Hey, just joined the forum after a bit of a browse round. Seems like just the place to seek advice on my new found enthusiasm for a healthier lifestyle.
A bit about me. I'm almost 34, 6 feet 2 and about 216lbs (it aint all muscle). I used to play a reasonable amount of sport, football, squash, badminton and golf and have also been a member of gyms in the past although my usage has been short lived. However, over the past 5 or 6 years I have become extremely lazy and my activities have all but died off. The only excersise I get now is the odd game of golf.
Diet wise, well that's not great either. We try and eat reasonably healthily at home, although we do eat far to much processed frozen crap. Also my diet contains lots of pasta (white) and potatoes, which I have now discovered aren't as healthy as I thought!!!! The diet is getting some work. I'm increasing the fresh fruit and veg intake and reducing the bad carbs and processed junk. I've also cut out all added sugar to drinks, and no more snacking. Finally I'm paying close attention to labels and trying to up my protein intake. Hopefully the diet will start taking care of itself.
Now to the real point of my post. I have re-joined a gym and this time am absolutely determined to stick with it. I'm getting a real buz out of it so far, and am feeling good.
My goals
- lose some of the bad weight, I'm lucky as I'm a fairly big frame so although heavy I don't have a huuuuge amount of flabby loose fat (but still way more than I'd like)
- Build muscle - not bodybuilding levels of muscle, but noticeable bulk.
- Increase overall strength and fitness.
My plan to start with is to use the resistance machines mostly for about 8 weeks, to build up a base strength before moving over to using more free weights. My gym has a massive selection of machines, but only a relatively small free weight area. I've drawn up a bit of a programme as follows -
Monday -
Warm up on bike for 10-15 mins
Ab crunch machine (3 sets of 8-10)
Seated leg press (3 sets of 8-10)
Calf raises (3 sets of 8-10)
Hamstring curls (3 sets of 8-10)
Machine shoulder press (3 of 8-10)
Machine lateral raises (3 of 8-10)
Treadmill, pushing as hard as I can (currently alternating between hard run and fast walk 2 mins/2mins) total 10-15 mins.
Wednesday -
Warm up same as Monday
Cable biceps curl (3 of 8-10)
Lat Pulldowns (3 of 8-10)
Crunch machine (3 of 8-10)
Machine chest flye (3 of 8-10)
Machine chest press (3 of 8-10)
Rowing machine 10-15 minutes working as hard as I can.
Friday -
Warm up on bike as before
Crunch machine (3 of 8-10)
Cable triceps push (3 of 8-10)
Machine tricep extension (3 of 8-10)
Seated leg press (3 of 8-10)
Calf raises (3 of 8-10)
Hamstring curl (3 of 8-10)
Lat Pulldown (3 of 8-10)
Machine Seated rows (3 of 8-10)
Treadmill same as Monday.
This is based on a 3 day a week workout, but I will ocasional do extra days, with some extra cardio and probably a a single excersise on back, chest, legs, arms, shoulders - for a general work out on any extra days.
I know that freeweights are the way to go ultimately, but as an initial introduction to build up a base and get comfortable with lifting again does this sound like a reasonable programme for about the first 8 weeks or so.
Cheers for reading, sorry for going on a bit.
A bit about me. I'm almost 34, 6 feet 2 and about 216lbs (it aint all muscle). I used to play a reasonable amount of sport, football, squash, badminton and golf and have also been a member of gyms in the past although my usage has been short lived. However, over the past 5 or 6 years I have become extremely lazy and my activities have all but died off. The only excersise I get now is the odd game of golf.
Diet wise, well that's not great either. We try and eat reasonably healthily at home, although we do eat far to much processed frozen crap. Also my diet contains lots of pasta (white) and potatoes, which I have now discovered aren't as healthy as I thought!!!! The diet is getting some work. I'm increasing the fresh fruit and veg intake and reducing the bad carbs and processed junk. I've also cut out all added sugar to drinks, and no more snacking. Finally I'm paying close attention to labels and trying to up my protein intake. Hopefully the diet will start taking care of itself.
Now to the real point of my post. I have re-joined a gym and this time am absolutely determined to stick with it. I'm getting a real buz out of it so far, and am feeling good.
My goals
- lose some of the bad weight, I'm lucky as I'm a fairly big frame so although heavy I don't have a huuuuge amount of flabby loose fat (but still way more than I'd like)
- Build muscle - not bodybuilding levels of muscle, but noticeable bulk.
- Increase overall strength and fitness.
My plan to start with is to use the resistance machines mostly for about 8 weeks, to build up a base strength before moving over to using more free weights. My gym has a massive selection of machines, but only a relatively small free weight area. I've drawn up a bit of a programme as follows -
Monday -
Warm up on bike for 10-15 mins
Ab crunch machine (3 sets of 8-10)
Seated leg press (3 sets of 8-10)
Calf raises (3 sets of 8-10)
Hamstring curls (3 sets of 8-10)
Machine shoulder press (3 of 8-10)
Machine lateral raises (3 of 8-10)
Treadmill, pushing as hard as I can (currently alternating between hard run and fast walk 2 mins/2mins) total 10-15 mins.
Wednesday -
Warm up same as Monday
Cable biceps curl (3 of 8-10)
Lat Pulldowns (3 of 8-10)
Crunch machine (3 of 8-10)
Machine chest flye (3 of 8-10)
Machine chest press (3 of 8-10)
Rowing machine 10-15 minutes working as hard as I can.
Friday -
Warm up on bike as before
Crunch machine (3 of 8-10)
Cable triceps push (3 of 8-10)
Machine tricep extension (3 of 8-10)
Seated leg press (3 of 8-10)
Calf raises (3 of 8-10)
Hamstring curl (3 of 8-10)
Lat Pulldown (3 of 8-10)
Machine Seated rows (3 of 8-10)
Treadmill same as Monday.
This is based on a 3 day a week workout, but I will ocasional do extra days, with some extra cardio and probably a a single excersise on back, chest, legs, arms, shoulders - for a general work out on any extra days.
I know that freeweights are the way to go ultimately, but as an initial introduction to build up a base and get comfortable with lifting again does this sound like a reasonable programme for about the first 8 weeks or so.
Cheers for reading, sorry for going on a bit.