Thread: My progress. Just starting out

Well yesterday I went to the gym for my evaluation with my trainer and found out alot of interesting things about where I am as far as my body.So here is what I know and what I need to improve on.


Protein: I was told I need to have more white meet in my diet, such as sea food,turky, tuna,etc.
Fruits and Vegetables: This is also something else that needs much improvement.
Eat Breakfast:This is something that I just havent done for along time and just got accustom to it.But I had a breakfast this morning.
Those are just things that need much improvemnet and a few more that just need a lil help.


Well this is just a nice simple illustration of my body comp.Acording to my papers this is ranked as "Excellent" and is the range recommended for athletes.
Protocol: 3 Site Skinfold
Chest: 7.5mm Abdomen: 18.5mm Thigh: 8.5

Ok now my Cardiovascular Ranking.

Well as you can see im not far at all from the "Excellent" classification.Only .99 more.

We also did a bicep strength ranking test which is 94 lbs. "Good" ranking is 92-104. So not to bad but will get better.


NOTE: If anyone has any comments or suggestions on how to help me out along with any advice feal free to pitch in at any time during this post.

Well do to my consultation I had with my Trainer yesterday, I wasnt able to work out. Well I think the way im going to work all of this is I will start on machines and try to do do the HST routine as close as I can. Once I get some work on the machines after so long I will move onto free weights. He had siad that the machines are kind of a starting point and free weights have more risk to them, so I figure ill take his advice and still try to do all my HST routine stuff on machines for the time being.

So today will be Day 1 of my HST 10 rep routine on machines.
So I think it would be safe to say that I might beable to get some progress pics up by next weekend hopefully if I notice any difference, and if there is a difference but nothing to be cought on cam I will for sure make note of it.

Good luck with your training and diet

Well I have made a big decision today that im going to quit smoking.I am 26 and have been doing it for a sloid 8 years.So when i wake up in the morning i am going to start my morning and hopefully many many months more after, smoke free.Its a habit that i never should have started and dont know why i did. So i guess all the money i save can still go into my body just in much healthier ways. I only put this in here cuz i know health wise it will make a big differance and it is a "change" for me. So we will see how it goes this time around.

Thank You ForemanRules

Are you a beginner ( i.e. Have never done weight training before)?

If so, here are my thoughts if I were training you:

1) From looking at your pictures, your body fat % is higher than 10%, regardless of what the test said. My guess is that is closer to 15% minimum. This is reality, not meant to discourage you or put you down.

2) I think the HST 10 rep routine listed has too many exercises and too many sets for a beginner. Your body needs to get acclimated to training and you need to learn the exercises and focus on good form. 21 sets a day three days a week is too much. I would focus on basic compound exercises, one exercise, three sets per part for legs, chest, back, shoulders, bis and tris. Smaller groups and specialized stuff for traps, calves and the like should come later.

I subscribe to Richard Baldwin's theories in this article. I suggest you read it and use it as guidance:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/babyboom56.htm

Starting slowly will work out much better for you in the long run.

3) Beginners often see changes in their physiques early, partially because of the new stimulus being placed on the body. However, it may be asking alot to expect to see changes in one week. Be more realistic.

4) Nutrition is VERY important, especially as you advance. I am not sure how knowledgable your trainer is on the subject( from my experience, most are not). I suggest you start learning about this on your own. A good start is Jody's sticky on Cutting Bulking and Maintenance in the Nutrition forum here. Pay particular attention to the eating 5-6 times a day principle. Pick up a good book on bodybuilding at the book store. Bodybuilding 101 by Robert Wolff is excellent. Peruse the nutrition forum here and elsewhere. And do not be afraid to ask us questions here. Be very cautious about the advice members in the gym may give you. Alot of what you will hear and see( especially in exercise form) in the gym will be wrong.

Yup. All good advise. Good luck on kicking the butts, too. It'll go a long way.

I noticed your BF chart doesn't include water weight at all. That alone would make me wonder how accurate it is...

