Fitness plan tips/advice?

qwerty2

Current stats:
Age: 16
Sex: Female
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 50 kg
Dress size: 8

Hi all, I've pretty much done no exercise for the last year or so (used to be very active - did intensive sports such as horse riding/running pretty much 6/7 days a week). So I've finally decided to cut the laziness and joined a gym. I got a fitness programme from one of the trainers at the gym. I'm currently into my second week of this programme going 3 -5 times a week! We will be reviewing it at the end of next week, to make any necessary changes depending on how I'm finding it! For now however, I'm wondering how I'm doing? I'm not looking to lose weight, simply feel healthier/fitter within myself and possibly tone up (most notably thighs). My diet is pretty healthy, though does vary a lot depending on what day it is and plans for the day! I am also a carb junkie, though am trying to cut down! Weekday diet would go something along the lines of:
Breakfast - porridge with berries
Lunch - Roll from the local deli near my school with various toppings
Dinner - Whatever I'm given at home Can be anything from pasta to chinese, stew to a roast, though it always has protein (mostly meat), veg and a source of carbs such as rice, potatoes or pasta!
Also I have a bit of a weakness for snacking, especially at night as I tend to work late a lot as my days are very busy!

My current plan (please excuse any improper terminology, I'm not quite sure what some of the machines etc are called. Also I'm putting in all info such as resistance levels/incline of machine etc):
Warm up -
Bike for 5 minutes at level 4 resistance
Stretches
Cardio -
Treadmill on a pre-set cross country course (3 main "hills" on the course, each one getting gradually steeper). Do this for 15 minutes alternating to between walking (6 - 6.5) and jogging (8 - 9), as much as I feel I'm capable of
Cross trainer - 15 minutes on resistance level 6/7 (started on 4. Am working my way up 8). Not using the arm handles(?!) as I was told this works abs as well!

Abs machine - 3 sets of 10 reps with no weights
Chest press - 3 sets of 10 - 15 reps on weight 2 (sorry not quite sure what this is called.. Basically you sit there and hold the handles at shoulder level, with hand - elbow - shoulder in line and push the bar forward, before bringing it back again!)
Another arm machine where I have to hold it at 90 degrees at elbow level, with my elbows tucked in my sides and pull down before returning to original position - 3 sets of 10 - 15 reps on weight 2
Bicep curl - 3 sets of 10. 1st and last set on 2 kg, and 2nd set on 3!

Hopefully you guys can get the general jist of that! Any advice/tips/thoughts are welcome!

Transform

qwerty2 wrote: »

Current stats:
Age: 16
Sex: Female
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 50 kg
Dress size: 8

Hi all, I've pretty much done no exercise for the last year or so (used to be very active - did intensive sports such as horse riding/running pretty much 6/7 days a week). So I've finally decided to cut the laziness and joined a gym. I got a fitness programme from one of the trainers at the gym. I'm currently into my second week of this programme going 3 -5 times a week! We will be reviewing it at the end of next week, to make any necessary changes depending on how I'm finding it! For now however, I'm wondering how I'm doing? I'm not looking to lose weight, simply feel healthier/fitter within myself and possibly tone up (most notably thighs). My diet is pretty healthy, though does vary a lot depending on what day it is and plans for the day! I am also a carb junkie, though am trying to cut down! Weekday diet would go something along the lines of:
Breakfast - porridge with berries
Lunch - Roll from the local deli near my school with various toppings
Dinner - Whatever I'm given at home Can be anything from pasta to chinese, stew to a roast, though it always has protein (mostly meat), veg and a source of carbs such as rice, potatoes or pasta!
Also I have a bit of a weakness for snacking, especially at night as I tend to work late a lot as my days are very busy!

My current plan (please excuse any improper terminology, I'm not quite sure what some of the machines etc are called. Also I'm putting in all info such as resistance levels/incline of machine etc):
Warm up -
Bike for 5 minutes at level 4 resistance
Stretches
Cardio -
Treadmill on a pre-set cross country course (3 main "hills" on the course, each one getting gradually steeper). Do this for 15 minutes alternating to between walking (6 - 6.5) and jogging (8 - 9), as much as I feel I'm capable of
Cross trainer - 15 minutes on resistance level 6/7 (started on 4. Am working my way up 8). Not using the arm handles(?!) as I was told this works abs as well!

Abs machine - 3 sets of 10 reps with no weights
Chest press - 3 sets of 10 - 15 reps on weight 2 (sorry not quite sure what this is called.. Basically you sit there and hold the handles at shoulder level, with hand - elbow - shoulder in line and push the bar forward, before bringing it back again!)
Another arm machine where I have to hold it at 90 degrees at elbow level, with my elbows tucked in my sides and pull down before returning to original position - 3 sets of 10 - 15 reps on weight 2
Bicep curl - 3 sets of 10. 1st and last set on 2 kg, and 2nd set on 3!

Hopefully you guys can get the general jist of that! Any advice/tips/thoughts are welcome!

training program is a bit of a mess and need some changes to diet - work your legs in the gym and focus on basics e.g. lunges, deadlifts, press ups, inverted rows, overhead press etc

shootermacg

Diet:
Think of toppings in terms of meat veg or sauce.
Sauce = bad.
veg = good.
meat = good.
Roll = bad(unless whole grain brown bread)

Try to feel a bit guilty about toppings. Do you need them, do they contain a lot of sugar, should you just get an extra slice of meat.

Same goes for food. Sauces contain a lot of crap, in some cases the sauce can have more cals that the meat/veg. Also sweet sauces added to carbs = more fat gain.

Make your own sauces and freeze them. I personally just add some chilly flakes, garlic, 5 spice etc and eat the ingredients without a sauce.

