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Just tired of this crap, i need to start working out

alfa147x

alfa147x

Lifer
I don't know how to describe this but here it goes:
I want to look clean, have some muscles but not bulk
also want to have a nice form, just want to be able to kinda fill out the shirt that i have (adult smalls)

Iv never worked out, so i dont have a clue about what to do
any help would be great, I dont have a lot of monies to spend (Max $50ish a month)

Im 17
5 feet 11 inches
140 pounds

Once again any idea would be great
thanks
~alfa
 
Originally posted by: alfa147x

Im 17
5 feet 11 inches
140 pounds
Click to expand...

Wow, fortunately you're at a great age to start weightlifting!

I'd just start with your high school gym, find the Starting Strength (or similar IE 5x5 etc) routine and enjoy exercising!
 
Originally posted by: GenHoth
Originally posted by: alfa147x

Im 17
5 feet 11 inches
140 pounds
Click to expand...

Wow, fortunately you're at a great age to start weightlifting!

I'd just start with your high school gym, find the Starting Strength (or similar IE 5x5 etc) routine and enjoy exercising!
Click to expand...

Thanks, but a small problem our high school is really tight on who can get in to the weight room (liability?) and the fact that football seasons about to start not helping the cause
 
What I did was found a small gym in my town and joined it. It's not the best gym, but it has everything I need for SS. It only costs me $15/month and there's barely anybody that uses it.
 
I joined a gym when I was a little younger than you. It was a pretty decent place and I think membership was ~$120 for 3 months, so if you can find something like that it should be within your budget. The great thing about a gym is not only that you get access to expensive equipment, but you can watch people with more lifting experience than you and learn what exercises you prefer. If you can't find a place that you can afford the next suggestion I have is getting a set of dumbells. Dumbells are really versatile once you get the hang of them. I can't think of any muscle group that can't be exercised in some way or another with a set of dumbells and a place to sit. Combined with situps, pushups, pullups, etc. you can put together a really effective exercise regime with nothing else.

You have to think about how you're going to structure your workouts as well. Most people I know tend to alternate workouts and rest periods while targeting specific muscle groups for each workout. For instance, you might want to combine your chest and triceps (triceps are the muscles on the opposite side of your arm from your bicep) into a single workout because when you perform movements that use one of the two muscle groups the other is usually involved as well (when you do a pushup you are using your chest to pull the upper arms inward and using your triceps to unbend the arms at the elbow). The best thing you can do is read a lot on the subject. Try to know why you are doing each exercise you choose. That is, be aware of what muscle groups you are working when you do any specific exercise. This may seem self-evident, but I've known people who thought they were working their chest when they did some back exercises or vice-versa.

People here will probably try to get you on some program or another such as Starting Strength. That may work well for you or it may not. I had more luck figuring it out on my own and adding/subtracting/altering exercises as I felt the need to do so. Putting together your own program WILL help you learn the hows and whys of the various exercises even if it's not the most scientifically efficient way to go about it. That way, you'll HAVE to know what you're doing in each in order to do anything on chest/tricep day or back/bicep day or whatever your workouts focus on. That said, you should definitely look at some programs just to know what a proper workout entails. There's lots of literature on the subject in any newsstand and even more on the internet. I'm sure someone else can help you there.

Just to show you how much you can do with dumbbells...A quick google search netted me this page showing various dumbell exercises. All the major ones seem to be there plus some I'm not familiar with. Anyways, you can do a lot for cheap with dumbells as you can see. Be careful when you're trying new exercises though. Doing the wrong thing with heavy weights is an easy way to get yourself hurt, and not all sources of information are reputable.

Good luck!
 
Weights are great. They're the best. But even if you can't get to a gym, you can exercise; push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups are better than nothing.
 
1. Buy Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe.
2. Read it cover to cover.
3. Obtain a gym membership for $50/month or less.
4. Perform the exercises as instructed: A/B schedule of squat, bench, deadlift, OH press, power cleans, 3 times per week on non consecutive days, with 3 sets of 5 reps per exercise.
5. Use either thedailyplate.com or fitday.com to track your diet and activites. Eat ~500 calories more per day than you burn. Eat 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight.
6. Watch lean muscle grow on your body.
 
