New Gym Membership... its a start!

[Stribs]

Right guys i'm 21, Ive been travelling for a couple of years and enjoyed myself a bit to much, so put on a bit of weight. Its more the moobs that get me, the belly is bareable, but my chest just seems to stick out not in a pectoral way!

So I now have plans of getting on a treadmill for 30mins a day, Will this do anything for me with a steady diet? Then after the fat is lost i have huge ambitions to really work on my upper body and have pecks which are solid and defined. Thats the main priority.

Also is it worth doing sit ups if you have a bit of a belly on you?

So guys.... Hit me with your fountain of knowledge

Thanks

[.V.]

Ok, here we go. You cannot spot reduce and spot gaining of muscle is ineffective at best.

Get a good solid reduced calorie eating plan. Start with 10-15 calories/lb of bodyweight. Choose a good macronutrient profile for your body. You may have to experiment a bit to find what's right for you. Close to standard is 45% carbs, 35% protein, and 20% fat. Something more radical but in my opinion more effective for fat loss and more muscle sparing is 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs five days a week then eat carbs and fat for 1.5-2 days/week while keeping calories approximately the same.

Resistance training is vital. I'm partial to 3x a week full body workouts including squat, deadlift, bench press, row, and over head press. To work the abs do either weighted crunches or cable crunches. This gets the whole body and is more effective than just trying to train part of it.

Cardio is another must. Pick something you like and either do long sessions at low to moderate intensity for up to an hour...or do HIIT sessions for about 16-20 minutes. HIIT means go all out for about a minute then cruise for about 30 seconds. For example sprint 1 min, jog 30 sec, repeat until you can't go any longer. If you can go more than 20 minutes...you didn't work hard enough.

For even more effective fat burning, do the longer sessions upon waking before breakfast, possibly even 5 times a week.

[thonaker]

V touched on this...

Just trying to build your upper body as a priority isn't going to be all that effective. Trying to do such a thing is going to leave you with an odd looking physique. Plus it's unbalanced, and could lead to injury.

A good workout includes your entire body.

Oddly enough, things like Squats and deadlifts helps out the rest of your body growth, so keep that in mind.

Would you really want Mickey Mouse legs and an upper body like a Arnold?

Not to say that you necessarily want Arnold's physique, but you get the picture right?

Troy

[zlffjebdhf]

I used to think squat is useless because I thought only upper body is most visible plus I thought big thighs would make my upper body look smaller because of the ratio. Now I totally think different, bigger thigh do not make upper body look smaller and it is very important to have nice shaped ass. Trust me if you wanna look good in jeans, pants, shorts you gotta have tight muscular ass and for me squats is one of my favourite workout. Just make sure you are able to see forward while you are doing it because if you can't and only can look down that means you are placing the bar too high and can hurt your back side of the neck.

[Stribs]

The personal trainers ta my gym are useless, all i want is a structured workout so like someone said before I know what i'm doing before I go into the gym.

Also it is an intimadating place to go to the free weights and pick up the little weights with all the big guys around you. Is wokring solely on the machines a bad thing??

What are deadlifts? I've heard them been mentioned a lot.

Thanks for the help guys, this is a good place for help!!

Stribs

[midgetcop]

Deadlifts are a *fantastic* compound movement, and are definitely a must-have for any strength trainer. They can be kinda tricky at first in terms of getting the form, but are well worth the payoff.

The main muscle groups that deadlifts work are the lower back, hamstrings, (regular deadlifts focus moreso on the back, whereas stiff-legged deadlifts on the hamstrings). But much more than this, many more stabilizer muscles get utilized during the movement.

Check out this link and this link.

[LiftGirl]

Originally Posted by Stribs

The personal trainers ta my gym are useless, all i want is a structured workout so like someone said before I know what i'm doing before I go into the gym.

Also it is an intimadating place to go to the free weights and pick up the little weights with all the big guys around you. Is wokring solely on the machines a bad thing??

I know it can be scary at first, especially since you may not be able to lift as much as more experienced lifters initially. For me, it's like that all the time, since not that many chicks at my gym dig the weights. And obviously all the guys can lift way more than me, even the ones that don't weigh much more.

Working solely on machines is not a bad thing. Any resistance training is good. That being said, I believe free weights allow you to work more muscles in less time.

Do you have any friends currently into fitness? It might make it less intimidating if you go with a friend at first. If not, don't worry about it, you will soon get used to it and you may find that the people are very nice and not scary at all.

As far as cardio, I think you should build a good cardio base before trying interval training. I would do regular cardio for one or two months and build up to being able to run for a half-hour solid. But then, I would definitely incorporate intervals one to three times a week. Not every day, though.

[Stribs]

Is there anywhere i can pick up a fitness plan... a structured from the moment I go into the gym to the moment I leave i have a plan of what and how much i am doing. I feel i would work a lot better this way!

[LiftGirl]

Try starting off with two sets of 10-12 reps each of deadlift, squat, cable, T-row or bent over row, bench, overhead press.

[Merrida]

Originally Posted by LiftGirl

Try starting off with two sets of 10-12 reps each of deadlift, squat, cable, T-row or bent over row, bench, overhead press.

In other words, hit the basics. These exercises are the basic compound moves (so you won't need to do isolation work especially to start),...but these will help build your overall body strength.

Don't be afraid of personal trainers, they're not all jerks or useless. You may have just approached the wrong one or ones for your needs, but they can at least help you structure this program,...and then it's up to you to keep track of your progress.

[Stribs]

How long in between each set should you rest? I hit the machines today and felt really good about coming away with a few aches. Will using Machines just slow the process down?

[LiftGirl]

Originally Posted by Stribs

How long in between each set should you rest? I hit the machines today and felt really good about coming away with a few aches. Will using Machines just slow the process down?

You should rest until you feel ready to tackle another set. I don't necessarily time my rests, and very few people do, unless they're doing a circuit or something like that.

Machines are fine if you prefer them.

Originally Posted by Merrida

Don't be afraid of personal trainers, they're not all jerks or useless. You may have just approached the wrong one or ones for your needs, but they can at least help you structure this program,...and then it's up to you to keep track of your progress.

I'm wondering if the ones at his gym are truly personal trainers or just minimum wage staff. The guys just walking around at my gym (not the personal trainers, but the guys who work there, like at the desk) just have to know CPR. Some are more knowledgeable than others.

[cursor]

Are you still here Stribs? I'll help, if I can. Just let me know you're listening.

[Stribs]

Cursor, yep still checking on a regular basis... Really helpful place, my transformation isn't complete yet!

All help is muchly appreiciated!! Thanks!

[cursor]

What kind of gym schedule do you think you can reasonably maintain? 1) On what days during the week, and 2) for how long each day?