Good lifting plan?

[Damaramu 0]

Alright yo. I know we had a thread about this a long time ago but I don't want to dig.

Basically I've been jogging and doing cardio since the summer. I'm losing weight at a nice pace. I still have somewhat of a beer gut but I've lost the weight in my arms, legs, and face.

The only problem is that all that has lost but no muscle has been built and my stomach still remains bigger which makes me look like a damn potato with tooth picks sticking out.

So I was wondering if anyone had a good lifting plan?

I've also been practicing Judo lately so basically what I want to do is get just slightly bigger but mainly tone up and get stronger.

What's a good lifting plan? I look online and I just can't find one that suits me or hell I can't find one at all.

What does anyone that lifts weights here recommend? Oh and by the way I'd probably only be able to do this about 3 times a week.

[Failed Bridge 0]

lifting isn't going to get rid of your beer gut. Limit your carb intake and do crunches.

[Dangerous A 0]

I'd start out simple at first. You don't want to fall into the trap of burning out after only a few weight workouts. Also, don't go for total heavyweights either. Wait about a month or so.

 

I'd start out simple..

 

Chest

Flat bench dumbell presses, 2 sets, 12-15 reps

Incline Dumbell presses, 2 sets, 12-15 reps

 

Back

Lat Pulldowns, 2 sets, 12-15 reps

chinups or assisted chinups, 2 sets, 10-12 reps

 

Triceps

Dumbell kickbacks, 2 sets, 10-12 reps

skull crushers, 2 sets, 12-14 reps

 

Biceps

Alternating dumbell curls, 2 sets, 12-15 reps

preacher curls, 2 sets, 10-12 reps

 

Shoulders

Arnold presses, 2 sets, 10-12 reps

Shoulder machine preses, 2 sets, 10-12 reps

 

Legs

Squats, 2 sets, 10-12 reps

calf raises, 2 sets, 10-12 reps

 

Since you are still doing jogging and cardio, you don't have to hit the legs so much and you won't get worn down so bad. I would do 2 body parts a day on the 3 days you plan on lifting. I'd do this for about a month. As you get comfortable, you can increase sets, reps, and weight. This is what I'd recommend for a beginner.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Don't listen to FFMS.

 

Lifting is an excellent way to amp up your metabolism and decrease body fat. Keep up your cardio, though, that's #1.

 

I think as long as you do 3 sets of 6-12 reps and try to stick to major lifts like bench presses, squats, dead lifts, military press, wide-grip pullups, etc. then you're good to go.

[Angle-plex 0]

2 or 3 sets of 10-12 reps isn't going to do that much. Is Dama trying to just cut or keep the mass and turn it into muscle?

[Failed Bridge 0]

Don't listen to FFMS.

 

Lifting is an excellent way to amp up your metabolism and decrease body fat.  Keep up your cardio, though, that's #1.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It really isn't. I use to go to the gym for 2hrs everyday. In those two hours I would swim laps for 30min, run on the treadmill for an hour, and then lift for 30min. I wasn't losing much weight at all and instead was watching the fat on my stomach firm up. I'm not saying lifting is a bad thing but to expect your stomach to decrease when working your arms and legs constantly is ridiculous. I found this out via talking to the doctor and doing what I'm doing now. If you wanna see your stomach go down then limit your carb intake and do crunches.

 

I was placed on the Atkins diet and started Monday. Since then I've lost about 9lbs (I couldn't believe it either at first. Everytime I stepped on the scale I noticed results.) and the decrease in my stomach is starting to be noticable.

 

Eat alot of fish, eggs, and poultry while staying away from bread. A 6oz glass of V8 everyday is very helpful too. Stay away from breads, fruit and other foods high in carbs. Basically they have me eating no more than 20g of Carbs a day. You also need to eat at least every 6hrs your awake. Don't go more than 6hrs without eating. Right now my day is looking like this...

 

3 eggs for breakfast (each egg is 1 carb) with a bit of pepper

Lunch in a little bit will be a bowl of tuna (with mayonaisse mixed in of course) 0 Carbs total there

Dinner tonight will hopefully be a couple of hot italian sausages with mustard (also 0 carbs) and a salad with light dressing (around 5 carbs)

Before bed I'll have 6oz of V8 which will be around 7 Carbs.

 

you also have to drink a ton of water. About 8 8oz glasses everyday. I drink Spring Water and Fruit20 (0 carbs) for that.

[eiker_ir 0]

www.bodybuilding.com

forum.bodybuilding.com

 

go there man, it's the best place for this stuff.

Ask on the forums they'll help you greatly.

[Guest Leelee]

That's great, now tell Kim to go on the diet too.

