Sport Help a newbie? (Male)

Sport Fitness
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Supercoolyo

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Before I begin, I'd like to thank you for any help you can give me, I'm very desperate for help, and your patience can literally transform my life.

Ok, put simply, I'm a newbie to nutrition and working out. I'm also a newbie to body strength :( I get beaten in arm wrestles by girls... In school and other places I've lacked self-confidence due to an out of shape body which left me bad at sports and other athletic activities, and with all the other guys doing that, I turned into a loner/computer nerd. After turning into a loner, I lost even more self-confidence, and now the lack of self-confidence leaves me staying as a loner, where I don't want to be. It's even been hard to get into social situations now, it's that bad. As I've said, your patience and help can literally transform my life.

I'm 16 years old, and I'm looking to get in shape, obviously.

All I'm asking is that you read through this long post and don't give up after hearing some of the details below, but to try to work with them the best possible. I really have a torture case here, but I'll be dedicated as hell, I promise.

Now, my diet isn't great, and can't be strict either (not by my choice). I work a part time job 4-5 days a week, leaving me to have to eat a meal at work... And unfortunately I work at a place that sells fried chicken... I'll talk more on this later, but I can basically eat anything I want there. The menu with nutrition info is at .

Ok, now to describe my body... I'm 5'7", 128lbs. Very thin body build that puts on weight all wrong. I've done a bit of training on my own (pushups, crunches and calf raises mostly), and have a small bit of definition in those areas. My chest kinda sticks out a bit... Not saggy like man boobs, but not flat like they should be when they don't have muscle. They're kinda fatty which makes them poke out a little. I also have a bit of a fat layer in front of my abdomen which I'd like to get rid of, so a six pack can show after putting in the time for the exercise.

I assume that to get that fat out of there, it's not just a matter of push ups and crunches, my guess is that it would just develop muscle under the fat.

As for the diet, well, it has a lot of frozen things that are microwaveable. I have a single mom with a full time job with overtime, and so there's not really anyone around to cook wholesome food, I'm left to prepare my own food. As funny as this may sound though, she's very territorial and doesn't want me touching her stove, either... Women... :confused: So, I basically work in a high-fat food environment, and come home to a meal that can be described as "3 and a half minutes on high setting". I also am not the one who does the shopping, therefore I'm stuck with whatever my mom brings home. She buys whatever's cheap, and instead of healthy choice microwavable food, gets microwavable junk... I know you're all thinking "It's a wonder this kid is only 128 lbs..."

So what I really need is to know what nutritional details I should go for, and what to stay away from. What I mean by this is like, get lots of protein, avoid fat. But, obviously there will be some things more specific than that. Any basic things I should eat and shouldn't eat (Like I hear I should eat wheat bread instead of white, things like that), I'd like to know also. Basic nutritional information is what I need to know, including specific foods and specific nutritional values. Also, going to , what I should eat while there (at work) that will do the least harm.

As for exercising, my resources are also limited. A lot of exercises will probably have to be done in makeshift ways. I have no weights, and no money to pay for any weights or equipment. I have to save my money for a car, so I can get myself out of this predicament, as well as the others that come with the mother I've described :D Basically, my only resources are a cross-country ski machine and an ab-slide my sister bought ages ago. Basically my exercises will have to be standalone, along with cardio from the ski machine. As I've said, makeshift ways will have to be done. I've thought of using a suitcase and filling it with heavy junk to simulate a weight, or possibly the box fan we have with a handle on it... But that's all the ideas I have so far.

Basic goals:
Lose a bit of fat around my chest and abdomen.
Develop a chest
Develop a 6 pack (far off obviously)
Develop larger arms
Get more cardio endurance for sports

So, any guidance you can give is greatly appreciated. Thank you all very much.
 
