Hey, I'm currently in college. I don't work out that much before I entered college. Is there any tips of how beginners should start a work out regimen? Like how to strech before working out, etc. I always pase my self carefuly. I want to make sure I'm doing it all right. My plan is to start at 5 lbs. and 1 set of 5 reps. then increase the weight, reps and pounds each week. I want to work on upper body fist then I plan to include the lower half (legs,etc) in January. A little helf and half type thing. Any tips for a beginer like me? Thanks.
Posts: 258 | Location: Cleveland,OH USA | Registered: 06-04-02
A couple things... I'm sure other people will want to weigh in on this topic too (pun intended).
Doing one set of any weight training is not a good thing. Do a minimum of three sets of no less than 10 reps. Start with a weight that you are comfortable with and work from there.
Make sure you are doing several exercises that hit all the muscle groups.
If you haven't worked with weights before, it would be very worthwhile to go to the gym at school and take a class. Trainers and teachers love to do this stuff so ask for some help and I'm sure you'll be glad you did. That way you can be sure that you are doing the exercises properly. Most colleges have free gyms for students with staff that will help you out.
As for stretching... I think most people agree that it makes little difference before a workout. It may help after a workout. I find that stretching can be a good activity all on its own and I think it might be best to stretch separately from your workout.
Posts: 3049 | Location: USA | Registered: 06-04-02
Another thing that I rembered hopefully some one will reply, but when you lift weights should you hold it for 1 sec. each rep or do it a bit quickly like 1 rep each sec. Some people "hold it" for 1 sec each time and some people lift quickly. Is fast or slow the way to go? Does it matter. Any scientfic proof behind this? Thanks.
Posts: 258 | Location: Cleveland,OH USA | Registered: 06-04-02
I could write a book on the subject. However there are thousands on the shelves of public libraries.
Decide on a routine:
Decide if you are looking for building mass (Heavy weight, low reps) Or defining/endurance training (lighter weight, higher reps) Decide if you want to do a split routine (working upper body one day, then lower body the next), or a full work out, working both upper and lower every other day.
Always start your work out with stretching and a warm up exercise: warm up can be a light weight for one set for the muscle group in question, it can be a cardio exercise before the work out – stretching is important since it limbers the muscles and helps to prevent injury.
Have a log book, my old log books contain the following columns: Date | Exercise | Weight | Reps Set 1 | Reps Set 2 | Reps set 3 | Notes
Date: The day of the work out Exercise: The name of the exercise, say “Bench Press” Weight: The weight you are using Rep Set 1 (2,3,etc) The number of reps you accomplished in that set Notes: Denoting things like how fast you tired, any pain, etc.
My Later Logs books were a little more complex with more data:
Supplements used that week, “tiredness” scale of 1-5 one being not tired, 5 being exhausted. It is important to note before and after the routine how you felt. It helps in the long run to find your “golden hour” that best suits you for work outs – Some people have more energy in the morning than the evening.
Know your limitations:
You think you can bench press 150 pounds to start, so reduce the weight to the bar to 75 pounds, push out reps to your preset rep count (say 10) gauge how you feel, if the bar felt extremely light to you on the tenth rep, then add 10 pounds, if it felt middling heavy add 5 – do this for the first week of your routines (that’s what the log book comes in handy). Let’s say you can lift 150 pounds as your max weight – this does not mean that this is your optimal weight to work out with. Ideally the weight you use should allow you to slowly push out reps (Weightlifting is not a speed sport, slow lifting works out the muscles better than fast lifting) until failure at your goal number of reps – say 10 reps. Though you may be able to press 150 pounds for a couple three reps, you may find that you need to have a weight of 80 pounds to reach failure on the tenth rep of a set.
Considering that you may not know where you fall on each exercise, it can take up to a month to find the right starting weight for all the exercises you are doing. That’s ok, it gets a bit more complicated because you are working out and will start getting stronger in that process – but you still have to find your optimal weight for each exercise.
