Planning to get into shape over the new year....

[Flying Purple People Eater]

What the best way to go about this? I wouldn't call myself overweight but I am certainly living an unhealthy lifestyle and haven't really done much physical excercise for the better part of a year. This has gotten me stuck into a weird state of mind where I put off excercise and healthier eating because I don't know how to begin.

How do I measure my intake? What excercises should I do? I'm terrible at answering these questions. What's the best way, from personal experience, for you to overcome this and get better?

Gosh, I'm tired. This probably reads like child's writing.

[Hermes]

Do you live in a place where it's safe to run? I've always preferred running, just because it's easier for me to think and run than to think and lift weights. That, and it's incredibly adjustable to how good/bad you are. You just run either slower/faster, or shorter/longer.

--

Of course, now that it's December, it might be more difficult.

[Let's Get Free]

Get back on your discipline, do cardio and lift weights.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Running is a pretty bad way to get in shape. Have you not noticed how the majority of people who run on the road/pavement are out of shape?

In terms of exercise, you want to do something that's high intensity, that gets your metabolism up, that doesn't lead to a terminal decline in muscle mass (otherwise you'll not look more toned, just a smaller version of your current self). The best things are resistance training and HIIT (high intensity interval training. The former involves free weights, if you go here http://www.coopersguns.com/videos/exercise-encyclopedia/ you will find a rich encyclopedia of exercises. In particular focus on:

Chest
Legs
Lower Back
Upper Back
Shoulders

And as auxiliaries focus on arms. The big lifts you want to get doing are Bench press/Dumbell press (Chest), Dumbell Shoulder Press/Dumbell Arnies/Military Press (shoulders), squats and deadlifts (legs/legs and lower back), pull ups (upper back/biceps), dips (triceps), EZ bar curls (biceps), and you want to get doing the plank and some medicine ball exercises for your core.

I'd start by doing 3 weights sessions per week - divide it into chest and biceps or triceps, shoulders and biceps or triceps, and then legs/back. So day 1 you might do bench, incline bench, pec flys and some EZ bar curls and finish with some core exercises (say 100 sit ups and plank for 1-2 minutes), day 2 perhaps DB shoulder press, DB arnies, side raises, front raises, dips, and more core, and day 3 squats, deadlifts, hamstring curls, calf raises, pull ups and core.

If you want to then add 1 day of cardio per week, that'll be plenty to keep you going. I don't think you want to be doing more than 3-4 times per week to start, otherwise you'll burnout/lose motivation, and you don't need to spend more than 1 hour on each session. Just bust through your exercises quickly and don't worry about heavy weights to start with, it won't be necessary as the 'beginner effect' will ensure you'll see some sort of change in muscle mass/fat loss in the first 4 weeks or so just because you're doing something new. In terms of cardio, don't run on the road. It's cold out, the hard ground will damage your joints (I can promise you, you want to take your body's health seriously) and is just not the best way to do things. You might want to use a bike machine/cross trainer at the gym and do high intensity stuff - try doing something like 90% effort (i.e. a 'run' equivalent) for 20 seconds, and then 50% effort (i.e. a 'jog' equivalent) for 40 seconds, and try to do that 10 times to start with and see how it goes.

Nutrition, eat smaller more regular meals. You should eat every 3 hours. So if you wake up at 9 and sleep at 12, eat 5/6 meals. The easiest things you can do to start are:

switch white rice, white pasta and white bread for wholegrain/wholemeal varieties.
Cut out butter, vegetable oil, sunflower oil etc., use ONLY extra virgin olive oil
Cut out all drinks aside from water and milk. No fizzy drinks, no fruit juice.
Cut out all biscuits, sweets, crisps, takeaways.
Cut out frozen food and ready meals - cooking from fresh ingredients will improve your general health no end.
Finally, set yourself 1 meal per week where you can have whatever you want - your worst indulgence. And ONLY have that if you've been good the rest of the week. I used to set this as the weekend - if I was good in the week i'd have a big fried steak on Sat/Sun, and would allow myself to have Granola cereal (small portion) on weekend mornings as opposed to an omelette or fruit/yoghurt during the week.

PM me if you want any more help but that should be enough to get you going, good luck!

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Also, you're gonna ache like fuck at the start, be in pain etc., - don't let it get to you. Pain the day or two after a weights workout is good - it means your muscle fibres have broken and are repairing themselves, so you'll end up with bigger muscles, you'll have burned fat and you'll all round just look a lot better and, after a while, you'll feel a LOT better!

