I need some major help

donovan86

I think I fell into the classic "cardio only" trap and now desperately need some advice on how to get out of it.

Quick background: I'm 25, male, 5'11'' and weighed 208 lbs on 7/1/2011. I'm getting married and wanted to "look better". I started running (daily) and eating healthy. I always though 170 lbs was my target weight(my high school weight), but when I hit around 175, I was still VERY unhappy with how I looked. I still looked "squishy" and didn't have my track and field physique I once did. I kept religiously running and dropping weight. I hit 150 lbs right after New Years and still had a fatty/gross stomach and about as much tone as a cup of yogurt. I need strength training.

I also need help. Can you guys recommend what to do for someone who doesn't want to "bulk up" but just wants to be stronger with less body fat? I've never lifted weights so I'm totally clueless on form and even how much I should lift. Also, what is a good way to track progress? And finally, what kind of time frame am I looking at here? Basically, I would like to start from scratch and do things the right way. Help please!

js370

I also need help. Can you guys recommend what to do for someone who doesn't want to "bulk up" but just wants to be stronger with less body fat? I've never lifted weights so I'm totally clueless on form and even how much I should lift. Also, what is a good way to track progress? And finally, what kind of time frame am I looking at here? Basically, I would like to start from scratch and do things the right way. Help please!

You can pretty much do any wieght routine and not bulk up. You will gain muscle and strength, but in order to get big you'd have to eat a lot of food, so as long as you eat to maintian, you won't bulk up. I personally would recommend a 5x5 routine. I've started one myself and really like it. I'm seeing better results than with split routines. Of course that is all up to you. Do a search on MFP for 5x5 and you'll see lots of posts with the routines.
Basically, you're doing compound exercises. Exercises that work multiple muscles, rather than targeting one on a split routine. You'll be working out three days a week, starting with light weight so as to work on your technique. You progress slowly by adding 5lbs to each workout. You can do it for 3 months or keep going for a year if you like.
Whatever you decide, good luck. As long as you start strength training, that's a good first step. Good luck.

donovan86

I also need help. Can you guys recommend what to do for someone who doesn't want to "bulk up" but just wants to be stronger with less body fat? I've never lifted weights so I'm totally clueless on form and even how much I should lift. Also, what is a good way to track progress? And finally, what kind of time frame am I looking at here? Basically, I would like to start from scratch and do things the right way. Help please!

You can pretty much do any wieght routine and not bulk up. You will gain muscle and strength, but in order to get big you'd have to eat a lot of food, so as long as you eat to maintian, you won't bulk up. I personally would recommend a 5x5 routine. I've started one myself and really like it. I'm seeing better results than with split routines. Of course that is all up to you. Do a search on MFP for 5x5 and you'll see lots of posts with the routines.
Basically, you're doing compound exercises. Exercises that work multiple muscles, rather than targeting one on a split routine. You'll be working out three days a week, starting with light weight so as to work on your technique. You progress slowly by adding 5lbs to each workout. You can do it for 3 months or keep going for a year if you like.
Whatever you decide, good luck. As long as you start strength training, that's a good first step. Good luck.

Cool, thank you. As for the moves themselves, do you have a website that details the proper form and technique? Or is Youtube a reliable way to track down how to perform the movements?

js370

Cool, thank you. As for the moves themselves, do you have a website that details the proper form and technique? Or is Youtube a reliable way to track down how to perform the movements?

The website is stronglifts5x5. There's a lot of babble in it but if you want to read that intro that's up to you. If you opt to get the report (which is basically more babble, but with the routine in it) the routine starts on page 41ish. If you opt to get the tracker, that would really be beneficial. It will tell you what to do on what day and at what weight. I've added a little chart on mine showing the amount of weight I use for the warm-ups and then my working wieight. You can get your email taken off the mailing list if you want after you recieve the two files. If you stick with the emails you'll get one every so often with members of that community asking questions and of their progress. I didn't and have no interest in joining their community.

P.S. I think there's a few videos on that site, I don't remember, but there are detailed instructions to the proper techniques. There are lots of videos on the net, but make sure it's from someone that looks like they do workout and not from some average joe. I've heard of "so you think you can squat" as being a good video, never looked at it myself.