Hello everyone. Obviously I am new the the forums and from what I gather there is a lot of knowledgeable people out there who are more than happy to provide advice. That is what has led me here! Now, I'm sure there have been several posts already about the couple questions I have, but if I may I'd like to personalize it more towards me. 
First, I'm a just-turned 27 year old male from Washington, DC. At age 22 when I graduated college, I was at the height of my fitness. Since then, I completely stopped working out. Every once and awhile I'd work out for a few days but then just stop completely again... never going far enough to get any results. So long story short, I havn't trained at all in 5 years. It's kind of sad to think that I've "wasted" the better part of my mid-20s, but instead of feeling sorry for myself I've decided to get my act together.
I'm not overweight, infact I'm still in the "normal" BMI range I think. I'm about 5'8-5'9 and my weight fluxuates through out the day from 155-162lbs (normally i try to stay under 160). I think the only reason I've managed this is I eat pretty healthy.
Thanks for reading that little intro, now onto my questions (the point of this post, right? ) Right now I'm completely out of shape...so much show I don't think I want to flop down the $$$ for a gym membership quite yet. At my condo I only have an Ellipitcal machine and one of those "Ab-roller" things. My plan is to just use those two machines in conjunction with normal excercises (push-ups and stuff) for a few weeks, so when I do join a gym, I will atleast be able to get a decent work out. Do you think this is the right mentality?
Also, is there any badside to doing my aerobic workouts on the Ellipitcal in intervals? For example, 2 or 3 20-minute intervals over the entire course of the day, or with 5-10 minute breaks inbetween? What are the ups and downs, if any, on doing this kind aerobic workout? What kind of results would yield the best results on this kind of machine? How often?
The only other piece of equipment I have is one of those "Ab-roller" things that I'm sure everyone has seen on a Info-mercial before. Some people say they don't work at all, and some do. I kind of lean towards they atleast do something, because after doing a bunch of reps I can definitely feel a soreness in my stomach. However, I don't know if its working all the muscles in my stomach or not. Now, everyone wants flat abs. Am I wasting my time using this thing?
Diet wise I'm pretty good. Breakfast is usually the same thing: a bowl of Total Raisen Bran, a banana, a can of V-8 tomato juice and a small glass of orange juice. Lunch is usually a Healthy Choice or equivalent frozen meal (I'm lazy and busy at lunch time), and dinner is usually a toss up. 50% of the time I have a healthy dinner like Salmon/Chicken and veggies, 50% of the time I give in to the world of red meat I'm only human, and any meat I eat I prepare myself. None of that fast food crap. The only fast food I ever eat is Subway.
Ok, so I've now written a book it seems The body-image I'm going for (in addition to just being healthy) is more like a swimmers-build. At 27 I don't have any interest in bulking up and being huge Being a little cut would be nice though.
Thanks for taking the time to read! Any advice is greatly appreciated and if you would like any additional information to better help me, just let me know
First, I'm a just-turned 27 year old male from Washington, DC. At age 22 when I graduated college, I was at the height of my fitness. Since then, I completely stopped working out. Every once and awhile I'd work out for a few days but then just stop completely again... never going far enough to get any results. So long story short, I havn't trained at all in 5 years. It's kind of sad to think that I've "wasted" the better part of my mid-20s, but instead of feeling sorry for myself I've decided to get my act together.
I'm not overweight, infact I'm still in the "normal" BMI range I think. I'm about 5'8-5'9 and my weight fluxuates through out the day from 155-162lbs (normally i try to stay under 160). I think the only reason I've managed this is I eat pretty healthy.
Thanks for reading that little intro, now onto my questions (the point of this post, right?
) Right now I'm completely out of shape...so much show I don't think I want to flop down the $$$ for a gym membership quite yet. At my condo I only have an Ellipitcal machine and one of those "Ab-roller" things. My plan is to just use those two machines in conjunction with normal excercises (push-ups and stuff) for a few weeks, so when I do join a gym, I will atleast be able to get a decent work out. Do you think this is the right mentality?Also, is there any badside to doing my aerobic workouts on the Ellipitcal in intervals? For example, 2 or 3 20-minute intervals over the entire course of the day, or with 5-10 minute breaks inbetween? What are the ups and downs, if any, on doing this kind aerobic workout? What kind of results would yield the best results on this kind of machine? How often?
The only other piece of equipment I have is one of those "Ab-roller" things that I'm sure everyone has seen on a Info-mercial before. Some people say they don't work at all, and some do. I kind of lean towards they atleast do something, because after doing a bunch of reps I can definitely feel a soreness in my stomach. However, I don't know if its working all the muscles in my stomach or not. Now, everyone wants flat abs. Am I wasting my time using this thing?
Diet wise I'm pretty good. Breakfast is usually the same thing: a bowl of Total Raisen Bran, a banana, a can of V-8 tomato juice and a small glass of orange juice. Lunch is usually a Healthy Choice or equivalent frozen meal (I'm lazy and busy at lunch time), and dinner is usually a toss up. 50% of the time I have a healthy dinner like Salmon/Chicken and veggies, 50% of the time I give in to the world of red meat
I'm only human, and any meat I eat I prepare myself. None of that fast food crap. The only fast food I ever eat is Subway.Ok, so I've now written a book it seems
The body-image I'm going for (in addition to just being healthy) is more like a swimmers-build. At 27 I don't have any interest in bulking up and being huge Being a little cut would be nice though.Thanks for taking the time to read! Any advice is greatly appreciated and if you would like any additional information to better help me, just let me know