Never really worked out before... questions

[00bolt]

Hey guys... Ill try and make this quick.. Im 34 years old, Id say I am in really good shape for not ever really working out in my life (well back in high school basketball I did)... now all I do is play golf and run occasionally. But no weight lifting in 15 years. Im 6'0" and 173lbs. Id say Im a thin/slim build but with a little definition (how i got that i have no idea). But I do have a small slight pouch in my belly. But not really noticable with a shirt one. I typically wear small or medium size shirts.

Anyway, I have decided to join a gym and start working out a little. To make it more fun, a buddy of mine at work who has almost idential build and background as me, has decided to join as well and we are going to make some kind of compeition out of it and work out together at lunch.

So here are my questions...

1. I know right off the bat, diet will be my struggle. I seriously eat fast food almost every meal of every day. I drink dr. pepper, etc. I basically do not watch what I eat at all. I know I will not be that guy who eats tuna and spinach every meal... but would just trying to be a little better and get grilled chicken sandwiches and water more often at least help? Or do I need to go full in?

2. I really dont want to get "big" like alot of people do. Im happy with my size for the most part.. I just want to be more toned/cut. I've always wanted a 6 pack. That would probably be my biggest goal of all. Brad Pitt in fight club kinda comes to mind of what Id like to look like if anything.

3. Would 30-40 min workout 5 days a week at lunch be enough to see some results? Again, I dont really expect to look like Brad Pitt for real, or a GQ magazine cover... but would I at least see positive noticable results? Or would I need to put in extra time at the gym in evenings/weekends?

4. lastly... anyone have a hookup or know of coupons or something to get a good deal at 24 hour fitness? I dont even know what it costs yet as I havent priced it... but thats the gym closest to our work and there is also one close to my house.


thanks again, and sorry for all the dumb newbie questions.

[00bolt]

one more thing... keeping in mind what my personal goals are of not really wanting to gain a ton of mass (maybe a little but not much)... would you reccomend I take any of those supplements? If so, what would you reccomend? I know nothing about this stuff... its completely foreign to me when I walk into GNC, everything might as well be written in Chinese.

[ELVIS]

you mean LOCKOUT not gnc.

god bless.

[Danny46]

You're lucky that you have the genetics to handle eating fast food everyday, however, in the end regardless of whether you show this via body composition, it is simply not a healthy diet. You cannot outwork a shitty diet. As you work out your performance will suffer due to poor nutrition. Now like you said youre not going to go crazy and eat tuna packs every meal but you can do small things to improve your nutrition intake. Cut the soda intake in half, dont get the extra large order of fries, keep fruit/nuts/veggies with you to snack on so that you wont eat as many nuggets and fries. If you want to look like brad pit youre going to have to seriously tweak your diet. Abs are more of a product of diet than situps. You would need to cut processed carbs out a lot.

Getting big takes time and concerted effort, dont worry about that. Dont fool yourself into doing light workouts because you "dont want to get big." On that note, I am personally not a big fan of supplements, but they do have their place. With you trying not to get big and just trying to feel better and be healthier I think you would be wasting money. The only supplement I would recommend is some kind of caffenie before your workout.

30-40 minutes a day would be perfect...that is, if you can reach a level of intensity during that workout to make it beneficial via heavy weight, speed etc. That being said, ANYTHING is better than NOTHING. You will see results if you work out only 10 minutes a day, if you are not currently doing anything.

[jakesford]

Best 24hr deal is the Costco two year membership. It works out to ~$15/mo.

^ you are really lucky that your body has been able to handle that diet at least outwardly. Don't try to change too much at one, do one thing at a time like giving up the sodas, then move on. It will suck, food/sugar is an addiction, but once you start eating clean and you go eat some fastfood you will be sick. If you want abs, its definitely all about eating clean and getting your BF% down.

[Strychnine]

Getting big takes time and concerted effort, dont worry about that. Dont fool yourself into doing light workouts because you "dont want to get big."

This, times a lot.

[samuel642000]

Abs are made in the kitchen,

That being said the best time to workout to lose that body fat is in the AM prior to eating. If that is not an option make sure whatever you do during your workout is enough to get and maintain a high(healthy) heart rate and sustain it.

It blows cutting out junk food and sodas but so far I have been doing fairly well at drinking maybe one DP a day if at all and keeping it to water the rest of the day.

Good luck man look into HIIT workouts, should be the area of work you want to focus on.

[00bolt]

well it sounds like I am going to have to concentrate more on the diet than I thought... since Im more geared toward having a 6 pack than big bulky arms/shoulders... I guess my diet is going to play a big part.

[TeeShock]

Learn your balance and proper weight lifting form. Ive been doing a lot of trigger point therapy in addition to my weight routine that has helped me emerge from this plateau. Learn where your strength is derived and get into stretching.