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Running is a pretty bad way to get in shape. Have you not noticed how the majority of people who run on the road/pavement are out of shape?

In terms of exercise, you want to do something that's high intensity, that gets your metabolism up, that doesn't lead to a terminal decline in muscle mass (otherwise you'll not look more toned, just a smaller version of your current self). The best things are resistance training and HIIT (high intensity interval training. The former involves free weights, if you go here http://www.coopersguns.com/videos/exercise-encyclopedia/ you will find a rich encyclopedia of exercises. In particular focus on:

Chest
Legs
Lower Back
Upper Back
Shoulders

And as auxiliaries focus on arms. The big lifts you want to get doing are Bench press/Dumbell press (Chest), Dumbell Shoulder Press/Dumbell Arnies/Military Press (shoulders), squats and deadlifts (legs/legs and lower back), pull ups (upper back/biceps), dips (triceps), EZ bar curls (biceps), and you want to get doing the plank and some medicine ball exercises for your core.

I'd start by doing 3 weights sessions per week - divide it into chest and biceps or triceps, shoulders and biceps or triceps, and then legs/back. So day 1 you might do bench, incline bench, pec flys and some EZ bar curls and finish with some core exercises (say 100 sit ups and plank for 1-2 minutes), day 2 perhaps DB shoulder press, DB arnies, side raises, front raises, dips, and more core, and day 3 squats, deadlifts, hamstring curls, calf raises, pull ups and core.

If you want to then add 1 day of cardio per week, that'll be plenty to keep you going. I don't think you want to be doing more than 3-4 times per week to start, otherwise you'll burnout/lose motivation, and you don't need to spend more than 1 hour on each session. Just bust through your exercises quickly and don't worry about heavy weights to start with, it won't be necessary as the 'beginner effect' will ensure you'll see some sort of change in muscle mass/fat loss in the first 4 weeks or so just because you're doing something new. In terms of cardio, don't run on the road. It's cold out, the hard ground will damage your joints (I can promise you, you want to take your body's health seriously) and is just not the best way to do things. You might want to use a bike machine/cross trainer at the gym and do high intensity stuff - try doing something like 90% effort (i.e. a 'run' equivalent) for 20 seconds, and then 50% effort (i.e. a 'jog' equivalent) for 40 seconds, and try to do that 10 times to start with and see how it goes.

Nutrition, eat smaller more regular meals. You should eat every 3 hours. So if you wake up at 9 and sleep at 12, eat 5/6 meals. The easiest things you can do to start are:

switch white rice, white pasta and white bread for wholegrain/wholemeal varieties.
Cut out butter, vegetable oil, sunflower oil etc., use ONLY extra virgin olive oil
Cut out all drinks aside from water and milk. No fizzy drinks, no fruit juice.
Cut out all biscuits, sweets, crisps, takeaways.
Cut out frozen food and ready meals - cooking from fresh ingredients will improve your general health no end.
Finally, set yourself 1 meal per week where you can have whatever you want - your worst indulgence. And ONLY have that if you've been good the rest of the week. I used to set this as the weekend - if I was good in the week i'd have a big fried steak on Sat/Sun, and would allow myself to have Granola cereal (small portion) on weekend mornings as opposed to an omelette or fruit/yoghurt during the week.

PM me if you want any more help but that should be enough to get you going, good luck!

Thanks, this is really helpful! Only one query I would have is whether there are any alternatives to the gear-based stuff that you suggested in the first paragraph. I live pretty isolated, so there aren't many gyms or fitness shops to get any equipment from.

[Ocean Seal]

What the best way to go about this? I wouldn't call myself overweight but I am certainly living an unhealthy lifestyle and haven't really done much physical exercise for the better part of a year. This has gotten me stuck into a weird state of mind where I put off excercise and healthier eating because I don't know how to begin.
Really just do something. Do pushups, situps, in your spare time. Play pickup basketball (and play harder than everyone else) or any other sport thats pretty aerobic. Join a gym and run on a treadmill (if that's too boring, run around a scenic part of town). Then after a few weeks, you'll start to like exercise and look on the internet for routines for getting bigger and leaner.


How do I measure my intake?
This isn't too hard, just estimate it.

[The Jay]

What "vices" do you have?

