The Official Gym & Fitness Thread

I am not currently working out. My diet isn't bad I eat pretty well just not enough on a normal basis which is why I have dropped so much waight in the last year. My job is pretty active and I am up and down step stools and ladders plus lift 40-80lb servers pretty regularly and walking around all day most days. I am also pretty active. Hiking a lot and last weekend I went snorkeling for a few hours (3+) and wasn't too beat. I'll post weight when I get home because I don't know off hand (125lbs would be my guess). I know is less then is should be and less then it was this time last year (137 last year). I am 5'4". Honestly if I just started eating a normal amount of calories and hit the gym I would get newb gains right off the bat much less getting more calories. Problem is I just can't eat. Zero appetite most of the time or can't handle large amounts of food these days. It sucks. I had a chick I wanted to date give me shit about it when we have gone out to eat. Fucking embarrassing!

I want to go to the gym but I want so guidance to make sure I am doing things correctly and not going to hurt myself or waste my time.

I know a few of you guys have suggested this work out but I haven't done most of that before so I want help with form and such

https://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/dougs-4-day-split-workout.html

 

Sweetwater 420's are amazing...GA beers FTW

I'm actually about to get the iPhone watch if you'd be interested in buying mine; it's the Charge HR (second best one behind the Surge, which has a bigger display and tracks your GPS). Mine does heart rate, steps walked, stairs climbed, calories burned, clock, and distance walked. It's idiot proof.

There's plenty of information online for you to avoid hiring a trainer. You can't out-train a bad diet. Putting on mass is 80% diet. To gain muscle, you need to eat more calories than you burn. You can find out how many calories you should consume by going to this calculator. This calculator will ask for your age, height, weight, activity level, etc. and tell you exactly how many calories you should be able to eat in a day without gaining or losing weight; this is called your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) or baseline. When you have this number, you simply add or subtract ~500 calories, depending on if you want to lose or gain weight (in your case, you'd be adding ~500 calories). So, for instance, if your TDEE is 2500 calories, you need to consume 3000 calories per day to gain 1 lb. per week. 1 lb. per week is the standard because that is the "magic number" most people can gain per week without putting on a lot of fat...anything more than 1 lb per week and you just look fat. Now, you're probably thinking, "what about protein, carb, and fat consumption?" Scroll down from that calculator and it'll tell you exactly how much of each macro nutrient (these are protein, carbs, and fat) you need to consume per day.

Create a diet that meets your caloric and nutritional needs and stick to it. That's the hard part. Training is the easy part. I recommend this workout to everyone starting out; it's great.

So, you've got your diet and your training now....the last thing to do is make sure you get at least 7-8 hrs of sleep per night, don't buy into all the supplement gimmicks, and be patient. There are no LEGAL alternatives to getting huge fast...it takes time. Since you're starting out, you should gain muscle relatively fast....my 1st year, I gained nearly 20 lbs.

 

How old are you?

You can google any workout on that list and there will be a bodybuilding.com video to show you exactly how to do it. With anything, you want to go slow. Fast jerking crap is how you get hurt.

 

25

 

Okay, so you're 1 year younger than me. You should gain muscle super-fast since you're just starting out. Go play around with that calculator I posted above. That is going to be your key to success.

 

Hey @Konaborne, wasn't it you that posted an article by the Bayesian Bodybuilding guy a while back? I just got done reading one by him about optimal protein intake and it was pretty interesting. Assuming all the literature he quoted is legit, it seems the takeaway is that anyone who is natural cannot benefit from more than .82 g per lb of body weight per day, which he says is an already safe markup. For me, that's around 150 g per day. I'm gonna give it a try and see what happens.

Old macros: 192 p, 265 c, 56 f
New macros: 159 p, 243 c, 64 f

here's the article, btw...you can scroll to the end for the bullet points

 

Wish I had started at this age.

I sometimes wonder how much age works against me...

 

I've read the same & as low as .4g per lb. in other places Zach.

If I remember correctly, the body passes amounts much higher but, and as you've already said, the kidneys metabolize protein so kidney function could be an issue. I'll be watching for your outcome over the next several months.

 

A lot goes into it and I still genetics play a huge role in it - some things can be changed easier than others. The problem I have with personal training is that a lot of them just "spot" people for a living. I never worked in the field but got my personal trainer license a few years back just for fun. What I think is very important is the first consultation and figuring out what the client actually wants, previous injuries and what he/she is doing right now to get a baseline.

There's no such thing as "one size fits all".

So as of now we know you want to build some muscle, gain some weight and have some problems getting enough food.
My next question would be, how do you look, weight, age, how much time you are willing to dedicate for training and what do you eat on a typical day

 

I moved some foods around and ended up getting .96g per lb, which is close enough for me, so we'll see how it goes.

New macros: 2208 calories, 174 g pro, 243 g carbs, 64 g fat

 

Still losing bf. Gonna keep that up till after Halloween after which I'll double my carbs back to 1000.

Feeling particularly ripped this am.

 

Go to an endocrinologist and get your levels taken. If you have low test due to age, you can be put on TRT.

 

I know a guy who did this and now he gets free test shots....lucky bastard lol

 

I didnt think insurance would cover that, lol.

 

There are dudes I work with that get it and it's paid if medically needed. On my last check up, I was good tho don't recall the number...

 

how old are you?

 

I could be wrong, but I think his insurance covers it.

 

Everyone always gives me flack for this. Im saying it anyway, If your goal isnt to be a body builder and you want to just get in shape man go try a crossfit gym localy i guerentee there is one within 10 minutes of you. It will be far cheaper than a trainer, however find one that has realy good reviews and youll be in the right hands. Then all youll need to do is show up do the work and then like zach said get your diet down and ull be on the right track.

 

ROFL...have you ever looked up crossfit prices?

You can get in shape in a REAL gym with cardio and a diet and weight training. Crossfit is a fad, expensive and a good way to get yourself hurt.

 

My dad started getting them last month, actually.