I've always been a bit chubby all throughout my life. I've always had a gut and man boobs. But over the past few years I've really risen in weight quite substantially (at least to me) and I've developed love handles for which I don't know if they were always there or due to feeling uncomfortable I've just paid more attention to them.
A little bio on me, I am 25 soon to be 26. I am a 6' 5" male weighing around 267lbs. I can remember being around 220-225 somewhere in my late teens and that is where my doctor would really like me to be. I have to agree because that is where I felt most comfortable at.
I have had a gym membership for a couple of years now and I haven't been able to find a routine that is suited just for me and one that actually works. I get easily discouraged if something isn't working within a week or two because I feel like I'm wasting my time because I'm not seeing any change within myself or results.
I have tried a couple of routines from other websites and some off of this forum including the "Starting strength" series. I do have some questions about that very routine because I'm not sure if doing squats and bench presses will give me toned arms (which is kind of what I'm looking for).
I have found the grocery list on this forum to be quite interesting but not practical because I live with other members of my family and that would mean I would have to design and prepare a meal just for myself. I just feel kind of overwhelmed with the amount of information on the grocery list to make something good for me that is easy and practical.
A word on meals and food about me is I have a sweet tooth and I can normally eat about every few hours. Its just how my system works which probably would be great for eating a meal every 3 hours. When I say I have a sweet tooth I mean that if there is anything laying around the house be it chocolate or cakes and cookies I would eat it to fill my appetite in-between meals. Which for me sometimes I skip breakfast all together.
I just recently went to my gym and was looking to take my first free training session. The young man who sat down with me was very knowledgeable about what happens with the body and brain and that in a nut shell it takes about a year to reprogram the brain for a new body and metabolism. After that it would be a lot easier to spring back if a week or two was skipped at working out because the muscles have memory.
But on the flip side of all of this he is basically a salesman both for himself and the gym. They have a plan for 3, 6 and 12 month agreement with either training sessions 1, 2, 3 or even 4 times a week. He advised that 4 times a week is a bit much so he would focus on 3 times a week. Now the price depends on how long the contract is. Figure it is $40-$60 depending on the length of the contract per training session.
If I were working (which I'm not) I might consider taking a training session once a week at $60 for 3 months because I don't like locking myself into anything for a long period of time.
Basically what my goals were when I talked with this training specialist was that I wanted to lose weight which is about 47lbs as of right now and to tone up my body but not get big and bulky. Of course with the training specialist being toned himself makes him look even more of a salesman because he is selling his own product. Which according to him he has been doing since he was 11.
BTW, he did mention that for my age I am at a very good point in time because as men age their testosterone decreases 1% after the age of 50.
Now a lot of this stuff to me is jargon and basically working out, cardio and eating is a big science project and that is why a lot of people get discouraged because they don't know what to do and ultimately fail because they don't have the answers of these specialists. I feel I am one of those people.
Basically my workout consisted of lifting free weights where I could and combining it with machines. I'd focus on my upper body which was triceps, biceps, shoulders, back and abs. I do this because that is really my target goal at changing. Its not a full body workout. I wasn't even sure if I was doing enough exercises or not enough because basically what I was doing was repeating the same exercise in a different way training the same muscle to fatigue. The exercise's I would do that with was chest. Bench press and then chest flys.
By the time I was finished with my workout I was too tired to do any cardio which if I really wanted to I could come back on my off days and do it. But even then I was too sore or too tired the next day to do anything.
With the cardio I usually run on the elliptical machine because being a tall guy my knees tend to kill me with being on the treadmill. That and being on the elliptical doesn't tire me out as quick as with the treadmill. But when I'm on the elliptical I have tried doing interval training and just doing plan cardio for 20 minutes. But I haven't seen any significant reasons to continue because I either wasn't doing it right or I wasn't doing it consistently to see a difference.
So, the question in the midst of this post is, is it possible for me realistically to achieve my goals or at least part of it without hiring a personal trainer? Because at this point I am just so lost as to everything and I was at the point of just laying all of it on someone to figure out for me. Of course doing it that way might work with a huge amount of money or I could try a proven plan and work at it a bit on my end and see where it goes.
Because honestly I don't have the money right now to fork out a huge chunk of dough to a personal trainer to assist me with my needs. I'd like to be able to do it on my own if I can.
I really had no idea how long I needed to spend with a personal trainer to be given enough knowledge to figure out my own way from wherever I left off with the trainer. Little did I know that they try to reel you in for months at a time to monitor your progress and make changes to improve your progress.
I'm a complete newbie when it comes to this. All those guys I see at the gym with their great looking bodies and bulging muscles I have to wonder how they found their way and how they know exactly what they are doing. Did nearly all of them have a personal trainer at some point?
I've heard stories from others that they learned it from playing football or wrestling.
I wish there was another way to get involved with someone or a group to get involved in to get around the personal trainer and to get results. Because personal training is a money making thing and while you might see results with them I doubt that is the only way. I've been told that you don't start out with a personal trainer and its only for when you really get serious with weight lifting to fine tune your routine.
So for me I basically want to combine a workout, cardio and nutrition routine but only if its easy to follow. Because if it isn't it will lose me.
Last word on this is that the personal trainer I sat down with told me that my workouts should never go longer than 1 hour which probably doesn't include a cardio workout on a treadmill. That is a little hard to do during the busy time at the gym when people get off work. But I do see what he is saying to get in and get out.
