This newbie is making a journal to keep himself motivated.

[kevvek]

Hey all,

First off, my stats :

I'm 22 years old, 5'10, 205 pds. I've never been an athletic person or been very physically fit. But I promised myself once I hit 200 pds to get myself in shape and go to the gym by any means.

Problem is, I've never stepped foot in a gym before today (well, besides 2 days ago when I signed up). I have no idea what exercises to do, how to do them, or even what the proper gym etiquite is.

Today was actually my first day ever working out. I basically did cardio stuff just to slowly get myself used to being active again. You never realize how truly out of shape you are until you hop on an exercise bike for 20 minutes then try to walk a mile on a treadmill.

So I guess I'm just making this journal so I can look back when I'm all buff and sexy and laugh at myself for being so retarded.

My goals are fairly common among chubby guys :

1) Lose between 25-30 pounds, mostly from the stomach/ass/thigh area.

2) Once the weight is gone, get myself "toned". Not too buff, but some muscle. Mostly abs, simply because I think they're cool and I've never had them.

3) Maintain the weight with a routine that I can actually do. Since I'm not an athletic person I need exercises that don't make me want to quit and go home and sleep.

Thanks for any advice or encouragement you guys provide.

[scott_donald]

ok... seems a great idea....

well to loose bf you will have to have a good diet at roughly 2000-2400 claories a day...

look at this for a good split..

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=143006

http://www.exrx.net/Exercise.html

http://davedraper.com/hiit-cardio-training.html

[Heisman]

Starting a journal will definitely keep you motivated and help you out. Your diet is very important for losing weight. Basically, drink a lot of water and cut out all of the junk food for starters. There is more to it than that, but it is a good way to start.

There is no such thing as toning. You can only gain or lose muscle. How big and muscular you get depends on how much you eat. The more you eat the more you will grow.

Whatever routine you choose to do, use light weight and high reps for two reasons:

You need to get as close to perfect form as possible on each exercise.

It will be a lot easier too do the routine with lighter weight and higher reps.


When you feel ready, increase the weight and decrease the reps until you get to your desired rep range.

Good luck!

[ricky douglas]

Did you workout today Kev?

[kevvek]

Well, today I met with what seems to be the only personal trainer at the gym I go to.

The guy was nice enough but never really let me get a word in. First he sat down with me and made sure I understood what was ok to eat and what wasn't and he said my current diet is probably fine.

He then measured my body fat and gave me a goal. Unfortunately I'm really fat - 28% body fat. He said a healthy fat percentage is around 15%. So that's the goal he set for me - 15% which is about 175 pounds (I weigh 200 - 205 right now). He said not to expect to lose much, to try to lose 1 full pound of fat per week.

What I really needed was him to show me the machines and the proper form but basically he just walked me around to all the machines and pointed at them and told me what they did. He didn't give me a plan either - said to just work all my body parts every day until I get down close to 175 then I can start doing splits. He said I should also throw in cardio about 3-4 times a week, 45 minutes per day. He said between the cardio and the weights I shouldn't have to do more than an hour and a half per day tops with warmup and cooldown.

So, what do you guys think? Is he right? I think 175 is an attainable goal, but I'd really like to lose more than 1 pound per week. It would take me 30 weeks to lose the weight I need! Thanks for any advice.

[Heisman]

He said to work all your bodyparts everyday? That is definitely WRONG.

[kevvek]

Originally posted by Heisman
He said to work all your bodyparts everyday? That is definitely WRONG.

Yeah. He showed me the row of machines that do different parts and said to go through the entire row if possible but to not overdo it to the point that I'm too sore to come back the next day.

I think he was just saying stuff quickly to get me out the door because I originally was supposed to meet him at 11 am, but when I showed up he told me to come back at 1 pm. I think he knew I wasn't going to signup with him to be my personal trainer (too much money) so he didn't really care about how accurate the information was that he gave me.

So, should I start by working a different body part everyday or should I just work everything to start and then slowly go to different parts?

