If you write it, they will respond.

[MetricGrubscrew]

40 yr old lifting virgin.

I have never been into exercise, did some sports during school and some what after school because it was fun. No other motive. But now that I have grown more mature and have a family I do look at things a bit different especially health wise. So I have started to go to Gym under guidance of what I think is ok based on what I find on the ol' youtube.

My goal is to build some muscle and lose belly fat. I am 1.78m tall and scale says I weight 88.6kg(195lbs), I am not concerned about scale weight. But I think I can loose 8kg of fat.

My routine for the last 2 months were:

Monday\Wednesday\Fridays:
10mins on the elliptical machine to warm up. medium effort heart rate averages about 150/155bpm
The dumbell exercises doing 3/7 routine, start of with 3 reps, then wait 15secs then 4 reps and then wait 15sec until I do 7 reps. (I have limited time to gym in the morning and so I am trying to do as much as possible in an hour)
Hammer curls 17,5kg dumbbells
2 min rest
Bicep curls 30kg weightbar
2 min rest
Single arm dumbell row 22.5kg
2min rest
Bench Press 20kg dumbbellls
2 min rest
3 sets of 20 calf raises on the calf raise machine 110kg

5mins of strecthing exercises to cool down.

Tuesday\Thursday
10mins on the elliptical machine to warm up. medium effort heart rate averages about 150/155bpm

Kettlebell 20kg
3 Sets of
10 kettle bell swings
10 goblet squats
5 x 2 single arms swings
5 x suitcase squats
40m farmers walk with 2 x 20kg kettlebells


Takes about 15mins, heart rate goes to 160bpm

Then I walk 300m walk to cool down and then do a 5 min stretch routine.

From this week I have replaced my Monday session with 40kg barbell(20kg weights plus the barbell)

Exercise # 1: 6 Military press
Exercise # 2: 7 Front squat
Exercise # 3: 8 Bent-over rows
Exercise # 4: 9 Dead lifts
Exercise # 5 10 Back squats

3 sets of the above routine.

After every gym session I drink a USN Whey Protein Shake one scoop I guess about 26g of protein and add 5g of Mono Creatine. I do suspect my diet isn't ideal, but a lot better than what it used to be and I exercise a lot more.

My concern is this enough or too much. I feel like I don't know what I am doing, but my posture has improved, I feel better, but the belly fat is staying the same size. So any tips and advice would be appreciated.

[air2fakie]

Go the distance

[mtnmama]

sounds like you might be asking why your belly fat isn't improving?

if not - maybe ignore the rest...

if so - have you read the following losing fat stickie?

https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...hp?t=165843261

even tho scale weight doesn't matter to you - seems like you are trying to lose fat and gain muscle - so intake matters.

a simple $10-20 kitchen scale and some good scientifically and historically proven input (afore mentioned stickie) can show you how to better achieve that goal. make sure you weigh, not measure.

most people don't recomp easily (gain and lose simultaneously) - but since you are a novice you have a better chance.

give that a read and track your intake for a week or so and see where you are naturally eating - and then see if you need to modify anything.

and since your old like me - i always think knowing your general health via lab results including hormones is a great start. just cuz

[MetricGrubscrew]

Thank you, I haven't had a look at it yet and will do and will give a blood test a go.

[RestoringTally]

Good for you for starting to work out for the health benefits.

Unfortunately, your workout routine sounds like you are winging it. Don't do that. Your gains will be slow, sporadic, or non-existent.

From this week I have replaced my Monday session with 40kg barbell(20kg weights plus the barbell)

Exercise # 1: 6 Military press
Exercise # 2: 7 Front squat
Exercise # 3: 8 Bent-over rows
Exercise # 4: 9 Dead lifts
Exercise # 5 10 Back squats

3 sets of the above routine.

For example, it sounds like you are using the same 40 kg + bar weight for the listed exercises. That means some exercises will be hard and others will be too light to do any good. You should select a weight for each of those exercises that will task you. For example, you should be able to squat and deadlift much more than you can military press. You should also be able to deadlift more than you squat.

I am a big advocate of following a proven workout routine.

Your best bet is to faithfully follow a proven program. I suggest one of the following programs:

Allpro's - for losing weight and cutting

Rippetoe's Starting Strength - great program for someone new to lifting

Stronglifts 5x5 - a great beginner's program for someone wanting to get in shape and stronger

These workouts are great for beginners and will help a lot with your body composition. Check out the stickies at https://forum.bodybuilding.com/forumdisplay.php?f=8 for some more good routines.

Along with getting your workout program sorted, you need to pay attention to how you eat. I suggest tracking what you eat for a while so that you can learn how it compares to a healthy way of eating. I weigh and measure everything I eat and enter it into MyFitnessPal. That way I can see if I am eating more calories than I think I am. Oftentimes, just getting the quantity of food eaten under control is all it takes to drop weight.