Advice needed - newbie

["Followup-To:" header set to misc.fitness.weights.]
Dnia 2006-11-25 smokejo.RemoveThis@googlemail.com napisa³(a):
> Hello everyone
>
> I was just after a little advice really, there seems to be so much on
> the web, but I figured it would be better getting info from the horses
> mouth, so to speak.
>
> I'd like to develop my upper body somewhat, I'm fairly slim at the
> moment (apart from a growing belly!)....I don't really get a chance to
> do much exercise these days cos of work/studying hassles...I'm 29,
> male, about 65Kg and 5'11.
>
> What I've started doing is 30 pressups

You mean pushups?

> in the morning, and 30 when in
> the evening as a warm up to a regime. At the moment, I only do these on
> alternate days so that I have one day's full rest in between. I know
> two sessions of 30 pressups is hardly great, but I wasn't sure if it
> would be a good idea to start doing it every day if I've done little
> exercise before.

No problem. In high school I used to do pushups daily and I'm still
alive.

> I have a couple of questions -
>
> i) Should I continue with the pressups on alternate days, or look to
> doing them every day?

Whatever you prefer.

> ii) I've heard pressups are more useful for the chest, than the arms
> (biceps/triceps). Can anyone recommend any exercises for the arms?

Parallel dips for pressing muscles (triceps, lower chest, front
shoulders). Pullups for pulling muscles (biceps and back). I used to
do dips between backs of chairs. Do handstands for time and later
progress to handstand pushups for shoulders.

> iii) As for food intake, what's the recommendation? I have completely
> stopped eating take-aways and the burgers and the like to reduce my
> fat. At the moment, I'm eating cereal for breakfast, a ham salad
> sandwich for lunch, and then a rice/vegetables/meat or
> pasta/vegetables/meat dinner. A couple of fruits in between (normally
> bananas). Any type of meat to avoid/go for?

I'm not aware of any popular meat which is bad for muscle building.
Eat meat.

> Any other recommendations on what to eat or not to, or in fact anything
> in general?

If you plan on doing bodyweight exercises, do search for some more
difficult variations. Bryce Lyne has a booklet about bodyweight
bodybuilding. I haven't read it, but I read his other writings. He's
very wise guy. You can build a lot of muscles with "just" bodyweight
exercises. Just persist on doing them regularly and increase
difficulty as you progress.

--
Andrzej Rosa 1127R
 >> Stay informed about: Advice needed - newbie 

<smokejo.RemoveThis@googlemail.com> schreef:

> i) Should I continue with the pressups on alternate days, or look to
> doing them every day?

Can you do dips instead?

> ii) I've heard pressups are more useful for the chest, than the arms
> (biceps/triceps). Can anyone recommend any exercises for the arms?

Depends on the distance between the hands. You can shift the load to the
triceps.

Try pull-ups and dips.

Buy a set of adjustable dumbells, if possible. Then you can do arm specific
work.
And a lot of other exercises...

> iii) As for food intake, what's the recommendation?

Eat whatever you want to eat, and gulp down several protein shakes each day.
Take a generic multi vit/min tab.
Take other supps if you have the desire to do so.

----
Pete
 >> Stay informed about: Advice needed - newbie 

["Followup-To:" header set to misc.fitness.weights.]
Dnia 2006-11-25 Tom Anderson napisa³(a):
> On Sat, 25 Nov 2006 smokejo RemoveThis @googlemail.com wrote:
>
>> Any other recommendations on what to eat or not to, or in fact anything
>> in general?
>
> Get to a gym and lift some weights!

I wouldn't. I did this gym stuff several times, and it doesn't work
for me.

> Or if getting to a gym twice a week is impractical, get down to Argos and
> drop fifty-six quid on the following:
>
> http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3023204.htm

Jump-rope. Makes sense if he likes to do cardio.

> http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3025367.htm

Plastic weights set up to 50kg. I wouldn't buy it, but if there is
place enough for overhead lifting it would be fine do do them. I'm
partial to one-armed lifting.

> http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3023792.htm

Stability ball. What for? It takes loads of place and allows you to
do all of one or two good exercises.

> http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3003341.htm

Doorframe mounted chin-up bar. Good thing. Takes no place and allows
for a lot of good exercises.

