Working Out

[Slide]

Have really been letting things sliip badly with my body over the last few years, and never been one for the whole kind of gym thing but figured maybe someone here would have advice on a training plan to get things turned around a bit.

I'm early to mid thirties, male - very light build 5'8" weigh about 135 lbs I guess. Last few years been not doing enough exercise / drinking too much beer / working 12 hour shifts sat on my ass doing office work. Waist has gone from 28" which was too low and is pushing 32-34 now, and its mostly gut. Most of my muscle strength is intact i think, but covered in blubber so not defined.

Fitness-wise, I do drink - too much, and have a work pattern that screws up regular exercise - but still walk at least 2-3 miles every day at a brisk pace.

Anyone have some good suggestions on clearing the gut, improving overall fitness and returning some tone to upper body? (legs are still in great shape, very defined and strong). I also dont have the endurance to jog anymore so need to work on that.

Gyms are not really viable, work hours and emaressment cover that - used to do some martial arts so perhaps some self exercise with my own body weight?

[Celebrindal]

First thing, let me just tell you that your body is getting older and you will eventually fuck it up beyond fixing. So, the first thing you need to do is stop drinking.

Seriously. Anything you will try to do to get yourself in better shape will be set back by drinking. Lower your carbs, and your sugar. Drink more water. And you will have to change up your food diet. Eat the right fats (omega 3), stop the bad fats (all junk food), and up your protein.

If you want to do some cardio, Jumping Jacks and Jump rope. You will probably feel like shit and look like a dick doing them, but give yourself a month. It will work. Incline pushups, crunches, and Squats (with weight if you can) are also good.

Other than that, I would really suggest getting to a gym. Weight resistance training is where it's at and it's the best way to lose fat and gain muscle. And no, I'm not talking about looking like Ronnie Coleman. Also, fuck embarrasment. You know that is the ONLY reason you don't go to the gym. Unless you work 20 hour days. Don't be afraid to go to the gym, you will see that in 3-6 months of hard work, you will look nothing like the first time you came in. Find a 24 hour gym around you if being around people frightens you.

[Slide]

Originally Posted by Celebrindal

First thing, let me just tell you that your body is getting older and you will eventually fuck it up beyond fixing. So, the first thing you need to do is stop drinking.

Seriously. Anything you will try to do to get yourself in better shape will be set back by drinking. Lower your carbs, and your sugar. Drink more water. And you will have to change up your food diet. Eat the right fats (omega 3), stop the bad fats (all junk food), and up your protein.

If you want to do some cardio, Jumping Jacks and Jump rope. You will probably feel like shit and look like a dick doing them, but give yourself a month. It will work. Incline pushups, crunches, and Squats (with weight if you can) are also good.

Other than that, I would really suggest getting to a gym. Weight resistance training is where it's at and it's the best way to lose fat and gain muscle. And no, I'm not talking about looking like Ronnie Coleman. Also, fuck embarrasment. You know that is the ONLY reason you don't go to the gym. Unless you work 20 hour days. Don't be afraid to go to the gym, you will see that in 3-6 months of hard work, you will look nothing like the first time you came in. Find a 24 hour gym around you if being around people frightens you.

My diet is good, mostly eat Japanese food - married to a Jap girl so its a lot of rice, fish, fruit, tofu etc. I dont eat junk, burgers and pizzas make me heave. Never eat anything fried. The only oil I eat beyond the fish is olive oil in salds and stuff - so the gut is purely beer carbs. Dont even eat a lot of red meat.

Gym wont work for me - first I live in London - nothing is open beyond daytime hours, and secondly when i'm on night shifts am so fucked i can barely talk let alone exercise, day shifts, i dont get off til 9pm or so and by the time i get near home its all closed. Cant sneak off for an hour during the day either.

Will work on the beer thing tho.

[Celebrindal]

White rice is bad. Brown is what you need, if you want carbs from rice. No white bread either.

If you have the room, what about an Olympic weight set for your house? Free weights are a good start.

Also, take a good look at your work schedule. Really find the holes in it, where you can get 8 hours of good rest, and a half hour to an hour of exercise every day.

Your weight is just too low.

[Faltigoth]

Find a park or high school football field or something where you can run laps in relative peace and quiet. Start slow, try to run every day at your own pace, a mile or two. If you haven't run ever, or in forever, go with jogging a lap, walking, for a week to get used to it, then just push yourself for 20-30 mins a day.

A friend of mine lost 10 pounds in a month from just running with me, but he was alot bigger than you and had more to lose. It will help shed off some of the excess though. Push ups and sit ups too to tone your shit up, and there you go. Won't turn you into hercules but it will get you in shape and define you a bit. Running is the most important thing though, without cardiovascular endurance nothing else matters.

