Help Change My Life

Training Beginners
1

First off, can I just say what a great site T-Nation is, and how helpful I have found many of the articles and posts over the past months.

Anyway, I thought now its time to register, and actually ask for some more specific help, as I really need it.

Im someone who does listen to every bit of advice I get, so will appreciate all the help I get

At the moment Im at 13s 7lbs (192pounds) and stand at 5ft8.

On the 21st of Feb I was 14st 11lbs (197.5pounds), so my weight loss has been slow but healthy. Let me just say, yes Im here to try and lose weight and get in better shape.

I got to 14st 11, as I had a VERY bad diet, I eat take aways around 4 times a week and the other days i had chips and burgers. I was working in Spain, drinking nearly everynight aswell (I was a tour guide for a holiday company)

Anyway, a few months after being back in England I wanted to change things, so I started out at the gym, and changed my diet. I still usually have 1 take away a week at most. I work very hard in the gym, and go 3 times a week at least. I do cardio and weights over a 2 hour period.

Anyway, I feel my progression is hitting a post at the moment, as I know my diet isnt good, and Im working so hard in the gym, but I have no set routine, I just go 100% on everything in the hope its helping.

My diet is very odd, I have always been a fussy eater since a child, but have started to try new things.

I know I should eat 6-8 meals a day, but I dont. This is how it goes.

Breakfast - one bowl of cereal, semi skimmed milk.

Dinner - 2/3 Chicken breasts with pasta or noodles or tortilla bread

Snack - apples/bananas/satsumas/toast/ceareal - a combination of these through the day

So Im not eating regular, and its not a good diet I know, I really need help with it!

At the gym, I go, do 10 minutes on the bike to warm up, strech, then 30 minutes on the treadmil. I then hit the weights, and do 3 sets of 10 reps on the lat machine, then 3 sets on the shoulder press, and cheast press.

I then just use whats free, and just push myself till im sweating buckets and feel like im going to break!

With this (awful?) diet, I have managed to lose weight, but I know im not eating the right things, and at the right times. I also dont have a great schedule for the gym.

What im after is a suggestion on how I can maybe just add some meals to my diet, or change whats there, and then give me some routines for the gym to follow 3/4 times a week? I also go running over the park, usually 5k twice a week, but sometimes do a 10k. Thats just a recent thing thats been happening the past 3 weeks though, but im 100% determind to keep it up.

Can anyone help change my diet, and give me a routine to go with it? I am so determind to follow it, I just need some guideline to follow. I will post pics along the way, and will keep it updated, Im just desperate for some help, as I know I have the ability and right attitude to do this I just dont have the knowledge

2

Actually you seem to realize you’re screwing up, which is an excellent thing, you don’t need anyone to tell you to eat and train, you just need to learn HOW to do it.

"Anyway, I feel my progression is hitting a post at the moment, as I know my diet isnt good, and Im working so hard in the gym, but I have no set routine, I just go 100% on everything in the hope its helping. "

Not it’s not. That’s why diets and programs were made, if we didn’t need em, they wouldn’t be there :stuck_out_tongue: I don’t know much about popular fat loss diets on this site but I’ve heard alot of good things about the V-diet. It’s got its own forum, so check it out. Same for programs, it’s always much easier (let alone efficient) to use a premade program instead of just banging your head on the pressdown station praying for fat loss, so find a solid beginner’s program and stick to it!

“I know I should eat 6-8 meals a day, but I dont.”

If you know you should, you’re just one step away from DOING IT. I think you need some motivation, think about your goals. Write them down on your fridge, tattoo them on your right hand, whatever.

To conclude, you ARE making the efforts to lose weight, but you’re not using everything that’s available for you. Go check out the V-diet, make some research.

good luck

3

read Bartl’s article on the front page. Then “just fucking do it”

4

Both the velocity diet and bartl’s physique clinic are extreme challenges and should not be attempted without a history of progress and support.

