In for a penny....

CodedFire

Hi Guys,

Well i said id start one of these journals for two reasons. 1)Im completely new to fitness. 2) Id like to get some constructive crtisism on how things are going. So i think il start with the bio.

BIO:
So im 22 years of age, weigh 18 stone and am 6'1 in height. The main reason for the desision to get fit was the weight but also the set of man boobs im sporting which have made me paranoid beyond belief. There is also the constant tierdness that has seemed to grip me lately making me feel worse on a day to day basis.

After a couple of trial runs in a few gyms i have found a rather small health studio which offers no nonsense training and alot of help and support as apposed to taken my money and letting me loose with no help.

My First Session:
My first session in this gym consisted of a fitness and strength test along with a suggested workout dietry information and my first session. Needless to say my fitness test was brutal, im at the bottom of the trainers fitness list im also not that strong for my age, my flexablity is pretty poor too.

So these coupled with an extremly poor and fattening diet are not good, but my trainer was optimistic, praising me for taken the first steps. We continued to the actual workout which i will explain below along with a suggested diet.

The Workout:
The workout was pretty hard but not painful. Basicly alot of stretching before, then 10mins warm up on the bike, followed by weights for as long as it took to comfortably finish them, the trainer said for the first while form was inportant for safety and with good form the amount i could lift will increase rapidly. This was followed by 20 mins of light cardio, 10 on the xtrainer and 10 on the treadmill then a futher 5 mins cooldown walk on the treadmil. More stretching followed before finish, roughly double what i did at the start. (PS: il post the exact weight regime tommorow, i forgot there names, most are upper body though and the weights werent to heavy but still a challange)

Diet:
So this is the diet i have been given, its not specific as my trainer felt if it was too rigid i wouldnt stick to it. Its to be reviewed in two months, so far though i find it quite easy to manage, ive cut coffee out of my life as this diet seems to keep me perky all day and i never feel hungry. I actually found this change alot easier than first anticipated.

07:45 - Porrage or Ready Brek, two slices of brown bread, cup of herbal tea
10:00 - Piece of fruit and/or yogurt
13:00 - Brown Roll with chicken/turkey and loads of salad, water or pure fruit juice.
15:00 - Piece of fruit and some seeds/nuts (can put in a yogurt if i wish)
18:00 - Plate full of mixed veg chicken/turkey, 1 small new potato
21:00 - Tea and two plain wholemeal biscuts if i wish

The Plan:
So my plan is to attend the gym 3 times a week to start, i attended my first session friday so im not attending until monday (tomorrow) and then it will be monday, wensday, friday from then on. I know it will be slow but i have to say its been pretty good so far if the diet is anything to go by as its been 3 days into it and i already feel better.

Questions:
1) I ache pretty badly the last 3 days all over my upper body, ive read about DOMS this seems to be what it is. Ive went from ZERO lifting after all, when does this subside. Will this happen everytime i train?
EDIT: After reading about doms more and 3 days on it seems 3 days is the average for this sort of discomfort.

2) Are fresh smoothies considered a five a day?
Edit: Ive found these are

Thanks to everyone who reads and responds

SUNGOD

hi codedfire im far from an expert so i just want to welcome you to the fitness logs and wish you all the best with it.
from reading your post your trainer does sound fairly competent so you should deff listen to him. also read the stickies on the fitness forum ,should be one on nutrition there as well .
all my training is running so cant offer you any advice on weights but there is excellent logs here by hanley, bossarky and malteaser just to mention a few which are well worth a read and im sure would offer some advice if asked .
so thats all best of luck with it hope you get what your looking for out of keeping this log

CodedFire

Thanks Man.

CodedFire

Day Two

So this is the second day of my gym outing, this session focused more on the lower half of my body and a hell of a lot of cardio! Ive also got my girlfriend onboard which helps. Basicly my regime seems to be split into 2 sessions.

Session One:
5min warmup
Upperbody weights (Still unsure of the names)
20 mins Cardio

Session Two:
5min warmup
Lower body and leg weights (alot of machine weights)
30 mins of cardio

Edit: I alternate between each session. and train 3 times a week


The cardio is very hard i have to admit, i find the weights come naturally to me but the cardio on the other hand does not. Ive been teaching myself to breath better which does help. The diet is also flying.

For anyone who is overweight and trying to cook healthier meals without all the hassle you should get a steamer, ive never seen or used one before. I bought a rather large one for only €45 and ive used it every day. Today for instance i had for dinner, 1 chicken fillet, 2 new potatos and a rather large helping of veg. Now i normally burn toast but its so easy, just pop all the food in seperate compartments and fire up the steamer for 40 mins. Mine has a timer so i dont even need to hover over it. I have to say steamed chicken is fantastic, its really juicy and succulent. Ive actually got rid of packed chicken and just cooked aload of fillets and cut them up.

Anyhoo thats all for today, hopfully i can get a hold of my card and show my exact routine soon.

Thanks for viewing,
Bye!

Dimitri

Wow sounds like a pretty good gym, fair play for sticking to the diet, the word always strikes fear into my heart! keep up the good work its good to know i'm not the only newbie posting here though your plan seems to be a lot better thought out then mine so best of luck.

CodedFire

Its actually only a small little place, ive tried Jackie skellys etc and they were to commercial for me, i would always suggest to try a few. Regarding the diet, belive me after a week it becomes completely natural i swear, i was a junk food addict!