advice for me and the missus

120_Minutes

ok so myself and herself want to work out together so that we can support each other (we'd both admit to being lazy) our intensions are good. we plan to start in the new year (yes we've all said this before)

now: i'm 32, 5'11" and about 10.5-11stone, and have been skinny all my life. i can eat what i want and put on little, if any weight. i am however starting to see a slight belly. i've never seen the inside of a gym. for me the gym would be to build some muscle and bulk (but nothing major...i just dont want noodle arms anymore.

her: shes 31 and overweight. shes 5'5" and at a guess at least 12-14 stone (but i'm not sure) her aim would be to lose weight and look healthy, as we will be planning for a baby in the next few years.
she has gone to the gym in the past but it didnt seem to help (as i have no clue about excercise i dont know what she was doing wrong)

what are the healthy weights for our ages/heights?

should i be bothering with building muscle if i'm naturally skinny?

should we join a gym? it might be incentive to have somewhere to go to work out rather than fall into the old traps of meaning to to it at home but not.

what type of excercises should we do?. i read the sticky above, and they were informative, but i'm lost on the terminology.


thanks

ali.c

120_Minutes wrote: »

ok so myself and herself want to work out together so that we can support each other (we'd both admit to being lazy) our intensions are good. we plan to start in the new year (yes we've all said this before)

Why wait till the new year, why not start now?

120_Minutes wrote: »

now: i'm 32, 5'11" and about 10.5-11stone, and have been skinny all my life. i can eat what i want and put on little, if any weight. i am however starting to see a slight belly. i've never seen the inside of a gym. for me the gym would be to build some muscle and bulk (but nothing major...i just dont want noodle arms anymore.

her: shes 31 and overweight. shes 5'5" and at a guess at least 12-14 stone (but i'm not sure) her aim would be to lose weight and look healthy, as we will be planning for a baby in the next few years.
she has gone to the gym in the past but it didnt seem to help (as i have no clue about excercise i dont know what she was doing wrong)

Thats a lot of information there. It struck with that you both have different body types and different goals. If your wife did not see results in the gym it is likely that her diet was sabotaging her efforts and or the program she was following was cac. Dont worry about the terminolgy for the minute and follow the KISS principle (kept it simple and start). A mixture of weight training and cardio. It is better if the weight work is compound i.e. uses multiple muscles groups as you get more bang for your buck so to speak.

120_Minutes wrote: »

what are the healthy weights for our ages/heights?

Its hard to tell, i wouldnt bother fixating on a number just at the minute tbh.

120_Minutes wrote: »

should i be bothering with building muscle if i'm naturally skinny?

Do you want to? If you do then go for it, if your not that arsed about it then dont would be my advice.

120_Minutes wrote: »

should we join a gym? it might be incentive to have somewhere to go to work out rather than fall into the old traps of meaning to to it at home but not.

The gym is great, but you could also look at other activities which you(s) might be interested in giving ago. The more fun the better, you are far more likely to stick with something you enjoy.

To lose bodyfat, diet is an extremely important part so that is something you could work on fixing together.

rubadub

120_Minutes wrote: »

what type of excercises should we do?. i read the sticky above, and they were informative, but i'm lost on the terminology.

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
that link will explain and show exercises.

I would suggest getting this set and starting right away
http://www.irish-lifting.com/product_info_equipment.php?cPath=1_15&products_id=260
it is only the price of a few months in a gym. You can see if you will stick to it. Many people end up dropping out of gyms. Also if you do then decide to join a gym you can always lift a bit at home if you cannot make it for some reason- e.g. the baby!

Roper

I think you should aim for something you'd both enjoy, like a class or activity.

Hanley

To be honest I tihnk you'd be better out of the house.

You probably spend most of your time there and it would be all too easy to get into an arugment and just storm off to a room and get nothing done.

At least the gym is a break from routine, you can get out of the house and maybe even meet some new people and have some fun.

Regardless of the above I woulda picked joining a gym anyway tbh.

DeletedPencil

120_Minutes wrote: »

ok so myself and herself want to work out together so that we can support each other (we'd both admit to being lazy) our intensions are good. we plan to start in the new year (yes we've all said this before)

now: i'm 32, 5'11" and about 10.5-11stone, and have been skinny all my life. i can eat what i want and put on little, if any weight. i am however starting to see a slight belly. i've never seen the inside of a gym. for me the gym would be to build some muscle and bulk (but nothing major...i just dont want noodle arms anymore.

her: shes 31 and overweight. shes 5'5" and at a guess at least 12-14 stone (but i'm not sure) her aim would be to lose weight and look healthy, as we will be planning for a baby in the next few years.
she has gone to the gym in the past but it didnt seem to help (as i have no clue about excercise i dont know what she was doing wrong)

what are the healthy weights for our ages/heights?

should i be bothering with building muscle if i'm naturally skinny?

should we join a gym? it might be incentive to have somewhere to go to work out rather than fall into the old traps of meaning to to it at home but not.

what type of excercises should we do?. i read the sticky above, and they were informative, but i'm lost on the terminology.


thanks

Man, I'm a very similar body type to you, and I know of others who are also. It's going to take a lot of time and effort to put on lean mass. You'll have to stuff your face with calories and lift pretty heavy weight.

The BEST exercise you can do is the squat. Go to the gym initially twice a week. Regardless of what your working on (arms, chest..etc) you must squat also. Using those big muscle groups in the legs will stimulate much more muscle growth hormone than not doing it. Think of of this way: If your muscles are small, and you work only your arms, shoulder and chest in one session, the body won't have much of a reason to fire the growth hormones, as not a lot of tissue has been punished.

After about 7 months, go three times a week and do some other 'big' exercises to keep your system surprised (lift deadlift)

I'm only speaking from experience - best thing is to consult a pro fitness instructor, or even your GP (my GP also specialises in sports injuries/nutrition).

You'll probably have a noticeable initial difference in your muscle size after about 2 months, but the progress will slow a bit after that.