[Shoeby]

the people over at John Stone fitness are absolutely amazing with any kind of fitness/nutritional advice you need.
They've helped a ton of people get on track, including myself, and are all a friendly lot of people.

Forums - http://forums.johnstonefitness.com

[brekk]

other then cutting out lots of sugar, ignore what people say about healthy diet. The first thing to know is, the more super healthy you diet is the harder it will be to stick to.

Its a lot easier to lower the calorie/carb intake through portion control. Don't eat as much, and drink more water to keep your stomach full.

[Nahlidge]

Originally Posted by Slide

Have really been letting things sliip badly with my body over the last few years, and never been one for the whole kind of gym thing but figured maybe someone here would have advice on a training plan to get things turned around a bit.

I'm early to mid thirties, male - very light build 5'8" weigh about 135 lbs I guess. Last few years been not doing enough exercise / drinking too much beer / working 12 hour shifts sat on my ass doing office work. Waist has gone from 28" which was too low and is pushing 32-34 now, and its mostly gut. Most of my muscle strength is intact i think, but covered in blubber so not defined.

Fitness-wise, I do drink - too much, and have a work pattern that screws up regular exercise - but still walk at least 2-3 miles every day at a brisk pace.

Anyone have some good suggestions on clearing the gut, improving overall fitness and returning some tone to upper body? (legs are still in great shape, very defined and strong). I also dont have the endurance to jog anymore so need to work on that.

Gyms are not really viable, work hours and emaressment cover that - used to do some martial arts so perhaps some self exercise with my own body weight?

If you're looking to just tone up some, look healthier and feel better there isn't a "right" way to work out (that doesn't mean a most effective way). Anything is better than nothing. If you got some weights laying around the house, pick em up and start using them. Do some push ups and situps. Run or jog 15 - 20 minutes a day / every other day and take vitamins also and you WILL see improvements. Since you and I are both roughly the same weight and height I guess I'll share my experience.

About a year and a half ago I received a Total Gym for my birth day (yes the Chuck Norris machine). I used it probably 10 hours a week for about 7 months or so. When I started using it I weighed 130 lbs and at the end I was up to 150 lbs and it was pretty much all muscle (this was also working out legs very little, almost purely upper body). I would always get comments from friends and co-workers about how great I looked. I'd only work out about an hour 1/2 or 2 hours every other day when I got off work, so it was a pretty relaxed work out routine. My routine didn't transform me into captain fitness or hercules or anything but I definitely felt and looked much better.

Also like the others have said, you should stop drinking or at the very least cut back. That's not to say you can't have a glass of wine or something at dinner but slamming beers daily = bad. Your diet sounds good enough so really no need to comment on that. Well, good luck on whatever you do

[Goliath]

http://www.bulknutrition.com

Pick up some Protein Powder. It tastes good, it removes sweet cravings, it is practically fat free, it will speed up your metabolism, and it will help build muscle.

I personally like Cytosport brand and I buy Cytogainer (right after workouts, it has creatine in it). And then Whey Protein Powder for breakfast and sometimes right before bed.

[arkael]

Originally Posted by brekk

other then cutting out lots of sugar, ignore what people say about healthy diet. The first thing to know is, the more super healthy you diet is the harder it will be to stick to.

Its a lot easier to lower the calorie/carb intake through portion control. Don't eat as much, and drink more water to keep your stomach full.

The harder you work at eating healthy, the easier it is to stick to. If you cut all the beer/liquor/pizza/white bread/burgers out of your diet, you won't crave them anymore.

Just eat healthy and do cardio. If you want to put on muscle, less cardio and more lifting. Protein shakes taste good and work as a meal replacement. I ate vanilla protein shakes with oatmeal and banana in them for many months and didn't get tired it. Chicken/turkey/salmon/tuna are all really good tasting healthy meal options that you won't find hard to stick to. Also, if you can find the time to work out regularly, you'll find yourself eating more than you used to (if you cut out excessive beer drinking). Lifting 2-3 times a week and doing cardio as often as possible will give you more of an appetite than if you sat on your ass.

When I first started working out I didn't like going to the gym because I was in terrible shape. Go running, or do any kind of cardio at home if you have to, and you don't have to embarrass yourself in front of all the Ronnie Colemans at the gym. A couple dumbells with weight and some kind of cardio won't cost much and you can do it at home. I've never been to a gym and I lost almost 50 pounds, don't use it as an excuse.

I will say though, working weird hours and coming home dead tired makes it REAL hard to stick to a routine and eat properly. It's still possible, you just have to push yourself to do it whenever you can.