For your diet you should worry less about crash coursing it and focus more on adding in healthy items. Definitely cut the sodas back and fried/processed foods.

Supplements are not for everyone. I take a vitamin/veggie/fruit/amino drink with breakfast, pre workout, and protein when i need a snack and post workout. Other than that I may pop a few glutamine chewables.

A healthy body is a healthy mind. Sounds like you already have a solid foundation. You can have a 6-pack and bulky arms if you are dedicated to the lifestyle.

[Big A]

Being that size isn't a concern, and definition is, your workouts aren't near as important as your diet. As an extreme example, you could workout 2-3 hours a day and still not lose an ounce of fat, and actually get fatter if you were to be stuffing your face with french fries all day.

Since you are an ectomorph with a high metabolism, you could essentially get the definition that you want by tailoring your diet, and doing a little daily cardio. Weight training is for building muscle, which you aren't wanting to do, so that should come secondary to diet and cardio.

That said, you certainly can weight train while losing bodyfat, it just serves no purpose towards your stated goals. There are more effective ways to burn calories, so if you only have say 30 minutes a day to "workout," then that time needs to be spent doing your favorite flavor of cardio.

I would, however, recommend investing more than just the 30 minutes a day, and toss in some weights to get blood moving. My favorite rotation is 2 weeks at a given rep range, switching between targeting sets of 8, 12, and 16. If you aren't specifically trying to body build or strength train, then the muscle split doesn't really matter that much. You can do a push/pull routine (working bi's and tris together for example, then back and chest, then shoulders and lats), and then change it up to a complimentary workout, where you group muscles in a specific compound movement, such as grouping bis with back and lats, and then shoulders with tris and chest.

Since you don't have any specific muscular goals yet, it's difficult to point you in any specific direction. Just getting to the gym and watching what you eat is a good start.

[HarrisonTX]

The old 'Brad Pitt in fight club scene'. That's a great goal to have! It'll take a lot of effort. He's probably at about 5-7% BF in that scene.

If I were you I'd cut the sodas out first thing. That massive amount of sugar reduction would be noticed very quickly.

There's more than your daily recommended amount of sugar in a single 12oz can of DP.
Abs are all diet.
You should cut sugar and cardio your absolute ass off.

[00bolt]

Well Monday was Day 1 of the gym. We got measured.

Im 6'0", 179lbs, 19% body fat, 31" waist, 37.25" chest, 13" biceps

the 19% body fat was a shocker to me, because my buddy seemed more "flabby" than me, and he was only 17. You can actually kinda see the outline of abs on me, where you couldnt at all on him... But on the calipers we were pretty close on everything except I was much smaller on the hip area with an "8" vs his "12". But I am a few years older and somehow the age was a factor in them determining the BF%. I dont think getting in the 5-7% is realistic for me, but if I could get around 10, id be happy. Thats basically cutting my BF in half and Im sure if you can kinda see my abs now, they would be present then.

That being said... I found a few Fight club workouts online and have been following them. Im 2-3 days in and sore like no other!!! I havent had a soda all week and have eaten great. So if I can stick to this, I bet I can get some positive results.

[Big A]

Well Monday was Day 1 of the gym. We got measured.

Im 6'0", 179lbs, 19% body fat, 31" waist, 37.25" chest, 13" biceps

the 19% body fat was a shocker to me, because my buddy seemed more "flabby" than me, and he was only 17. You can actually kinda see the outline of abs on me, where you couldnt at all on him... But on the calipers we were pretty close on everything except I was much smaller on the hip area with an "8" vs his "12". But I am a few years older and somehow the age was a factor in them determining the BF%. I dont think getting in the 5-7% is realistic for me, but if I could get around 10, id be happy. Thats basically cutting my BF in half and Im sure if you can kinda see my abs now, they would be present then.

That being said... I found a few Fight club workouts online and have been following them. Im 2-3 days in and sore like no other!!! I havent had a soda all week and have eaten great. So if I can stick to this, I bet I can get some positive results.

Calipers are only as accurate as the person using them, and still not very. Age has nothing to do with body composition, old fat is no more or less dens than young fat.

Simple math say that you need to be at 161lbs to be at 10% without burning any lean muscle in the process, so I would target that, and adjust as you go. You may find that you do want to put on a little lean mass after all, and will have to move weight to do so.

[00bolt]

how did you come up with the 161? is there a calculator or something online for that?

[00bolt]

oh i found one online.... interesting. i cant imagine what I would look like at 161lbs. that means I have very little muscle lol. basically to be 175lbs (which is where i normally am)... i need to turn about 15lbs of fat into muscle .... yikes