Instead, for training, do Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength
forum.dutchbodybuilding.com/f141/mark
-rippetoe-s-starting-strength-routine-63770/
For Diet, do the T-dawg 2.0

This is VERY cookie-cutter advice, but if you follow it with dedication, you will make progress.

Meanwhile, I suggest you read through the beginner’s stickies if you haven’t already. There’s a bunch of information in there to explain why things are the way they are in your program and diet, so that you can (some months later) make intelligent adjustments to continue seeing progress.

5

i love how people recommend against the cherished “velocity” diet here to practically everyone as if it’s some divine undertaking only buddhist monks are capable of doing.

6

[quote]meanest wrote:
i love how people recommend against the cherished “velocity” diet here to practically everyone as if it’s some divine undertaking only buddhist monks are capable of doing. [/quote]

It’s pretty hard… Meanwhile, having a lot of mass underneath the flab will help keep your metabolism from tanking under the very restricted calorie intake.

7

[quote]meanest wrote:
i love how people recommend against the cherished “velocity” diet here to practically everyone as if it’s some divine undertaking only buddhist monks are capable of doing. [/quote]

Do YOU have $700 to spend on supplements, only to find that halfway through you have to pull two all-nighters and absolutely die living off of 1600 kcal/day?

8

[quote]Otep wrote:
meanest wrote:
i love how people recommend against the cherished “Velocity” Diet here to practically everyone as if it’s some divine undertaking only buddhist monks are capable of doing.

Do YOU have $700 to spend on supplements, only to find that halfway through you have to pull two all-nighters and absolutely die living off of 1600 kcal/day?[/quote]

Indeed, and the fact that customs/VAT costs on supplements from the States to the UK are a small FORTUNE!!!

9

[quote]Otep wrote:
meanest wrote:
i love how people recommend against the cherished “velocity” diet here to practically everyone as if it’s some divine undertaking only buddhist monks are capable of doing.

Do YOU have $700 to spend on supplements, only to find that halfway through you have to pull two all-nighters and absolutely die living off of 1600 kcal/day?[/quote]

But even more so than that, the original poster just needs to get some things together in his own life and will likely benefit just fine from that even more so than going on the V-Diet. The V-Diet is a fine tool, but one that needs to be used judiciously and should not be the end-all, be-all for anyone needing to drop a few pounds.

Getting consistent with your training program and getting getting consistent with your diet will do a lot in this particular case. Do that for a while, see how things go and THEN re-assess.

10

Thanks for the advice so far guys, I really appreciate it.

Im going to look at the plans suggested and see what one suits me best and go for it.

11

[quote]Otep wrote:
Both the velocity diet and bartl’s physique clinic are extreme challenges and should not be attempted without a history of progress and support.

Instead, for training, do Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength
forum.dutchbodybuilding.com/f141/mark
-rippetoe-s-starting-strength-routine-63770/
For Diet, do the T-dawg 2.0

This is VERY cookie-cutter advice, but if you follow it with dedication, you will make progress.

Meanwhile, I suggest you read through the beginner’s stickies if you haven’t already. There’s a bunch of information in there to explain why things are the way they are in your program and diet, so that you can (some months later) make intelligent adjustments to continue seeing progress.
[/quote]

will you shut the fuck up about rippetoe already

a 10 min warm up on the treadmill is fine. try an incline walk and a jog for the last minute.

dont stretch, just yet.

3 x 12 on leg press, bench press, and lat pulldowns

if you got some more in the tank, add more sets to each of the exercises.

once you can bench your weight, and do at least 12 pull ups, come back and find a more advanced program.

12

and why the hell would this kid go on the Velocity Diet??? hes NOT OBESE. he just wants a basic program.

rippetoe and Velocity Diet. VERY EFFECTIVE, but not for EVERYONE you damn regurgitators

13

[quote]ZeusNathan wrote:
rippetoe and Velocity Diet. VERY EFFECTIVE, but not for EVERYONE you damn regurgitators[/quote]

Agree. These are recommended way too much. [no sarcasm]

Instead try this

http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=2175462

This is my new program to recommend to every beginner.

