OT: Best way to START getting in shape

[Maniac]

I live well in the sticks, so a running club (or even a gym for that matter!) is pretty non-existant, so I figured I would buy myself a treadmill and set it up in front of the TV in the spare bedreoom - that way I wont (shouldn't) get too bored and it will give me less of an excuse not to excercise.

Also, I work nights and often find myself wide awake in the early hours of the morning with nothing to, so figure this would give me something to both relieve the boredom and also to knacker me out and send me to sleep...

 

[Maniac]

I'd focus on the process and the exercise/diet regimen, not the lbs lost .... the weight will come off if you're keeping to your plan stated above. IMO the problem with some weight loss plans is they focus too much on lbs lost, and not enough on body recomposition (lowering % body fat and increasing lean muscle mass). Women make this mistake all the time ...

Good point actually - I just figured some kind of goal would spur me on but forgot that I would be gaining some muscle, will look into the whole % body fat thing cheers...

 

[Presto]

The more muscle, the faster your metabolism will be. Build muscle and you burn fat. It's like adding a turbo to your car.
Concentrate on getting fit through resistance exercise. Heavy weights and low reps to start. After two weeks reduce weight and increase reps.
Don't waste your money on supplements or powdered garbage. Three squares and you have all the nutrients.

 

[ZJP6050]

i didn't even read through the posts, so i'm sure somebody said it. the best way to lose weight is through your DIET. no brainer, right? people still don't do it. #2 on the list is everyone's favorite (not), cardio. start slow...maybe jog two laps then walk one, repeat. no matter what, you have to do 35+ minutes of uninterrupted light intensity cardio to get into your fat storage. once you get there you can up the intensity a little bit, but the best way to hit your fat is light-medium intensity. you could walk for 40 minutes straight then do some cycling, or something of that nature. of course, working in weight training is ideal as well. good luck, ask away if you need anything

 

[JakeT.]

The more muscle, the faster your metabolism will be. Build muscle and you burn fat. It's like adding a turbo to your car.
Concentrate on getting fit through resistance exercise. Heavy weights and low reps to start. After two weeks reduce weight and increase reps.
Don't waste your money on supplements or powdered garbage. Three squares and you have all the nutrients.

Gotta disagree with you. Heavy weights and low reps will build new muscle but it won't do much to existing fat. Reducing weight and increasing reps will be good for making the muscle lean and you'll get some fat-burning from doing a ton of reps (a type of cardio) but it still won't burn fat that well. The supplements and powdered garbage have also done wonders for me. Like has been said though... if it works for you it works. From my personal trainer though, that's a good way to build muscle and burn a little fat but not a good way if fat burning is your main goal. Just from what I've been told...

 

[MONDOGECKO]

Its very simple, just ask yourself, "What would John Basedow do?"

 

[Kojack84]

Gotta disagree with you. Heavy weights and low reps will build new muscle but it won't do much to existing fat. Reducing weight and increasing reps will be good for making the muscle lean and you'll get some fat-burning from doing a ton of reps (a type of cardio) but it still won't burn fat that well. The supplements and powdered garbage have also done wonders for me. Like has been said though... if it works for you it works. From my personal trainer though, that's a good way to build muscle and burn a little fat but not a good way if fat burning is your main goal. Just from what I've been told...

You are able to burn just as much fat weight lifting as you can with cardio. The only problem is you have to know what your'e doing, and obviously someone new WON'T. A full body routine with short breaks will kick anyones ass as much as a few mile run.

The problem is, you can't do this every day as you need recovery time. So doing cardio in between helps even more.

As for the best way to cut fat, high-intensity training is #1. P90x is a variation of this. Another example would be to run for 1 minute, sprint for 30 seconds, and repeat. Do this until you can't walk anymore. Each day try to sprint more/longer. The high-intensity part is what melts fat off. Steady state cardio will just make you skinny fat.


Want a real life example? Look at the difference between long distance runners and sprinters. Long distance people have little to no muscle mass. Sprinters are jacked. There IS a reason behind this.

 

[Cusipz]

Wii Fit

 

[buddyboy]

everyone here as great advice.

you want to know how to START

quiting smoking, good job.

next is start a routine... ANY routine. 2 days a week, 3 days a week, 4 days a week... doesn't matter.

just get into a routine. make it a habit. after 6 to 8 weeks, it'll be a habit.

I wrote it down. I wrote down what I needed to do on mondays, weds, and fridays.... then I just did it.

don't worry so much about what exercise is best... it sounds like you were just like me, so ANY thing you do will work... just do it and try to do better with each workout.

after 2 months of that, then your ready to refine your program based on YOUR GOALS.

think of it as getting ready to get ready

 

[GoSooners]

Taebo

 

[harman]

Gotta disagree with you. Heavy weights and low reps will build new muscle but it won't do much to existing fat. Reducing weight and increasing reps will be good for making the muscle lean and you'll get some fat-burning from doing a ton of reps (a type of cardio) but it still won't burn fat that well. The supplements and powdered garbage have also done wonders for me. Like has been said though... if it works for you it works. From my personal trainer though, that's a good way to build muscle and burn a little fat but not a good way if fat burning is your main goal. Just from what I've been told...

