Teach me about being training

[thecoolnessrune]

Hey everybody. I'm wanting to get into a training / conditioning routine just to keep myself healthy. I know eventually, getting results will be much harder, so I want to develop a routine now so that I can feel more comfortable with it when I notice changes. First a bit about me.

I am a biracial male (half black, half white).

I am 18 years old.

I am 6'3"

I weigh 185lbs.

I am a twin. Although we are twins, he has a skinny frame. Lets just say if he were 185lbs, he would look waaay fat, while if i were 165lbs like him I would look like a skeleton. He's 6'2".

My brother had severe asthma from an early age. He is a lot better now but now I have unfortunately developed it, leaving me in a horrible athletic state. I'm currently seeing an allergist and through the use of Advair, Allegra, and Nasonex I'm starting to control all this to be able to run more. At times I can't run but a minute before having to get a rescue inhaler so it can be really inhibiting.

I have a tummy / lovehandles that I'm not happy with. I also have a little giggle in my pecs that I would prefer wasn't there. My biggest gripe would probably be my thighs.

I have weights, that including the bar, totals 110lbs. I can always get more weight I do suppose.

I don't have a weight bench, nor do I have the money to purchase more equipment as I'm on a tight college budget and it's only getting worse.

I don't have a bike right now as it needs parts which I simply can't afford at the moment (We live on a dirt road area and its absolutely destruction on my bike gears, chain, bearings, etc.)

What I'm wanting to do is develop something that focuses on my chest, my stomach, and my thighs. I feel I can lift enough to be comfortable and I'm happy with the definition of my arms. I think my pectoral muscles could use help. I'm going to begin reshaping my diet to take in less calories.

I live in a small town, where there is no gym (Only a Curves, which as I'm sure you know only accepts women). So all my exercise has to pretty much consist of diet changes, running, and weight lifting.

Perhaps I sound stupid, but I just have no learning in this, so things like reps, deadlifts, etc. are simply foreign to me.

I want to say now that I do NOT want one of those "bowflex" bodies like on TV and baywatch. I'm not looking for definition and I most *certainly* don't want hard. I simply want this extra fat taken off my stomach and thighs, and in return, replace it with muscle. I dont.

I know things seem really all over the place here, but this is the best I can construct. I have to get back to work as my first round of tests is going on and I need to get back to studying. If you all need more information just ask. I'll try to help.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Ask your doctor about Zyrtec. It's supposed to be a lot better than Allegra. (plus it's OTC now, which is cheaper than perscription on most insurances)

All you need to get in shape are running shoes. Start with walking and work your way up as much as your breathing will allow. Take deep breaths as much as possible to help the oxygen reach your muscles. Go at your own pace and don't burn yourself out....the key to working out is to make it part of your daily life. The idea is to try to work up to a 12-14 minute run. From there, just add a little each week until your comfortable...

2, 14 minute runs are better than 1 30 minute run. This is because your body gets more out of the conditioning it has to go through as you break a sweat and try to cool down. So if you can run twice a day for shorter distance/less time....that's better, calorie-burning-wise than running twice as far.

Match that with a low-calorie/low fat diet and you will help you lose the weight. By the way, when you lose weight you cannot force the weight to come off any one particular area. DNA dictates that. So if you're heavier in one particular area, you'll have to lose more global weight to change your body composition. This is why running is more important than situps when trying to get a flatter stomach. (just an example) Situps only tone the muscles and make them stick out more.

As for muscle building/or toning particular areas faster

Start with 20 pushups a day, 20 situps a day, and 20 pullups a day. After a week, add 5 of each....another week, add 10...then 5...then 10. Try to do 50 of each a day and continue to run. Feel free to do them in sets of 10 or 20. The idea is to do them. It doesn't matter how you break it down. The best part is that these don't require a gym and they are very effective. They just require more repetitions....especially when you start losing weight.

