Totally New To The Gym And Looking After Myself! Advise Appreciated

Reganio 2

Hey sorry for the long thread title and the very obvious newbie thread .

I am 21, 15st (Although goes up to 15 and half on various days) and 6"1 roughly. But I am not the strongest and have a lot more fat than muscle. I am after signing up for a gym but I have absoloutly no idea what I need to be doing, I am looking to lose weight and get fitter more than gaining muscle, I can worry about that later.
So any advise (In layman's terms if possible ) on what I should be doing like 20 mins running or anything, I am willing to give it my best shot, although 20 mins on the threadmill at a high pace would kill me . But just advise on stuff like that would be really handy.

Also I have decided to go the whole hog and improve my diet, I eat an awful lot of junk food, but I reckon most of it is that I drink I would say 2 Liters of Coke a day (Roughly) I know but its just addictive but if I get a good diet I will cut it out.

Last thing, I am really only over surgery on a dislocated shoulder, I had dislocated it 6 times over the past 2/3 years and got surgery on it to put it together again. All is perfect on that front but it still feels very weak and I think its a confidence issue, if anyone has past experience on that please help me out.

I can go to the gym 7 days a week (I know its not advised) so any amount of time you think is best please say. I also have football training on Wednesday's but that isn't the greatest to boost the fitness.

Sorry for the really long post but basically I am looking for diet tips and training tips for a total new guy. Thanks lads.

faceman

Im by no means an expert but I can give you some basic tips and advice.

First off, talk to your doc about your injury and what level of training you can endure. You dont want to do further injury. This should be your priority before you start working out.

Assuming you get the all clear from your GP, then the next step in your gym! Most gyms give you a free session with an instructor so ask about this when you pop in next time. The instructor will give you a program.

Id imagine you are eager to do as much as you can, but ease yourself into it. If you do too much too soon, you will lose interest and momentum and possibly do an injury! Plus its important to remember that it takes time to get results. Dont expect to see results immediately.

With regard to diet, again dont go full on a diet as the risk is you wont keep it up etc. Start to substitute your bad food with good food. An easy one is to start substituting the coke for diet coke, then drink less diet coke (substuting it for a fruit quosh) until your body and mind adopts. You are more likely to have a longer term healthy diet if you do it in stages rather than taking on a crash diet immediately.

finally, best of luck!

Reganio 2

Thanks very much, yeah I think your right I am trying to do 20 things at once instead of taking my time. I have already talked to the doctor about my shoulder and he said its all clear (This was in November) so it should be all good.

I didn't know about the instructor thing, might have a word when I head in then.

Thanks very much . Gonna need it I think.

Oh and would anyone reccomened going on supplements? I don't think their is any point yet as I am not on a proper diet and haven't started training yet so it would just go to waste I reckon.

marathonic

The diet is the main thing - you can't outtrain a bad diet.

I agree with the previous poster - take it in steps.

2 litres of coke contains about 840calories.

To give you an idea of what it takes to burn this off, I did 33 minutes jogging on the treadmill at a varying incline at 11kph today followed by 15 minutes on the rowing machine going at a good pace. This session burned off 820calories.

2 litres of Mi-Wadi mixed contains 280 calories. By replacing the coke with Mi-Wadi, you're saving 560 calories which, for me, is about 45-50 minutes on the bike.

My advice would be to make one change like the above to the diet each week.

Regarding excercise, the best machine is the one you enjoy. Sure, the treadmill will burn more than the bike on a per-minute basis but it's no good if you get de-moralised on the treadmill and give up after a couple of weeks.

I'd try the bike, the treadmill, the cross trainer and, if your shoulder allows you, the rower (perhaps set it at a lower setting to begin with). Then, go with whatever you like best, set a time and try to beat your times. Alternatively, use a different machine each day for variety.

You say that 30 minutes at a quick pace would kill you on the treadmill. How I did it when I started was to start out at 15 minutes at a reasonable pace. Then increase the pace by 0.1kph each session or every second session. When you hit 10kph or 11kph, stop increasing the pace and start adding a minute each week or twice a week until you hit 30 minutes.

