Need Advice

**boilermaker** · 09-15-2005, 09:45 AM

I'm brand new to weight training and using it as lifestyle change to get healthy and fit. I've read many posts and articles on this site and frankly, its overwhelming at this point. I'll start with some background and let you know the training routine I started this past week. Any advice on adjustments would be appreciated.

First, I am 5'-10" and weigh in at 195 lbs. I have never lifted weights with any consistancy before, but am motivated to start. A friend gave me a Weider power pro stack and I bought a set of dumbells.

I think I need to lose about 25 lbs of fat and would like to pack on lean muscle growth. That is my goal.

My diet used to suck. After years of denial, I realized I had an alcohol problem and two weeks ago, made a commitment to give it up completely, permanently. At two cases of beer a week, I have cut 7000 calories directly out of my weekly caloric intake and replaced it with primarily fresh brewed iced green tea. Also gone is the binge eating of mostly high fat, processed crap that is easy to fix and eat when you are hammered. Not sure how many bad calories that was, but I'm sure it is a significant amount. I'm striving to eat as many meals with whole foods that are high in protein now.

I have devised and implemented a workout routine as follows:

3 times a week with at least one day rest in between of weight training.

Here I try to do 3 sets of 8 reps and try to reach failure with the weight at or near the end of the last set. Still learning which weights accomplish this with different exercises. I try to hit all the large muscle groups each workout, doing 6 to 8 different lifts. I do cardio on the non-lifting days.

Is this a viable plan to reach my goals? How much protein should I strive to put im my diet?

Thanks in advance,

Boilermaker

**Emma-Leigh** · 09-15-2005, 01:51 PM

Hello and welcome!

Firstly, congratulations on putting in the effort to start this lifestyle change!!

Secondly, I think you need to concentrate on the 'bigger picture' things at the moment. Don't worry about 'grams of this' or 'grams of that' just yet. Simply focus on eating healthy foods and getting used to working out regularly.

What you have suggested is great so far - and I wrote some information to someone in this post about simple steps in terms of training and food choices, so you could also read this to see if it helps.

You could also read Jodi's "a guide to..." sticky at the top of the page.

Good luck!

**boilermaker** · 09-15-2005, 07:29 PM

Emma-Leigh,

Thanks for the encouragement and the post you recommended. It is well written and easy to understand. I agree with what you have said and am looking forward to losing the weight so I can start to build some muscle. I don't know if what I am doing is actually cutting at this point, but, at what weight would you suggest I switch to trying to build lean muscle mass?

Best regards,

Boilermaker

**Emma-Leigh** · 09-15-2005, 11:30 PM

Originally Posted by boilermaker

I don't know if what I am doing is actually cutting at this point, but, at what weight would you suggest I switch to trying to build lean muscle mass?

As you have cut out a considerable amount of 'junk calories' and you have added in exercise you will probably find you will lose weight regardless of if you are actually 'trying' to lose a large amount of weight.

But, if your Body fat% is high (which I imagine it is judging on your previous lifestyle) then you probably want this to occur anyway. There is not point in trying to add a large amount of muscle if you are 'over-fat' - as you end up just gaining a lot more fat!

As I said, you are better off just working out and eating right and, as a newbie, you will probably be able to gain some muscle mass and strength whilst you get a lot of that fat off too...

In terms of swapping to a specific muscle gaining protocol - weight has little to do with it. What is more important is how you feel you look. That is, if you are happy with your level of 'fatness' (which will be determined partially by your Body fat%) and if you think you are too small in terms of overall size, then you would want to slowly change your eating and training to be more suited to your new goals.

However, I would not try this type of thing for a while - get focus on the 'basics' for a good few months and then see how things progress.

**boilermaker** · 09-16-2005, 07:27 PM

Thanks again for the advice Emma-Leigh. Everything you've said has made perfect sense. By what weight to start working on building muscle, I was thinking about 175. That is because that is the last weight I thought I looked pretty good at, which is exactly what you were saying. So, I'll work on my diet content and proper techniques until I get the fat off. Then, I can move on from there.

Best regards,

Boilermaker

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