If you have $20-40 to spend, hit Walmart and get some 20-25lb dumbells. Do some bicep curls/tricep lifts.... This will help you with your pushups and curls.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
Ask your doctor about Zyrtec. It's supposed to be a lot better than Allegra. (plus it's OTC now, which is cheaper than perscription on most insurances)

All you need to get in shape are running shoes. Start with walking and work your way up as much as your breathing will allow. Take deep breaths as much as possible to help the oxygen reach your muscles. Go at your own pace and don't burn yourself out....the key to working out is to make it part of your daily life. The idea is to try to work up to a 12-14 minute run. From there, just add a little each week until your comfortable...

2, 14 minute runs are better than 1 30 minute run. This is because your body gets more out of the conditioning it has to go through as you break a sweat and try to cool down. So if you can run twice a day for shorter distance/less time....that's better, calorie-burning-wise than running twice as far.

Match that with a low-calorie/low fat diet and you will help you lose the weight. By the way, when you lose weight you cannot force the weight to come off any one particular area. DNA dictates that. So if you're heavier in one particular area, you'll have to lose more global weight to change your body composition. This is why running is more important than situps when trying to get a flatter stomach. (just an example) Situps only tone the muscles and make them stick out more.

As for muscle building/or toning particular areas faster

Start with 20 pushups a day, 20 situps a day, and 20 pullups a day. After a week, add 5 of each....another week, add 10...then 5...then 10. Try to do 50 of each a day and continue to run. Feel free to do them in sets of 10 or 20. The idea is to do them. It doesn't matter how you break it down. The best part is that these don't require a gym and they are very effective. They just require more repetitions....especially when you start losing weight.

If you have $20-40 to spend, hit Walmart and get some 20-25lb dumbells. Do some bicep curls/tricep lifts.... This will help you with your pushups and curls.

Thank you for the excellent advice. Pushups seem to be very hard to me.. so obviously I need to work on them.. Situps, even with my large stomach, cam very easy for me.. I would hang off the side of my bed and found myself at 120 before running out of time and i didn't even feel a burn. I figured I would at least feel a fatigue in my neck if I'd been doing it wrong. As for pullups, would that not end up making my biceps larger? I'm not really sure I want that. As I said I'm not really after a "hard" look, just get rid of the bulge.

I do understand that fat can't be targeting, I remember reading that on here long ago. I do have dumbell weights and I can put 25 on them by using my four 10 lb. weights (each curl bar is weighted at 5lbs.

Thank you for your advice, and I'm eager to get started. Living in the South, if I wear enough I can run anytime and don't have to worry about slipping on ice etc., I just still have to be careful of my asthma for now. I was on Zyrtec for a little while, but it wasn't doing as much for me as my Allegra, which I'm on 180mg of that daily.

I should have time between getting home and having to help out my grandparents that I could go for a little run. See how far I can go.

EDIT: I guess I can see why people dig MP3 players so much.. I think it would really come in handy for me tomorrow.. Aw well, this is for my health after all.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

The basics are these:

Burning more calories than you consume results in a loss of weight.

Weight loss is caused by the catabolism of body tissue to supplement the calorie deficit.

All else being equal, the body likes to catabolise muscle tissue in a calorie deficit.

To prevent muscle catabolism (and thereby promote fat catabolism), you need to "convince" your body that it needs to keep the muscle. That means lifting weights.

Lifting weights will help increase the quantity of calories you burn daily. High Intensity Interval Training will help also elevate your resting metabolic rate, which means you will burn more calories per hour even when not exercising.

The bottom line: Consume less calories, lift weights, do cardio -- or even better -- High Intensity Interval Training.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
Ask your doctor about Zyrtec. It's supposed to be a lot better than Allegra. (plus it's OTC now, which is cheaper than perscription on most insurances)

Zoinks.. I just might have to try that out. I've had a cough forevor and my Army medic claimed that it was from nasal drip to the back of my throat and gave me Allegra. It's the only thing that's ever stopped my cough.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Umm.. You'll have to explain that last phrase to me.. I'm a noob to this stuff..

EDIT: The HIIT training I mean..