I've moved away from the treadmill and currently use the rower more - the treadmill started giving me a sore knee when I set the pace to 12kph+. I set a time for a distance and try to beat it each session. Another option is to row for a set time and try to beat your distance each session.

Reganio 2

Thanks, yeah the coke is the 1st thing gone anyway. Will try keep all this in mind when I go next, I went today and done 15 mins on the threadmill, 10 mins on the rower (Shoulder was alright so I will think about using this all the time) and 20 mins on the bike. I know its all about distance but I just wanted to test things out today see what it was like and all looks well.

Stupid question here but is the cross trainer the one that is like your walking up stairs and it works the arms as well?

The tip on the thread mill thing is exactly what I am looking for, I have no idea how fast/slow I should be going and for how long. So that is a very helpful tip thanks very much.

I didn't go near the weights today as I really don't know what to do there but I will see next time.

Moneymaker

Yeah, I would avoid the treadmill like the plague tbh. It's high impact and bad for your joints not to mention how boring it is. Rower or X trainer is your best friend. You will need to do weights too, muscle burns quicker then fat.

And yeah, the coke has to go. Like right now. You can have 1 or 2 cans of Coke Zero a week, but 2 liters a day is ludicrous. You'll pile the weight on if you keep that up, as I well know.

And yes the cross trainer/x trainer is the walking up the stairs thingie.

DM_7

Does the Gym have an instructor? A gym should really offer you an assessment and a programme to get you started.

One thing you have to decide is what you want, if you want to be able to run long distances then train by running. If you want to get a toned body shape you will need to plenty of weights and cardio.

As already said what you eat is a big part of cutting weight.

muscleandstrength.com is great site for well erm muscle and strength! It shows videos of how to do all the exercises with a written description included. http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/beginner-fullbody-workout.html is a good place to start AFTER you have talked to your doc about your shoulder. If you aim for the reps suggested but can't lift that many use a lighter weight for the exercise. If its too easy then raise the weight.

Reganio 2

Moneymaker wrote: »

Yeah, I would avoid the treadmill like the plague tbh. It's high impact and bad for your joints not to mention how boring it is. Rower or X trainer is your best friend. You will need to do weights too, muscle burns quicker then fat.

And yeah, the coke has to go. Like right now. You can have 1 or 2 cans of Coke Zero a week, but 2 liters a day is ludicrous. You'll pile the weight on if you keep that up, as I well know.

And yes the cross trainer/x trainer is the walking up the stairs thingie.

Yeah have no more so am off it now, I have been drinking it since I was 10 or something 2 liters a day roughly. So I am hoping if I am off it now the wright will drop off, thats the theory anyway.

Any tips on the weights on what I should be doing? I am not very strong but I can adjust the weight after a while if needed. Just wondering how many reps or whatever I should be doing and on what.

Thanks DM, will have a look at that site. I don't know if it does (Ben Dunne Gym in Jervis) I might ask at the desk next time I am there. I guess I am looking for a toned body.

Moneymaker

Reganio 2 wrote: »

Yeah have no more so am off it now, I have been drinking it since I was 10 or something 2 liters a day roughly. So I am hoping if I am off it now the wright will drop off, thats the theory anyway.

Any tips on the weights on what I should be doing? I am not very strong but I can adjust the weight after a while if needed. Just wondering how many reps or whatever I should be doing and on what.

Thanks DM, will have a look at that site. I don't know if it does (Ben Dunne Gym in Jervis) I might ask at the desk next time I am there. I guess I am looking for a toned body.

Exercises that use a lot of your body would be best. Squats being the best example.

http://stronglifts.com/

Should help you pick out some exercises that work for you. Do some research on Interval training also, it's great for weight loss and usually involves a maximum of 10-15 minutes of time. Avoid machine weights and stick with free weights. Machine weights put your body in unnatural positions. Free weights promote much more fluid movements of your body.

Best of luck with it. It's most important that you have a plan really, do some research, speak with well informed people and put together a regime that works for you.