Getting started in strength training?

Question

I am 44 years old, and have never seriously hit the gym. As I am sure you can imagine, I have not been the poster child for any exercise equipment. At 6'2" I weighed in at 227 a month ago - now I am at 212 this morning.

I started a dedicated exercise/diet program about a month ago. High protein, low carb, low fat. My exercise has been 1 hour on the eliptical every other day, and on the alternate days 30 min cardio and some weight training.

What I want to know is a suggested site that will show me the key core exercises of strength training. I have no illusions about developing the "soloflex body" or anything like that. I just want to be in shape and improve my overall physical health and appearance.

Looking for any helpful ideas.

Answer 1

Well first off, you would want to start cross-training.

Don't focuse on a single group but rather build everything up together, that way your muscles dont deteriorate and you can give them time to refresh and rebuild while still maintaining a daily work out.



I also suggest replacing an hour on the eliptical with a 30 min intense jog/run, as fresh air and actual running seem to have far more benefit then excercise equipment (at least for me).



Get some weights at a sporting good store or join a gym.



Monday (upper body, back, chest, triceps) - Pushups, Benching, Military presses, Incline benching, decline benching, Rowing machine.



Tuesday - Run, intense, push yourself, its not a workout until you are exhausted and your body says (no stop!! and you say "shut up" and keep going)



Wednesday (abs, lower back, biceps, forearms) - Curls, hammer curls, cleans, sit ups, leans.



Thursday - Jog, less intense, but go for very long distance and endurance training



Friday - (upper body, back, chest, triceps) - Pushups, Benching, Military presses, Incline benching, decline benching, Rowing machine.



Saturday - Run

Sunday - (abs, lower back, biceps, forearms) - Curls, hammer curls, cleans, sit ups, leans.



Works great, helped me lose 60 pounds over a course of 3 months in high school.

Start with less reps, always push yourself and work your way up, when running starts to become easy and natural, run more and maybe replace your jog day with a run day or start running on workout days.



Eat High protien (light meats, chicken, fish, never fried!!) , medium carb (never white bread!) diets (dont want to lose energy!), always snack for increased metabolism and that good sugar (fruits, not like candy snacks).



Take vitamins, fish oil, creatine and muscle milk every day.

Answer 2

Mens fitness , Muscle and fitness

Books

You could hire a trainer to design you a routine and every 6 weeks have them change it for you.



Having a trainer work with you on body mechanics is crucial. There are several dvd's out too. Go to amazon. "Optimal strength training" is a good one



If you are new work muscle gorups and then allow them to rest and repair for at least 24 hours 48 is best.

Sample:

Group exercises as push pull routines are great for beg.

Day 1: Chest, shoulders, triceps, upper abs

Day 2: Legs, (isolate Quads, Hamstrings, glutes, calfs

Day 3: Back, Biceps, Concentrate on Lower Abs and Obliques

Day 4: Rest

Day 5 repeat day 1 and so on

Answer 3

To have long, lean muscle tone, despite exercising which you do, you will prefer to locate a weight which you're able to do 12-15 reps. in case you're doing 20+ reps, get heavier weight. you at the instant are not doing a lot good with that mild of weight and dropping time. you prefer to be suffering around rep variety 10 and failing 12-15.......>

Answer 4

Awesome. Thanks for sharing. You are my ideal client. : ) The person I love to help.



You ask to be shown a site that will show you the key core exercises of strength training. This means either 1). you want a site, or 2). you want to be shown the exercises.



#1). Any site or any book on earth will have some great ideas and some solid pictures or videos. For books, I recommend “The new rules of lifting”. The authors of this book have completely “figured it out”, but not in an elite way, but in an every-mans way.



Sites for lifting? Most I know are crap. Pardon my language. There are many… For your age group, the “biggest loser” sites, or “body for life” sites are great. (really, the “body for life” books are solid, solid books) But for the web sites, I’ve checked out a number of them, and they are filled with clueless askers, answered by clueless answerers who cling to concepts of pop-science and the-next-best-thing. In that, I can’t recommend anything, besides doing it all yourself, focusing on the basics, and that’s all I have to offer.



#2). The Basics. To start at the basics, we start with only one thing; the Squat. If there was one and only one lift to do from now until the end of time, it’s the squat. You may object, “it doesn’t work my biceps, it doesn’t give me a 6-pack, it doesn’t fill out my chest, I need to do more cardio”… but all of these statements would be so wrong.



The Squat will change you, primarily though changing your resting hormone levels. The Squat puts so much strain on your body, that it forces every last aspect of YOU to change. Squatting will force you to burn fat, build muscle, and change. It’s a leap of faith to understand this, but it’s not Faith at all, once you see the results. Heavy squats melt fat, build bicepts, and expand the chest… but it takes commitment and effort. (Most people are afraid of this). [all of this is done because heavy high-rep squats change resting Testosterone levels]



The next lifts are the DIP and the PULL UP. (once again, not very sexy sounding, but the results speak for themselves) Bench presses ultimately lead to shoulder injury, and bicep training leads to elbow tendonitis (to a degree), but what really just builds mass and brings out what you have (while burning fat) is heavy weight, high-rep Dips, and Pull-Ups.



And it is at this point that I stop. I won’t rant all day about these miracle lifts. Old-time strong men made these three lifts the priority of their lives and were the strongest humans on earth. Today we do garbage like balance on rubber balls, and pull cables from odd angles, or use complex machines. Nothing beats the Squat, Dip and Pull-Up. Nothing. Nothing ever will, ever. Ever.



(I could add the “dead lift” and “Clean” to this list…)



But in the end, here’s the absolute undeniable recipe for success:



1). Go to a Gym.

2). Lift heavy, natural lifts. (Squats, Deadlifts, Dips, Pull-Ups)

3). Record your weights, Sets and Repitions.

4). Try to Improve every time in the gym, if only by a single rep, or by 2.5 pounds.

5). WRITE IT ALL DOWN!

6). Sleep right, eat right, don’t drink too much.

7). Improve! (and if you follow 1-6, you WILL improve).





[and if you check out SquatRX on youtube.com, you’ll learn the wonders of the Squat]

Answer 5

strength training programs are built on, and can SOLEY consist of squats, deadlifts, over head press, and bench press. and other lifts are at best assistance (dips, pullups) and at worst a waste of time (curls)



those are the lifts that will make you stronger.



read ''starting strength'' by mark rippetoe it will put you on the right track from the first day of your training.....i wish i could go back 10 yrs and start his program from my first day in the gym.