Hey guys, to start off I have been really wanting to make this thread for a while. Tonight I found some motivation and will be sharing with you guys some basic knowledge I have picked up throughout the years. I will try to keep this as basic and informative as possible. Much of what I recommend requires having a gym membership. If you dont already have one, look into your local gyms. You want to be a member of a gym that is close to you, has a variety of equipment, and you are comfortable with. If possible, please try to find a gym that doesnt require a contract and allows you to pay out of your pocket monthly. If you do not and can not attain a membership for whatever reason, do NOT let this hold you back. You can still perform and keep yourself healthy with simple exercises at home.
The first thing you need to know is that everyone needs exercise and for a variety of reasons. I don't care if you're underweight, overweight or in your own comfort zone. You need exercise to keep you healthy, confident and happy. Yes, happy. When your body is challenging itself, your brain releases chemicals called Neurotransmitters.
Endorphins are associated with emotions and feeling. It also increases your tolerance to pain.
Serotonin is associated with your mood, appetite, sleeping schedule and libido.
Excercise -> Release Chemicals -> Feel like Superman
Lets move on. There are several forms of exercise and regardless of what form you may be interested in, ANY form of exercise is great.
Now before I get into this, you need to know that everyones body is different. Some people are more prone to be overweight do to biological inheritance, others are more prone to build muscle easier. You need to gauge your workouts with what works for YOU. Dont worry if you cant lift as much weight as your friend, or run as long as the old lady on the treadmill. Stick with it, and you will get there.
Here is a diagram to help you understand:
Now to the good part.
There are 3 core types of exercise. Depending on what condition your body is in, you may want to focus more on one type than another. Let me just say that you really do want to be well rounded in all areas, but you can stack up on Strength Training for example if you want to build muscle, as long as you are meeting your quota for the other areas.
Flexibility: Flexibility is incredibly important believe it or not. It can be the difference between acquiring a serious injury or not. So before you hit the weights or the treadmill, take a good ten minutes to stretch out every muscle in your body. It will also loosen you up, get that blood flowing and spark your attitude on what you're about to do. It is a great mental preparation. You can find all kinds of different stretches in books at your local library and on the internet.
Aerobic/Cardio: Primarily affects the heart. Remember guys, your heart is a muscle just like your biceps and pecs. To live a long healthy life it is undoubtedly the most important, so do NOT neglect it. A great place to start is running outside or on the treadmill. Dont focus on distance, focus on time. Try to get a nice 10 minute jog/run in at least 3 times a week and work your way up from there. It may be difficult at first, but I promise you it will gradually get easier if you push yourself to get over that first hump. This applies to every muscle in your body.
Other good exercise: Jumproping, Sprints, High Knees, Mountain Climbers, Biking.
Strength Training:This is the big one I know a lot of you guys are interested in. As I said earlier in the thread, the most important part of this is safety. Do NOT try to force yourself to lift more than you can handle. This not only can result in injury, but you will NOT get results and this is why:
.
The thing that I cant stress enough about weight lifting is FORM. Form is performing the exercise the correct way. For example, if you are doing a bicep curl and are trying to do to much, your body will naturally compensate for your lack of ability to do that much weight and you will arch your back or swing your upper body slightly so you can complete the rep. That is NOT good. You always want to make sure you are using perfect form, that way all of the energy you are using to complete the exercise is credited to that specific muscle. Thus, all of the results will go to that specific muscle. Very, very important.
If you find yourself cheating a bit to get those last couple reps in, try bumping the weight down by 2.5-5 lbs. I promise you will see results faster this way than cheating.
So, where is a good place to start with Strength Training? Let me give you a basic routine to stick with and you can adjust accordingly. There is no one way to do anything, and that pertains to exercise just the same. In fact, as I said earlier, everyones body is different, therefor everyones workout routine is different. Here is an example that I feel will suit a lot of you:
Break up your workout routine into 3 sections:
Day 1: Back, Bi, Traps. On this day you will only be working your back, biceps and trapezius muscles. The reason these are grouped together is very logical. When you work one muscle, in certain exercises you are also working another. This is unavoidable and is okay! You want to have a good variety of exercises that both isolate one particular muscle, and use a grouping of muscles. You can also throw in your Lats, which are very hard to workout but will make you look HUGE. It will give your back that muscular V shape a lot of wrestlers have.
Use the internet to your advantage! There is TONS of FREE work out information in online forums and on youtube. Here are a couple channels you can use for ALL of your workout needs, along with plenty of other advice. These guys will coach you through the reps, sets, weight and form.
Click Here
Click Here
and a GREAT online forum where you can ask ANY question you need thats personal and applies to you. Very friendly, helpful members.