Well it is now the begining of my 3rd day without a smoke.I will admit I would love to have one but I also know i dont NEED one and its to easy to just give in to it.Part of the reason I wanted to quit cold trukey other then obvious health reasons is to say I did it and I did it on my own.I know when (im not going to say IF here) I get through this and I do it on my own, I then know I am capable of any if i put my mind to it.

As far as my nutrition goes, it had changed ALOT not quite solid yet but i have started a big change and a nice base to start from as far as my meals go. My workout well, I was in strength training when I was in high school but that was 8 years ago.Im not arguing with anything you have said and hav pointed out, cuz that would be like biting the hand that feeds me since you all know more about this stuff then I do.But When I goto the gym I work hard and I love to work hard. I honestly dont think I could go in and do small amounts of everything though you do make a good point and I know like with many things, FORM is key.You have your form wrong and you will start hurting yourslef. So you say 3 sets how many reps am I doing per set?Also how long do I keep doing a routine like this before I can move onto something else,or is it just untill I get the form right?Keep in mind i do work machines only right now.I have also been looking into and am very interested in doing HIIT.

Originally Posted by crazy8

But When I goto the gym I work hard and I love to work hard. I honestly dont think I could go in and do small amounts of everything

OK. But I think you are making a mistake. Even though you may not think you are "working hard" with the program I suggested, it will be harder than you think on your muscles and central nervous system. Almost every person I have helped start training has suffered from acute muscle soreness the day or two after the first workout, even though it was not intense at all. In my own personal experience, my first workout was just after my 21st birthday. I was 115 skinny weakly pounds and had decided that I was tired of being a 115 pound weakling. A trainer took me through what I thought was an easy session, mostly on machines. I thought "no sweat. This stuff is easy". The next day, I was so sore I could not get out of bed. I had to call in sick at work and I almost quit training right then.

So you say 3 sets how many reps am I doing per set?

I generally recommend 12, but if you want to do 10 as HST suggested, go ahead. In either case, you SHOULD NOT be training to muscle failure the first few weeks.

Also how long do I keep doing a routine like this before I can move onto something else,or is it just untill I get the form right?Keep in mind i do work machines only right now.

Baldwin suggests sticking to a beginning full body beginner routine for 3 months, Wolff says 4. I would not say everyone has to wait that long. If you are conscientious and diligent about getting your workouts in and you are easily doing your weights with proper form, then maybe you can graduate in two months. If you make it through two months, you should be congratulated because most gym owners ( and me from own experiences training people) will tell you that 75% of beginners quit within two months.

One other thing on the subject. Baldwin, Wolff and I are all more advocates of using free weights ( with some machines worked in for exercises where free weights do not work such as pulldowns) rather than machines alone. If you are starting on machines, I would suggest doing machines for one month and then starting to use free weights the second month.

Well thank you for the repliy. Also like I said you all in here are pros and know way more then I do about this so I am going to take all of your advice and start doing this ASAP. Thank you for all of the info.Let me know what you think of this now.I think this is my plan now and will also utilise everything you just mentioned to me. I will do your routine for the recomended 2-4 months depending on what results I get. Then once I have done what is required I will go and start my HIIT. Does that sound like a good idea?I do want your input on this so I know im not doing anything I probably shouldnt be doing Also just a few more little questions.

-If you are conscientious and diligent about getting your workouts in and you are easily doing your weights with proper form, then maybe you can graduate in two months.-
Now im going light on the weight and not working to muscle fatigue correct?Does this mean to do as much weight as I can as to still not hit fatigue?

Do I still stck to the popular routine of doing this every-other-day and cardio on off days?

When I am doing this and aproach the 2,3,or 4 month period how do i know I am ready to stop the routine? Am I looking at my form to make sure thats all correct?Am I looking at what "physical" results I have gained? All of the above?

Last question. When I do this and I need to do 3 sets per part am I going to use a varitey of machines to mix it up a bit or am I doing like one exercise per part?

Again thanx ALOT for all of this i greatly appreciate it

Originally Posted by crazy8

Also just a few more little questions.