[Chaotic]

Creatine, protein.

Ignore what most of these people said here. Creatine and protein powder (I recommend Cellmass and optimum whey respectively) CEE is a better form of creatine, more absorbable and less immunity, and whey has one of highest protein concentrations with 0 fillers.

You need to put on weight primarily, i'd say a good 20-30lbs. You do NOT want carbs. You do NOT want sugars. You want a high calorie intake. Low fat (Don't exclude fat - but don't get 1000 calories from 3 burgers @35g of fat a pop) You want to AVOID cardio, as your body will become catabolic, specifically at such a low weight. Once you start to bulk, then you integrate or switch to cardio to "Cut" (tone) and adjust your calorie intake accordingly (lower)

I recommend doing this with free weights at first. Some simple lat / fly / curls and some leg presses. Don't get into benching or squatting or anything like that, as you need a core before you go insane with the "hardcore" aspect. If you find the need to work abs (which oyu probably wont due to weight) leg raises and weighted situps (put a 15lb dumbbell in each hand and do a REAL situp, slowly - will get you a great burn with minimum reps) Don't overtrain, and take it easy. Your body will get annihilated in the beggining, specifically if your not used to working out. The cellmass will help with recovery, as will the protein. If you insist on cardio, get yourself a BCAA like Purple Wrath, which will prevent your body from eating itself to fuel.

I'm ranting now, if you have any other questions feel free to ask. I'm kind of a gym freak : )

[arkael]

Originally Posted by Chaotic

Creatine, protein.

Ignore what most of these people said here.

Clearly only your opinion matters. Obviously someone his size doesn't want to do excessive cardio, but most people aren't "gym freaks" and don't give a shit about eating exactly 2143 calories and 14.2 grams of protein. Why wouldn't he want to do cardio? Sure, lifting would make someone with a very light build and a fatty gut look more well rounded, but its more important to find something you enjoy. I'd rather lose the gut and stay skinny than do something I hate, quit in 6 months, and put the weight back on. Especially when working fucked up hours that stop you from going to the gym. Creatine? Personally, I stay away from stimulants and artificial supplements other than whey powder and vitamins. If you don't know what youre doing don't take creatine. It isn't necessary unless you're planning on deadlifting 300 pounds any time soon. Focus on balanced eating and exercise you enjoy doing or you'll end up quitting.

[Ronne]

Don't take creatine, it's just water weight and will fuck up your kidneys because it's such a rediculous megadose.

[Eomer]

You know, I've never really felt insecure about going to the gym, because if you REALLY look around in the gym, maybe 10-20% of the people there are actually in good shape. The rest are in no better shape than you (unless you're a total pig). At least, that's they way it's been at the handful of gyms I've worked out at.

My problem is I'm just flat out lazy when it comes to working out. I mean, I love going and doing physical activity like hiking, skiing, hockey, and that sort of thing. But I've always had a problem doing solely boring exercise.

[Chaotic]

Originally Posted by arkael

Clearly only your opinion matters. Obviously someone his size doesn't want to do excessive cardio, but most people aren't "gym freaks" and don't give a shit about eating exactly 2143 calories and 14.2 grams of protein. Why wouldn't he want to do cardio? Sure, lifting would make someone with a very light build and a fatty gut look more well rounded, but its more important to find something you enjoy. I'd rather lose the gut and stay skinny than do something I hate, quit in 6 months, and put the weight back on. Especially when working fucked up hours that stop you from going to the gym. Creatine? Personally, I stay away from stimulants and artificial supplements other than whey powder and vitamins. If you don't know what youre doing don't take creatine. It isn't necessary unless you're planning on deadlifting 300 pounds any time soon. Focus on balanced eating and exercise you enjoy doing or you'll end up quitting.

Clearly, people are misleading him. Stick to lurking, thanks!

Creatine is actually naturally occuring, and the water weight thing is totally true for some people, however it's also proven to be one of the most effective *SAFE* supplements in increasing lean muscle mass, and helping improve energy, and output (which perpetuates itself) I don't take anything artificial as well. Protein, creatine (in small doses too mind you, people who load up 40g + creatine are asking for kidney failure without cycling) BCAAs are just that, amino acids - body fuel for energy or protein building blocks depending on if your using it during cardio or as a supplement in general.

If you don't agree or believe what i'm saying, I would say the best forum is bodybuilding.com I think you'll find the majority of those people concur with me. I'm nowhere near the size of them (205lbs , 6' with good numbers) but I find their advice to be pretty good across the board, you'll also find people in similar situations that can lend more acute information.