> You do some skipping to warm up, then use the weights for bench presses
> (on the ball),

Not an option with this ball. It's "rated" for up to all of 125 kg.
Besides, feet-elevated pushups will give him similar weight as all the
weights on the barbell. Better option would be to go to Home Depot and
buy several packs of 50lbs of sand. Put the sand in backpack and do
weighted pushups. They are good exercise, actually. He'll get core
stability and lower chance of injury due to unrestricted mobility of
shoulder blades for free.

> bent-over rows, shoulder presses, upright rows, curls, and
> tricep extensions, and the bar for chin-ups.

It's no nonsense workout, but I wouldn't do it this way. One can train
in gym or at home, but not always exactly the same exercises work
equally good in both settings.

> Make sure you eat a lot, and you'll get what you want.

He wants to lose fat. Relative strength lifts make sense in such a
situation.

--
Andrzej Rosa 1127R
 >> Stay informed about: Advice needed - newbie 

smokejo,

Lifting weights is important and all, but that alone won't make you gain
weight. You gain weight by eating. Track how many calories you eat in
a day so you know where you're starting. Hopefully, you're downing at
least 2000. If so, then bump it to 2500 to 3000. If not, try to eat at
least that much.

The muscles of your upper body aren't as big as the muscles in your
legs. If you develop just the top, you're missing out on your potential
on the legs.

People will argue with me about this, but you should get a gym
membership and make that your new religion. Get a manual like "Body
Sculpting Bible for Men". I've used this, and it works.

But overall, you gotta eat. EAT EAT EAT. Mangia mangia mangia.

SEAL

smokejo RemoveThis @googlemail.com wrote:
> Hello everyone
>
> I was just after a little advice really, there seems to be so much on
> the web, but I figured it would be better getting info from the horses
> mouth, so to speak.
>
> I'd like to develop my upper body somewhat, I'm fairly slim at the
> moment (apart from a growing belly!)....I don't really get a chance to
> do much exercise these days cos of work/studying hassles...I'm 29,
> male, about 65Kg and 5'11.
>
> What I've started doing is 30 pressups in the morning, and 30 when in
> the evening as a warm up to a regime. At the moment, I only do these on
> alternate days so that I have one day's full rest in between. I know
> two sessions of 30 pressups is hardly great, but I wasn't sure if it
> would be a good idea to start doing it every day if I've done little
> exercise before.
>
> I have a couple of questions -
>
> i) Should I continue with the pressups on alternate days, or look to
> doing them every day?
> ii) I've heard pressups are more useful for the chest, than the arms
> (biceps/triceps). Can anyone recommend any exercises for the arms?
> iii) As for food intake, what's the recommendation? I have completely
> stopped eating take-aways and the burgers and the like to reduce my
> fat. At the moment, I'm eating cereal for breakfast, a ham salad
> sandwich for lunch, and then a rice/vegetables/meat or
> pasta/vegetables/meat dinner. A couple of fruits in between (normally
> bananas). Any type of meat to avoid/go for?
>
> Any other recommendations on what to eat or not to, or in fact anything
> in general?
>
 >> Stay informed about: Advice needed - newbie 

Cohen wrote:
> "SEAL" wrote
> > smokejo,
> >
> > Lifting weights is important and all, but that alone won't
> > make you gain weight. You gain weight by eating.
>
> Or by moving to a planet with greater mass. Or by suffering
> from congestive heart failure. Or by traveling closer and
> closer to the speed of light.

How much does a pleomorphic whatever typically weigh? Because, yeah.

> Eating may be easier.

I suspect that'd be true.

> David

--
Curt
 >> Stay informed about: Advice needed - newbie 

smokejo wrote:
[...]

> I'd like to develop my upper body somewhat, I'm fairly slim at the
> moment (apart from a growing belly!)....I don't really get a chance to
> do much exercise these days cos of work/studying hassles...I'm 29,
> male, about 65Kg and 5'11.

65 x 2 = 130 + 13 = 143 lbs.

Okay, so you're a slim one. THANK YOU! I'm tired of being the skinniest
person here.

> <snip> started doing is 30 pressups in the morning,
> and 30 when in the evening <snip>
>
> i) Should I continue with the pressups on alternate
> days, or look to doing them every day?