Now im going light on the weight and not working to muscle fatigue correct?Does this mean to do as much weight as I can as to still not hit fatigue?

You do not want to hit or approach fatigue yet. Do not "use as much weight as I can as to not hit fatigue", but a little less than that at the start. Maybe towards the end of the second month, you can push it harder for a week to test yourself.

Do I still stck to the popular routine of doing this every-other-day and cardio on off days?

I do not think you should be training 7 days a week ( 3 weights, 4 cardio) with your body type. 3 with weights and 2-3 cardio with 1-2 cardio workouts coming after weights???

When I am doing this and aproach the 2,3,or 4 month period how do i know I am ready to stop the routine? Am I looking at my form to make sure thats all correct?Am I looking at what "physical" results I have gained? All of the above?

This is complicated and I don't have much time this morning. This does not have to be answerd right this day. I will get back to you on this.

Last question. When I do this and I need to do 3 sets per part am I going to use a varitey of machines to mix it up a bit or am I doing like one exercise per part?

One exercise per bodypart. Example: bench press for chest, overhead( military) press for shoulders, curls for biceps, pushdowns for triceps, pulldowns for back, squat or leg press for quads, leg curl for hamstrings.

Also, one very important question for you I should have asked at the beginning. What are your specific goals?

Originally Posted by Egoatdoor

Also, one very important question for you I should have asked at the beginning. What are your specific goals?

I wanto be very defined and build up a bit....u know the "chisseled look". Not HUGE but look damn good.Nice pecks, 6 pack, nice arms, etc.

Well Yesterday I had meeting number 2 (out of 5) with my trainer and we did cardio. We found out that my AT (Anerobic Threshold) is 157. After this was determined it was pluged into a progam to kind of create a cardio routine that i will fallow on my cardio days.It is a 30 minutes routine and i must say is AWSOME. All the times i was on the tred, I would get sweety but with this I feal WORKED and challanged and like I did something. Well here is a pic of what it looks like.



The shaded parts are to tellme that my HR should be at the HI (157) and not "with in" the range as specified.This is layed out to "shock" the body as my trainer put it.To get the heart and everything else built up and stronger.Incase it may need explaing, on the tred i set an elivation of 2.0 and with increasing/decreasing HR is done by adjusting speed on the tredmil/cardio machine.Well anyway this is what I will be doing on my cardio days.

NOTE: as of today 5/9/05 marks my 1 week of kicking the butts.I havent lit up yet and dont plan to. Thank you all for the extra help to.

Some more info that might help. I also forgot to post up pics of my legs.Upper body is what I am most worried about. I think my legs are nice but I will still continue to work them.Anyway, as far as my goal goes and what I want to look like I have a pic here i pulled from google. This is in the area of what i want my upper body to look like.


So what is required of me to accomplish this?Please since i want to kee this as a journal PLEASE message me your responses. thank you

Now here are some pics of my legs...I have done MUCH walking in my life ill tell u that



Sorry about the crapy webcam pix all i have for now but im sure there is enough to tell though

Originally Posted by crazy8

Also how long do I keep doing a routine like this before I can move onto something else,or is it just untill I get the form right?

I would say in your case 6-8 weeks. Then graduate to a split routine ( I would recommend a 3 or 4 day a week split) and add 1 or 2 exercises to each bodypart. But again stick to basic compound exercises, not "isolation" or "shaping" movements and do not increase the volume too much. Total sets for large parts such as back should be limited to 9 and 6 for smaller parts such as arms.

At this point, have the trainer show you other exercises for each bodypart such as incline presses for the chest, bent barbell rows and deadlifts for the back, skull crushers and close grip bench presses for the triceps, etc etc. Spend the next few weeks getting the form down on these.

Originally Posted by crazy8

I wanto be very defined and build up a bit....u know the "chisseled look". Not HUGE but look damn good.Nice pecks, 6 pack, nice arms, etc.

I looked at your pics and the one of what you want to look like. You've got pretty good genetics and your legs are miles ahead of many guys in the gym already.

