Beginner Help

Hello all,

First of all, let me tell that this is a wonderful forum with a heck of alot of info. In fact, sometimes too much info!!! I am a 32 year old male who just joined a gym about 4 months ago after weighing the most I have ever weighed. I am 6 foot even and weighed 242 lbs. Since then, I have done cardio 4-5 times a week and some weight training. I am down to 206 lbs. The problem is that when I do weight training, I pick a machine for the particular body part I want to work and do it. In other words, I have no idea what I'm doing!!! I could use some help in picking out a routine. My goal is to weight train 3-4 times a week. My main goal is to look better and to replace my fat with muscle. I want to get some definition in my body, especially my chest (I want to turn my man-boobs into a decent chest) Any info on routines, reps, and supplements is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys, I am looking forward to participating in this forum!!!

Pbobes
 
it would be better to loose fat first and gain muscle later, when you do this it's alot faster and more effective. exol's program is prity bad, your better off around set's of 4-6 with reps around 6-10 doing.
this next part is a copy paste that still need's a little bit of modification but generaly it's just fine. keep reading and learning and this will start you off till you can make a more customized program.
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template for loosing fat (cutting)
by average I mean you just want to effectively loose fat, without becoming extreme about it. I will try and outline the basics for you, and later on you should make adjustments / additions that will best fit your needs.
all that will be discussed is for optimal fat loss

DIET : -40% protein 40% carbs 20%fat this is a basic layout. "what kind of protein?" well you should eat: chicken,tuna,eggs,fish,beef are all acceptable basically avoid things like fast food meats and other stuff that's just common since. "what about carbs?" mainly oats, whole grains, starchy vegetables, but no fruit. "and fat?" most of your fat intake should be from vegetable oils, seeds and nuts. if you don't like those foods there are some alternatives. -"how many calories?" around 200-300 or 20-30% less than your maintenance level, "how do I know what my maintenance level is?" one way to figure it out is to keep a calorie intake journal for 5-7 days. If your weight stays constant, then you simply divide the total calories consumed by the number of days and you’ll get your daily intake. -liquids: 1-2 gallons/4-8 Liters of water a day is the basic amount you want. you should eat 6 meals a day spaced out 2-3 houres. foods you will want to say away from are: soda, mayo, chips, french fries, ice cream, most salad dressings & oils(except olive oil), cheese. if you can't live without them then go for non-fat and low sugar type things. and lastly don't eat most juices and fruits, it's great for a healthy lifestyle but horrable for fat loss, some fruits are ok like blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, cranberrys. use some common sence and don't try to make drastic changes all in a day, it should be a gradual process. once you get to the weight you like then you can raise your calorie intake up to maintenance.

SUPPLEMENTS: (first tier supps) for fat loss is a multivitamin and some EFA's (essential fatty acids). (second tier supps) protein powders like casein (used before bed) would be the one of choice for fat loss, whey (after workout) is also benifital. thermogenic fat burners or stimulant-free fat burners are usefull in loosing weight, follow the direction on thoes products, they will add an extra boost to your goals (san tight is a good stimulant-free product). I would not bother with anything else like carb blockers, fat blockers, appetite suppressants, and other fat loss products you will see everywhere, with maby the exception of thyroid hormone increasers but usally there is no need for them.

WORKOUT PROGRAMS: almost any program will work. the only thing you will want to add is less rest between exercises and sets, but don't hurt yourself.
alot of these exercises have dumbbell-counterparts.
Chest: Parallel bar dips, Bench Press, Incline Press
Legs:Squats (including front squats), tiff-Legged deadlifts, Calf-raises
Back:Bent-over rows, Chins Bent-legged, Deadlifts (also a leg exercise)
Delts:Military press, Lateral raises
Arms:Close-grip bench, press Close-grip chins
you can find fully detailed workouts.

CARDIO: there are two main types of cardio you should use, first is called slow cardio and the second is called HIIT (high intensity interval training). you should use them in a ratio of 3-1 (IE 3 days of slow and 1 day of HIIT). For best results do cardio 4 times a week for an houre, too much is somtimes counterproductive and too little is well too little. "what is slow cardio?" slow cardio is doing any activity (running, biking, swimming, boxing, etc) with about 75-85% of your max heart rate for an houre. "how do I know what my max heart rate is?" well when you do an activity where you are still able to talk without being extremely out of breath, or another easy way is take 220 and minus your age then take that number and multiply it by .75-.85 which will give you rough percentages of 75-85% of your max heart rate or (HR), of course this is not entirly accurate, cause everyone is different. "ok what is HIIT then?" HIIT works like this first you warm up doing whatever for 5 min then take some time and stretch. after your all ready, start a moderate pace for 1 minute then you move your pace up to 90-95% of you max HR for the next 15-30 seconds, then go back down to your moderate pace for 1 min, then back up to 90-95% and back down agen. you get the idea (moderate for 1 min, then 90-95% for 15-30 sec) do this around 15-20 times and your done.

WILLPOWER: alot of people try to make changes too fast and end up quiting, so don't over do it, this means to slowly change your diet and work your way up to the suggested cardio regimen. if you don't workout already and don't want to that is ok, working out is not required for loosing weight but it will help the main parts are your diet and cardio. by phaledax
 
Another quick question

Guys,

Thank you so much for the info! Should I do any kind of weight training to help lose the fat or should I wait until I'm done losing and then start? Thanks for your responses!!!

Pbobes
 
A fullbody workout routine would be best. Perhaps even circut training, if you search the forums there are plenty of good full body & circut training routines. But losing weight is mostly about your diet, cardio & weight training come 2nd!
 
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