Dave's path from fatness to fitness!

Dave!

Hey folks,

I'm heading down to Carlisle shortly to join up, so I was planning on keeping track of my progress, and I noticed this forum so might as well post here !

My stats that I'm aware of:

-21 years old, male
-Weight: 12st even
-Height: 5ft 9/10ins
-Max for dumbells: 13.8kg, 15 reps

Now I'm pretty much a total novice at this fitness lark, and I'm dreadfully unfit. I'm not overweight or anything, but my cardio fitness is terrible, and my body does not look as good as I want it to

My specific goals for the next few months/years will be:

-Lose small belly and man boobs
-Increase size of biceps
-Tone chest and abs

Not an insurmountable task, but it'll take commitment!

I'll work out a routine, maybe with the help of a fitness person in the gym, but I reckon I'll mostly be doing the following:

-Treadmills/running
-Weights for biceps (dunno which are best! dumbells?)
-Swimming

I usually have a decent diet (though I've lapsed somewhat lately!), which I'll post up some other time, but I'll work out the best diet to tie in with my routine.

Anyways any thoughts appreciated lads Off to sign up now!

Thanks

_JOE_

All the best Dave, i'll be keeping an eye on your log and if you ever want to train down my way give me a bell...

Dave!

Cheers Joey, likewise! I've a few guest passes

Well I signed up on Thursday, and had my first session on Friday.

It did not go well

I hadn't done any exercise (bar lifting the odd weight) for months prior to this, so my body did not recieve that shock very well. I did about 10 minutes on the bike, then 10 minutes on the cross trainer, and nearly died! There was a period of about 2 minutes where I literally could not see or hear It coulda been dehydration... I experienced that before when I tried to get into MMA, and it made me give up Well I took a break for 20 minutes to recover, and then went back, did a few minutes on the treadmill, and then used one of the weights machines (dunno what it was called, it worked my chest anyways -- and I'm feeling it today ).

Was fearing that the same would happen today, but went back again at noon and actually had quite a pleasant workout I burned about 300kcal, which is good for me! Started with half an hour on the treadmill, mainly walking briskly, just shy of jogging. Then did some dumbells for a while, felt I did okay. My chest/pecs are still sore from Friday, so I decided not to do any bench pressing. Then was on the bike for about 20 minutes. Could probably have stayed longer and done more, but had to get the car back. Better off not overdoing it for the first week or so anyways!

So Friday was a disaster, but I actually enjoyed it today, and could see myself going regularly if I manage to not kill myself again Heading again tomorrow morning

I reckon I'll go another once or twice in a casual manner, and then I'll start building up a routine that fits in with my goals!

Any thoughts appreciated...

Oisinjm

I see you dont really know what to do in regards to bicep weights. In carlisle your able to do preacher curls.

(http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Brachialis/BBPreacherCurl.html)

There'd also be just basic bicep curls. If your really stuck you can just look around the gym and see what other people are doing for their arms. Im a member there myself and its how I started really

Dave!

Cheers man, yeah I was looking at that website yesterday and saw that, but was put off it because it says the target muscle is the brachialis, with the biceps synergizing.



Has it worked for yourself? Would hate to spend months doing that and for my biceps not to grow at all

Oisinjm

Yeah I do it along with bicep curls and concentration curls and its worked for me anyway.

You should also do some tricep exercises.

Hope it goes well man. If you really stuck I can show you some stuff or something, but Im not sure you'd want to be going around with a 16 year old

Dave!

Cheers mate

My chest and arms were still in agony yesterday, so I opted to take the day off and recuperate! Was feeling better today, but not 100%, so I went to the gym again but left the weights. Another enjoyable session Spent a good 40 minutes on the treadmill, alternating between brisk walking and jogging. Each time I've been doing more jogging and less walking, so I'll probably continue in that vein tomorrow. After the treadmill I just did 10 minutes on the bike, jayzus that takes it outa ya My thighs feel like they weigh a tonne after using that thing! I end up walking like John Wayne for a while after

Anyways, back to the weights tomorrow I reckon. Straight to the dumbells, and then see can I find that device for the preacher curls I'll give a good bit of time to the weights tomorrow, and then probably do the treadmill with as much jogging as possible.