1. nothing at Church's Chicken is a good food choice for a meal. NOTHING.
2. eating healthy is cheaper than buying microwave dinners. for the price of 7 typical tv dinners you could buy a pound of top round steak, and a big tub of oatmeal, and the oatmeal will last you a few weeks...the steak a couple days.
point is...healthy food is cheap because it doesn't have to be processed 42 ways before it gets boxed up and put on the shelf.
3. doesn't your school have a weight room you can use? what about after school places like YMCA or something? usually there are free after school programs you can get into, though that might interfere with work.
4. I'd start saving money from your job and purchase and adjustable dumbbell set and an adjustable bench. specifically, check Used gym stores (like 2nd Wind if you have those) as well as garage sales. people always buy weights, use em once, let em sit 5 years, then sell them for $20 in a garage sale.
 
Looking over the menu, if you HAVE to eat a meal at Church's I would recommend the following:

3 Original Tender Strips: 360 cals, 36g protein, 18g carbs, 18g fat. (no sauce, too much sugar)
1 Corn on the cob: 140 cals, 4g protein, 24g carbs, 3g fat

thats pretty much it, with a ton of water. probably not what youre used to eating but like malkore said not much there is very healthy.

as for eating healthy being cheaper i dont particularly agree with that, its easy to go out and buy tons of Ramen and mac'n'cheese etc. for waaaaaaaay cheap.

as for the workout, you're best bet is to do plyometric exercises where you use your body weight without any equipment (basically). it is a good way to build up some foundational core strength and should help you tone up a bit.

like malkore said, save up your change and hit up sites like to find some cheap exercise equipment.

GL
 
Well thanks for working with the Church's menu, knowing the least-worst thing there will be helpful for sure.

As for the eating healthy thing, I mentioned above that there's nobody to cook that healthy food, and my territorial mom won't share her kitchen... (She's a bit crazy, saving to get a car and move out)

As for the equipment thing, I talked to my mom about it and now I find out that she doesn't want me working with equipment until I'm 18... D'oh! :mad:

So, if anyone has ideas for makeshift workouts, that'd be great. As I've said I have ideas like filling a bag with heavy junk and pretending it's a weight, but that's the best I have so far. Any other ideas are welcomed very much.

Also, with that plyometrics thing suggested to me, I don't know what that is, really... But if someone could provide me with a URL to a guide or something that shows the exercises (illustrated if possible) that can be done without any equipment, it'd also be very helpful.

And again, still need basic foods to eat, basic nutrients to try to get within the food I'm stuck with, and the ones to avoid. Of course I can still read the nutritional info on the back of the frozen foods and take my pick of what's there, looking for things like protein and avoiding things like fat... But I'm sure there are more things like that to try to and not to get within the food I'm eating.

That's just about it, any ideas and help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
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search the forum with the search tool. there is plenty of info.

Write yourself a workout program and post it back here.
 
@manofkent - I searched the forums but from what I saw, not many other people have similar goals and situations... Many of the exercises were for leg strength, and some were people wanting to improve their weight lifting by using plyometrics alongside of it. I unfortunately can't do weight lifting or things with any equipment, and leg strength isn't too important to me right now.

So, here's my ideas, some of which I already started:

Monday: Abs + Chest/Triceps (Crunches and Push-ups basically)
Tuesday: Biceps + Calves - Lifting a bag of junk (already started that today) and doing calf raises.
Wednesday: Same as Monday
Thursday: Same as Tuesday
Friday: Squats + Pull Ups (there's a swingset in the back I can pull-up on... As I said, everything is makeshift).
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest (Church)

For the abs, on some days I do crunches, and others I do an ab-slide (the only equipment I have access to, never got permission from my mom to use it but do anyway). I'm sure some other exercises could mix this up though and get me better results if you have any suggestions. I've heard doing raised leg crunches can be good, but I'm a complete rookie here and don't know the benefit of raised leg vs. flat on the ground... I've also tried the bicycle exercise and felt nothing, so I'm guessing I'm doing it wrong.

Now, for the chest, I pretty much do it with my legs on my bed, hands on the floor, separated as far as possible... I heard from a friend that doing wide arm push-ups would target my chest more, and elevating my legs would give it extra resistance. I know it also targets the triceps since they're very tired afterwards and I feel them trying to heal for a couple days after. I can't do many reps of these though (about 10 a set), but the resistance/weight is great enough that I think I'll see results after a while.

For the biceps, it's a basic bicep curl with a bag of junk (haha), not much more needs to be said there.

