I'll start with a bit of history. I am 24 (soon to be 25) and I have basically never exercised in my life. Any exercise I've gotten was inadvertent (dancing, recreational sports, etc). Throughout high school my metabloism was good to me. I'm 5'11" (or a little less) and weighted 125-135 throughout HS. I'm not around 165-170 and it the weight gain is mainly in my stomach. After coming to this site (as seems to be the case with most people on the forums) I finally got the motivation to do something about it. My first goal is to lose the fat, and then work towards getting toned (something that I have never been). I started going to the gym for the first time last week. I have cut out all sodas (coming down from 5-7+ cokes a day) and I'm generally trying to eat better. I stopped eating out (Rather than eating out for lunch every day) and I try to eat fruit throughout the day (as opposed to no fruit ever).

My basic workout routine is based on advice from the guy that did my fitness assessment at the gym. I know nothing about working out, so it's all I have to go on. I start with 10-15 minutes of "warmup" on a bike or elliptical machine (the gym guy said to do a "warmup" on them, I've taken that to mean using the "fat burn" setting). I then do 15-20 minutes of cardio. After that I move to the weight machines. On alternating days I do chest/lat/biceps/triceps and squat/leg extensions/um. legs in the opposite direction :). I do 15 reps at a very moderate weight. I was told after 2 weeks to up the weight and reduce the number of reps. At the end of each day I do 4 sets of 25 curls and occasionally use one of the ab workout machines.

Is there anything wrong with this workout? Is there any major adjustment I should make for fat loss? Or changes I should make once the fat loss is at a level that I think I should move to working on muscle gain?

Thanks for any help. I am ignorant to all things workout related. :)

I'll start with a bit of history. I am 24 (soon to be 25) and I have basically never exercised in my life. Any exercise I've gotten was inadvertent (dancing, recreational sports, etc). Throughout high school my metabloism was good to me. I'm 5'11" (or a little less) and weighted 125-135 throughout HS. I'm not around 165-170 and it the weight gain is mainly in my stomach. After coming to this site (as seems to be the case with most people on the forums) I finally got the motivation to do something about it. My first goal is to lose the fat, and then work towards getting toned (something that I have never been). I started going to the gym for the first time last week. I have cut out all sodas (coming down from 5-7+ cokes a day) and I'm generally trying to eat better. I stopped eating out (Rather than eating out for lunch every day) and I try to eat fruit throughout the day (as opposed to no fruit ever).

My basic workout routine is based on advice from the guy that did my fitness assessment at the gym. I know nothing about working out, so it's all I have to go on. I start with 10-15 minutes of "warmup" on a bike or elliptical machine (the gym guy said to do a "warmup" on them, I've taken that to mean using the "fat burn" setting). I then do 15-20 minutes of cardio. After that I move to the weight machines. On alternating days I do chest/lat/biceps/triceps and squat/leg extensions/um. legs in the opposite direction :). I do 15 reps at a very moderate weight. I was told after 2 weeks to up the weight and reduce the number of reps. At the end of each day I do 4 sets of 25 curls and occasionally use one of the ab workout machines.

Is there anything wrong with this workout? Is there any major adjustment I should make for fat loss? Or changes I should make once the fat loss is at a level that I think I should move to working on muscle gain?

Thanks for any help. I am ignorant to all things workout related. :)

That sounds like a good start and I would be hesitant to recommend anything else. I wouldn't change anything until about a month into your routine. I personally feel that you need to change exercises/weights/calorie intake, etc every 3-4 weeks or so to keep your body from getting used to the activity.

You haven't said if your goal is fat loss or muscle gain but that should be something to think about over the next month. I wouldn't do cardio any longer then an hour a day and only work the same muscle groups (when weight lifting) every other day (need at least 1 day of rest). A lot of people do legs and back one day and then arms and chest the next day. It all depends on how often you work out. I personally do cardio daily and weights every other day.