My t-shirt was wringing wet today with sweat, so I reckon that's a good thing! I'll weigh myself tomorrow I reckon, and do so once a week from now on. I'll do a little graph of my weight then

Dave!

Had another rather good workout today! Went for the treadmill first rather than the weights, and only did 20 minutes to warm up. Then to the weights, 15 reps of the 10's , then 20 of the 5's, another 5 of the 10's, and that was it! Actually did 15 on the (much maligned) chest press, and that was me done! Pretty pussy-ass workout (weights-wise), but I made up for it by hopping back onto the treadmill and doing another half an hour, with quite alot of jogging/running.

I felt I had done quite alot, so was happy leaving. I'm gonna have to figure out a routine for the weights, cos I was really just pacing around absent-mindedly and picking up a weight or two for a few minutes Anyone able to recommend me a workout that really concentrates on the biceps? Thanks

Yapamillias

Well done on the log mate, I wouldnt target the biceps especially as they are only about 3 percent of your overall muscle mass. Best off doing one arm rows or seated rows as your biceps are secondary muscles in those exercises. Overall arm size can be increased by doing some tricep work. (better in my opinion) good luck :pac:

celestial

Yapamillias wrote: »

Well done on the log mate, I wouldnt target the biceps especially as they are only about 3 percent of your overall muscle mass. Best off doing one arm rows or seated rows as your biceps are secondary muscles in those exercises. Overall arm size can be increased by doing some tricep work. (better in my opinion) good luck :pac:

I would disagree - it makes no sense to omit a muscle group for direct training even if it is just a small one. You don't get the same results from a synergist effect. Also, it's not as if it takes long to do a few sets of bicep curls during a workout - 8, 10 minutes maybe is all it takes - plus you don't need recovery time like with the bigger moves.

Yapamillias

I wasnt saying to neglect them just for overall arm size direct tricep work will give the appearance of bigger arms. Its just a misconception that arms = biceps. The last poster was correct, no harm in a few sets of concentration curls but its only a smaller muscle mass so i would do more tricep work.

Dave!

Cheers guys, food for thought

Dave!

Well I've been going most days since I've joined (missed 2), and I'm still concentrating on the cardio for the most part. Today I was a whole hour on the treadmill ! Still mixing it up betwen walking and jogging: I might walk slowly for 2 minutes, then up the speed for 5/6 minutes and then jog for 2/3 minutes, and then repeat that. I also increased the incline somewhat today.

Got a bit of embarressing, and loud (but well intentioned), advice from this huge American chap who noticed my mate and I struggling on the bench "It's alright to just lift the bar if you're starting out........" So we're sticking to the chest press machine and the dumbbells for the time being!

I still haven't developed a routine as such, but I'm struggling more than I thought I would with the weights! On the chest press today I could only manage 2 sets of 10 @ 35kg, but that was after the cardio so perhaps I would just knackered. On Thursday I was doing the dumbbells, think I was on either 10kg or 12.5kg, did 15 reps then 10 then 5 (break between them all). Does this sound alright? I'm thinking it'd be a good idea to start doing situps and pressups regularly too.


Also can anybody tell me would it be worthwhile getting some protein supplements? I know you'd have to be hitting the weights regularly to get any benefit out of it, but most people seem to use it so I figure there must be something good in it What's the best plan for using it?

bigstar

not bad advice starting with the bar tbh. your better off starting off light and building up than starting too heavy and struggling to add weight to the bar. if you add 2.5-5kg every week youll see results quick enough.

id say dont worry too much about the biceps, bigger triceps equals bigger arms too, if you focus more on a balanced workout doing back and chest, triceps and biceps etc you get more benefit and less problems in the long run.

id stay away from the protein shakes too, your better off getting protein from food if your not already.

get a PT to give you a program or look up some of the posts here, a basic full body workout should do you well enough.