New To H&F Forum

[LANMAN]

Hey everyone:

Its been quite a while since I've been on Anandtech's forum's and I didn't even know we had a Health and Fitness section. That's great! :thumbsup:

Please excuse the noob question if its already posted, but for all of you trainers (or steady workout ppl) I would like to know what a good routine would be.

I've always known that its good to exercise everyday but do different body parts on different days so you don't end up hurting yourself and allowing your body to repair itself.
I used to have a steady routine many many years ago, but my schedule didn't allow to get in the gym much after that. Now I'm finding myself in the gym staring at the weights and/or machines wondering what do I do first?

Break it down by what excercise and how many reps per

Next in question is in health/foods; I mean really, if I'm going to get back into doing all of this I don't want to be eating stuff that makes me take one step backward after the day is over. Again with my work surroundings the break room is filled with huge amounts of fatty foods, (Pop Tarts, muffins, cookies, crackers, chocolate, chips, jerky etc..) its so sad that I catch myself laughing when someone comes down there and says, "I got to loose weight" and then they open up a Honey Bun. LOL!

I have no problem planning out a grocery list and getting the items I need, but again same thing goes. I get to the grocery store and there I sit in the organic isles wondering what to do.

Thanks in advance.

--LANMAN

 

[LANMAN]

I saw this thread down the line a bit; I'd still like to know certain details of what exercise everyone is doing on those days in a bit greater detail.

Other thread

--LANMAN

 

[paulxcook]

What are your goals? We would need to know your current health details, as well as what you want to accomplish by working out. Weight loss? Muscle gain? Cardiovascular endurance?

I am about 4 weeks in on my current plan, my main goal is to build muscle and gain strength. I train 3 times a week in the gym, about 45 - 1 hr each session. I'm attempting to eat 3000+ clean calories a day to help with this goal of muscle growth. The plan I'm on is good for my goals, but not for someone that wants to lose weight or improve their mile time.

 

[KoolDrew]

The plan I'm on is good for my goals, but not for someone that wants to lose weight

And how do you figure that? From the sounds of it, you're doing a 3x a week full body routine. Given the reduced energy levels an individual cutting would have, keeping lifting sessions short with emphasis on a few heavy compound lifts would be optimal. Making that sort of routine ideal for cutting. Any solid routine should consist of mainly compound movements, regardless of your goals. A bulking routine may have more isolation work (frankly, isolation work on a cut is a complete waste of energy), but as a beginner (the OP) you don't need to worry about isolation work anyway, with the exception of maybe some ab work after your squats, deadlifts, presses, and rows.

What DOES matter when it comes your goals is your diet. If you want to lose weight you obviously eat less, and the opposite is true if you are looking to gain weight.

 

[LANMAN]

I'm not overweight, (170 lbs at 5'9") but I know I could use some time to sharpen my fitness a bit. I'm in the IT world, so lets face it, most IT guys aren't slender since we sit behind the desk all the time. I' talk to many ladies out there and they just laugh at me because they say I'm not even close to being out of shape; they agree though that I'm just a average dude. I'm not fat, but I'm not someone you see on the TV commericals for the next Bow Flex either.

I've been starting light for the first few weeks of this year by stretching and running mostly. At a min I try to spend at least 20min on the treadmil running; 40 min if I don't have other things going on. (speeds differ from 5.5 to 6.7) After 40 on the tread, I stretch more and then move on to lifting.

If I had one goal, its to live healthy by eating the right foods and getting that really nice shaped body that I've always wanted. I've never really had a weight problem, especially when I was in my teens. I could eat anything and not gain a pound. Now that I'm older I still don't gain a huge amount of weight, but I can see the 'crap food' is starting to put some extra flab where I really don't want it. (stomach and neck are the most obvioius)

I want a well defined body = goal

--LANMAN

 

[paulxcook]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

The plan I'm on is good for my goals, but not for someone that wants to lose weight

And how do you figure that? From the sounds of it, you're doing a 3x a week full body routine. Given the reduced energy levels an individual cutting would have, keeping lifting sessions short with emphasis on a few heavy compound lifts would be optimal. Making that sort of routine ideal for cutting. Any solid routine should consist of mainly compound movements, regardless of your goals. A bulking routine may have more isolation work (frankly, isolation work on a cut is a complete waste of energy), but as a beginner (the OP) you don't need to worry about isolation work anyway, with the exception of maybe some ab work after your squats, deadlifts, presses, and rows.

What DOES matter when it comes your goals is your diet. If you want to lose weight you obviously eat less, and the opposite is true if you are looking to gain weight.

I was referring more to the 3000+ calories I'm attempting to take in every day (goal is 3400, I rarely make it). Unless someone is morbidly obese 3400 cals would be too much.