Ok so I really want to get into weight training. I have been researching routines etc. for the past month or so and now feel even more confused then I did in the start lol. About me now for the last 4 months i changed my diet drasticlly and usually go for a 2 mile jog/run maybe 3-4 times a week just to lose weight. I went from 215ish down to about 181 im 5'10 by the way. average day I eat Breakfast 1 whole egg 2 egg white omlet withsome veggies and a slice of whole wheat toast. Lunch usually a chicken breast wrap. Dinner brown rice with a veggie and steak or chicken or fish depends. throughout day ill snack on some peanuts or an apple or something. Anyways Im looking to harden up an gain muscle mostly concernd about chest and arms. I really just dont even know where to start. I don't want to waste time I want to do it right from the start. I have read all the beginning programs etc but still just a little confused. My problem right now is I dont live anywhere near a gym for the next six months. I have a incline/decline bench an adjustable dumbbells each can get to 75lbs so I figured I could get a jump start and then join the gym and already know what im doin then finetune my workout anyways any help is appreciated thanks!
Help! new and putting it all together
- Thread starter ccobryan173
- Start date
oh yea im 24
Congrats on the weight loss! The obvious response is to choose a variety of bicep, tricep and chest exercises to hit those body parts, and then make sure to also hit the rest of your muscle groups so you don't get out of balance by just focusing in a few areas. What in particular has confused you in what you've researched?
mostly just so many programs and cant decied what to start off with. I like idea of doin 4 day split like mon tues and thurs fri then wed n sat prob just a little cardio. But not sure how to position what excercises with what days and then how many excersises per muscle and sets/reps. And the base of all programs seems to be squats and with what im workin with I can only do a DB squat. Are they that important to do a barbell squat within my first six months of training?
In regards to squats, I'd say the most important thing to do would be to learn proper form. While the form with dumbbells is different that with a barbell, I see no problem in starting with dumbbells. When you do start going to a gym and have access to a barbell and squat rack, it won't be hard to learn.
Your dumbbells can adjust up to 75 lbs each? That should be plenty of weight.
I myself like doing a 4-day push/pull split as follows:
Monday: Dumbbell Lunges, Bench Press, Military Press
Tuesday: Deadlift, Bentover Row, Pullups
Thursday: One Legged Squats, Incline Press, Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Friday: Romanian Deadlift, Single arm Bentover Row, Pullups
You can do all of those exercises with dumbbells, well, except pullups, so get yourself a pullup bar. They're not very expensive at all.
As far as sets/reps - you can do 3 sets of 8-10 reps; 4 sets of 6 reps; or even 5 sets of 5 reps. Try them all and see which works best for you.
Here is some information on: Carbs, Protein, Fats, and Fiber
The Human Brain - Carbohydrates
What are Carbohydrates?
What You Need to Know Before You Start a Low Carbohydrate Diet
(and other info)
Carbohydrates
(this one may be a tad over-kill for the average person)
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Some info on Protein:
John Berardi - Protein Super Feature
Everything you need to know about protein
Protein: Nutrition Source, Harvard School of Public Health
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Some info on Fats:
What You Need to Know about Fat and Your Family's Diet - Family Articles - Kaboose.com
Fats 101: How to tell Good Fats and Bad Fats
Fats, Fish Oil and Omega-3-Fatty Acids - Cholesterol Information Produced by Doctors For Patients Experiencing High Cholesterol Levels
(and other GOOD info)
Fat
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Some info on Fiber:
Dietary Fiber
Difference between soluable and insoluable Fiber:
The difference is primary that soluable fiber can dissolve (but not entirely) in the bowel (and is the culprit for some people getting the "stinky gas"
) when consumed, while insoluable fiber can absorb a lot of water and isnt broken down as easily.A couple of links for additional info:
Fiber 101: Soluble Fiber vs Insoluble Fiber
High Fiber Diet
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Various EXCELLENT John Berardi Nutrition Articles (a MUST READ):
John Berardi - Nutrition Articles
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An Article on Diet and Cheating by John Berardi:
Bodybuilding.com - John Berardi - Damage Control: To Cheat Or Not To Cheat!
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Solving the Pre and Post Workout Nutrition Puzzle, John Berardi:
Bodybuilding.com - John Berardi - Solving The Post Workout Puzzle - Part One!
Bodybuilding.com - John Berardi - Solving The Post Workout Puzzle: Part 2 - The Recovery Plan.
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Within the Nutrition 101 thread you will find some valuable information. Or you can use the ready made input web page in the 2nd link.
What you to do is to post your Maintenance Line of calories and list the multiplier you used to configure your approximated Maintenance Line.
Go here and read on some basic and fundamental information:
Nutrition 101
Delaware Consumer Health Information Services (Originally Posted by Wrangell)
Weight Training Information:
Weight Training 101
Weight Training Technical Articles
http://training.fitness.com/weight-...inefficient-split-maybe-read-first-34522.html
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Some Info on the ab core:
Abdominal Training
How to get abs guide
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Go here for some thoughts on the mental side:
Weight Loss Intricate
The ChillOut Log by Chillen
(allot of pages to go through, but there IS good information that may help you if you take the time to seek it)
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All of the links, plus additional links (Not Listed here) that you may be interested in are in this link below:
http://training.fitness.com/new-member-intro/where-begin-all-info-links-18741.html
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Change your eating habits (below are some suggestion examples)
The 3 Nutrients (Carbs, Good Fats, and Protein) are an essential factor in the diet; however, the Law of Energy Balance within the DIET, is the ultimate KING while the Nutrients can play in some key decisions made within the body.