Make up your lunches on sunday and freeze. I cook up 10 chicken breasts with brown rice, place in containers and freeze.

Every night I fill a container with frozen broccoli/green veg and bring it to work to steam in a mike (5 mins leave the lid almost on). Add this to the chicken and rice and you'll have a great alternative to the roll.

No sugary drinks ever!
No diet soda crap ever!

Eat to live don't live to eat.

I allow myself 1 cheat day, it's good to get your flagging metabolism back to speed.

As far as a workout goes, there's very little chance of gaining muscle from heavy weights, you simply don't have the hormones. So lift heavy. It'll just tone you. Screw doing 10 reps with a weight you could do 30 reps with. Try 12 reps with a weight you find challenging.
Nothing worse than looking at someone going through the motions without pushing themselves.

Cardio try to seperate it from your lifting, you'll rarely have the energy for both on the one day. So try seperate days for each. that way you can do more work with weights and more work with cardio.

I'd look to have you running 3K non stop at the one pace, then up it to 5K. Remember to pace yourself and screw this interval stuff for now. When you know the pace is constant you can get used to distance.

When you can run 5K non stop you can look at increasing the pace.
Actually by the time you feel comfortable at 5K you should be starting to understand how easy it is to lose weight (it'll be falling off you.)

I run 5K outdoors(much better than in the gym, way to stuffy in a gym) then wind sprints for 1K, I actually had to drop cardio a bit because I was losing too much weight (I used to be 15 stone and dropped down to 11'12),
I'm currently 12'6 (strength training 4 days a week and eating an extra 500 cals or so) and pretty lean. I'll actually step up the running next month and see how much muscle I have left. I'll be happy with 12'3 10% fat.

I can pretty much lose and gain weight at will through knowing my upkeep and creating a deficit when I need to.

qwerty2

shootermacg wrote: »

Diet:
Think of toppings in terms of meat veg or sauce.
Sauce = bad.
veg = good.
meat = good.
Roll = bad(unless whole grain brown bread)

Try to feel a bit guilty about toppings. Do you need them, do they contain a lot of sugar, should you just get an extra slice of meat.

Same goes for food. Sauces contain a lot of crap, in some cases the sauce can have more cals that the meat/veg. Also sweet sauces added to carbs = more fat gain.

Make your own sauces and freeze them. I personally just add some chilly flakes, garlic, 5 spice etc and eat the ingredients without a sauce.

Make up your lunches on sunday and freeze. I cook up 10 chicken breasts with brown rice, place in containers and freeze.

Every night I fill a container with frozen broccoli/green veg and bring it to work to steam in a mike (5 mins leave the lid almost on). Add this to the chicken and rice and you'll have a great alternative to the roll.

No sugary drinks ever!
No diet soda crap ever!

Eat to live don't live to eat.

I allow myself 1 cheat day, it's good to get your flagging metabolism back to speed.

As far as a workout goes, there's very little chance of gaining muscle from heavy weights, you simply don't have the hormones. So lift heavy. It'll just tone you. Screw doing 10 reps with a weight you could do 30 reps with. Try 12 reps with a weight you find challenging.
Nothing worse than looking at someone going through the motions without pushing themselves.

Cardio try to seperate it from your lifting, you'll rarely have the energy for both on the one day. So try seperate days for each. that way you can do more work with weights and more work with cardio.

I'd look to have you running 3K non stop at the one pace, then up it to 5K. Remember to pace yourself and screw this interval stuff for now. When you know the pace is constant you can get used to distance.

When you can run 5K non stop you can look at increasing the pace.
Actually by the time you feel comfortable at 5K you should be starting to understand how easy it is to lose weight (it'll be falling off you.)

I run 5K outdoors(much better than in the gym, way to stuffy in a gym) then wind sprints for 1K, I actually had to drop cardio a bit because I was losing too much weight (I used to be 15 stone and dropped down to 11'12),
I'm currently 12'6 (strength training 4 days a week and eating an extra 500 cals or so) and pretty lean. I'll actually step up the running next month and see how much muscle I have left. I'll be happy with 12'3 10% fat.

I can pretty much lose and gain weight at will through knowing my upkeep and creating a deficit when I need to.

Heya thanks for this! Went to the gym today before actually reading your post, and ended up forgetting about the intervals on the treadmill and just ran the whole thing! Think it ended up around 2K so I was pretty pleased Tbh I don't find the weights too challening, but can definitely feel them beginning to burn getting to the third set! I'd imagine that my trainer will be putting them up next week or increasing the reps as this was simply an introductory regime for a complete newbie to the gym :

shootermacg

qwerty2 wrote: »

Heya thanks for this! Went to the gym today before actually reading your post, and ended up forgetting about the intervals on the treadmill and just ran the whole thing! Think it ended up around 2K so I was pretty pleased Tbh I don't find the weights too challening, but can definitely feel them beginning to burn getting to the third set! I'd imagine that my trainer will be putting them up next week or increasing the reps as this was simply an introductory regime for a complete newbie to the gym :

Cool! When you're finishing 2K, you can decide to stick in another 1K.
3K is just a mental choice at that point, when you actually run past the 2K point, it's just a case of keeping going (may not be fun but it does wonders for your willpower if you manage to do something you decided to do). Pace yourself better during the 2K and make sure you have the energy to manage more.

The difference between running 3K and 5K is another decision you make.
it's going to be hard as hell the first time. After that once you've done it once, it's something you've done and can do again.
All that effort the first time you break a distance was just about breaking your mental limitation.

The idea behind sets is simple. You should be feeling the burn at the end of the first set. You may not be able to match the number for the second set and maybe you might do even less for the 3rd.

So you'd probably be aiming for 12, 10 ,8 or even 12, 8, 6. If you're just managing these numbers and can't do any more the weight is about right.