[NewLeft]

Thanks, this is really helpful! Only one query I would have is whether there are any alternatives to the gear-based stuff that you suggested in the first paragraph. I live pretty isolated, so there aren't many gyms or fitness shops to get any equipment from.
try looking up bodyweight exercises + the muscle that you want to work on, so bodyweight exercises triceps.. though for some muscles like biceps, you'll probably need equipment.

[TheCat'sHat]

I'm actually doing the workout plan I found on the Naval Special Warfare page. It's for people interested in trying out for the SEAL teams but obviously anyone can access it. It's a good workout and very well rounded. If you don't have any gyms then I'd still recommend it just minus the weights portion and spacing out the calisthenics days. But this all really depends on what sort of shape you are in. Be very careful about stretching and be very careful to not push yourself to hard if you aren't used to physical activity. What sort of shape are you in? I was exposed to the Army a lot growing up and I honestly think that their initial PT test is a pretty good indicator. Do two minutes of push-ups, two minutes of sit-ups and a 1.5 mile run and see what your numbers are. Posting that (and don't worry if they're low!) could give people a better fix on what your fitness level is and where you should start out.

[TheCat'sHat]

You can also look into doing 8 count body builders. Trying to do 50 (or more depending on your level of fitness) of them throughout the day five days a week plus running every other day would be a great start.

[Comrade Jandar]

I used to exercise but what's the point if it's not unhealthy to the point of being life threatening and no one is seeing you naked.

[Niall]

Running is a pretty bad way to get in shape. Have you not noticed how the majority of people who run on the road/pavement are out of shape?

In terms of exercise, you want to do something that's high intensity, that gets your metabolism up, that doesn't lead to a terminal decline in muscle mass (otherwise you'll not look more toned, just a smaller version of your current self). The best things are resistance training and HIIT (high intensity interval training. The former involves free weights, if you go here http://www.coopersguns.com/videos/exercise-encyclopedia/ you will find a rich encyclopedia of exercises. In particular focus on:

Chest
Legs
Lower Back
Upper Back
Shoulders

And as auxiliaries focus on arms. The big lifts you want to get doing are Bench press/Dumbell press (Chest), Dumbell Shoulder Press/Dumbell Arnies/Military Press (shoulders), squats and deadlifts (legs/legs and lower back), pull ups (upper back/biceps), dips (triceps), EZ bar curls (biceps), and you want to get doing the plank and some medicine ball exercises for your core.

I'd start by doing 3 weights sessions per week - divide it into chest and biceps or triceps, shoulders and biceps or triceps, and then legs/back. So day 1 you might do bench, incline bench, pec flys and some EZ bar curls and finish with some core exercises (say 100 sit ups and plank for 1-2 minutes), day 2 perhaps DB shoulder press, DB arnies, side raises, front raises, dips, and more core, and day 3 squats, deadlifts, hamstring curls, calf raises, pull ups and core.

If you want to then add 1 day of cardio per week, that'll be plenty to keep you going. I don't think you want to be doing more than 3-4 times per week to start, otherwise you'll burnout/lose motivation, and you don't need to spend more than 1 hour on each session. Just bust through your exercises quickly and don't worry about heavy weights to start with, it won't be necessary as the 'beginner effect' will ensure you'll see some sort of change in muscle mass/fat loss in the first 4 weeks or so just because you're doing something new. In terms of cardio, don't run on the road. It's cold out, the hard ground will damage your joints (I can promise you, you want to take your body's health seriously) and is just not the best way to do things. You might want to use a bike machine/cross trainer at the gym and do high intensity stuff - try doing something like 90% effort (i.e. a 'run' equivalent) for 20 seconds, and then 50% effort (i.e. a 'jog' equivalent) for 40 seconds, and try to do that 10 times to start with and see how it goes.

Nutrition, eat smaller more regular meals. You should eat every 3 hours. So if you wake up at 9 and sleep at 12, eat 5/6 meals. The easiest things you can do to start are:

switch white rice, white pasta and white bread for wholegrain/wholemeal varieties.
Cut out butter, vegetable oil, sunflower oil etc., use ONLY extra virgin olive oil
Cut out all drinks aside from water and milk. No fizzy drinks, no fruit juice.
Cut out all biscuits, sweets, crisps, takeaways.
Cut out frozen food and ready meals - cooking from fresh ingredients will improve your general health no end.
Finally, set yourself 1 meal per week where you can have whatever you want - your worst indulgence. And ONLY have that if you've been good the rest of the week. I used to set this as the weekend - if I was good in the week i'd have a big fried steak on Sat/Sun, and would allow myself to have Granola cereal (small portion) on weekend mornings as opposed to an omelette or fruit/yoghurt during the week.