[Failed Bridge 0]

That's great, now tell Kim to go on the diet too.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

No, she doesn't even need to. Kim's actually very athletic and plays basketball for her school.

[Sass 0]

Dama, run bitch, run!

 

Lifting should come 2nd while eating and running should be your primary workout routine shit, Dama. Run on the sand or up a hill made out of sand 3 times a week. For 2 or 3 days, along with the 3 days of running, you should also do bench-press, squats, deadlifts, and a grip of sit-ups/crunches. You need to do all this stuff until you can't stand up straight for a week. If you don't feel sore after doing your workouts, then there's something wrong with how you're doing it all.

 

DA's dumbell routine should also be held by you as if it were the Bible. Listen to that man, Dama.

 

Eat better too.

 

Anything with Vitamin E in it should be made your new best friend too. It helps tighten up any loose skin you might have but that'll only work if you stick to doing crunches and sit-ups on a routine basis. Eat more vegetables instead of fruits. Stock up on bananas as well. Chow on down with that shit like Donkey Kong.

 

Within two months Dama, and working 5 to 6 days a week, with maybe 2 days taken off during the week, you should start to see results. By month 6, I predict you might be looking like the Hulk if you just stick to the core exercises (bench, squat, deadlift) and run, run, run as if you were running from the pigs. Stretch too. Do a stretch and hold it for 2 minutes. Yoga also wouldn't be a bad thing to take up either. Good looking girls love to do yoga and that's always a great spot to meet up with said babes.

 

Good luck Damaramadamu.

[Damaramu 0]

Yeah I was thinking about Atkins again. I did it my freshman year and I lost about 20 pounds.

I'm not sure I want to add mass. Maybe just turn the mass I have now into muscle. If I started putting on more muscle I'd look like a pro wrestler and weigh 300 pounds. I just want to get cut.

Yeah I'm going to keep my cardio up. Although school is getting crazy so it's getting hard to work out when I want to.

[Failed Bridge 0]

you can't turn fat into muscle. You can firm up the fat but in the end its not the same. Burn off the fat and then work on adding muscle. Its not going to happen over night but if you're going to do it you might as well do it the right way.

[Sass 0]

That's why I said run like a prison bitch while lifting for weight, not reps. You'll tone up and become jacked at the same time. You could be benching 3 bills or more in no time if you just keep adding 5 pounds or 10 pounds onto the bench press whenever you lift.

 

Personally, I'm not a fan of the Atkins diet. It seems redundant to me. Growing up, back when I was totally out of shape, I just started to eat more veggies and stocked up on protein shakes. Ignore the candy bars as well. Most of them are made out of goat horns and ears. Yes, I shit you not.

 

PM Brian and bother him into checking out this thread. If you want to know how to really eat healthy, he's your man.

[Failed Bridge 0]

Veggies aren't too high in carbs (tomatos and potatos are the exception) and I would imagine Protein Shakes aren't either. So that's just basically the Sasstkins diet.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Eat more fish also.

[Damaramu 0]

Well I cut pop completely out of my diet and I have a liter bottle of water that I carry around with me and fill up all day. So I get about 5-6 liters of water each day.

I suppose you're going to tell me to quit drinking beer also. I only drink beer like once a week though.

This is all good advice. I think I will up my cardio like Sass is saying. I love that elyptical machine at the gym. My running has pretty much been a 3 mile straight shot on pavement so it hasn't had that much resistance.

Isn't it harder to get fat again if you replac the fat with muscle than if you just became a bean pole?

[Dangerous A 0]

Boneless, skinless, marinated chicken breasts are the way to go. Get a Foreman grill if you don't already have one. Takes 5 minutes to heat up and 7 minutes to thoroughly grill a decent sized chicken breast. Also, try to eat leaner cuts of beef. Just a personal preference, but Turkey Burgers aren't as bad as they sound and they have a lot less fat to them.

 

Protein shakes and bars are ok, but if you can get real food, get it.

[Sass 0]

Give me your ear Dama...

 

Do not run on cement or concrete. Do not run on a tread mill machine either. Sidewalks and tread mills will help you feel like the Dynamite Kid when you reach your middle aged years since you have *no* cushion coming off that hard shit. Run on grass, sand or an all-weather track at some local school or whatever has one. Walk on treadmills instead of running like a convict on them. In the long, long run, you'll gain nothing but bad knees that ache all the time. Hell, you could even wind up getting the knee replaced if you're not lucky...

 

I don't drink but, yeah, beer shouldn't set you back on your workouts. You can easily piss and run that shit out of your body the next day. Just lay off doing any keg stands on a regular basis or whatever.

