Time to lose it

Vikings

Like a lot of the posts here im looking for advice on a workout routine and diet, a lot of you seem to have some very good advice so I thought i'd give this a shot.

Firstly im male, 18 and 6ft 3. At the moment I weigh in between 17.5 and 18 stone (this time last year it was 21.5 stone) i've lost a fair bit of weight by dropping all the crap out of my diet and generally getting more active however i've noticed that this is as far as I can go without working out to drop the weight as i've been hovering at this weight for 2-3 months.

I joined the Jackie Skelly at parkwest this month, I havn't been yet (plan to go 4 mornings a week for 1/2 hours each time) as I want to get a plan on paper before delving into anything. My diet consists of ... whatever is being cooked that night (the joy of living at home) however i'm going to be changing this as I work nights and eating dinner for breakfast is probably not the most healthy for me at all.

So what am I looking for then? Just advice really, what should I be doing in the gym, what machines to use what times to use them for. (I know you cant give the perfect advice as you dont know me but in general for beginners) I've just read g'ems eating for fitness post and there is a lot of good information in it which i've taken into account.

If theres any advice you can give me i'd greatly appreciate it, thanks.

g'em

If you want to lose weight you'll need to do a combination of weights and cardio. I'm going to presume you haven't done weights before, and so you'll need to be shown how to do all the various techniques and use the machines. Improper lifting (what we call bad form) is a sure-fire way to do yourself more harm than good.

As a beginner you'll be looking to increase all over strength and gain confidence with the weights and machines. Compound exercises (ones which involve the use of a range of muscle groups) are a good way to do this, but really need excellent form to be executed properly. Squats and deadlifts are the two best compound exercises which form the basis of many lifters' programs.

At first you'll be looking to increase muscle endurance, rather than size, so you should work in the 12-15 rep range and keep the sets low. Once ou've mastered that, after a few weeks you can begine to develop more complex regimes that involve more isolation exercises (that work on a single muscle group like the biceps or different muscles of the shoulders).

Vikings

Forgot to mention im looking to drop 2/3 more stone while increasing muscle all over really. Yes i'd be considered a beginner when it comes to weights and will undergo an induction before I do start using the gym to make sure my form is correct.

Thanks for the advice so far.

g'em

no worries. when you start off in the gym you'll be tempted to do everything all at once. But give it time. We generally only each muscle group only once a week as we lift so heavily, but starting ot it should be fine to split your workout into two days- something as simple as upper vs lower body perhaps. But when you lift you're actually breaking down muscle fibres and its the rest period between is when they actually grow so you have to allow them that time to recouperate.

And its the cardio and your diet that'll help you lose weight- there's nothing to stop you starting the cardio today- go out and have a walk!!