Bodybuilding.com
Day 2: Chest, Tri, Shoulders. On day 2 you will be working out your Pectorals, Triceps and Shoulders. Again, these muscles are grouped together because they correlate with each other. Almost every chest exercise you can do also doubles as a Tricep exercise. Use the links I provided about for you to get a variety of exercises you can use for your second day.
Day 3: I use this as my recovery day. I dont do any upper body but I still get a hell of a workout. This is where I get a lot of my cardio in, along with abs and legs. Dont underestimate this day as it is still very important, but I feel as though it is more tedious than challenging and for that reason I look forward to it.
Now there is one last thing I want to finish off with, and it is the most important piece of this thread.
Diet. The way you eat will make or break your results, literally. Depending on what you hope to achieve, you need to eat different foods in different amounts at different times.
Rather than type it all out here, I want you guys to look up what individually applies to you. If you need to lose weight, look up a healthy, safe, free diet plan. If you want to build muscle, do the same. If you want killer abs for this upcoming summer, look it up baby.
This is a GREAT website you can use to help calculate what kinds of calories you will need depending on what you want to do with your body. You can even create your own diet plan and create goals for yourself. You can use this as your personal log of everything you will need to keep track of and look back on. Its really great stuff guys.
Click Here
Before I let you go, here are some tips you can follow to maximize your performance.
Tips:
-Start small and work your way up
-Force yourself to commit
-Track your work out stats everyday and watch yourself improve
-Find a buddy to exercise with!
-Listen to music while you exercise
-Keep yourself hydrated with plenty of water
-Wear clothes that are comfortable and dont restrict your body movements (cutoffs, short shorts, boxers)
-Always keep perfect form
-Dont cut corners, you are only cheating yourself
-Take a graph sheet and a pen everyday to the gym with you and log how much weight of what exercise you are doing, along with how many reps/sets
-Set achievable goals! Test out the waters and once you are comfortable and educated on the topic, keep a standard and try to improve on it!
-Look into brands of protein and start drinking shakes after you work out. Buy in bulk, name brands dont mean anything.
-Also look into other (legal) supplements that are healthy and can improve your performance along with increasing your results!
-Steroids will ruin you. They are expensive, illegal, harmful and will ruin your body in the long run.
Guys, if you made it this far into my wall of text thank you, and thank yourself. I truly hoped you gained some motivation, and at the very least learned a thing or two. YOU have control of your own body and your own life and you can make it what you want it to be. It is never to late too start exercising. Get out there and do something good!
If you have ANY questions or are unsure about ANYTHING in this thread, please do not hesitate to throw me a PM. I would be more than willing to help you with anything I can. Thanks a lot guys.
-Sorrow
The first thing you need to know is that everyone needs exercise and for a variety of reasons. I don't care if you're underweight, overweight or in your own comfort zone. You need exercise to keep you healthy, confident and happy. Yes, happy. When your body is challenging itself, your brain releases chemicals called Neurotransmitters.
Endorphins are associated with emotions and feeling. It also increases your tolerance to pain.
Serotonin is associated with your mood, appetite, sleeping schedule and libido.
Excercise -> Release Chemicals -> Feel like Superman
Lets move on. There are several forms of exercise and regardless of what form you may be interested in, ANY form of exercise is great.
Now before I get into this, you need to know that everyones body is different. Some people are more prone to be overweight do to biological inheritance, others are more prone to build muscle easier. You need to gauge your workouts with what works for YOU. Dont worry if you cant lift as much weight as your friend, or run as long as the old lady on the treadmill. Stick with it, and you will get there.
Here is a diagram to help you understand:
Now to the good part.
There are 3 core types of exercise. Depending on what condition your body is in, you may want to focus more on one type than another. Let me just say that you really do want to be well rounded in all areas, but you can stack up on Strength Training for example if you want to build muscle, as long as you are meeting your quota for the other areas.
Flexibility: Flexibility is incredibly important believe it or not. It can be the difference between acquiring a serious injury or not. So before you hit the weights or the treadmill, take a good ten minutes to stretch out every muscle in your body. It will also loosen you up, get that blood flowing and spark your attitude on what you're about to do. It is a great mental preparation. You can find all kinds of different stretches in books at your local library and on the internet.
Aerobic/Cardio: Primarily affects the heart. Remember guys, your heart is a muscle just like your biceps and pecs. To live a long healthy life it is undoubtedly the most important, so do NOT neglect it. A great place to start is running outside or on the treadmill. Dont focus on distance, focus on time. Try to get a nice 10 minute jog/run in at least 3 times a week and work your way up from there. It may be difficult at first, but I promise you it will gradually get easier if you push yourself to get over that first hump. This applies to every muscle in your body.
