Start heavy lifting Monday, some questions for y'all.

ndmain1977

I just paid for my Gold's Gym account, and start going Monday. I don't have a plan yet, but my buddy who is a big old musclebound marine told me make sure I do squats, and dips. Other than that, he said if there is an excercise I want to do, use freeweights, and not the machines.

Anyways... any suggestions for a workout plan? Or maybe even one of you has a workout plan set up that I could follow.

I'm not looking to be a bodybuilder, but want some tone and definition, and am doing this in the evening, but I do my cardio every morning before work.

Also, how soon before I will start noticing some gains? No, I'm not expecting to be looking different a month from now, but I figure that hopefully by next summer, I can go from a 5'9", 210lb tub of lard, to a guy that can go to the lake, and comfortably take my shirt off... and in my wildest dreams, maybe get a few appreciative looks from the ladies... :blushing:

That's a year, from now, so hopefully I can accomplish a lot in that time.

wellbert

Go with Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength.
Another popular option is STronglifts 5x5, which is fairly derivative of Rippetoe's program - but also free on the internets.

You will get gains in strength pretty much every workout.

If you JUST want hypertrophy, then head over to bodybuilding.com. There's a real neat beginners program where you do the same exercises every 3 workouts at varying intensity.


ps - stay the **** away from the smith machines.

LaurenAOK

Do you have a smartphone? If so, check out the "Jefit "app. I was clueless as to a lifting routine and got that app and it is so amazingly helpful! It creates a beginner's routine for you, but you can then remove exercises you don't like and add ones you want. For example, I don't have access to a barbell so I removed all the barbell exercises it gave me and replaced them with similar dumbbell exercises. Now I actually know what to do at the gym! Haha.

ndmain1977

Wellbert, Thank you! Looking at those websites right now. A big help.

Lauren, thanks also. I just looked at the page for the Jefit ap, and it looks like something I could actually use. Never heard of it before, but definitely going to put it on my phone.

glennstoudt

I just paid for my Gold's Gym account, and start going Monday. I don't have a plan yet, but my buddy who is a big old musclebound marine told me make sure I do squats, and dips. Other than that, he said if there is an excercise I want to do, use freeweights, and not the machines.

Anyways... any suggestions for a workout plan? Or maybe even one of you has a workout plan set up that I could follow.

I'm not looking to be a bodybuilder, but want some tone and definition, and am doing this in the evening, but I do my cardio every morning before work.

Also, how soon before I will start noticing some gains? No, I'm not expecting to be looking different a month from now, but I figure that hopefully by next summer, I can go from a 5'9", 210lb tub of lard, to a guy that can go to the lake, and comfortably take my shirt off... and in my wildest dreams, maybe get a few appreciative looks from the ladies... :blushing:

That's a year, from now, so hopefully I can accomplish a lot in that time.
[tquote]

Do you have a plan for the lard? Weightlifting can define and enlarge muscles for sure. You will see sharp gains in a month to 6 weeks. However, if you are simultaneously trying to lose weight, it can actually make that more difficult. Depends on your goals. I lost body fat and gained muscle mass at the same time over time. In other words, not at the exact same time, which is physiologically impossible. Lifting can do a lot for you, but just not much for the lard. And what is your age? There are some pretty cool summaries out there using slightly different approaches for different age ranges and results to expect, etc. Good luck.

wellbert

Wellbert, Thank you! Looking at those websites right now. A big help.

Lauren, thanks also. I just looked at the page for the Jefit ap, and it looks like something I could actually use. Never heard of it before, but definitely going to put it on my phone.

Jefit is amazing. You can set up any routine you want, and include timers. It's the only way I can force myself to rest between sets.

ndmain1977

Do you have a plan for the lard? Weightlifting can define and enlarge muscles for sure. You will see sharp gains in a month to 6 weeks. However, if you are simultaneously trying to lose weight, it can actually make that more difficult. Depends on your goals. I lost body fat and gained muscle mass at the same time over time. In other words, not at the exact same time, which is physiologically impossible. Lifting can do a lot for you, but just not much for the lard. And what is your age? There are some pretty cool summaries out there using slightly different approaches for different age ranges and results to expect, etc. Good luck.