Originally posted by: brikis98
1. Buy Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe.
2. Read it cover to cover.
3. Obtain a gym membership for $50/month or less.
4. Perform the exercises as instructed: A/B schedule of squat, bench, deadlift, OH press, power cleans, 3 times per week on non consecutive days, with 3 sets of 5 reps per exercise.
5. Use either thedailyplate.com or fitday.com to track your diet and activites. Eat ~500 calories more per day than you burn. Eat 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight.
6. Watch lean muscle grow on your body.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:
 
Originally posted by: brikis98
1. Buy Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe.
2. Read it cover to cover.
3. Obtain a gym membership for $50/month or less.
4. Perform the exercises as instructed: A/B schedule of squat, bench, deadlift, OH press, power cleans, 3 times per week on non consecutive days, with 3 sets of 5 reps per exercise.
5. Use either thedailyplate.com or fitday.com to track your diet and activites. Eat ~500 calories more per day than you burn. Eat 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight.
6. Watch lean muscle grow on your body.
Click to expand...

*watches*

*watches*

I DON'T SEE ANYTHING HAPPENING
 
Yeah, get on something like starting strength and then eat a lot (and track calories). Don't worry at all about supplements for a while.

And as others have said, 17 is a great time to start lifting. I didn't start until I was 24 and wish that I had started earlier.
 
I'm going to tell you something I wish someone would have told me a long time ago. It's really simple. Are you ready?

You don't need a gym to get in shape. Get $50 or so and go to Walmart or a sporting goods store. Buy some dumbbells. I bought 2 cheap sets that came in a black plastic case for $35 with 20lbs on each set...then bumped up the weights until I was lifting 40lbs on each hand. You can get the metal ones if you'd rather have the solid weights.

After you buy them, put them somewhere you will use them. I've been using mine the last 3-4 months doing curls and laying on my leather ottoman and using it as a weight bench for bench presses and shoulder lifts. You don't need a lot of weight....10-20lbs is enough for most people. Just do tons of reps and firm up. You can start light and with fewer reps.

A friend of mine suggested a few years ago that you can do 50 pushups/situps/pullups and run a couple of miles every other day and you'll get in great shape. When things feel comfortable, increase the pushups/situps/pullups to 60, then 70, etc...feel free to break the sets up once you get to a larger number...so do 2 sets or 3 sets to accomplish the number you want to reach.


I've started doing 4-5 sets of 30 pushups. I noticed a huge improvement in the number of pushups I could do after doing curls. If you do a set of curls to get your muscles warmed up, the pushups will be a lot easier. I'll do about 150 reps of curls 3 days a week @ 40lbs. I walk/jog 3-5 miles 4 days a week and walk the other days of the week with my dog around 3 miles. I've bought some 3lb hand weights that I wear when I run and walk. It makes a huge difference when climbing hills and upper body when you have weights on a run. Similar to these: http://www.comparestoreprices..../reebok-hand-irons.jpg

Just be aware that running with weights isn't a good idea if you have a history of back problems. I have to pace myself when I run with mine because my back gets tired much quicker.

I plan on getting some ankle weights eventually. Once you start working out with weights, you'll feel like you're not getting a workout without them.


 
Lots of good info in this thread for you, OP. I'll expound on something I haven't seen much of though -- eating. At nearly 6' tall and 140 lb., you're pretty skinny. This means you don't eat enough. All skinny guys think they eat like horses (you probably think you do), but none actually do. No amount of weight training or other exercise will cause you to put on weight if you're not eating enough calories to support it. Of course, those calories need to be healthy ones; eating 5 big macs a day will make you fat no matter how much you exercise.

The necessity of eating tons of bland, nutritious food is what keeps most guys from being muscular. It's not an aversion to weight lifting or an affinity for unhealthy foods. Stock up on rice, tuna, chicken and protein powder.
 
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