Any questions you have for me please feel free and I will try to answer them the best I can.
W
A little bio on me, I am 25 soon to be 26. I am a 6' 5" male weighing around 267lbs. I can remember being around 220-225 somewhere in my late teens and that is where my doctor would really like me to be. I have to agree because that is where I felt most comfortable at.
I have had a gym membership for a couple of years now and I haven't been able to find a routine that is suited just for me and one that actually works. I get easily discouraged if something isn't working within a week or two because I feel like I'm wasting my time because I'm not seeing any change within myself or results.
I have tried a couple of routines from other websites and some off of this forum including the "Starting strength" series. I do have some questions about that very routine because I'm not sure if doing squats and bench presses will give me toned arms (which is kind of what I'm looking for).
I have found the grocery list on this forum to be quite interesting but not practical because I live with other members of my family and that would mean I would have to design and prepare a meal just for myself. I just feel kind of overwhelmed with the amount of information on the grocery list to make something good for me that is easy and practical.
A word on meals and food about me is I have a sweet tooth and I can normally eat about every few hours. Its just how my system works which probably would be great for eating a meal every 3 hours. When I say I have a sweet tooth I mean that if there is anything laying around the house be it chocolate or cakes and cookies I would eat it to fill my appetite in-between meals. Which for me sometimes I skip breakfast all together.
I just recently went to my gym and was looking to take my first free training session. The young man who sat down with me was very knowledgeable about what happens with the body and brain and that in a nut shell it takes about a year to reprogram the brain for a new body and metabolism. After that it would be a lot easier to spring back if a week or two was skipped at working out because the muscles have memory.
But on the flip side of all of this he is basically a salesman both for himself and the gym. They have a plan for 3, 6 and 12 month agreement with either training sessions 1, 2, 3 or even 4 times a week. He advised that 4 times a week is a bit much so he would focus on 3 times a week. Now the price depends on how long the contract is. Figure it is $40-$60 depending on the length of the contract per training session.
If I were working (which I'm not) I might consider taking a training session once a week at $60 for 3 months because I don't like locking myself into anything for a long period of time.
Basically what my goals were when I talked with this training specialist was that I wanted to lose weight which is about 47lbs as of right now and to tone up my body but not get big and bulky. Of course with the training specialist being toned himself makes him look even more of a salesman because he is selling his own product. Which according to him he has been doing since he was 11.
BTW, he did mention that for my age I am at a very good point in time because as men age their testosterone decreases 1% after the age of 50.
Now a lot of this stuff to me is jargon and basically working out, cardio and eating is a big science project and that is why a lot of people get discouraged because they don't know what to do and ultimately fail because they don't have the answers of these specialists. I feel I am one of those people.
Basically my workout consisted of lifting free weights where I could and combining it with machines. I'd focus on my upper body which was triceps, biceps, shoulders, back and abs. I do this because that is really my target goal at changing. Its not a full body workout. I wasn't even sure if I was doing enough exercises or not enough because basically what I was doing was repeating the same exercise in a different way training the same muscle to fatigue. The exercise's I would do that with was chest. Bench press and then chest flys.
By the time I was finished with my workout I was too tired to do any cardio which if I really wanted to I could come back on my off days and do it. But even then I was too sore or too tired the next day to do anything.
With the cardio I usually run on the elliptical machine because being a tall guy my knees tend to kill me with being on the treadmill. That and being on the elliptical doesn't tire me out as quick as with the treadmill. But when I'm on the elliptical I have tried doing interval training and just doing plan cardio for 20 minutes. But I haven't seen any significant reasons to continue because I either wasn't doing it right or I wasn't doing it consistently to see a difference.
So, the question in the midst of this post is, is it possible for me realistically to achieve my goals or at least part of it without hiring a personal trainer? Because at this point I am just so lost as to everything and I was at the point of just laying all of it on someone to figure out for me. Of course doing it that way might work with a huge amount of money or I could try a proven plan and work at it a bit on my end and see where it goes.
Because honestly I don't have the money right now to fork out a huge chunk of dough to a personal trainer to assist me with my needs. I'd like to be able to do it on my own if I can.
I really had no idea how long I needed to spend with a personal trainer to be given enough knowledge to figure out my own way from wherever I left off with the trainer. Little did I know that they try to reel you in for months at a time to monitor your progress and make changes to improve your progress.
I'm a complete newbie when it comes to this. All those guys I see at the gym with their great looking bodies and bulging muscles I have to wonder how they found their way and how they know exactly what they are doing. Did nearly all of them have a personal trainer at some point?
I've heard stories from others that they learned it from playing football or wrestling.
I wish there was another way to get involved with someone or a group to get involved in to get around the personal trainer and to get results. Because personal training is a money making thing and while you might see results with them I doubt that is the only way. I've been told that you don't start out with a personal trainer and its only for when you really get serious with weight lifting to fine tune your routine.
So for me I basically want to combine a workout, cardio and nutrition routine but only if its easy to follow. Because if it isn't it will lose me.
Last word on this is that the personal trainer I sat down with told me that my workouts should never go longer than 1 hour which probably doesn't include a cardio workout on a treadmill. That is a little hard to do during the busy time at the gym when people get off work. But I do see what he is saying to get in and get out.
Any questions you have for me please feel free and I will try to answer them the best I can.
W