I am new to this forum, and somewhat new to fitness in general. I'm 6'4" and in April I weighed 345. Today, while still being 6'4", I am down to 295. The two things I have done to get this far are watching what I eat and exercising. I know, pretty revolutionary.

So now, after achieving a moderate level of fitness, I find it harder to lose weight. I don't do any weight training, but now I think I have to start. If I invest in a home gym, will I continue to lose weight? Is there a routine that helps build up upper body but not bulk up? I am considering the Inspire M2, so it is a lot of money. I want to be sure there will be a payoff. I would really appreciate any feedback.

Thanks,
Bill

Welcome Bill, we're glad you joined. :)

I am new to this forum, and somewhat new to fitness in general. I'm 6'4" and in April I weighed 345. Today, while still being 6'4", I am down to 295.
That's pretty great progress! Congrats!

The two things I have done to get this far are watching what I eat and exercising. I know, pretty revolutionary.
:lol:

So now, after achieving a moderate level of fitness, I find it harder to lose weight. I don't do any weight training, but now I think I have to start. If I invest in a home gym, will I continue to lose weight? Is there a routine that helps build up upper body but not bulk up? I am considering the Inspire M2, so it is a lot of money. I want to be sure there will be a payoff. I would really appreciate any feedback.

Thanks,
Bill
I think weightlifting will certainly help. How do you build but not bulk up? Pretty easy: lift heavy and intense, but set up your diet so that it's geared towards fat loss. Some cardio work may be useful as well, which I guess you're already doing now.

Check out the weightlifting sticky threads on this website, they may provide some help. Also look at some of the logs people are doing here as that might give you some good ideas.

For now, I'd keep things pretty simple. I like "upper lower splits," which just means you train the upper body on one day and the lower body on another day. But there are lots of great weightlifting routines out there to choose from to get you started. Speaking of lower body, I noticed you mentioned upper body and I just want to remind you to lift weights for the lower body as well. This will be important. :)

So check out those threads and let us know what we can do to help. :)

:gl:

The only problem I find with most home gym rigs that come with a selectorized weight stack is the weight stack itself.

Most of them don't go over 210lbs....and the 210lb stack is an option on many.

It won't be long before you outgrow that.

I would be more inclined to go with a Smith/Freeweight Combo machine.
Most come with Pec Deck and Hi/Low pulleys.

Or.....a multi-press rack

Or...a powercage.

Bowflex has a 410lb. option.....if you're happy with the way a Bowflex works.

Hell,you're 6'4" and 295lbs......You could probably benchpress the entire Inspire M2,cables 'n all.

Changing plates on other rigs does slow the routine down a bit....but for a guy as big as you, it might be worth it.

Thanks for the responses. You have a great site here, and I will look around it for more info.

When I was working out at home, I found the best investment was a solid bench, squat rack, olympic dumbbell handles and olympic weight set. With those pieces of equipment, I made alot of progress. You will get to a point where you want more variety, so before you go out an buy anything you have to ask yourself if A) you will have the room to expand your home gym B) you will want to invest the money in more equipment. Personally, I came to a point where I ran out of space, and did not relish the idea of having to move all that equipment when I bought my new home. So I sold it and joined the gym. The nice thing about the gym for me, is that there is tons of variety and its an excuse to get out of house and let off some steam.

Best of luck!

I am considering the Inspire M2, so it is a lot of money.


Hi Bill. Congrats on the progress first off!

I googled the inspire, and the home page focuses mostly on color selection. For me, this is non starter ;-)

I have JS's first setup, the powertech cage, though I have a stand-alone lat tower. I personally think a cage with a nice set of olympic weights is the way to go. This lets you do all the big compounds relatively safely.

As Hevymetal points out, you're a big dude. You likely have pretty decent strength and will outgrow a "home gym" the links of the one you mention in short order.

As for is it worth it, I say hell ya ;-) I love my home gym and use it regularly. I can do just about any exercise without risk of death, and thus have maximum flexibility. As a tool to help you carry on your progress, I think you'd be well served with good equipment (assuming you've made the gym vs home decision already)

Best,

Pete