Working out

[RastaPope]

Any muscle-guys here? I want to start working out soon, I'm fairly lanky with a very small percentage of body fat, and would like to know my options. Which is better? Something like the bowflex? Freeweights? A gym? I just want to get hard and cut, not put on any real mass..

 

[Azwed]

You are looking for getting cut but not a large mass increase?

If you can find a gym resonably priced go there. YMCA has great rates and they offer specials on joining fees at certain times of the year.

You need to mix up a good amount of cardio with weight training. Swimming, running biking something good for a warmup that you are comfortable with then just work your way through the machine rotation.

Since you aren't looking to put a lot of mass on just stick to the nautilus type machines. They are great for people in the low to mid strength range and are much safer then free weights for beginners. Another plus is that for about 90% of them you don't need a spotter.

Start off slow and don't push yourself too hard on the machines when you first start. This is how I do just a general workout when I am not focusing on anything.

I don't always warmup but you really should I am just pressed for time a lot. A 20 or so min warmup is plenty as long as you stretch a good bit before and after. Make sure you stretch whatever muscles you are working out when lifting too.

Don't try to work out everyday because it will tire out your muscles. Do four or five days a week at the most and you will be fine. You just need to alternate which muscle groups you are working on. Some people will do chest one day then back the next and the last day arms. You can do a light to moderate leg workout all of those days or do a hard one on the fourth day. Then take a day or two off, some light cardio on these days would be good if you want, and then resume the cycle.

Some people will not do three seperate days for back, chest and arms. They instead will lump biceps in with chest and triceps in with back. Shoulder exercies are also normaly included with back exercies.

When you just start out doing that sort of thing might be bad because you might get so burned out towards the end of your workout that you can keep good form and with out good form you aren't getting much out of the exercise.


Let me see what else.

Don't be afraid to ask questions at the gym if you are not sure what muscle group a particular machine works. Most machines have a diagram that shows what group/s they are working but sometimes the diagrams don't make a lot of sense.

Always work your muscles from largest to smallest. That will help prevent burnout.

If you were doing a chest day combined with biceps then your order would be like this.

Benchpress/chest press (largest)
you may want to do additional sets of incline or decline if avaliable. This will help with muscle symetry.

Butterfly (medium)

Biceps (Smallest)
This would include various types of curls using either a machine, single or two handed curls with barbells.

 

[SINthysist]

Don't waste time on machines.

If you want one, go to Lenexa during garage sale season and pick stuff up for pennies on the dollar.

Try good old fashioned pushups, sit-ups, crunches, etc.

Gyms are generally a racket geared towards separating you from your dollars.

Try something better. Over on 40th and Broadway I think is where old hidden fist himself has a dojo. (AKKF, or something like that. I can get better info if you are interested).

Don't worry about turning your body into something that looks good. Turn it into something that works good...

 

[Azwed]

Ahh some stuff I forgot but just now remembered.

Do three sets on each machine. Probably do about 10 reps during each set. That is a good balance between endurance and mass. If you feel like you want to go more endurance reduce the weight a little and go up to 12 or so reps.

Once you can comfortably complete the number of reps you chose for all three sets then you should go up in weight. Don't go up a whole lot though. Depending on the machine 10 or so lbs will probably be all you will want to go up by.

Remember to give your muscles a little break between each set and to stretch them out between each set. The break does not have to be long just a couple of minutes to stretch the muscles out and let some of the burn fade. When I am working out by myself the brake I take is about equal to the amount of time it takes me to walk from the machine to the water fountain and back. Always drink plenty of water and not gatoratde or other sports drinks. Drink gatorade after you work out if you want to but water during the workout.

Unless you have done a good bit of lifting before you probably won't see any signifigant results for about 6 weeks. Now if you have done some lifting before even if it was years ago then you should notice a change in about half that time.

If you have any other questions or questions about free weights just ask. I have my own bench at home with three different bars and about 400 lbs of weights.

 

[Azwed]

Machines work great if you don't have a spoter handy. You don't get the same burn from the negatives as you do in free weights but the results are still good. If you are a hardcore beast then machines won't do you any good because they just don't have the weight and you don't get the bonus from the negative resistance.

For someone that is just starting out they are perfect because most of the machines force you to have good form and if you overestimate how much weight you can lift it is much harder to hurt yourself with a machine.