17 Year Old starting to work out - HELP!
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This is really an unfavorable topic to comment on, but since no one is helping I feel bad leaving you hanging.
Alright, everyone would call you silly by just working your chest, but if you're so focused on it I guess its non of my business to dissuade you. But here's the truth:
As a newbie to lifting you'll experience very quick gains for a period of time. The chest is a muscle, and when it gets stressed it needs time to heal. Therein working out chest everyday is out of the question. Ensure at least 48 hours of rest for the chest between chest workouts. So hence if you follow this (which you will need to if you want a chest of any sort) you'll have at least 2 days to workout other body parts. What you do in these two days is up to you.
Routine wise, keep it about 4 sets, 8-10 reps for each exercise. Adjust the weight accordingly.
All of the above depends on your diet, though. Diet is (I believe) 100% of gains. Some people will tell you its 40, some 60, etc, but essentially if you don't have a good diet for your specific goal then you will not be making gains. Its all or nothing.
Join a gym, too.
Alright, everyone would call you silly by just working your chest, but if you're so focused on it I guess its non of my business to dissuade you. But here's the truth:
As a newbie to lifting you'll experience very quick gains for a period of time. The chest is a muscle, and when it gets stressed it needs time to heal. Therein working out chest everyday is out of the question. Ensure at least 48 hours of rest for the chest between chest workouts. So hence if you follow this (which you will need to if you want a chest of any sort) you'll have at least 2 days to workout other body parts. What you do in these two days is up to you.
Routine wise, keep it about 4 sets, 8-10 reps for each exercise. Adjust the weight accordingly.
All of the above depends on your diet, though. Diet is (I believe) 100% of gains. Some people will tell you its 40, some 60, etc, but essentially if you don't have a good diet for your specific goal then you will not be making gains. Its all or nothing.
Join a gym, too.
Symmetry is very important my friend.
If you have huge pecs and lack in your biceps and triceps and the rest of your body - then you will look like a mutant.
Like Nobody mentioned, diet is key also. You won't be able to make your car spin if you don't have proper fuel in it.
If I we're you I'd work your whole body - you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
It might be a little late to get pecs for the end of the summer - but this isn't a reason to not pursue this.
Joining a gym is a very good thing to do - added motivation, possible partnerships with someone (again added motivation), expert advice from professionals, easy and complete access to fitness equipment and the list goes on.
What should you do?
Read ALL the stickied on this forum, especially the ones in the weight training section and nutrition section.
If you need help finding these, ask and I'll get you started.
Hope this helped.
Eric
If you have huge pecs and lack in your biceps and triceps and the rest of your body - then you will look like a mutant.
Like Nobody mentioned, diet is key also. You won't be able to make your car spin if you don't have proper fuel in it.
If I we're you I'd work your whole body - you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
It might be a little late to get pecs for the end of the summer - but this isn't a reason to not pursue this.
Joining a gym is a very good thing to do - added motivation, possible partnerships with someone (again added motivation), expert advice from professionals, easy and complete access to fitness equipment and the list goes on.
What should you do?
Read ALL the stickied on this forum, especially the ones in the weight training section and nutrition section.
If you need help finding these, ask and I'll get you started.
Hope this helped.
Eric
The one where the bar is horizontal and you bring it up works the biceps.
The other is like a cable peck deck which works the pecs.
The first one uses less weight and the second is a lot easier - the fact you use a lot more weights is normal.
As for your chest... You might build up a chest while losing fat. You might build a chest while gaining fat. Or you might just end up losing fat all together. Depends on form, number of sets and number of reps...and diet. Which are all totally normal. Normally people like to concentrate on bulking (gaining muscles mass) and then cutting (lose fat).
There is a whole bunch of factors that kick in to what you asked.
...your on the right forum bro, we gotcha!
And seriously - do everything. Head to toe. Huge upper body and petite legs is bad, very bad. You need good wheels too.
Read the stickies that are found here:
Weight Training - WorldFitness Training Forum
Nutrition - WorldFitness Training Forum
Crapload of info in those.
Eric
The other is like a cable peck deck which works the pecs.
The first one uses less weight and the second is a lot easier - the fact you use a lot more weights is normal.
As for your chest... You might build up a chest while losing fat. You might build a chest while gaining fat. Or you might just end up losing fat all together. Depends on form, number of sets and number of reps...and diet. Which are all totally normal. Normally people like to concentrate on bulking (gaining muscles mass) and then cutting (lose fat).
There is a whole bunch of factors that kick in to what you asked.
...your on the right forum bro, we gotcha!
And seriously - do everything. Head to toe. Huge upper body and petite legs is bad, very bad. You need good wheels too.
Read the stickies that are found here:
Weight Training - WorldFitness Training Forum
Nutrition - WorldFitness Training Forum
Crapload of info in those.
Eric
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Thanks Eric!