14

[quote]ZeusNathan wrote:
and why the hell would this kid go on the Velocity Diet??? hes NOT OBESE. he just wants a basic program.

rippetoe and Velocity Diet. VERY EFFECTIVE, but not for EVERYONE you damn regurgitators[/quote]

Yeah, V-diet is overboard for him. However, he asked for a basic program, and Rippetoe’s is certainly basic. More-over, it’s much more effective then what he is currently doing now in terms of strength gain, fat loss, and hypertrophy.

So close, yet so far. The treadmill warm-up isn’t a bad idea, and not stretching before hand is also good advice, but everyone should do dynamic warm ups before lifting. 3 x 12 isn’t a bad rep scheme for fat loss, but the exercise selection is questionable at best.

Benching your weight and 12 pull ups are great goals, but he should also be able to squat close to 1.5x weight and pull close to 2x weight on the deadlift before moving on to advanced techniques although he should probably change programs every 4-12 weeks (generalization, I know, but most people should be able to come close to that with a fairly basic training approach. For reference, here’s what a good 3x12 program might look like.

Workout A
Superset Back squats with seated rows
Military presses
Lunges
Workout B
Superset Deadlifts with bench press
Superset Split squats with either pull-downs or pull-ups
Waiter’s Bow

You could progress by adding more weight, cutting your rest time, or adding more sets. I’d still recommend Rippetoe’s for someone just starting out, it will give better strength gains, more hypertrophy, and the fat loss should be good as well. Then again there’s a reason why Rippetoe designs programs for a living, and I don’t. (Hopefully you don’t either)

15

To backpack onto what Otep said, I’ve found “Power Eating” by Kleiner to be very helpful as well as “The New Rules of Lifting” by Alwyn Cosgrove.

Rippetoe’s book has a lot of pictures on how to do the lifts correctly, as most “trainers” don’t even do them.

16

[quote]ninjaboy wrote:
ZeusNathan wrote:
and why the hell would this kid go on the Velocity Diet??? hes NOT OBESE. he just wants a basic program.

rippetoe and Velocity Diet. VERY EFFECTIVE, but not for EVERYONE you damn regurgitators

Yeah, V-diet is overboard for him. However, he asked for a basic program, and Rippetoe’s is certainly basic. More-over, it’s much more effective then what he is currently doing now in terms of strength gain, fat loss, and hypertrophy.

a 10 min warm up on the treadmill is fine. try an incline walk and a jog for the last minute.

dont stretch, just yet.

3 x 12 on leg press, bench press, and lat pulldowns

if you got some more in the tank, add more sets to each of the exercises.

once you can bench your weight, and do at least 12 pull ups, come back and find a more advanced program.

So close, yet so far. The treadmill warm-up isn’t a bad idea, and not stretching before hand is also good advice, but everyone should do dynamic warm ups before lifting. 3 x 12 isn’t a bad rep scheme for fat loss, but the exercise selection is questionable at best.

Benching your weight and 12 pull ups are great goals, but he should also be able to squat close to 1.5x weight and pull close to 2x weight on the deadlift before moving on to advanced techniques although he should probably change programs every 4-12 weeks

(generalization, I know, but most people should be able to come close to that with a fairly basic training approach. For reference, here’s what a good 3x12 program might look like.

