First time working out, help regarding program and some other Q's?

[Skycat]

Hey all,

First off, I'd like to say that the main site has been a huge help. I've been reading 10-15 articles a day for over a week now and I feel I'm learning a lot but I've still got a long way to go.

I came here to ask everyone's help regarding getting me started on working out.

My name is Gabor, I'm 17 and currently weigh about 55kg (120lbs) and thin as a stick. To give you an idea, you can run your hand down the back of my neck and feel the individual vertbebrae, my arms are pretty thin too (even though looking at my abdomen it seems to be quite far from "flat"... hmm, disproportionate distribution of fat I guess haha). My goal would be to gain mass (both for strength as I'm very weak right now but mainly for aesthetics, summer is approaching and I'd like to completely change my body for the better).

I signed up for the gym back in July of last year but only went a few times due to all sorts of reasons. I tried going again over winter on one occasion or two but again I was unable to for health reasons, lack of motivation and lack of time.

This time I've already been going to the gym for 5 times in a row, not having skipped a single time even when I really wanted to, I KNOW I will get where I want to this time around, I DO have the determination and I'm actually really enjoying going to the gym now, reading up on related articles, etc. I've come here for help regarding how to achieve my goals (increase in mass and better looks - toned abs, bigger arms, etc), and I will be eternally grateful to anyone who gives me a hand with this! I was reading articles on here and one in particularly I think has helped me realise where the motivation I need should come from - it mentioned slacking off one day, going home, and then simply thinking about how lazy I was and how good I would have felt if I had gone to the gym instead. After reading that article skipping a workout hardly even crosses my mind anymore.

Back in July I had a free appointment with one of the personal trainers in the gym and we made me a full body routine but that was only because back then I wasn't really sure what I wanted so I just told her "strength and endurance," which isn't really what I'm looking for.

Here is that routine (rest is always 60 seconds):

Chest press - 3x12
Leg press - 3x12
Leg extension - 3x12
Pull down - 3x12
Low row - 3x12
Leg curl - 3x12
Frontal dumbbell raises (not sure if this is the right term, it's for the shoulders) - 3x12
Crunches - 4x20

Over the past 2 weeks that I've started going again I've modified this a little, dropping the dumbbell raises and the leg press and adding bicep curls and hammer curls, so that's more or less what I've done over the past 2-3 weeks. However, it takes way too long to finish one gym session and frankly I think a split body routine would suit me a lot better (reading up on things, I think 3 days would be nice taking into account how much time I will have available).

As a result, what I did yesterday (Monday) is began what I figured may be the start of a split routine:

Back/biceps
Chest/triceps
Legs

(abs on every day, though I'll probably move abs to leg day?)
(shoulder on back/biceps day?)

I started off with 10 minutes of stationary bike warmup, I then went and did:

Pull-down - 3x8
Low row - 3x8
Biceps curl with dumbbells - 3x8
Hammer curl - 3x8
Ab crunch machine - 5x20

And then finished off with stretching. I was going to add barbell curls for biceps but I wasn't really sure how the whole barbell bar + weights things work and I didn't want to make an ass of myself wasting people's time while I tried to get everything ready so I figured I'd leave experimenting to sometime when there aren't many people there. What do you think of this as one of the three days? Perhaps I should add a shoulder press exercise in here? I found that my shoulders are pretty damn weak judging by how difficult I found the dumbbell shoulder exercise the trainer gave me, so maybe I should start off with just one exercise targeting the shoulders?

Chest/triceps I'm thinking of perhaps doing the chest press, peck deck (chest fly? Not really sure on terminology, sorry!), and then some triceps exercises... not sure which to be honest. According to my understand, the chest press is basically the same as the bench press so I'd rather stick with that for now until I build up some strength to perhaps get started on the bench press.

Leg day I was thinking of leg curl, leg extension, leg press and perhaps some calves? Before you give any tips regarding my legs, there's something that needs to be noted about them. I had/have some serious knee problems (both knees, cartilage, tendons, ligaments alike) from about February 2006 to February 2008, and even now I'm still not 100% (nor will I ever be). Between autumn 2006 and up until a few months ago I underwent a lot of very intense physiotherapy where we worked the quads and hamstrings A LOT as it was really necessary. As a result, my legs are actually looking really good in my opinion compared to the rest of the body they're actually quite disproportionate. Basically what I'm saying is that perhaps given this we need to treat legs a little differently than usual? Unfortunately due to the cartilage problems squats may be a no-no, or at the very least I shouldn't go much further past the 90 degree bend of the knees, perhaps rendering it useless?

I've read some articles and going to failure seems like the thing to do, however I'm unsure as to what this means exactly - failure on the last reps of the last set, or failure on the last rep of _every_ set? I'm definitely going to increase the weights and drop the reps to 8 instead of 12.

My passion is downhill/freeride mountainbiking which I tend to do every Saturday (I've only been going every 2-3 weeks nowadays though due to weather and time constraints). I know it's cardio but it won't hurt once in a while right? We're talking a fairly long ride, about 3-4 hours. Outside of this, if I want to gain muscle mass then I should avoid doing too much cardio for now right? I tend to play a short football (soccer) match with friends Wednesday afternoons but it's only 30 minutes, I guess it's good to have that little bit of cardio?