You are just starting a program so don't worry too much about doing everything perfect right now. They say that it takes 21 days to form a habit, so I would focus on doing what you are doing each day and look at your goals again in 4-6 weeks. Push hard to do what you are doing and you will see great results in that time.

Only other thing I can suggest is to watch your calorie and macronutrient intake. All the exercise in the world won't help if you consume 5000 calories a day.

Xtropy

That sounds like a good start and I would be hesitant to recommend anything else. I wouldn't change anything until about a month into your routine. I personally feel that you need to change exercises/weights/calorie intake, etc every 3-4 weeks or so to keep your body from getting used to the activity.

You haven't said if your goal is fat loss or muscle gain but that should be something to think about over the next month. I wouldn't do cardio any longer then an hour a day and only work the same muscle groups (when weight lifting) every other day (need at least 1 day of rest). A lot of people do legs and back one day and then arms and chest the next day. It all depends on how often you work out. I personally do cardio daily and weights every other day.

You are just starting a program so don't worry too much about doing everything perfect right now. They say that it takes 21 days to form a habit, so I would focus on doing what you are doing each day and look at your goals again in 4-6 weeks. Push hard to do what you are doing and you will see great results in that time.

Only other thing I can suggest is to watch your calorie and macronutrient intake. All the exercise in the world won't help if you consume 5000 calories a day.

Xtropy


I was just reading at www.fatlosstips.com that cardio should be done in the morning. How important is this? My workout is at night on the way home from work. The schedule I go on right now doesn't allow me to go to the gym in the morning (It opens @ 5:30AM and I leave for work @ 4:45AM). But I can adjust my schedule if it's going to be significantly more beneficial.

I am doing muscle groups on alternating days. The only thing I'm not doing that with is abs. Should I cut them down to every other day? I'm only doing a max of 20 minutes of cardio and a total of 30 minutes of aerobic activity per day.

My caloric intake is (I believe) fairly low. I don't keep track of it, but I try to 'eat well' and even before trying to get things under control I ate fairly small portions. I'm mainly trying to spread that out over more meals, and get some meals I wasn't before (such as something before noon :) )

The subject of morning cardio is always in debate. I feel that if you have time to do it in the morning, and then do your weights later in the day, then go for it. I personally don't have time to do it that way, so I do them during the same workout.

I think your workout is fine as it is currently, but after you've done those weight exercises for a month or so, I'd suggest seeking out more of an 'intermediate' weight program.

I do not know about any difference in morning training or evening, but I do know that you should not do training on an empty stomach. I have never heard that morning training should be prioritized before evenings, but I have heard the opposite. But over time you hear a lot of things :p

If your main goal or at least your first goal is to loose fat you should do cardio at low effort. Your heartbeat area should be 50% to 65% of you max heartrate. This is the best sone for fatburning and you should spend at least 20 minutes doing it to have the wanted effect. Did you know that your body burns fat after training also? :nod:

I think you are in for a could start, keep up the work and I bet you will see results over time :gl:

I do not know about any difference in morning training or evening, but I do know that you should not do training on an empty stomach.

If your main goal or at least your first goal is to loose fat you should do cardio at low effort. Your hartbeat area should be 50% to 65% of you max hartrate. This is the best sone for fatburning and you should spend at least 20 minutes doing it to have the wanted effect. Did you know that your body burns fat after training also? :nod:

See, this is a great example of some of the information that will be given constantly, yet if you do a search you will easily come up with a contradicting opinion.

A lot of people say that HIIT is so much better for blowing up fat because it boosts your metabolism for a good 24 hours after a session. Is this truly the best way? Hell, I dunno. I've found that the best way is to try as many options as you can and do what works best for you.

Hm. OK. I'll try a few things with the cardio. The problem is that it's not like I can tell in a day what works and what doesn't. I just have to try things and guess for the most part. :) But I figure anything is better than the sitting on my rump that I've been doing. :)