Slow and steady wins the race: A slow count for each rep, I prefer the 2:1:2:1 count. The count is seconds, 2 seconds to lift the weight slowly to the full eight, pause for 1 second, 2 seconds to lower the weight, pause one second at the bottom of the lift. Trust me, you may be using far lower weight than you could lift, but you will feel the burn and reach failure with less mass and work more of the secondary control muscles this way.
Fast reps (pumping them out in no time at all) leads to injury and more work, with less results.
Diet: Diet is always part of an exercise routine. If you are looking to build muscle you need more protein in your diet. If you are looking for fat loss, you will need to reduce fat and sugars (processed sugars) in your diet. Ideally 20 minutes before your work out you should eat a high carb snack. Carbohydrates (carbs) are converted into sugars which are released into the blood stream slowly. Sugar is what gives us energy. If you have a snack of Carbs 20 minutes before your work out your body will be pumping more sugars through its system providing you with more energy to accomplish the task.
Proteins should be taken immediately after the work out and several hours after. The actually muscle building does not take place while you are working out – in reality you are “shredding” and breaking down the musle is what takes place during the work out. It is the 48 hours after the work out where the most muscle building takes place, the healing of the muscles cause the tissues to thicken and harden (scar tissue if you will) to make each muscle fiber stronger than before. Thus if you are doing a full body routine you would do it on say Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s – Leaving the days in between for the muscle to grow – during that time you need more proteins and trace minerals/vitamins to assist your body by providing it with the materials muscle is built from.
Ideally you should rest each muscle you work out for at least 2 days, some research suggests 3 days. The only muscle group that tends to mend faster and can technically be worked every day is the abdominal muscles.
Stretching and warming up are important, failure to do so leads to injury and can lead to a less than efficient workout. Stretching and cooling down AFTER a work out, keeping the muscle warm and the blood pumping removes the toxins that are released from “shredding” the muscles from the muscles thus reducing the stiffness and soreness you will feel the next day.
No Pan no Gain: yes there is minor pain at first, minor soreness, minor stiffness especially when you wake up the next day – however that should lessen after an hour waking up if you are moving around, for he first week or two it should be moderate soreness, after than it should be minimal to nearly unnoticeable – anything greater than that means you either are using too much weight or are doing the exercises improperly or have injured yourself. Thus I stress again to work up to your optimal weight for working each exercise.
Variety: The body quickly adapts to a single routine. It will plateau (reach a point where you can’t add more weight, or get exhausted too fast) if you do the same series of exercises day after day. I broke my yearly routine into 4 “seasons” spring and Autumn were “mass building” Summer and winter were “endurance and defining”. (Fall and spring – heavy weight, low reps| Summer/winter lighter weight high reps)
Between each season I allotted two weeks for full recuperation – no work out for two weeks. This gave the body plenty of time to fully heal, and to get fully rested. I lined up my seasons to where I had a “vacation” around the Winter holiday seasons (one less thing to do for that time of year). In the Spring I was working to build mass, but also spent some time thinking about my summer routine, reading up on different exercises, planning my routine with “new” exercises.
New Exercises is another way to add variety.
Take the Curl, you can do a bar curl, a preacher curl, single dumbbell curl, two dumbbell curl, etc. Each are technically “The Curl” targeting the Biceps, however each variation target secondary muscles in slightly different ways. A reverse curl, will target a slightly different part of the bicep than the standard curl.
Each workout should start with the biggest muscles first.
Thus a full body work out would target Thighs, back, calves, upper arms, shoulders, forearms. This descending order allows you to have more energy to push more weight for the “bigger” muscles, thus you are able to work those efficiently, while still having enough energy to work on the smaller muscles.
Plan on working the whole body. Having a great upper body supported on spindly legs is not good, looks “weird” and can lead to injury later down the road.
Go to the library and start doing some research, there are many exercises and routines out there, lots of advice and suggestions. Since no two humans are exactly alike you will spend some time finding the combinations that work best for you.
