Thoughts on Body for Life?

snowbunnie67 · Wed, February 27th, 2008, 10:19 PM

For the last two weeks I've been somewhat following the BFL program, but I keep thinking that the program isn't good enough or needs to be tweaked. Like he says one day should be for upper body which is chest, biceps, triceps, and shoulders. But why would a beginner want to focus on biceps and triceps? Wouldn't those muscles get worked through more compound exercises? (i would give an example but none spring to mind).

I guess my question is, should I follow the BFL weights program or should I just do some research and create my own program? Or hire a personal trainer?

My goals are to get some muscle on my skinny arms and legs and to lose some fat.

Fitness level: total beginner
Height: 5'9
Weight: 135
BF: 20%?

euan · Thu, February 28th, 2008, 02:17 AM

Does the "upper body" day not include the back, or is the back worked on another day?

You are right though - compounds will work the smaller muscles. Bench Press works the triceps, and bent-over rows work the biceps.

I don't know the BFL program, but as long as it includes at least lots of squats, deadlifts, bench press, military press and bent-over rows then you'll be doing fine. Woodan created a good thread with some solid beginners routines in it - you could always give one of them a try... http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/s...ad.php?t=41602

J_W · Thu, February 28th, 2008, 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowbunnie67

For the last two weeks I've been somewhat following the BFL program, but I keep thinking that the program isn't good enough or needs to be tweaked. Like he says one day should be for upper body which is chest, biceps, triceps, and shoulders. But why would a beginner want to focus on biceps and triceps? Wouldn't those muscles get worked through more compound exercises? (i would give an example but none spring to mind).

I guess my question is, should I follow the BFL weights program or should I just do some research and create my own program? Or hire a personal trainer?

My goals are to get some muscle on my skinny arms and legs and to lose some fat.

Fitness level: total beginner
Height: 5'9
Weight: 135
BF: 20%?

I did BFL last year and I stuck to the direct arm work, which I have since dropped. My recommendation is to do what he tells you to do for 12 weeks and then tweak things. I didn't see changes until week 7 or so, so have patience

.

M@ · Thu, February 28th, 2008, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J_W

My recommendation is to do what he tells you to do for 12 weeks and then tweak things. I didn't see changes until week 7 or so, so have patience

.

BFL may need some tweaking but it's a great out-of-the-box program when you're just starting out.

guava · Thu, February 28th, 2008, 09:57 AM

I'm going to go out on a limb and disagree with everyone here.

I think you should do your own thing.

I've looked at a few different routines, and never found one that perfectly worked all of the areas in the appropriate intervals that I felt would be best for my goals. Sometimes intuitively building programs based on what feels right is the best idea.

If you do decide to hire a personal trainer, I'd be pretty careful about it, and be sure you get one who understands your goals, which may be somewhat unique, as it sounds like you know what you're talking about. I asked at my local gym about a personal trainer, and the guy looked at me, then said "You don't need one."

I'm not completely familiar with BFL, so I may be wrong, but I got the impression that it's somewhat of a beginner's program, designed for people who are overweight when they begin. That doesn't sound like it's you. If your stats are correct, you already have an athletically shaped body, and are currently trying to refine it, so you might want some more advanced moves than what it suggests.

Have you looked at Krista's site? www.stumptuous.com

J_W · Thu, February 28th, 2008, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guava

I'm not completely familiar with BFL, so I may be wrong, but I got the impression that it's somewhat of a beginner's program, designed for people who are overweight when they begin. That doesn't sound like it's you. If your stats are correct, you already have an athletically shaped body, and are currently trying to refine it, so you might want some more advanced moves than what it suggests.

BFL isn't just for overweight people, I don't think. It's for people who haven't seriously worked out before. It's pretty flexible in that you can choose from a variety of exercises and it includes HIIT cardio, which will improve your cardiovascular fitness. I didn't do the eating part of the program but designed my own diet, so I can't say whether it's any good, but I do know it's based on portion sizes instead of calories.

The danger with designing your own program as a beginner is that you might neglect a body part and wind up with imbalances. Also, you can't really evaluate a program without giving it a fair shot. I admit that while I was doing BFL I would sometimes skip the arm work if I felt too exhausted, but for the most part I did it, and it did improve the shape of my arms (though that was largely due to fat loss).

Bluestreak · Thu, February 28th, 2008, 11:28 AM

Body-For-Life is an excellent program that can be utilized by anyone regardless of your fitness status. It is marketed largely to new trainees/beginners because of its simplicity, but don't equate simplicity with being ineffectual; it is not.

Like Guava, I've never found an out-of-the-box program that suited my needs, so I've taken a host of different program and melded them to create a hybrid of all the best notions of training programs I've tried over the years. I've created a nutritional plan that fits my lifestyle, a weight training program I enjoy that is very effective, and cardio that when supported by proper nutrition, melts fat off my frame. That came of years of trying programs like BFL, Swolecat's SGX/SUP2, WS4SB's, and scads of advice from the venerable Mastover of these forums.

This knowledge and my ability to manipulate my body did not come overnight - it came over years of trying different approaches and programs, then taking the best parts of those efforts and combining them to form what is today a very effective approach for me that requires very minimal effort. When I'm fully on my game, prepping for summer and those shirtless beach days, I spend maybe 45 minutes a day in the gym, and the rest of the day I don't even think about fitness once other than to make sure I stick to my nutritional plan, which is laid out in advance each night prior.

Try BFL. It's a good place to begin to create a true feel for fitness that isn't measured on scales, in spreadsheets, or in workout logs. It teaches you to make on-the-fly decisions that you have to make every day in life... and that's something I've never seen any other fitness program provide.

-R

snowbunnie67 · Thu, February 28th, 2008, 08:23 PM

Thanks for all the feedback. I guess I will stick with the routine in the book...I do have a tendency to overanalyze and over-research this kind of stuff but I do know the important thing is to just get in the gym and do something when you're a beginner like me. Now the hard part is working through all the soreness!

snowbunnie67 · Thu, February 28th, 2008, 10:40 PM

Oh, and to the person who said they didn't see results till week 7, that is VERY encouraging. I'm on my 2nd week and I don't see any difference yet...I'm determined to stick it out though. I try to think of it as a scientific experiment on my body lol, so that helps me to avoid temptation because I really want to see what the results are...or if there even are any ...

1FastGTX · Fri, February 29th, 2008, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowbunnie67

Oh, and to the person who said they didn't see results till week 7, that is VERY encouraging. I'm on my 2nd week and I don't see any difference yet...I'm determined to stick it out though. I try to think of it as a scientific experiment on my body lol, so that helps me to avoid temptation because I really want to see what the results are...or if there even are any ...

I didn't see results on BFL until about the 8th or 9th week.

But I did see pretty good results.

I have a number of things I don't like about the program, but overall I think it's one of the better "out of the box" ones out there, and I think it's very good for beginners. I would recommend not tweaking it at all, but following it by the book for at least one - if not two - 12-week routines.

Stick with it, be very honest about your portion sizes, and train HARD; make sure those "10s" are REALLY 10s, and you should do pretty well.

snowbunnie67 · Fri, February 29th, 2008, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1FastGTX

I didn't see results on BFL until about the 8th or 9th week.

But I did see pretty good results.

I have a number of things I don't like about the program, but overall I think it's one of the better "out of the box" ones out there, and I think it's very good for beginners. I would recommend not tweaking it at all, but following it by the book for at least one - if not two - 12-week routines.

Stick with it, be very honest about your portion sizes, and train HARD; make sure those "10s" are REALLY 10s, and you should do pretty well.

Thank you for the encouragement