Im glad that it's normal that the second exercise uses more weight, I thought there was something wrong with it.
So, you don't think I can get to my goal of a "noticably different" chest by september? Will I see ANY changes by then?
I followed Nobody's tip of waitng 48 hours before working out again. Although personally I dont think it was necessary.. do you? I didnt feel any pain or muscle aches during those 48 hours -- probably because I stretched before I did it.
Also, Nobody said 4 sets of 10 reps. Personally I think this isnt really enough? After doing only 4 sets I still have enough energy to keep going.
Also, another quick question... while I'm using the machine, if I'm doing 15 reps, and I get tired all of the sudden on the 10th rep, what's the best thing to do? Try and get the last 5 in really quickly with the little bit of energy I have left? Or just stop and wait a few minutes?
Which brings me to my next question, is there a difference between doing these exercises (1 & 2 that I've described) fast or slow? Because when I first start I have enough energy to do each rep really fast -- but should I?
Thanks Eric!
Im glad that it's normal that the second exercise uses more weight, I thought there was something wrong with it.
So, you don't think I can get to my goal of a "noticably different" chest by september? Will I see ANY changes by then?
I followed Nobody's tip of waitng 48 hours before working out again. Although personally I dont think it was necessary.. do you? I didnt feel any pain or muscle aches during those 48 hours -- probably because I stretched before I did it.
Also, Nobody said 4 sets of 10 reps. Personally I think this isnt really enough? After doing only 4 sets I still have enough energy to keep going.
Also, another quick question... while I'm using the machine, if I'm doing 15 reps, and I get tired all of the sudden on the 10th rep, what's the best thing to do? Try and get the last 5 in really quickly with the little bit of energy I have left? Or just stop and wait a few minutes?
Which brings me to my next question, is there a difference between doing these exercises (1 & 2 that I've described) fast or slow? Because when I first start I have enough energy to do each rep really fast -- but should I?
Thanks Eric!
no matter what you "feel" in your muscles the fact is that gains happen during the recovery stage, not while you are actually working the muscle. push a little harder when you are working out, give your muscles time to recover, and make sure to EAT!! if your not eating enough you will not see any results from your efforts.
if your not feeling tired after your chest workout then your not pushing yourself hard enough in my opinion. Also you would get better results if you do more than just chest, especially being a newb if you started a full body routine now with clean surplus diet you could make some pretty good gains (proly 7/8 pounds), read the stickies on the forum about diet and weight training then post back with questions
Thanks for the replies!
Okay, so.. I have another few questions...
So everyone keeps saying I need to work out MORE than just my biceps and chest. Other than legs/lower body, what else is there?! Is there some excersize that will work my back muscles? I would like that... based on what I've said about the machine I'm using, would either of those two excersizes work my back? I don't think so though.
So how do you get a muscular back? Is there any "non-machine" workouts?
Also, here's the reason why I havnt tried to do my abs yet: I feel like I could do crunches forever, they're almost fun to me, but theres one problem, ater doing say...20 or 30, my lower back kind of hurts and it really makes it hard to keep going. I dont have any prior back injuries or anything, it just hurts. I feel like if it didn't hurt, I could do crunches. I even tried putting a pillow there, but I think that takes away from the workout and it's not as comfortable as it sounds.
Thanks again for all of your help, it's very encouraging!
Okay, so.. I have another few questions...
So everyone keeps saying I need to work out MORE than just my biceps and chest. Other than legs/lower body, what else is there?! Is there some excersize that will work my back muscles? I would like that... based on what I've said about the machine I'm using, would either of those two excersizes work my back? I don't think so though.
So how do you get a muscular back? Is there any "non-machine" workouts?
Also, here's the reason why I havnt tried to do my abs yet: I feel like I could do crunches forever, they're almost fun to me, but theres one problem, ater doing say...20 or 30, my lower back kind of hurts and it really makes it hard to keep going. I dont have any prior back injuries or anything, it just hurts. I feel like if it didn't hurt, I could do crunches. I even tried putting a pillow there, but I think that takes away from the workout and it's not as comfortable as it sounds.
Thanks again for all of your help, it's very encouraging!
I don't really think this is a good idea personally... Strength training can put a lot of strain on the heart. At your age this shouldn't be a HUGE problem, but for the sake of having a system that can properly handle it, you should be doing cardio as well.
Truth is, you should be working everything, not just what you want to look good. Your body has weird ways of changing, and when you focus all your exercise into one area you can get really weird bulky areas.
"Pecks" are always a nice novelty, but the fact is, if you don't have the entire body to go with them, they just kinda look like mini man boobs.
Also, if your ENTIRE body is healthier, not just the muscles in your chest and arms, then the recovery your muscles do will be faster and more thorough giving you more effective results from your workout.