You have the potential definitely to get the upper body chiseled like the guy in the picture. You will need to work on building muscle thickness in the chest. That looks like your biggest weakness. The "chiseling" will come with a better diet and proper cardio. You will also probably have to widen the shoulders to make your waist look smaller, plus it appears that if your legs are as big as they seem in the pictures, you will need wider shoulders to offset this.

Your legs are fantastic. You have a thigh sweep that I am busting my butt right now to get myself.

Originally Posted by Egoatdoor

I looked at your pics and the one of what you want to look like. You've got pretty good genetics and your legs are miles ahead of many guys in the gym already.

Well to be honest.I am 26 years old.I just got my license about 2 years ago do to some minor medical reasons.So i have had to walk everywhere for all that time and even took a few walks that totaled 6 hours and im a fast walker ( about 4mph) so this im usre played a huge part in my legs I am able to do 2 sets, 12 reps each on a ?horisontal leg press machin?<---dunno what its called, but i can push 200 pounds the rest of me is only at about 80 for all other exercises.

NOTE: i dont know why I did the pics like this and dont know if it matters but the pics of legs and arm are "flexed".Just thought i would mention it incase it mattered

Now since the rest of my body can handle 80 pound to reach fatigue, maybe i should go down to like 60 or even 50 im thinking?
Could you please define exactly what a split routine is?Sorry im a total vergin

Well last friday me and my trainer went over some more exercises.Here is a pic of the sheet and exercises we did.As you will see on this chart most of the weight is light BUT I will say by the time im done i FEAL it so thats good.I feal the workout even more so then I did on the machines and using heavy weight.This time we covered the "Fitness Strength Training" exercises.Also note that to the left of all the exercises you will see "FM" this stand for free motion, soo all of my exercises are on free motion machines and im loving it.

Well this may be hard to read so i will list the exercises in order.

Core Stability Training
Ball Crunches
Ball Bridges
Ball Raise
Back Extensions/Cobras


Balance Training
Single Leg Squat Touchdowns
Lunge To Balance
Single Leg Romanian Deadlifts

Neuromuscular Reaction Training
Squat Jump w/ Stabilization

Low Back And Abdominals
Supermans
Lying Opposits
Stability Ball Crunches
Stab. Ball Twists w/ Med. Ball

Total Body Circuit Training Program
Squat
Step Ups
Quad/Leg Extensions
Hamstring/Leg Curls
Chest Press
Lat Pull Down
Seated Rows
Shoulder Press
Bicep Curls
Tricep Extensions

Next tuesday is our last meeting and we will put all of this together into a full routine.I will keep posted on results and such.

Originally Posted by crazy8

Could you please define exactly what a split routine is?Sorry im a total vergin

Sorry that it took me so long to get back to you. I was away on business last week, then had a death in the family, so I didn't read your reply until just now.

A split routine is where the body is broken up into different parts and you train a certain body part or bodyparts during each workout. A 3 day split means the body is broken up three ways and you train 3 days a week, hitting each bodypart once. A 4 way split means breaking into 4 parts and training 4 days a week and so on. Since you are now training fewer body parts each day instead of training every bodypart each workout as in the whole body routine, you can now add exercises to each body part. For instance, you can now do 2 or 3 exercises for the chest instead of one.

Typically, a person can graduate from a whole body routine to a split routine in 2- 4 months after beginning training.

A possible 4 way split may look like this: 1) Chest and shoulders 2) Back and forearms or abs 3) Arms( biceps and triceps) 4) Legs

Some people like to do this: 1) Chest and triceps 2) Back and biceps 3)Shoulders 4) Legs

I am advanced and I just finished this 4 way split which I used for 10 weeks:
1) Chest and shoulders 2) Back and hamstrings 3) Arms and abs 4) Quads and calves.

Here is a Split routine someone gave me. What do u think of this? Also with the last bost i did just above yours what do you think about those exercises? so here are my options let me know what you think is best.
do I...
1) Keep to the routine im on now (posted just above)
2) Do a split routine like I have posted here
3) Stay on the routine I am on for a specified amount of time then graduate to a split routine.