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

First Google result

http://www.askmen.com/sports/b...0/135_fitness_tip.html

The rest

http://www.google.com/search?s...ing&btnG=Google+Search

 

[thecoolnessrune]

HIIT sounds like a great idea although I'm not sure if it will work for me. I fear that my asthma would kick in and that my rescue inhaler wouldn't be enough to calm it. I live 28 miles from an EMS center so in such a case I'd be near genuinely screwed. Perhaps once I begin my regiment and build up my lung capacity however I will be capable of doing it.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
HIIT sounds like a great idea although I'm not sure if it will work for me. I fear that my asthma would kick in and that my rescue inhaler wouldn't be enough to calm it. I live 28 miles from an EMS center so in such a case I'd be near genuinely screwed. Perhaps once I begin my regiment and build up my lung capacity however I will be capable of doing it.

Yeah it may be something that you'd have to work up to, if your asthma will let you do it at all. I was just pointing out that it is the best method overall.

To reap some extra benefit from ordinary cardio, you could throw in a few short intervals of higher intensity. The idea is that your body responds more favorably in terms of fat-burning to changing levels of intensity as opposed to a prolonged constant intensities. That's why Scarpozzi suggested 2 14 minute runs as opposed to 1 30 minute run, for example.

 

[wheresmybacon]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
HIIT sounds like a great idea although I'm not sure if it will work for me. I fear that my asthma would kick in and that my rescue inhaler wouldn't be enough to calm it. I live 28 miles from an EMS center so in such a case I'd be near genuinely screwed. Perhaps once I begin my regiment and build up my lung capacity however I will be capable of doing it.

A few things here:

- Diet is the most important thing. The second most important thing is diet.

- I can't imagine HIIT would be good for you if your asthma is that serious. I wouldn't risk it. At least until your cardio fitness really starts to ramp up, I'd stick with more low to moderate intensity stuff. If you live in the boonies which it sounds like you might, hiking at an intensity comfortable to your breathing might be the best place to start. Run-walking even. Your body will tell you what's OK and what's not. Listen to it. If there's ever a question of you pushing it too far just talk to your doctor.

- You have specific areas you want to improve on (chest, stomach, thighs), but realize simply training those and only those areas won't produce results (i.e. "spot training"). Getting rid of the jiggle in your pecs and your love handles will come from two things: achieving lower body fat and gaining lean muscle.

- Do you have dumbells or just a bar and plates?

As I read the end of your post I'm a little unclear on what your goals are due to this paragraph:

I want to say now that I do NOT want one of those "bowflex" bodies like on TV and baywatch. I'm not looking for definition and I most *certainly* don't want hard. I simply want this extra fat taken off my stomach and thighs, and in return, replace it with muscle. I dont.

You want to replace the fat with muscle? Or you don't? Not looking for definition? I'm confused.

 

[Mail5398]

Nothing gets rid of a flabby stomach better than walking, jogging, sprinting.

 

[Slufa111]

If you really want some help, get your diet in check now then in a couple weeks ask what you want to do.


Diet makes up about 80% of how you look other 20% is the gym


It might be a good idea to see if you can use the college gym for a while. I will tell you this and i have told everyone here this too (i think).... you cant and i repeat CANT develop a nice stomach, chest, and reduce those handles without working your whole body. Say you work your chest/abs 4x a week and your getting ripped.....well how about your legs and back? You might be more prone to hurt yourself because your back is underdeveloped. SO ALL IN ALL.... WORK OUT ALL BODY PARTS!

Take pictures of yourself to stay motivated.

 

[wwswimming]

I want to say now that I do NOT want one of those "bowflex" bodies like on TV and baywatch. I'm not looking for definition and I most *certainly* don't want hard. I simply want this extra fat taken off my stomach and thighs, and in return, replace it with muscle. I dont.

that's about where i was when i was 16. i remember doing 500
sit-ups every morning. which mainly served to wear all the skin
off my butt.

i started walking around the block (we lived in the country, so
that was about a mile). then, when i got to college, swimming.

the main thing is making time for it, "it" being some activity
you enjoy enough to come back the next day.

of course, some sports (like volleyball) offer fringe benefits
that are un-available in solo sports.