Other good exercise: Jumproping, Sprints, High Knees, Mountain Climbers, Biking.
Strength Training:This is the big one I know a lot of you guys are interested in. As I said earlier in the thread, the most important part of this is safety. Do NOT try to force yourself to lift more than you can handle. This not only can result in injury, but you will NOT get results and this is why:
.
The thing that I cant stress enough about weight lifting is FORM. Form is performing the exercise the correct way. For example, if you are doing a bicep curl and are trying to do to much, your body will naturally compensate for your lack of ability to do that much weight and you will arch your back or swing your upper body slightly so you can complete the rep. That is NOT good. You always want to make sure you are using perfect form, that way all of the energy you are using to complete the exercise is credited to that specific muscle. Thus, all of the results will go to that specific muscle. Very, very important.
If you find yourself cheating a bit to get those last couple reps in, try bumping the weight down by 2.5-5 lbs. I promise you will see results faster this way than cheating.
So, where is a good place to start with Strength Training? Let me give you a basic routine to stick with and you can adjust accordingly. There is no one way to do anything, and that pertains to exercise just the same. In fact, as I said earlier, everyones body is different, therefor everyones workout routine is different. Here is an example that I feel will suit a lot of you:
Break up your workout routine into 3 sections:
Day 1: Back, Bi, Traps. On this day you will only be working your back, biceps and trapezius muscles. The reason these are grouped together is very logical. When you work one muscle, in certain exercises you are also working another. This is unavoidable and is okay! You want to have a good variety of exercises that both isolate one particular muscle, and use a grouping of muscles. You can also throw in your Lats, which are very hard to workout but will make you look HUGE. It will give your back that muscular V shape a lot of wrestlers have.
Use the internet to your advantage! There is TONS of FREE work out information in online forums and on youtube. Here are a couple channels you can use for ALL of your workout needs, along with plenty of other advice. These guys will coach you through the reps, sets, weight and form.
Click Here
Click Here
and a GREAT online forum where you can ask ANY question you need thats personal and applies to you. Very friendly, helpful members.
Bodybuilding.com
Day 2: Chest, Tri, Shoulders. On day 2 you will be working out your Pectorals, Triceps and Shoulders. Again, these muscles are grouped together because they correlate with each other. Almost every chest exercise you can do also doubles as a Tricep exercise. Use the links I provided about for you to get a variety of exercises you can use for your second day.
Day 3: I use this as my recovery day. I dont do any upper body but I still get a hell of a workout. This is where I get a lot of my cardio in, along with abs and legs. Dont underestimate this day as it is still very important, but I feel as though it is more tedious than challenging and for that reason I look forward to it.
Now there is one last thing I want to finish off with, and it is the most important piece of this thread.
Diet. The way you eat will make or break your results, literally. Depending on what you hope to achieve, you need to eat different foods in different amounts at different times.
Rather than type it all out here, I want you guys to look up what individually applies to you. If you need to lose weight, look up a healthy, safe, free diet plan. If you want to build muscle, do the same. If you want killer abs for this upcoming summer, look it up baby.
This is a GREAT website you can use to help calculate what kinds of calories you will need depending on what you want to do with your body. You can even create your own diet plan and create goals for yourself. You can use this as your personal log of everything you will need to keep track of and look back on. Its really great stuff guys.
Click Here
Before I let you go, here are some tips you can follow to maximize your performance.
Tips:
-Start small and work your way up
-Force yourself to commit
-Track your work out stats everyday and watch yourself improve
-Find a buddy to exercise with!
-Listen to music while you exercise
-Keep yourself hydrated with plenty of water
-Wear clothes that are comfortable and dont restrict your body movements (cutoffs, short shorts, boxers)
-Always keep perfect form
-Dont cut corners, you are only cheating yourself
-Take a graph sheet and a pen everyday to the gym with you and log how much weight of what exercise you are doing, along with how many reps/sets
-Set achievable goals! Test out the waters and once you are comfortable and educated on the topic, keep a standard and try to improve on it!
-Look into brands of protein and start drinking shakes after you work out. Buy in bulk, name brands dont mean anything.
-Also look into other (legal) supplements that are healthy and can improve your performance along with increasing your results!
-Steroids will ruin you. They are expensive, illegal, harmful and will ruin your body in the long run.
Guys, if you made it this far into my wall of text thank you, and thank yourself. I truly hoped you gained some motivation, and at the very least learned a thing or two. YOU have control of your own body and your own life and you can make it what you want it to be. It is never to late too start exercising. Get out there and do something good!
If you have ANY questions or are unsure about ANYTHING in this thread, please do not hesitate to throw me a PM. I would be more than willing to help you with anything I can. Thanks a lot guys.
-Sorrow
