Aragorn made some very good points. I too thought that your routine was a bit advanced, but OK as long as your form is good. I would bump the reps a little higher for at least the first few months until your joints and ligaments have a chance to acclimate to the new stresses you’re putting upon them. At 21 years old you can get away with pushing the limits a bit though. Let your body be your guide.
I’m glad I asked for your diet. You REALLY need more lean protein and vegetables and to break up your meals into 6 smaller ones. Keep in mind one of those will be a workout shake and one will be a bedtime snack so it’s not that big of a scheduling issue. BTW, what the hell is a “sarnie”?
If you can’t get signed up for a gym, do your swimming but add in bodyweight exercises right now as well. Make do with what you have and be creative. Curl soup cans, do bodyweight squats, burpies, push-up, sit-ups, etc. You’ll thank yourself when you finally get in a gym and have some strength/endurance built up already.
[quote]laura-lightning wrote:
Well, because of all the stupid January starters I have to wait a week before I can even have an induction at my local gym. Will be swimming until then to try to get a overall ‘warm up’.[/quote]
You don’t have to wait. Start doing push ups, situps, squats, burpees, etc at home. You don’t need a gym to get started.
Thanks for the additional advice.
I was pointed to this workout as a starter by Alwyn Cosgrove and Lou Schuler.
Workout 1
A. Squat, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
B1. Static Lunge, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
B2. 1 Arm Elbow Out Row, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
C1. Push ups, 2 sets 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
C2. Swiss Ball crunches, 2 sets 20 reps, 60 seconds rest
Workout 2
A. Deadlift, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
B1. Step-up, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
B2. 1 Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
C1. Close Grip Lat Pulldown, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
C2. Reverse Crunch, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
As for my diet you are right, the more I see what I eat the more I see where I am going wrong. Will be making a food diary in the future to make sure I am eating correctly. I feel like I have the basics, I hate white bread, white pasta, white rice etc, so have no problem with whole grains. Currently searching for some complete meal ideas to make sure I get it all in.
Very good advice so far. Jen Heath wrote some excellent articles awhile back for beginner women. Those would also be great things for you to check out. They should be in the archives of this site and MWA too.
[quote]laura-lightning wrote:
Thanks for the additional advice.
I was pointed to this workout as a starter by Alwyn Cosgrove and Lou Schuler.
Workout 1
A. Squat, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
B1. Static Lunge, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
B2. 1 Arm Elbow Out Row, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
C1. Push ups, 2 sets 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
C2. Swiss Ball crunches, 2 sets 20 reps, 60 seconds rest
Workout 2
A. Deadlift, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
B1. Step-up, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
B2. 1 Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
C1. Close Grip Lat Pulldown, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
C2. Reverse Crunch, 2 sets of 15 reps, 60 seconds rest
[/quote]
Now that’s more like it!
An important factor in that workout is that I’m fairly sure you’ll actually enjoy doing it. The more you enjoy it the more likely you are to go back time and again!
So do you still have to do the induction at your gym or can you get in there and start working out?
If you need the exercises explaining by a PT at the gym, stick to your guns and don’t let them talk you into something else. I suspect you are not really the sort of girl to allow that to happen.
I like the Cosgrove routine you chose a lot. Very basic, but hits all the movements you need. It is similar to the idea of supplements, no need to take everything right away. Take the basics and then add in the extras when progress might be slowed a bit. Good luck to you, I think you might have some real potential as others have noted. Your transformation should be impressive.
I’m really glad you’re taking the advise to do the bodyweight exercises. You will be happy when you start training. Great call on swimming-that’s a hard workout when you push yourself. Also, good call on the food diary! That’s a #1 mistake of many people. You’ve already got several good habits, so you’re on your way already.
I second Renton’s advise to not let the trainer’s try to put you on something different. You know what needs to be done.
http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/index.php You might also like to look at some of these things-good site designed for female lifters-, but looks like you have got a good foundation of what to do
Hey man, I’ve never known you to wimp out of posting something
Since you’re considering swimming, a very good friend of mine put me on to a little interval type swimming thing she does. She tones it down because she’s recovering from ME, but it should still work to get you used to interval training type stuff, and it’s more exciting than just doing length after length.
Basically, do two lengths breaststroke, then do one length of hell for leather bust your arse front crawl, then repeat. The idea is to use the two lengths of breaststroke to get your breath back, and the crawl to really make your body work. Simple, but effective