 

Isn't it harder to get fat again if you replac the fat with muscle than if you just became a bean pole?

 

It depends on the person, so yes and no. This sort of shit will always vary with folks so the only way you can know for sure is to test this out yourself.

[Failed Bridge 0]

there are no carbs in Whiskey and Vodka so drink up

[Guest ABOBO]

Bench Alf.

[Guest Leelee]

That's great, now tell Kim to go on the diet too.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

No, she doesn't even need to. Kim's actually very athletic and plays basketball for her school.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Do the refs call her for traveling when she stuffs the basketball under her shirt.

[Failed Bridge 0]

That was an awful attempt at an insult. I see you didn't stay cheerful and peppy for too long.

 

Anyways, I've lost 11lbs now on the Atkins thing. I advise you go back on that Dama as its doing wonders for me.

[Guest Brian]

You're probably, like me, too big of a dude to be running on cement. Shit eats away at your knees. You're better off switching to a crosstrainer or bike, or just walking the same amount of distance. The pounding on you knee just crunches at the tissue, and if you hollow out the area around your knee, plus the stress on your ligaments and meniscus. You end up going bone on bone, which is similar to what happen with vertabrae in the neck IIRC. Most good sports doctors speciallizing in knees, podiatry, etc. say that if you don't look like a marathon runner, don't run like one.

 

Atkins is generally being considered a short-term diet affect right now. The basic idea is that by starving your body of sugars starches, and other forms of carbs, your body will naturally start chomping away at the fat sources. Mostly, it's not a sustainable diet. Strictly from an anthropological background (my minor as an undergrad), it's completely unnatural. Most studies find that long-term, fad diets tend to have a much lesser effect than actual lifestyle changes in your eating habits. Smaller meals, spread out two-three hours apart (I'd recommend closer to a gallon of water a day rather than 64 oz.), tend to maximize metabolism. Limiting, but not eliminating carbs (especially any processed or refined sugars).

 

I'll be back on later with lifting and more info on dieting and such. I've been working in physical therapy lately (well, since the start of the summer), and that coupled with what I do in the summer and all the reading has given me a totally new perspective on how to handle dieting, exercising; and I'll try to share what insight I've discovered.

[Guest Leelee]

That was an awful attempt at an insult. I see you didn't stay cheerful and peppy for too long.

 

Anyways, I've lost 11lbs now on the Atkins thing. I advise you go back on that Dama as its doing wonders for me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

No, I just feel bad that you're the only person I was never really catty with.

 

You know your girl is cute.

[Gert T 0]

Dama, consistency is a huge key, you have to be mentally tough. Lifting late or running late evening if you don't want to, then when you start seeing the success in the mirror, it will be easier to continue on. And yes, I still haven't run yet tonight and don't want to.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Don't listen to FFMS.

 

Lifting is an excellent way to amp up your metabolism and decrease body fat.  Keep up your cardio, though, that's #1.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It really isn't.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Whatever. You can listen to some guy on the Atkins diet or someone who is actually in shape.

 

I am a runner, but that works for me because of my lithe build. Like Brian and Sass said, though, a lower impact form of cardio is probably better for most.

 

A combination of cardio & weights has worked very well for me for several years now. I can run competitively in local 5Ks, bench press considerably more than what I weigh, and my body fat is very low (6-7%).

 

And fuck low carb dieting, you need carbs (clean carbs-->whole grains, veggies, fruits, etc.) if you intend to be athletic in the least.

 

If you want 6-pack abs, don't do a trillion crunches like an ass. Burn off the fat with cardio, amp up your metabolism with weights, and lay off the cheesecake. You will lose that padding across your stomach. Then you can jack up your muscles with some simple weighted crunches or other weighted abdominal exercises.

[Failed Bridge 0]

bigolsmitty ignores the fact that I'm passing along what a doctor has put me on and is showing good results. Not to mention your advise is to add more muscle where-as mine is telling him how to lose the belly.

 

I also don't believe your body fat is 6-7% unless you're sporting an ethiopian physique.

[Guest Brian]

Muscle, especially lean muscle, will help you lose weight. In fact, adding muscle is one of the best long-term ways to lose weight and fat. Muscle raises your BMR, which means your body increases the maount of carbs, fat, etc. it needs to burn to maintain it's condition.

[Failed Bridge 0]

everybody's different. All I know is I'm seeing results so I'm going to stick with this and see how it continues. Due to those results I passed along what I was doing along with what I have done in the past that hasn't worked.

[Dangerous A 0]

Brian is all over it.

 

The better condition you are in, the more you can (and should) eat.

 

You just have to be mindful of what you eat and how you excercise is all.