Posts: 3891 | Location: Leaving land, heading for the ocean | Registered: 06-03-02
Another thing that crossed my mind. I have until early march to work out before I'm don't w/ college and there for done with the work out room on the college campus. I'm increaseing the pounds, reps and sets every week. Do you think I'm rushing it a bit? I can't make a plan to strech it out 4 months. I don't want to over kill my self. Any suggestions?
Posts: 258 | Location: Cleveland,OH USA | Registered: 06-04-02
Originally posted by Doug: Another thing that crossed my mind. I have until early march to work out before I'm don't w/ college and there for done with the work out room on the college campus. I'm increaseing the pounds, reps and sets every week. Do you think I'm rushing it a bit? I can't make a plan to strech it out 4 months. I don't want to over kill my self. Any suggestions?
You will know if you kill yourself, you start holding your breath for a very, very long time
Seriously, if you CAN add weight and still effectively do the exercise to your optimal rep per set and complete all the sets, then you are doing well.
However, if you are cutting on the rest periods between you stand a good chance of doing some serious damage and may even loss muscle mass.
Then there is the burn out issue which most would be body builders meet.
Initially all starters see impressive gains the first 6-10 months, then things start slowing down. I would assume that you are still in that golden phase where your body is rapidly adapting to meet the challenge.
Go with it with care until your body tells you to slow down – it will, perhaps you will discover that the soreness sticks around longer, or you will find that you are more tired – both signs are telling you to take a break from the routine.
Posts: 3891 | Location: Leaving land, heading for the ocean | Registered: 06-03-02
I saw on my AOL front page today that lisening to music while working out can help you burn more fat. I think that is true b/c I lisen to music and it keeps me motivated. Anybody know of good workout music that is kind of adrenalen pumping and motaviting? I'm into pop, rock and alternitive. Any suggestions?
Posts: 258 | Location: Cleveland,OH USA | Registered: 06-04-02
As you are in college, why not time yourself so that you leave at the last possible second to go to lectures ? Then you'll have to run to avoid missing the start. So you'll be superfit in no time.
It always worked for me . (The other people posting here have plans which are way too complicated )
How much music do you want? Here's some off the top of my head.
If you want adrenaline pumping, then metal is definitely the way to go (although ska-punk might be interesting to work out to .
Nonpoint (try anything off their first album, Statement, such as What A Day, Endure, or Mindtrip) Early Metallica Pantera Rage Against the Machine Push It by Static-X Disturbed Hey Man, Nice Shot by Filter Alexisonfire The Heart and the Shape by 36 Crazyfists (an awesome tight, fast-paced post-hardcore song) Trashed and Scattered by Avenged Sevenfold Any speed metal Any power metal (Iced Earth or Blind Guardian for example) And how about some pschobilly to make it really interesting: Galaxy 500 by Reverend Horton Heat
And if you'd like more hard rock, here's a little to start with: Rusty Cage, Outshined, and Ty Cobb by Soundgarden Plowed by Sponge
Of course, there's plenty of more I can add if you'd like. Just let me know if any of this is close. This is just a broad variety that I chose to get started. Let me know if you want links to all these.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: jusork,
Posts: 6467 | Location: Grayson, Georgia, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
One more issue if I might add, I'm working out 5 times a day = 1 school week and I just incresed my reps to 15 and sets to 15. Is working out everyday over kill? I herd that 3 times a week is good. I'm not sore after working out so I guess my body is not telling me to slow down.
Posts: 258 | Location: Cleveland,OH USA | Registered: 06-04-02
do you mean you are working out 5 times a DAY or 5 times a week?
If a day.. WAYYYY overkill.
If a week.. focus on the upper body every other day and the lower body the alternate days and you shouldn't be in too much trouble. Just give time for the muscles to recover and rebuild.
Posts: 9078 | Location: PA, USA | Registered: 06-05-02
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I herd that 3 times a week is good. I'm not sore after working out 
so I guess my body is not telling me to slow down.
