New to the forum & looking for Advice!

[Adamr]

Hi Guys

I'm new to this forum & I was hoping you may be able to help me?

Im currntly trying to lose some fat & generally tone up, her are my credentials:

Age 31

6 ft Tall

187 lbs

Biceps 15 Inches

Chest 41 inches

I don't know if you needed to know all that but i thought it might help!

Anway I ned to lose some fat around my waist & Chest. I started training properly last week for about 1 1/2 hours 4 times a week & watching my diet carefully In that training I usually do 40 mins Cardio (Running, Bike & Rower) then I hit the weights along with sone sit ups. I Have been concentrating mainly on my chest as I really want toned pecs.

Do you have any advice for me? am I doing things right?

I have been a member of the gym for a while but not really taken it seriously, until about 2 weeks ago, I thought i would take control of my diet & do a minimum of about 4 x 1 1/2 Hour sessions a week..

My workout genrally consists of:

5 min warmup on the treadmill (can't run a lot as I broke my leg badly when I was a kid & I get an ache upmy shin when I run)

2 x 500m sprints on the rower

15 mins random on the bike( heart rate is usually 145-155 during this)

20-30 Sit ups

Weights;

Bench Press 3 reps of 20

Different bench press 3 reps of 20

Bicep curl 3 Reps of 10

Flys 3 reps of 20

Tricep pull down 3 reps of 10

Sit ups

Shoulder Press 3 reps of 10

& that's about it!

Any advice is welcome!

Cheers Guys.

[CowPimp]

The classic bench press & curl program. Don't worry, you're not the only one, but it's definitely the wrong way to approach things. To have a successful weight training program you need to train your whole body.

Training only certain parts of your body intensely with heavy weights is going to lead to an unbalanced physique and increase the chance of injury by having unbalanced antagonist muscle groups. Not to mention that training your lower body causes an increased hormonal response that will help your upper body develop as well.

It's great that you want to make a change, but your routine definitely needs some help. Check out this writeup I did on designing a full body routine, which I highly recommend to beginners:

Designing a Full Body Routine

Also, I would highly suggest performing your cardio after your weight training sessions or on days that you don't lift. Many people have reported exception results speeding up fat loss by performing cardio after weight training. However, I prefer to reduce the risk of losing lean tissue by performing the cardio on days off from lifting.

In addition, I also highly recommend you do some reading up on good dietary habits. This is going to make or break your final goals in body composition. Check out this writeup; read all of it:

Guide to Cutting, Bulking & Maintenance

[Tough Old Man]

The classic bench press & curl program. Don't worry, you're not the only one, but it's definitely the wrong way to approach things. To have a successful weight training program you need to train your whole body.

Training only certain parts of your body intensely with heavy weights is going to lead to an unbalanced physique and increase the chance of injury by having unbalanced antagonist muscle groups. Not to mention that training your lower body causes an increased hormonal response that will help your upper body develop as well.

It's great that you want to make a change, but your routine definitely needs some help. Check out this writeup I did on designing a full body routine, which I highly recommend to beginners:

Designing a Full Body Routine


Also, I would highly suggest performing your cardio after your weight training sessions or on days that you don't lift. Many people have reported exception results speeding up fat loss by performing cardio after weight training. However, I prefer to reduce the risk of losing lean tissue by performing the cardio on days off from lifting.

In addition, I also highly recommend you do some reading up on good dietary habits. This is going to make or break your final goals in body composition. Check out this writeup; read all of it:

Guide to Cutting, Bulking & Maintenance

I'm going to agree with cow on everything but the cardio. If it were me, I'd get up take 1 scoop of whey with water and do cardio right then. I'd do it everyday but LEG DAY. My cardio would consist of 45 min's of a brisk walk at 3.3 - 3.5 mph or 20 min's of HIT cardio. That would be 1 min as fast as you could go and 1 min slow and repeat for a total of 20 min's

Tough

[CowPimp]

I'm going to agree with cow on everything but the cardio. If it were me, I'd get up take 1 scoop of whey with water and do cardio right then. I'd do it everyday but LEG DAY. My cardio would consist of 45 min's of a brisk walk at 3.3 - 3.5 mph or 20 min's of HIT cardio. That would be 1 min as fast as you could go and 1 min slow and repeat for a total of 20 min's

Tough

Yeah, that's another way to go about it. I just usually recommend 2-3 days as a starting point because jumping into cardio more than that right away might leave a new trainee burned out.

[Adamr]

THank's for the advice guys
I will have a good read.

[Adamr]

This is how Fat I am!!!...Embarassing Didn't realise just how much I needed to tone up till I saw this!

[CowPimp]

This is how Fat I am!!!...Embarassing Didn't realise just how much I needed to tone up till I saw this!

Pfft, I've seen much worse. I wouldn't even consider you unhealthy. You are going to notice a big difference within your first 3 months or so I predict.

[Adamr]

Pfft, I've seen much worse. I wouldn't even consider you unhealthy. You are going to notice a big difference within your first 3 months or so I predict.

Thanks for the vote of confidence Cowpimp

[Adamr]

I'm currently losing about a pound every 2 days, is that goodor not?

[cha]

I'm currently losing about a pound every 2 days, is that goodor not?

Once agan, I'm no expert, but I think that's unhealthy. It took me a little over a year to loose 35 lbs (2-4 pounds a month)

[CowPimp]

I'm currently losing about a pound every 2 days, is that goodor not?

1-2 pounds per month is a general rule of thumb for healthy weight loss while retaining the vast majority of LBM. Personally, I prefer to lean more toward 1lb per week. However, at the very beginning of a weight loss program you may lose some weight in the form of water and glycogen stores since you are eating less. This will skew your results for a week or so.

[Adamr]

1-2 pounds per month is a general rule of thumb for healthy weight loss while retaining the vast majority of LBM. Personally, I prefer to lean more toward 1lb per week. However, at the very beginning of a weight loss program you may lose some weight in the form of water and glycogen stores since you are eating less. This will skew your results for a week or so.

Just worked it out & 2 lb every 2 days was a bit of an exaggeration.

I have lost 3.5 lbs in 8 days