Calf raises are pretty much textbook there too... Can't add weight though, and only have flat surfaces (no stairs, single story house), therefore I can't get the full stretch on each rep, unfortunately.

Squats, again can't add weight, but I haven't done them before really... I know the way to do it though, but I'll be developing those muscles for the firs time when I start them.

Again, pull-ups are textbook, just with my knees bent at 90 degrees so I can suspend myself in the air... I'm a bit tall for the swingset.


So, that's my routine that I'd do had I not come here for help. I do think it can use some fixing up, but I definitely need Sunday for resting. Saturday is flexible, though I don't think I could handle 6 days a week of working out (at least not immediately).

Again, any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Still looking for help on my routine if possible, if adding or removing any of those exercises is needed, or rearranging the days for maximum results, I'll be flexible.

Just need to know what to do :)

Thanks.
 
doing this you would be overtraining your shuolders as you will be using them every day.

Switch to full body. And look in the weight loss forum for rpograms related to weightloss rather than strength.

Why are your legs not important? By not training them you'll be missing out on all the fat burning effects caused by working the large muscles.
 
Well, I don't have weights so I can't really do any deadlifts, and I still worked squats and calf raises into it for leg strength, just not so frequently. I do, however, have to work my chest and triceps in the routine, and definitely can't take doing bi's, tri's, and chest all in the same day. Therefore I don't know how to avoid overtraining the shoulders without undertraining/avoiding either my biceps or my triceps/chest.

Any suggestions? =\
 
Okay well your mom situation is really odd I know, but odd as it is I do know of your situation to a degree. Here is the thing, if you really want to fix your problem like you say you do then you have to give it you all and that may be on a level most don't/won't go.

Food-Until you get your car, do what you can. Once you get your car, then all your money should go to food and a gym or ymca membership. I have a feeling you need that car to help you in this situation so I wont harp on that in a priority sense. However in the mean time if you have a choice to buy a coke at the gas station or a can of oatmeal at the store, you buy the oatmeal. If you want a new cd, you buy some eggs, chicken, and rice. Can't cook on the stove? Well get a george foreman grill and keep it in your room. Church Chicken has a microwave, use it, heat up some oatmeal. If your mom works that much, there has to be a time she isn't home. When she isn't cook up a storm and save it for later. Get creative, its your biggest help.

Diet-If you want to gain muscle, you got to eat for it. Eat alot and as clean as you can. I don't think you need to lose anymore fat I mean you are 128 and 5'7, i would say muscle is the way to go here. Go here figure out your average metabolic rate (including activity) and then add 300-500 calories. If you don't do this then working out really isn't going to do to much, infact you could get skinnier if not careful or lose what muscle you do have. So eat up my boy.

Workout-Got a backpack? Fill it up with whatever you can and do Donkey Calf raises. To light? Get your sister to hop on top. Do one legged squats, handstand pushups, if you can do those yet do regular, then one handed, then handstand. Rock out some planks, get a bag of dog food and do tricep extensions. Right now you can't to a whole lot about adding alot of muscle, but you can certainly get some strength and put on a little. Find a tree near by or a playground and do some chin ups, can't do those? Then do negative reps (the lowering part). Here is a general idea of a workout you could start with (again though with eating in a surplus)

Pushups (as you advance change up the style, do them on a ball, one arm, handstands)
Front Raises (this is a harder shoulder move, so it wont take a lot of weight when starting)
Chair Dips (if need start off with just one chair, to advance it get in the middle of two chairs)
Chin Ups (if need do negative reps)
Supermans
Weighted Lunges(hold something heavy above your head)
Single Leg squats (add weight if need, hold above head)
Jackknifes
Planks (as it gets easier add on time)

Do heavy weights, lower reps for most of these. As for just the body weight exercises stick to moderate reps and higher sets.
There is no reason you couldn't gain a decent amount of muscle with these and the right diet and proper rest. Give a day rest every other day at least. You are overtraining with you other routine and not even eating to fuel.

As soon as you can, get to a gym as it will open up your options more since you can't bring home weight. Good luck kid and if need some more help ask.
 
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