○ Try eating 5 to 6 smaller meals during the day
○ Balance your meals out during the day so in one day you have a mix of Protein, Carbohydrate and good Fats
○ Drink lots of water during the day and before, during and after exercise
○ Simple Carb Examples: (Various fruit) Grapefruit, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Strawberries, Oranges, Apples, Pineapple, etc
○ Complex Carb Examples: Whole Wheat Pita Bread, Oatmeal, Long Grain Brown Rice, Brown Pasta, Malto-Meal (Plain, whole wheat),etc
○ Good Protein Examples: White or Dark Tuna, Chicken Breast, Lean Turkey, Lean Ham, Very lean Beef, Quality Whey Protein Powder, etc
○ Good Fats Examples: Natural Peanut Butter, Various Nuts, Flax Seed, Fish Oils.
○ Dietary Fiber: Whole Grains (Bran), Some fruits (like Apples), and vegetables, nuts and seeds
Dietary Fiber
ROOT VEGETABLES: beets, sweat potatoes, yams
GREEN VEGETABLES: asparagus, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cucumber, field greens, mixed salad greens, green beans, romaine lettuce, snap peas, and spinach
OTHER VEGETABLES: bell peppers, carrots, celery, eggplant, mushrooms, soybeans, squash, tomatoes, organic (low sodium) vegetable soup (be careful in the selection).
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Suggestions on various cereals:
1. Steel Cut Oats, Old Fashioned Cut Oats, and Regular Cut Oats (quick cook type), in large containers.
2. Various types of Go Lean Kashi cereals. (Some dont like them, but I dont share this opinion).
3. Fiber-One. (60 calories per 1/2 Cup, and source of fiber)
4. Grape Nuts
GRAPE-NUTS:
Ingredients: WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT FLOUR, WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, SALT, DRIED YEAST, SOY LECITHIN. VITAMINS AND MINERALS: REDUCED IRON, NIACINAMIDE, ZINC OXIDE (SOURCE OF ZINC), VITAMIN B6, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN MONONITRATE (VITAMIN B1), FOLIC ACID, VITAMIN B12, VITAMIN D.
Its devoid of any "added in" sugars, and from what I have read on Lecithin, this is used in many bread products for various reasons, and isnt a bad ingredient.
5. Shredded Wheat and Shredded Wheat and Bran: (NOT SUGAR TOPPED)
POST SHREDDED WHEAT ORIGINAL SPOON SIZE
Ingredients: WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT
TO PRESERVE THE NATURAL WHEAT FLAVOR, BHT IS ADDED TO THE PACKAGING MATERIAL--If you dont like perservatives, dont select this one
=========================================================
Post Shredded Wheat and Bran
Ingredients: WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT AND WHEAT BRAN.
TO PRESERVE THE NATURAL WHEAT FLAVOR, BHT IS ADDED TO THE PACKAGING MATERIAL. If you dont like perservatives, dont select this one
Both are devoid of any "added in" sugars.
Alpen No Sugar Added Cereal
Serving size: 2/3 cup servings per container:7
calories:200
total fat:3g
sodium:30mg
potassium: 250mg
total carbohydrate:40g
sugars:7g (mostly from raisins)
protein:7g
Ingredients: rolled oats, whole wheat, raisins, pearled barley, roasted hazelnuts, skim milk powder, whey powder, sliced almonds, malt extract. 14 ounce box
Alpen No Sugar Added Cereal
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This is you, and your new goal:
You have an attitude burning inside you that is the flame-thrower in brewing the new you.
Embrace it. Enhance it. Make it blossom and take root within you.
When my attitudes are right, there is no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.
(Wendell, modified and rewritten by Chillen)
BE ALL YOU CAN BE!
Best wishes to you,
Chillen
actually i have a pull up bar also.. what day do you work your abs into on that routine?
i have read up on all that forever and i know all the facts etc....its mostly just the workout program its self putting it together for a program thats do ale and see results. i have no weight training at all so im sure anything will help but i dont want to do a program get minimal results when i could get some advice and start off from day 1 goin about it right not looking to waste my time
The routine I listed above is basically the essentials. You can add to it to suit your needs. For example, on Mondays and Thursdays, you're hitting the triceps pretty hard secondarily. If you did a set of skull crushers after the exercises I listed, you'd basically finish them off. Same goes with biceps on Tuesdays and Fridays. After completing all the big compound lifts, I usually do one, maybe two isolation exercises, some of those are ab exercises.
I'd say doing abs twice a week is good, even once a week will do it. Hell, some people don't do abs at all. So, maybe on Mondays and Thursdays you want to throw an ab exercise at the end. Which days you pick are not that important.
You said you don't want to waste your time, which is good. The key thing to remember, is that the big compound lifts are going to cause the most growth. So, by focusing on them, you'll see results. With the time left over, then worry about isolations and ab exercises.
I'd say doing abs twice a week is good, even once a week will do it. Hell, some people don't do abs at all. So, maybe on Mondays and Thursdays you want to throw an ab exercise at the end. Which days you pick are not that important.
You said you don't want to waste your time, which is good. The key thing to remember, is that the big compound lifts are going to cause the most growth. So, by focusing on them, you'll see results. With the time left over, then worry about isolations and ab exercises.
One other option if you are totally lost on where to start is to schedule a session with a good personal trainer. Explain what results you're looking for and have them build a program for you for the next few months. I say a few months as you'll need to mix up your program every so often or your progress will slow. If you belong to a gym, many offer a complementary introductory session with a trainer although you'll probably not get as thorough an assessment as one you pay for. They will also show you proper form. The bottom line though is there is no "right" program, there are many approaches that will work, so don't worry too much about getting it completely wrong. The key is to get going with it and over time learn what works best for you.