Its not about buring the calories while you are actually excercising. By lifting weights and adding lean body mass (muscle) you increase your metabolsm as another poster touched on. By increasing your metabolism, you burn more calories throughout the day/night; whether you are excercising, sitting at your desk, lying on the couch, in bed sleeping...

having a strength training routine is more important than simply a cardio routine although that is important as well.

as another poster touched upon, its not just about losing weight, its about becoming healthy. a good strength training routine has so many more benefits to your body/health than the benefit discussed above.

those that say strength training isnt important are giving you bad info. and by adding a strength training regimen doesnt mean you have to go in the gym trying to set any records, grunting when you lift, trying to bench press the gym etc.

quiting smoking is a hell of a good start, congrat. now put aside 3-5 hrs a week for excercise. maybe 3 days a week to start (30 min cario, 45 min weight training) and build from there. meanwhile start learning how to eat correctly. you dont have to eat perfectly, just the bad stuff in moderation.

 

[JakeT.]

Its not about buring the calories while you are actually excercising. By lifting weights and adding lean body mass (muscle) you increase your metabolsm as another poster touched on. By increasing your metabolism, you burn more calories throughout the day/night; whether you are excercising, sitting at your desk, lying on the couch, in bed sleeping...

having a strength training routine is more important than simply a cardio routine although that is important as well.

as another poster touched upon, its not just about losing weight, its about becoming healthy. a good strength training routine has so many more benefits to your body/health than the benefit discussed above.

those that say strength training isnt important are giving you bad info. and by adding a strength training regimen doesnt mean you have to go in the gym trying to set any records, grunting when you lift, trying to bench press the gym etc.

quiting smoking is a hell of a good start, congrat. now put aside 3-5 hrs a week for excercise. maybe 3 days a week to start (30 min cario, 45 min weight training) and build from there. meanwhile start learning how to eat correctly. you dont have to eat perfectly, just the bad stuff in moderation.

I'm all for doing some lifting in between cardio... it was the high weight, low rep part that I really disagreed with. If burning fat is your main goal I'd think sets of 20 reps at say 150 pounds would be better then 4 reps at 250 pounds... at least for fat burning.

 

[harman]

it really make no difference jake.

the key is adding the lean body mass (muscle). once again the more lean body mass > the higher your metobolic rate > the more calories you burn at your resting state. the hgh reps/ low weight or low reps/high weight thing is more about personal preference.

it seems as if you are implying that doing high reps/low weights will burn more calories b/c the set takes longer. this simply isnt the case.

all this being said, since the original poster is a beginer, he definitely shouldnt be 'maxing out' and doing high weights/low reps unless he has a trainer or is with someone that knows what they are doing as he is more apt to get injured.

 

[JakeT.]

it really make no difference jake.

the key is adding the lean body mass (muscle). once again the more lean body mass > the higher your metobolic rate > the more calories you burn at your resting state. the hgh reps/ low weight or low reps/high weight thing is more about personal preference.

it seems as if you are implying that doing high reps/low weights will burn more calories b/c the set takes longer. this simply isnt the case.

all this being said, since the original poster is a beginer, he definitely shouldnt be 'maxing out' and doing high weights/low reps unless he has a trainer or is with someone that knows what they are doing as he is more apt to get injured.

I'll bug my trainer about it when I see him next. What he told me is to do a bulking phase that includes a ton of protein and low rep, high weight reps to build the muscle. He said I'll likely get a little chunky doing that and then after a few months to start doing cardio and low weight, high rep workouts to burn off calories and make the muscle leaner and more defined. It's possible he could be wrong though. I'll try and get some info from him.

 

[harman]

maybe that will work but if the trainer is at all reputable i'm not sure why he would tell you to hold off on cardio for a few months. cario is important to your health, just not as important as weight training. then again a lot of trainers dont know diddly poo about a lot of this stuff, they are more concerned with looking like some shredded greek god which isnt always realistic and healthy.

once again the original poster appears to be a beginer who is looking to get healthy, not looking to participate in the nfl combine this weekend. he needs a good basic routine that will incorporate weight training and cardio.

 

[ZJP6050]

Gotta disagree with you. Heavy weights and low reps will build new muscle but it won't do much to existing fat. Reducing weight and increasing reps will be good for making the muscle lean and you'll get some fat-burning from doing a ton of reps (a type of cardio) but it still won't burn fat that well. The supplements and powdered garbage have also done wonders for me. Like has been said though... if it works for you it works. From my personal trainer though, that's a good way to build muscle and burn a little fat but not a good way if fat burning is your main goal. Just from what I've been told...

he is right, jake...more muscle mass increases metabolism.

 

[ZJP6050]

You are able to burn just as much fat weight lifting as you can with cardio. The only problem is you have to know what your'e doing, and obviously someone new WON'T. A full body routine with short breaks will kick anyones ass as much as a few mile run.

The problem is, you can't do this every day as you need recovery time. So doing cardio in between helps even more.

As for the best way to cut fat, high-intensity training is #1. P90x is a variation of this. Another example would be to run for 1 minute, sprint for 30 seconds, and repeat. Do this until you can't walk anymore. Each day try to sprint more/longer. The high-intensity part is what melts fat off. Steady state cardio will just make you skinny fat.


Want a real life example? Look at the difference between long distance runners and sprinters. Long distance people have little to no muscle mass. Sprinters are jacked. There IS a reason behind this.

you're wrong. the best way to cut fat is not high-intensity training.

 

[JudgeWapner]

Do something you actually enjoy. Tennis, hoops etc.

 

[JakeT.]

Do something you actually enjoy. Tennis, hoops etc.

Agreed. I've had way better success playing sports then I have with just running, partly because running bores me and I give up really easily.

 

[Kojack84]

you're wrong. the best way to cut fat is not high-intensity training.

No, I'm right. Steady state cardio has nothing on HIIT.