help me get on the right track

chadvic22

currently i am ~210 lbs and i am wanting/needing to get down to 180~190 i am 6'1 and male ...i currently have no gym membership nor any workout equipment aside from a resistance bike, elliptical and some kind of row thingy i can get access to on Fridays. I just started a routine workout three weeks ago while i feel myself getting stronger, i don't feel like im doing all i could be. so i would like someone to help me plan out my 4 days of working out. sorry yes only 4 bc i work 3, 12-14 hr shifts on sat,sun, mon that is very physical and have been using them as "rest days"

i am wanting to achieve a few goals.
1: get fit to pass the airforce meps/bmt with flying colors
2: maybe end up with some abs in the process
3: loose chub and gain some sculpt

so far my routine has been tues-thurs i will do 1min of jumping jacks and as many push-ups/situps as i can (currently at 45/55(i know i suck but thats why im here).) if i fail to beat my previous weeks/days record i will also add in 2-30sec planks from elbows

on fridays my workout includes my wife
on top of my usual workout^above^
we usually either jog (2miles), bike/elliptical/rowthing, or swim laps for 30min based on the weather.

wezaddison01

Logging in your food intake on MFP is going to help massively as the most important thing is nutrition. If your working out from home and have access to an iPad, iPhone, laptop (pretty much any smart device) then I would suggest giving Fitstar a go. It's brilliant for workouts and adjusts each workout on your feedback. I've lost 52lbs since March. Still have a little way to go but the difference is astounding.

KrisiAnnH

I can't help you with planning your workouts I'm afraid, but there are some great posts in the fitness and exercise thread, so I'd definitely recommend checking that out I can however offer some generic advice;

As the previous poster said, logging your food is most important.
You mention a few things- getting down to a certain weight, which will be done by eating at a deficit, and what I assume are fitness related things like passing airforce meps.

To lose weight, you need to be eating at a deficit. Exercise/workouts are all well and good, but those alone wont result in weightloss. Eating less than you burn will. (Hence why logging what you eat is so important- using a food scale is important for accuracy so if you dont have one yet buy one)

As for fitness goals, as you mention 'gaining some sculpt' it's good that you're exercising- working the muscles will prevent you from losing too much lean body mass (as you lose weight you also lose LBM, but less aggressive goals and exercise can help you maintain the muscle you have.) However if you're eating at a deficit you will not gain muscle, so don't be discouraged if you're not seeing/feeling huge differences just yet (although of course as you lose fat muscle appears to be more noticeable).

Also it's worth remembering that exercise calorie burns tend to be overestimated (both by MFP and the machines) so it's worth being careful with these and only eat back a percentage of your exercise calories

SueInAz

Calorie counting for weight loss, exercise for fitness. In addition to the machines you have access to, look into body weight exercises. There are tons of videos on the web, especially Youtube, as well as a program called You Are Your Own Gym. You can do a lot with simple things like push-ups, planks, etc. If you don't have access to free weights, buy some resistance bands and incorporate them for some added "weight."