[quote name='y2kenjination']I'm about 5'10", 160 pounds (or at least I was the last time I weighed myself, which was around a month ago...hopefully I didn't gain anymore weight since then -_-).
I think the countless number of hours I've spent being inactive and reading materials for my college courses have taken a toll on my body over the years. In 2004, I was in the best shape of my life. I was around 140-145 pounds, and had 11% body fat. Now I can feel the jelly rolls on my stomach when I sit down, and my face is quite chubby. My waist size has increased from a 30 to about a 33 or 34 over the past few years. People still tell me that I'm skinny, but I'm really self conscious about my weight. The thing is, I stay away from all the fatty foods like hamburgers and pizza. I eat a lot of sandwiches, rice, meat, poultry, fruits, vegetables, yet I’m still gaining weight. Perhaps it’s all the alcohol I drink? I’m not an excessive drinker or anything; I try to limit it to about two beers a week.[/quote]
It's really not about the food itself but the calories inside the food as well as the type of food that matter. Less calories taken in versus calories used means you'll lose fat quick. For example, you can eat a hamburger but leave out the bun & lettuce & condiments since it's pretty much all protein. If you're looking to slim out, take in less calories that you put in & focus on a high protein, low carb diet for the first 3 months of exercise (which should include both weightlifting & cardio). Your body processes stuff in this order: carbohydrates, proteins & fat (w/ carbs & proteins becoming stored fat if not used. So if your carbs are low, you'll directly proceed to protein & fat burning. Your body will notice this & start to increase your metabolism in response to the energy demand. Once your body's metabolism is high (probably starting to kick it up about the 3rd week of regular exercise), you can start introducing higher amounts of carbohydrates (but still balanced w/ a still higher protein-to-carb ratio & little fat.
Now, as for the foods you eat, sandwiches = lotsa carbs, proteins & fat, rice = carbs, meat = protein (lean meat) & fat (fatty meat), poultry = (lean meat) & fat (fatty meat)... & carbs if you include the skin. If you're aware of what you eat, you can make smart decisions about the specifics of your food. Also, cut out the alcohol if you can (which I doubt if you're a normal college student), it's water all the way.
Now what I'm about to say might make some of you laugh, but what can I say? I'm weak. I've always been kind of a scrawny guy ever since I was a kid. I've never really lifted weights in my life. I finally gave weight training a try last month, and was shocked by my sheer weakness. I was even having trouble with 10 pound weights for pull ups. I could do about two sets of 10 reps before I could feel my muscles start to strain. Should I just stick with 5 pound weights? Is this even common for someone who's new to weight training, or am I just weak? I think I pushed myself too hard that day, because I completed about 3 pull up sets (I forced myself even after feeling maxed out), and did other sets focusing on the chest area (not sure what the weight training terms are). I felt tremendous pain in my chest, arms, and back area for about a week, and couldn't do much. I even had trouble lifting boxes up...needless to say, I haven't been to the gym ever since.
It really depends on your goals. Do you wanna get big or have a lean toned look? It's really simple. If it's to get big, do heavier weights w/ low reps and few sets. If it's to get toned, do lighter weights/ high reps & more sets. You shouldn't have stopped. The pain doesn't really start to dull itself until around the 3rd week so you need to man up & stick w/ it. As for the pull ups, go w/ the 10lb weights if you can handle it after your 2-set. And then stay w/ it until you can do 4 sets easily. Then add another 5lbs and start at 2 sets. Repeat until you get to 4 sets again. This
should only be done after 2 weeks but go at your own pace. It's not a goddamn race. :lol: If you can't handle 10, throttle back to 5 or even just pull up your own weight until you can do 20 straight w/o cheating (like using momentum).
I feel really discouraged to lift weights in my public fitness center because the weight training area is always surrounded by Gears of War-esque meat heads. I'm afraid I'll get laughed at.
I don’t think I have too much trouble with cardio. I can usually run about 3-4 miles on the treadmill in a 45 min span.
Trust me, the meatheads really don't give a shit about you. They're too busy focusing on what they maxed last week on da bench. If you're really still embarrassed, get a book called Never Gymless by Ross Enamait. It'll show you alternatives to going to the gym. Now you don't have an excuse. You can check out his site @
http://www.rosstraining.com. It's also got youtube vids of some of his exercise examples. Good luck.
ing HATE running but I suppose I have to do 2 20 minute intervals a day of that shit : one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I don't see how your body wouldn't learn to be prepared for that, but I'm no fitness expert.