Workout A
Superset Back squats with seated rows
Military presses
Lunges
Workout B
Superset Deadlifts with bench press
Superset Split squats with either pull-downs or pull-ups
Waiter’s Bow

You could progress by adding more weight, cutting your rest time, or adding more sets. I’d still recommend Rippetoe’s for someone just starting out, it will give better strength gains, more hypertrophy, and the fat loss should be good as well. Then again there’s a reason why Rippetoe designs programs for a living, and I don’t. (Hopefully you don’t either) [/quote]

i do, actually develop workout programs for over 20 people.

believe me when i say that i wouldn’t make him do ‘3 x 12 on leg press, bench press, and lat pulldowns’ if i was with him. only reason why i prescribed him that because its ALMOST idiot proof. you tell someone to do deadlifts over the internet, hes probably gonna do it wrong.

you do “3 x 12 on leg press, bench press, and lat pulldowns” on your own, you are going to get stronger. not by much, but you are. not only will he get stronger, he’ll get a better grasp how the exercises effect his body.

for example, for lat pulldowns, ill start him off 1 x 12. increase the weight 1 x 10 - 12 and work the pin down to the weight where he can only handle 5 - 8 reps. a couple weeks from there, probably two, he’s doing 5 x 5 or 4 x 8.
however, id still make him do 3 x 12’s on his own.

17

[quote]ZeusNathan wrote:
believe me when i say that i wouldn’t make him do ‘3 x 12 on leg press, bench press, and lat pulldowns’ if i was with him. only reason why i prescribed him that because its ALMOST idiot proof. you tell someone to do deadlifts over the internet, hes probably gonna do it wrong.

you do “3 x 12 on leg press, bench press, and lat pulldowns” on your own, you are going to get stronger. not by much, but you are. not only will he get stronger, he’ll get a better grasp how the exercises effect his body.

for example, for lat pulldowns, ill start him off 1 x 12. increase the weight 1 x 10 - 12 and work the pin down to the weight where he can only handle 5 - 8 reps. a couple weeks from there, probably two, he’s doing 5 x 5 or 4 x 8.
however, id still make him do 3 x 12’s on his own.
[/quote]

See, that makes a lot more sense. I personally give people more credit, but at least I can see where you’re coming from now. I was looking at your recommendation as a stand alone process, where as you where assuming he’d find someone to train him in the near future. Congrats on having 20 clients.

18

[quote]ZeusNathan wrote:

i do, actually develop workout programs for over 20 people.
[/quote]

Thats over 20 people who need to get their money back.

19

[quote]ZeusNathan wrote:
Believe me when i say that i wouldn’t make him do ‘3 x 12 on leg press, bench press, and lat pulldowns’ if i was with him. only reason why i prescribed him that because its ALMOST idiot proof. you tell someone to do deadlifts over the internet, hes probably gonna do it wrong.

you do “3 x 12 on leg press, bench press, and lat pulldowns” on your own, you are going to get stronger. not by much, but you are. not only will he get stronger, he’ll get a better grasp how the exercises effect his body.

for example, for lat pulldowns, ill start him off 1 x 12. increase the weight 1 x 10 - 12 and work the pin down to the weight where he can only handle 5 - 8 reps. a couple weeks from there, probably two, he’s doing 5 x 5 or 4 x 8.
however, id still make him do 3 x 12’s on his own.
[/quote]

Those are valid criticisms of recommending Rippetoes.

It’s also a valid perspective on the risk/reward of squats and deadlifts compared to leg presses.

I think people will look up the form for squats and deadlifts and work them until they get the form down. A lot of beginners post that their weights don’t go up the first few weeks on rippetoes because they’re working on form. Every time I see that, I smile a bit.

I’ll hands down admit that Rippetoes Starting Strength gets recommended a lot. On the other hand, a lot of beginners make really great progress on it. More than that, it’s a program that pretty much everyone doling out advice on the beginner’s forum can agree with so you don’t have newbies getting confused when they get links to thirty different programs.

At least, everyone except you agrees with it.

And that’s cool. It’s good to have a dissenting opinion. It’s good to buck the system and question the norms. It makes the rest of us come up with a good reason for recommending Starting Strength.

Like TheDude’s Rippetoe log.
Or Petermus’s results
Or Strongholds clients
Or Nicharron’s progress.

So yeah, there are reasons why I recommend Starting Strength.

20

There was a thread on BB.com along the lines of SS being recommended way too often. They were experiencing a similar knee jerk reaction when any beginner posted, much like we do. But it works. Works real well.