I'm 34. For the lard... i'm hoping the cardio I'm doing every morning before work is taking care of that. I walk 4 miles every morning when I get up, then come home and get ready for work. That's why I'm doing the weight lifting in the evening. I'm hoping I can stick to it better by splitting it up, instead of doing a straight 2 to 3 hour stretch of cardio and weightlifting every evening. I'm looking more for difinition and toning at this point, and not to bulk up.

NYactor1

Checkout bodyBuilding.com - they have a variety of workout plans to get started. You can also set up a profile and track your progress.

wellbert

If you don't want to get huge, then a strength program is definitely better than a bodybuilding program for your goals. This means high weight and low reps (3x5, or 5x5)

becfrogs

Do you have a smartphone? If so, check out the "Jefit "app. I was clueless as to a lifting routine and got that app and it is so amazingly helpful! It creates a beginner's routine for you, but you can then remove exercises you don't like and add ones you want. For example, I don't have access to a barbell so I removed all the barbell exercises it gave me and replaced them with similar dumbbell exercises. Now I actually know what to do at the gym! Haha.

Great idea! Thanks for sharing! I plan to start strength training again at planet fitness so this will help me figure out a routine!

OP: you might think about working with a trainer to help keep you on goal. I know planet fitness has trainers that offer great deals so maybe gold's gym does too!

Azdak

If you are just starting out on a program, there are benefits to including a "preconditioning" phase to your routine.

Beginners can start to see gains at relatively low intensity levels--as low as 40% of 1 RM.

Beginners can see equal gains at first w/one set vs multiple sets.

Beginners do not need to go to "failure" in order to see results.

Beginners will see relatively equal gains at first whether they use machines or free weights.

Your muscles will adapt to the resistance loads much more quickly than your tendons and ligaments.

The gist of it is: there is no need to beat yourself up in the beginning -- you won't get into shape any faster. There is also no need to avoid any section of the gym (e.g. machines) because more advanced lifters think the exercises are beneath them.

At your age, you can progress fairly quickly, but taking 4-8 sessions to build up to your "actual' workload and workout routine will not slow down your progress at all -- it will just hurt less.

In general. free weight. compound exercises are best, and there is no reason not to start learning them from day 1. However, technique does not come overnight. I work with plenty of people that take weeks or months to learn proper squat form, for example. While they are learning, they are lifting very heavy weights. To tell them to "avoid the leg press" because it's not as good an exercise is just stupid. They can push a lot more weight and get a lot stronger faster using the leg press--that extra strength then translates into improved squat performance.

The other main reason to ramp up your workouts more gradually is to learn proper form. I would say the there is nothing more important in your first 8-10 weeks. Too heavy a weight too soon tends to lead to bad habits that become 10 times more difficult to unlearn.

So, yes, the goal is to get to compound free weight exercises and lift heavy (or to include heavy phases in your overall routine). But the routine of a friend who has been lifting for several years might be completely inappropriate for you at this time. Hopefully whoever is teaching you will understand that.

Hey, it's free advice, so you can take it for what it's worth.

glennstoudt

Do you have a plan for the lard? Weightlifting can define and enlarge muscles for sure. You will see sharp gains in a month to 6 weeks. However, if you are simultaneously trying to lose weight, it can actually make that more difficult. Depends on your goals. I lost body fat and gained muscle mass at the same time over time. In other words, not at the exact same time, which is physiologically impossible. Lifting can do a lot for you, but just not much for the lard. And what is your age? There are some pretty cool summaries out there using slightly different approaches for different age ranges and results to expect, etc. Good luck.

I'm 34. For the lard... i'm hoping the cardio I'm doing every morning before work is taking care of that. I walk 4 miles every morning when I get up, then come home and get ready for work. That's why I'm doing the weight lifting in the evening. I'm hoping I can stick to it better by splitting it up, instead of doing a straight 2 to 3 hour stretch of cardio and weightlifting every evening. I'm looking more for difinition and toning at this point, and not to bulk up.

It's a great plan. Walking burns fat period. If you are in the 55% to 75% of Maximum Heart Rate, you are burning fat. So walk fast, you are young. With all your still remaining T at your age, you are going to be a shirtless wonder in no time. Don't worry about bulk, that is incredibly hard to do actually. Pay attention to the food macros intake, it will be important to amp up the protein a bit to make muscle gains more possible. I am a quarter century older. It takes more time, but it is still possible, that' the cool part of all of it. Happy lifting.

kat5556

I was just coming here to ask the same question. Thanks for the sites. I'll check them out too.