PM me if you want any more help but that should be enough to get you going, good luck!

you would advise squats and deadlifts on the same day?

[hetz]

Pushups.
Report back when you can do a hundred in one go.

[brigadista]

do some pilates or yoga or both!
helps with your flexibility is calming and will keep you fit as you get older if you keep it up-

good luck with it - you can do it!!:):):)

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

you would advise squats and deadlifts on the same day?

For a 3 day split yeah. For a 4 day split you can obviously split into chest, shoulders, back and legs, and put the deadlifts onto the back day.

I guess it's not for everyone, I only do it because I have weak tendons in my shoulders so on my shoulders day I don't want to overload with doing deadlifts.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Thanks, this is really helpful! Only one query I would have is whether there are any alternatives to the gear-based stuff that you suggested in the first paragraph. I live pretty isolated, so there aren't many gyms or fitness shops to get any equipment from.

Chest - press ups, you can alter these by putting your feet on the end of a bed and your hands on the floor and doing them that way, and if you have a step you can alternate between having one hand on the step and one hand on the floor, then switching sides (i.e. moving through the step), that's a killer one. Doing press ups with your hands places together will do your triceps too.

If you can get hold of a chin up bar, you can practice pull ups, very important for upper back and biceps.

Squats you can do bodyweight or with some sort of heavy thing in your hands in front of you, you can do front squats.

Possibilities are endless, though of course it's not ideal!

[Hiero]

I'd start by doing 3 weights sessions per week - divide it into chest and biceps or triceps, shoulders and biceps or triceps, and then legs/back. So day 1 you might do bench, incline bench, pec flys and some EZ bar curls and finish with some core exercises (say 100 sit ups and plank for 1-2 minutes), day 2 perhaps DB shoulder press, DB arnies, side raises, front raises, dips, and more core, and day 3 squats, deadlifts, hamstring curls, calf raises, pull ups and core.What do you think about back/chest day? I do the same on the day. I never did it as I was told that it overextends both areas. But alot of guys told me they love it, doing that whole area does feel good after.

I liked what you post, and I will probably ask some question later. The only criticism I had was that some of thoose exercise are hard to do and damaging if done wrong. Like squats (free weights) and dead lifts. When I was doing squats I had to work on my lower back strength as I have back problems, and I could never get dead lifts right. I want to move on to squats after I have worked out my back and legs to a reasonable strength, and for dead lifts I really need a gym partner to work me through it.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

What do you think about back/chest day? I do the same on the day. I never did it as I was told that it overextends both areas. But alot of guys told me they love it, doing that whole area does feel good after.

I'm not sure I like the sound of it, I go quite hard on the chest and I find upper back and deadlifts take a lot out of me. Does sound like it has the potential to lead to injury, but I guess everyone is different.

[C.K.]

The Boss basically nailed it.

Take what works best for you & leave the rest. Also, depending on what you're trying to achieve will determine the routine that's best for you. My bro for example is the size of a truck, he's always been focused on adding mass & keeping it. I, on the other hand, would prefer to stay at my normal body weight but be fucking chiseled. He & I have completely different routines.

When I 1st started exercising I read Bruce Lee's The Art of Expressing the Human Body & started his initial routine when he began training. I had very little experience & it was a 3x a wk routine that I've since evolved into a 5 day routine. Adding & subtracting as I deem fit.

Good luck, Choler. Stay disciplined & understand that physiological changes to your body take time. Its worth it. If you're into hiphop go get Stic (from dead prez) album The Workout & crank that shit.

[Niall]

For a 3 day split yeah. For a 4 day split you can obviously split into chest, shoulders, back and legs, and put the deadlifts onto the back day.

I guess it's not for everyone, I only do it because I have weak tendons in my shoulders so on my shoulders day I don't want to overload with doing deadlifts.

I see. I do them on different days because I cant take them on the same day!

[SergeNubret]

You do a lot of pressing on ex chest day so there is not need for a shoulder workout the next day.
A muscle group usually needs 60-80 hours to get fully recovered and to work optimal again.
Unless you take clen, hgh and a handfull of dbol you don't need to work a musclegroup several days in a row