Starting exercise/new diet, looking for advice.

pontalpha

I've been trawling the interwebs recently looking for the best way to go about exercising, seems a bit of a minefield.

First of all, my goals are to lose some of the fat from my stomach, reduce my man boobs a bit, generally just make myself look a bit better and lose some weight. I'm 5'10" and weigh about 13 stone so I'm not too bad but I've been getting bigger recently and I fear I will end up fairly overweight if I keep going the way I am.

Secondly I would like to build up a bit of muscle and strength.

I was looking at the Starting Strength program but one major problem I have is that I can't go to the gym on three non consecutive days a week. With work I spent 4 nights a week in one part of the country and 3 in another, and I defninitely can't afford to join 2 gyms, leaving me only 4 days to get in 3 workouts. I'm led to believe working out 2 days in a row is a no-no.

The other option I was looking at was maybe doing some running/HIIT sprints every other day and looking at Tabata dumbbell thrusters on the days in between, with some rest days in there too. These wouldn't take up massive amounts of time and are cheap and accessible which would be a big benefit, would a program like this achieve anything? The dumbbell thing is only a 4 minute exercise, how much can you actually achieve in 4 minutes? Should it be part of a workout or used on its own? Should it be done only once a day?

Another thing is my local gym has a class that it calls "mixed circuit traning" which is apparently aerobic, anaerobic and local muscular endurance exercises, runs it 4 days a week. Would this be any good? The obvious answer would be to go try it but in people's general experience are these sort of classes worth it?

Finally my diet needs to be significantly cleaned up but there's loads of advice on here for that. I plan on eating smaller portions, cutting out chocolate/sweets/crisps/general junk. Will start eating more fruit and veg and will probably reduce the portion size of my meals. One problem I have is that I have a big bowl of porridge every morning but by lunch time I tend to be absoluely starving, and if I don't eat a decent lunch I'll be hungry again before I leave work. Do I just have to train myself to eat less, will my body adapt to getting less food? For dinners I'll be eating steak/fish/chicken with some veg, or else a stir fry. Lunch will probably be something like a ham and cheese sandwich on wholemeal bread, fruit, yogurt, a portion of nuts.

Any advice appreciated, thanks.

pontalpha

Anyone?

Particularly looking for advice on the exercise regime.

howtomake

Um I'll have a stab, just cuz you seem to want it now. 2 days in a row? Depends what you do in those two days. My work schedule tends to be all over the place at the moment, so I can sympathise. Is there anything you can do at home? I had to learn how to do inverted rows underneath my desk . Get some weights at the home(s), maybe a bench? Can you take the weights with you when you travel? I guess it depends on your vehicle and your 2 places.

I find that smaller meals throughout the day works best if you get hungry between meals. That's just me though, I can't function at my best in work when I'm stuffed but I need my food. It takes a little bit more planning though. Also if you get hungry after porridge maybe adding some protein/fat for satiety? I myself can't do a big breakfast.

The big thing is to just start somewhere and adjust, no use in waiting for the perfect set up.

Remmy

Hey op.Starting strength is a great beginner program.Im doing it now cause Im weak:p.There is nothing wrong with working out on back to back days but I dont think id use SS if that was the case.Your lifts would stall really quick id say.

What days are you able to work out during the week again?

No need to change your diet too drastically too quickly .Just drop as much of the junk as you can and drink more water for a few weeks and see if that helps.+1 on the more frequent smaller meals .

I'd head along to that circuit training thing and see if its any good.If its complete cack then atleast you dont know and you wont have to go again.

dave80

You could try this:

Day 1 lower: Squat 3 x 5, RDL 3 x 8, Split Squats 3 x 8, Abs 3 x.
Day 2 Upper: Bench 3 x 5, Dips 3 x, Barbell Row 5 x 5, Triceps 3 x 8.
Day 3: off
Day 4 Full Body: Deadlift 3 x 5, front Squat 3 x 8, Press 3 x 5, Pull-ups 3 x