[Heisman]

Originally posted by kevvek
Yeah. He showed me the row of machines that do different parts and said to go through the entire row if possible but to not overdo it to the point that I'm too sore to come back the next day.

I think he was just saying stuff quickly to get me out the door because I originally was supposed to meet him at 11 am, but when I showed up he told me to come back at 1 pm. I think he knew I wasn't going to signup with him to be my personal trainer (too much money) so he didn't really care about how accurate the information was that he gave me.

So, should I start by working a different body part everyday or should I just work everything to start and then slowly go to different parts?

Look at the threads Scott pointed out and look around here for another person's routine that you like.

[ricky douglas]

Kev I told you this guy would be a waste of time. Read up on the stuff I gave you and ask me if you have any questions. Remember, there are lots of videos on the internet of how to do stuff right, so look around. And when you're in the gym, don't be afraid to ask for help. Anyone here will tell you that you aren't gonna get laughed at.

[kevvek]

Ok so I just got back from my first real hour at the gym.

For the first 25 minutes I stretched a little and then hit the exercise bike to do some cardio.

After the exercise bike I did the leg press and leg extensions. After those I went for chest press and side laterals. I finished off with some abdominals and seated rows. I didn't really know what sets/reps to do so I tried to do 10 reps/3 sets per exercise. I stuck with the 2nd lightest weight which was 35 pounds on most exercises, although I did go to 50 on the abdominals.

Again, any advice I would appreciate. Thank you guys.

[scott_donald]

Originally posted by kevvek
Ok so I just got back from my first real hour at the gym.

For the first 25 minutes I stretched a little and then hit the exercise bike to do some cardio.

After the exercise bike I did the leg press and leg extensions. After those I went for chest press and side laterals. I finished off with some abdominals and seated rows. I didn't really know what sets/reps to do so I tried to do 10 reps/3 sets per exercise. I stuck with the 2nd lightest weight which was 35 pounds on most exercises, although I did go to 50 on the abdominals.

Again, any advice I would appreciate. Thank you guys.

look at the links i gave you...

always do weights then cardio... if they are on the same day...

[kevvek]

Originally posted by scott_donald
look at the links i gave you...

always do weights then cardio... if they are on the same day...

I definitely plan to. I don't mean to say I'm not paying attention to you, but I kind of just wanted to get a feel for how each of the machines work at first. I think in about a week or two I will start following a definite split schedule.

But thanks for the tip on weights then cardio. I didn't know that was the way to go. Thanks.

[scott_donald]

Originally posted by kevvek
I definitely plan to. I don't mean to say I'm not paying attention to you, but I kind of just wanted to get a feel for how each of the machines work at first. I think in about a week or two I will start following a definite split schedule.

But thanks for the tip on weights then cardio. I didn't know that was the way to go. Thanks.

ye here is a good link on stretching...

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=2046389#post2046389

[kevvek]

Today was my week anniversary of the first time I stepped into the gym and I'm feeling pretty good. I've dropped 3 pounds in a week and feel better than I have in a long time.

My routine is all over the place, though. Today I did the exercise bike, seated rows, abdominal, chest press, leg curls, overhead press and flys. I'm going to concentrate on getting into the habit of doing sets and reps instead of just going until exhaustion.

I am having trouble getting my calorie intake down to 2000 but the calories I am getting are coming from healthier foods, at least. The last two days I've got it down to 1500 so I'm on the right track but I feel thats a little too low for now. Finding a balance in your diet is probably the toughest thing to do.

Things are going good - feeling better and looking forward to getting back to the gym tomorrow.

[Heisman]

Well, whatever your diet has been like has worked, so no need to eat less calories and starve.

Keep doing a full body routine until you get the form down on all of the exercises. Then find out the weight you should use on the exercises to hit certain rep ranges.

While you are doing this, look at the links Scott provided and figure out a real routine to use.

[ricky douglas]

Just keep hitting it man, you'll get into a groove after a couple of weeks.