Here is the Split i got from someone.
DAY 1 (Chest,)
Flat Bench Bar 5 sets Incline Bar
Incline Db 3 sets Flat Db Press
Cable Fly 2 sets Incline Fly
Push Up 2 sets Dips


DAY 2 (Quads)
Squat 6 sets Leg Press
Hack/Wall Ball 3 sets Front Squat
Leg Ext. 3 sets Step Ups
Step Lunge 2 sets Leg Ext


DAY 3 (Back, calves)
Lat Pulldown Over 5 sets Lat Pull under
Bent Over Row 3 sets Seated Row
High Pulldown 2 sets Rope Pulldown
1-Arm Row w/high cable 2 sets 1 arm Db row


DAY 4 (Shoulders, Hamstring)
Side Lateral 5 sets Db DeltPress
Shrug 3 sets Upright Row
Standing Db Press 2 sets Front Raise
Leg Curl 5 sets Stiff DL/Bar
Stiff DL w/Db 3 sets Seated Leg Curl


DAY 5 ARMS
Incline Curl 4 sets Barbell Curl
Cable Curl 3 sets Seated Alt. Curl
Concentration 2 sets Rope Curl
Tri. Ext. 4 sets Tri Bar Press
Tri, Rope 3 sets Dips
Rev 1 arm press 2sets Db Ext.

Is this good or do you have a better one? If you have better please give me the info.Sorry about the loss in your family and the lack of imediate response....its no biggy Thanx alot for your help

Well thats a routine I got from a friend but i dont do those exercises i actually do free motion machines and they seem to be doing great.As far as the body parts go do u think thats a good way to do it?

NOTE: I was told on Mondays to do tri's with chest...

Originally Posted by crazy8

Here is a Split routine someone gave me. What do u think of this? Also with the last bost i did just above yours what do you think about those exercises? so here are my options let me know what you think is best.
do I...
1) Keep to the routine im on now (posted just above)

This is the program given by the personal trainer?

I think the body circuit is fine. But think the other stuff is wasteful and too complex. I am an advanced trainer and doing stuff on those Fitballs is difficult for me, so what does that say about a less advanced trainee?? It is very hard to keep your balance on those balls and they can even be dangerous. What is the point? Balance training: What is the point of SINGLE LEG romanian deadlifts???? What is the point of Squat jumps with stabilization? Spend your time and effort on the weights(the circuit training) and leave the other stuff to much later on in the future, if at all.

2) Do a split routine like I have posted here

Don't like this for you at all at this stage. Go back and read my two posts on June 5th to answer this question.

3) Stay on the routine I am on for a specified amount of time then graduate to a split routine.

. My opinion, start with a full body two to three day a week routine along with 2-3 cardio workouts.

So another words I will be sticking to what I have been doing,which is this.

Mon. Workout (full body)
Tues. Cardio 30 minutes
Wed. Workout (fullbody)
Thur. Cardio 30 minutes
Fri. Workout (full body)
Sat. Cardio 30 minutes


JOURNAL ENTRY- I would also like to add as part of my journal here that next week it looks like I will be upping my cardio to 45 since the 35 is starting to get easy.We will see how I do the rest of the week.Who knows mybe I wont start 45 minute cardio till the week after next.

Also I would like to announce that as of tomorrow (July 7th) it will be exactly 5 weeks since I have quit smoking.I would also like to just mention im seeinf differances with my body since i have started working out imnot getting "big" like I would like but I am loosing fat and becoming more defined.Just need to work on that stuburn tummy, that doesnt want to leave.Anyway thank you all for the support and keep up the great work.

Originally Posted by crazy8

I would also like to just mention im seeinf differances with my body since i have started working out imnot getting "big" like I would like but I am loosing fat and becoming more defined.

That is great.
The size will come later. You are going to look much better as the bodyfat continues to fall away.

Just need to work on that stuburn tummy, that doesnt want to leave.

Be patient. It will come with time.