Hey all, I'm new here, been checking the forum it looks great, specially seeing the achievements other people have made.

I'm gonna try not to give my life-story here, just a little background :rolleyes:

I'm 19, tall and skinny (round 155 pounds, 6'35''), I've probably been lazy all my life, doing little to no work-out (started jogging but it was too boring, started wu-shu and was doing ok but had a bad knee injury...). I've never really had the motivation to work out, but after exams followed by an apendicitis operation I really looked like crap (and even more skinny). :d_frown:

I don't know what has been trigered in my mind but I have a strange (at least for me) urge to get in shape, having 3 goals in mind:

-although I'm skinny the fat I have seems happy to accumulate in my abs, bottom and upper part of my legs, I'd love to get rid of it but I'm not sure diet will help (I don't really eat that much)
-gain weight, strength and endurance building some muscle
-get rid of back problems (tall ppl out there will probably understand)

Right now I'm working out on an old MT311 (some kind of work out machine) my upper body, bout 20mins twice a day (swimming 10-15mins after the first series), cycling every 2-3days, and just started on the static bike (4mins, alternating normal pace with 30second sprints).
After 5 days I've alrdy noticed a difference (at least in my arms), I'm aware I shouldn't strain myself and try to alternate the muscles I'm working on.

Does it sound alright? Any suggestions? (specially on losing the fat - it's really demotivating, it's been there forever!)


ps: oh, this is probably important too, big time smoker for more than a year, trying to quit (1 cig in the last 6 days)

Personally I don't agree with doing lifting twice a day...especially if they're the same muscle groups both times. I've always been taught that if you don't give your muscle groups atleast 2 days to rest and repair, they'll never reach their full potential if you keep working them and breaking them down day after day.

Also, bulking tends to require an increase in the number of (good) carbs and protein you need to consume, so keep nutrition in mind.

thx for ur reply arby!

I started that way thinking it was better but it doesn't seem to be recommended anywhere... I wanted to take advantage of the month of holidays I still got left :d_tongue:

I'm trying to eat more meat too, and drink Isostar (only when I cycle tho, does anyone recomend it for other activities?).

And about swimming, it's no problem to swim everyday right?

swimming is great! it works your whole body to make you move and is without a doubt the best form of cardio! but most ppl cant really swim well so.. :d_tongue:

For an over all fitness program you might want to consider resistance training especially if you want to build some lean muscle. Alternating days for cardio to lifting is an effective routine for 4 to 6 days a week.

resistance training? sorry I'm quite new to all this, not sure what it means :/

So far I can't really say I've succeded, I've been losing a little weight (possibly fat, I hope so at least with all the excercise I'm doing), I think I ought to eat more if I want to build some muscle.

I'm also doing abs everyday, I remember reading those muscles had a fast recovery, is it true?