And yes, it's true, all your muscle gain happens during recovery. When you exercise your muscles get tiny hairline tears in them. As these tears heal over, the muscle builds larger and stronger. Your muscles may in fact bulge after a workout. This isn't built muscle, it's basically swelling because your muscles have been slightly damaged. But damage is all part of the building process.
That's all I have to share. I just disagree with your whole idea of "I want this and this to look good". I don't think it's a healthy way to exercise, or the right reason to start exercising. Bessides, when people see it, and the rest of you, they're going to know you spent all your time building those muscles just so they'll look good. You wont exactly fool people into thinking you're that strong or in great shape or anything. You'll just look like this unfit guy with carved arms and little perky lumps under his shirt. The rest of your body, and even how you carry yourself wont be the same as someone who's in shape though and you wont be properly distributed. It'll look awkward IMO.
As far as your abs go, lie on your back, hands behind your head like you're going to do a situp. Instead of sitting all the way up, simply lift your shoulders off the ground. This will still work your abs, but wont put any strain on your lower back. They also make devices that assist in situps to help reduce the tension on the back and neck. I don't know what they're called, but they're like bars that roll with you, I'm sure someone here knows what I'm talking about...
Your abdominals are probably one of the most important parts of your body to exercise. They're a very strong and large group of muscles, so don't be afraid to push yourself.
One way or the other though, without exercising your entire body, you will not feel as strong as any part of you may look on the outside, so you really are just building an unnatural and bizarre body build purely for the sake of aesthetics.
Truth is, you should be working everything, not just what you want to look good. Your body has weird ways of changing, and when you focus all your exercise into one area you can get really weird bulky areas.
"Pecks" are always a nice novelty, but the fact is, if you don't have the entire body to go with them, they just kinda look like mini man boobs.
Also, if your ENTIRE body is healthier, not just the muscles in your chest and arms, then the recovery your muscles do will be faster and more thorough giving you more effective results from your workout.
And yes, it's true, all your muscle gain happens during recovery. When you exercise your muscles get tiny hairline tears in them. As these tears heal over, the muscle builds larger and stronger. Your muscles may in fact bulge after a workout. This isn't built muscle, it's basically swelling because your muscles have been slightly damaged. But damage is all part of the building process.
That's all I have to share. I just disagree with your whole idea of "I want this and this to look good". I don't think it's a healthy way to exercise, or the right reason to start exercising. Bessides, when people see it, and the rest of you, they're going to know you spent all your time building those muscles just so they'll look good. You wont exactly fool people into thinking you're that strong or in great shape or anything. You'll just look like this unfit guy with carved arms and little perky lumps under his shirt. The rest of your body, and even how you carry yourself wont be the same as someone who's in shape though and you wont be properly distributed. It'll look awkward IMO.
As far as your abs go, lie on your back, hands behind your head like you're going to do a situp. Instead of sitting all the way up, simply lift your shoulders off the ground. This will still work your abs, but wont put any strain on your lower back. They also make devices that assist in situps to help reduce the tension on the back and neck. I don't know what they're called, but they're like bars that roll with you, I'm sure someone here knows what I'm talking about...
Your abdominals are probably one of the most important parts of your body to exercise. They're a very strong and large group of muscles, so don't be afraid to push yourself.
One way or the other though, without exercising your entire body, you will not feel as strong as any part of you may look on the outside, so you really are just building an unnatural and bizarre body build purely for the sake of aesthetics.
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I'll agree with the above on making sure to do a full body work-out.
I saw a guy at the gym the other day, he was a stick but had an abnormally large, bulging chest and arms. Then he had the skinniest lower frame I've seen. He looked really silly, in a malformed sort of way. If you walk around your gym look at the guys who do squats, dead-lifts, power cleans etc. They have well rounded bodies that look athletic with well proportioned muscles. (Admittedly I have more recently been trying to incorporate these exercises in my routine.)
Either way I have always done abs, back, shoulders, triceps just as much as chest and biceps.
A good way is to tell yourself that you will not do chest and biceps before you make a round on the whole body first. So if you are eager to do chest and biceps you will have to go to the gym more frequently to get your other exercises in first.
Another note: I've noticed that guys at the gym who seems to do chest all the time develop bad posture with shoulders rolled forward.
I saw a guy at the gym the other day, he was a stick but had an abnormally large, bulging chest and arms. Then he had the skinniest lower frame I've seen. He looked really silly, in a malformed sort of way. If you walk around your gym look at the guys who do squats, dead-lifts, power cleans etc. They have well rounded bodies that look athletic with well proportioned muscles. (Admittedly I have more recently been trying to incorporate these exercises in my routine.)
Either way I have always done abs, back, shoulders, triceps just as much as chest and biceps.
A good way is to tell yourself that you will not do chest and biceps before you make a round on the whole body first. So if you are eager to do chest and biceps you will have to go to the gym more frequently to get your other exercises in first.
Another note: I've noticed that guys at the gym who seems to do chest all the time develop bad posture with shoulders rolled forward.
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