Regarding diet: I've always had an extreme difficulty trying to gain weight (then again I was never really good on nutrition) but this time I think I've got a basic grasp on things and I am on the right track.
I tried to eat reasonably healthy up until now but since a few weeks ago I completely cut out the crap (no fizzy drinks or anything aside from water or juice, no cookies/chocolate/ice-cream/etc, basically most unhealthy things) and have instead decided to try to eat more good stuff (lean meat, rice, pasta, vegetables, fruit, etc.... I now pack a sandwich to school for break instead of a chocolate bar, etc). I'd like to take no supplements whatsoever given that my health is somewhat precarious (long story, but basically I've got (or had) a problem with my bone marrow which is a bit like cancer) I'd rather not dabble in that sort of stuff. I'm thinking that it'll be impossible to consume enough protein without supplementing my diet though, so I'm thinking of perhaps incorporating protein powder into my diet? Do you have any comments regarding this? Should I or do you think it's not absolutely necessary? Another issue I have regarding diet is what to eat before and after the workout, some people say carbohydrates, other sources seem to suggest more protein, and I'm pretty confused to be honest.

Right now my day consists of something like this:

7:30am - get up
7:45am - Breakfast:
a few bowls of cereal with semi-skimmed milk with a big glass of freshly squeezed orange juice (squeezed by myself) (this breakfast is if I'm not feeling very hungry)
or
a slice of toast with olive oil and ham + another slice with PB and jelly, a mug of chocolate milk and the above mentioned orange juice
8:10am - Leave for school
9am -> 11:15am - Class
11:15am - A sandwich (nothing special, turkey or ham and occasionally with avocado spread over it if we've got some at home, plus a few slices of vegetables like pepper inside it)
11:45am ->1:15pm - Class
1:30pm - Lunch:
We go down to the local university's cafeteria but they have some pretty decent food, I tend to eat either a plate of spaghetti, chicken + salad/pasta, beef + salad/pasta, or something similar, always trying to eat meat now that I'm going to the gym. I used to have one or two cans of Aquarius (kinda like Gatorade for those of you who haven't heard of it) a day, decided to cut that out in favour of water. I'm just thinking... having cut all the crap out of my diet, I won't lose weight will I? That's the last thing I'd want to do, losing weight when I'm already only at 120lbs is horrible.
2:15pm->anywhere in between 3:45pm and 6:30pm - Class
I get home between 4:30pm and 7pm (increasingly near 4:30pm nowadays though), and then tend to eat a sandwich or some fruit (or both) and then dinner around 9pm (whatever my mum has cooked, often meat, always fairly healthy and good stuff (Mediterranean diet as we live in Spain)). If nothing has been cooked, I just stick to eggs and bread along with chocolate milk and some vegetables. I'm doing my best to eat more and eat better but I find it a little difficult, maybe it's just a question of my stomach and appetite adapting though.

I tend to sleep 6-8 hours a night, I'm definitely going to do my best to increase that though.

I can't really think of anything else worth mentioning, if I missed something out feel free to tell me.

All I can say is that this time around I can feel that I'm going to stick with whatever is needed to get these gains, I'll go to the gym 3 times a week without skipping and I'll eat properly without eating junk food unless absolutely necessary. I was surprised at how well I managed to cut the junk out, I thought it'd be a lot more difficult - it feels great.

Thankyou so much for any and all help, and thanks for reading. Any and all help is appreciated! With your help I'm confident I'll be able to do it this time around. I know it's difficult to convey how excited I am about this through words, but I can just feel this motivation building up inside me with each gym visit that feels awesome. I want to be able to go to the beach this summer, take off my t-shirt and actually feel good about myself.

Thanks,
-Gabor

PS: I apologise if this is in the wrong subforum, I wasn't really sure where to put it.

[james0566]

read this http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=998224

[Skycat]

read this http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=998224

Hi,

Thanks for the link! It's an interesting read so far (still reading through it) but unfortunately it doesn't sound like it'd be a very good idea for me, I have a feeling I'd end up permanently destroying what's left of my knees with the squats, deadlifts, etc, I'd rather avoid these exercises for now.

Cheers

[talarone]

Hi,

Thanks for the link! It's an interesting read so far (still reading through it) but unfortunately it doesn't sound like it'd be a very good idea for me, I have a feeling I'd end up permanently destroying what's left of my knees with the squats, deadlifts, etc, I'd rather avoid these exercises for now.

Cheers

You'll wish you didn't avoid them...trust me....they really help. I'm still afraid when i do squats, but i do em!

[HateKraZe]

You'll wish you didn't avoid them...trust me....they really help. I'm still afraid when i do squats, but i do em!

Squats suck to do them, but they are worth it. Just ask someone at the gym to watch you and critique on your form while you do a set so you can make sure you do them correctly. And always do them in a squat rack "just in case". They wont hurt your joints if you are using good form. Try to go down far enough so that your quads are parallel with the floor and keep your chest out so your back is curved. And above all, dont try to use too much weight as alot of us are guilty for doing. Form before weight, always.