

http://training.fitness.com/weight-...re-out-my-calorie-needs-29029.html#post236114

bonoz said:
5) So if I were to make a 5 day schedule like so:

M- Cardio (Running/HIIT/Swimming) -- 20 minutes or whenever limit reached.
T- Lifting (Compound) -- 30-45 minutes.
W-Cardio (Running/HIIT/Swimming) -- 20 minutes or whenever limit reached.
R- Lifting (Compound) -- 30-45 minutes.
F-Cardio (Running/HIIT/Swimming) -- 20 minutes or whenever limit reached.

Is that a sound workout schedule?

Thanks very much once again!
Click to expand...

I assume you mean Running or HIIT or Swimming ?
 
bonoz said:
That's more like six days isn't it?

What do you do in strength training? do you work on a particular muscle group on each particular day? How is the personal training helping you?
Click to expand...
Yeah it should be six days. Oops.

As for my strength training, I do a full body workout each time. I first do a mini-circuit (three times) of a combination of either crunches, push-ups, bridges or cobras. Then I go into a main circuit and do my full body workout.

I like having a personal trainer because, to be honest, I don't know much at all about this. This way, he makes sure I'm doing each exercise properly.
 
I find high intensity cardio to be a great aid in losing weight
 
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