Newbie advice on lifting/conditioning

DRFS Rich · 22-Jun-05, 02:10 PM

Hi Everyone, I'm new to the forums and would appreciate a little advice from some of you seasoned pros. I'm a 25 year old Male, 6'3", approx 200lbs, thin frame, with a beer gut that's sloooowly receding. I finally got sick of being a lethargic slob and have been taking steps toward fixing it (and am currently down 15-20lbs). I've joined a gym (about 2 months ago), and have been attending around 4 days a week. I modified my diet, cutting out all soda, and a lot of crappy snacks, and trying to eat less, and better.

I've noticed that when doing leg lifts I feel a "pulling" in my knee, feels to me like a tendon moving, not painful, but uncomfortable. Can you suggest some exercises to strengthen my knees? Currently I've been doing cardio every day I'm at the gym, and splitting upper body/lower body on alternate days. The upper-body workouts are currently solely on the resistance machines, however since the chest and back machines work the biceps too, I find my biceps tiring quicker than everything else. I'm thinking it would be a smart idea to alternate the workouts of arms and chest/torso on differing days. Would you agree? Obviously, the more exercise one gets, the better. However, if I was to, say, add in a brisk-paced 20 minute walk at lunch, would you say it would be worth my time? Is it going to make a noticeable difference? (Disclaimer: The rest of the day I'm a desk jockey, so I'm fairly sedentary).

I have another thread going in the nutrition forum seeking advice there as well, I realize I'm not going to achieve the results I want with exercise alone. I'm thinking of supplementing this exercise to build muscle with a protein shake, possibly Myoplex lite. Should I be considering any other type of vitamin/supplement in order to best achieve results?

I've searched, and am still browsing through the forum for ideas, but some specifically-tailored advice wouldn't go amiss.

Thanks in advance,

Rich

DRFS Rich · 22-Jun-05, 02:19 PM

Quick addendum - Would you recommend I go to free weight lifting as opposed to the resistance machines? One fitness consultant I spoke with suggested not so that I can better use the "resistance" -- IE: supporting the weight on the way down as opposed to letting it fall.

- R

**threenorns** · 22-Jun-05, 04:14 PM

i'm free weights and cables over machine all the way. i love them - they use more auxiliary systems than the machines do.

leg lifts? what for? you mean those so-called "ab" exercises? don't do them - useless for abs as abs are relegated to a secondary, isometric role while the real work is done by hip flexors.

the KING of all exercises is the squat. do squats and your knees will love you. stay away from leg extensions if you have doubts about the health of your knees - the shearing force exerted by that exercise can do damage.

as i mentioned in your other post, split your cardio and weights - doing them at the same time means you'll have less energy for weights if you do cardio first or less energy for cardio if you do weights first. muscle tissue is your fat-burning friend - better to be able to devote 100% energy to each than short-change both.

it might be time to change from a two-day split to a three, four, or five-day split - shock the bod, shake things up, kinda thing.

yorkie85 · 22-Jun-05, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by threenorns

leg lifts? what for? you mean those so-called "ab" exercises? don't do them - useless for abs as abs are relegated to a secondary, isometric role while the real work is done by hip flexors.

Sorry, but if you're talking about leg raises, you're wrong. Leg raises are a great lower ab exercise and, done properly, should leave you sore in the lower abdomen for days afterwards.

If you want to strengthen your knees, I'd suggest you start running. Make sure to warm up properly, though. As for splitting upper body workouts, your best bet is to do one day of pushing movements for the chest, triceps and shoulders (e.g. bench press) and another day of pulling movements for the back and biceps (e.g. pull-ups).

**threenorns** · 22-Jun-05, 08:23 PM

as soon as you start bending at the hips, you're working your iliopsoas group.

if you want to work your abs, you do crunches: cable crunches, twisted crunches (with or without weights), floor crunches (weighted or not), hanging crunches, and reverse crunches.

candyass · 23-Jun-05, 04:13 PM

Forget the leg lifts for a while and concentrate on big movements. You'll recruit more muscles into each lift. That's a good thing especially if you're just starting out. I'd recommend deadlifts, squats, bench press, military press, bent over rows ect. If you don't know the proper form then have an instructor at the gym show you.

Once you get your core strength up, and your metabolism up from the extra muscle, you can start worrying about your abbs.

yorkie85 · 24-Jun-05, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by threenorns

as soon as you start bending at the hips, you're working your iliopsoas group.

Right... so don't bend at the hips.

**threenorns** · 24-Jun-05, 07:38 PM

okay - to clarify:

these are the leg lifts most commonly seen in the gym and they're the ones to avoid, as they're not great at all for abs (too much leg/hip work)

the proper ones are also, i do believe, called "v-sits": the legs hover a few inches above the floor and go up only a little bit (maybe a foot at the most) and *all* the work is done by the abs. (see here)