It seems it's general calisthenics and so could easily be done daily.

> ii) I've heard pressups are more useful for the chest,
> than the arms (biceps/triceps).

Move your hands closer together to work your triceps and spread them
farther apart to work chest.

> Can anyone recommend any exercises for the arms?

Chins with your palms facing you, db curls, barbell curls, bent rows,
squats, close grip benches, regular benches, and more I'm sure.

> iii) As for food intake, what's the recommendation?

You're slight and so need to EAT, but force-feeding can be a chore.
Therefore it would probably be wiser to eat up to eight times a day.
Three regular meals with snacks in between meals - protein shakes, etc.
And make that et cetera heavy on the calories.

[...]

> Any other recommendations on what to eat or not
> to, or in fact anything in general?

You've never worked out before? Perhaps diet and general exercise is
the way to go for your fitness start-up.

Years and years ago, Robert Kennedy had an article in MMI which
recommended expanding the food items on your personal menu in
combination with walking or light jogging around the track, some
pushups and freehand squats, chins, and other exercises to boost the
bodyweight of skinny teens. At 29, you're no longer a teenager, but you
may benefit by widening your healthy-eating horzons. I know I used to
be a very picky eater. I still find it very easy to skip meals and
often go without eating a substantial meal. This obviously will block
anyone's weight gains and/or muscular gains.

What the article suggested was to gradually increase your calorie
intake not be counting calories, but by simply increasing the food
choices you allow yourself. If you normally don't eat a certain food
then just try a small portion. Increasing your menu along with general
exercise, Kennedy stated, will bump your bodyweight up without needing
to immediately jump into a weight training regimen.

Best of luck in reaching your fitness goals.

--
Curt
 >> Stay informed about: Advice needed - newbie 

"SEAL" <usseal3@gmail[removethis].com> wrote
> smokejo,
>
> Lifting weights is important and all, but that alone won't make you gain
> weight. You gain weight by eating.

Or by moving to a planet with greater mass. Or by suffering from congestive
heart failure. Or by traveling closer and closer to the speed of light.

Eating may be easier.

David
 >> Stay informed about: Advice needed - newbie 

Thanks all for their replies, very much appreciated..... Yeah, I am
quite slim and, similar to Curt, I can still easily miss a meal and not
feel tired or bad about it. I need to get that sorted. One of the
problems for me though is that even though I'm fairly slim, my belly
(for want of a better word) is getting larger - disproportionately to
the size of my body! So now, when I stand up, I can actually see it
sticking out somewhat. I used to play football (soccer) a lot over the
years, and a fair bit of swimming as well, so I guess this kept it in
check. The belly thing seems to run in the family as all my Dad's side
were skinny until their early thirties, and then just ballooned.

What I'm worried is that if I do start eating a lot more, this will go
straight to the belly. I guess I have to eat *and* make sure I maintain
an increasing fitness regime. I still do play football, although less
regularly, so do get the work out for my legs, it's the upper body that
doesn't get much anymore as I don't have the time to go swimming...what
I'm going to do is make sure I do now though, at least once a week.

Am popping down to Argos to get some of those items Tom mentioned
earlier...just one more question, and please forgive me if this sounds
silly...Tom mentioned to do bench presses on the ball (which Andre
later said wasn't a good idea due to its rating)...how exactly is this
done? Do you lay on the ball and bench press?

Thanks again all!
 >> Stay informed about: Advice needed - newbie 

Cohen wrote:
> "Curt" wrote
[...]

> > THANK YOU! I'm tired of being the skinniest
> > person here.
>
> Your other faults make up for it.
>
> Ha ha!
>
> David
> in Las Vegas, no peace-inducing ear muffs

Peace-indu... ha HA! Ya liked that, did ya?

Regardless, I have no faults. I am perfection. I mean, come one, just
look at me! Er, I mean, "just click the following link!"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v108/curt_james/MFW/supahgeeeenius.jpg


(No, not you, Cohen. I'm sure you've seen that one before.)

Enjoy Vegas.

--
Curt
 >> Stay informed about: Advice needed - newbie 

"Curt" <curtjames DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote
> smokejo wrote:
> [...]
>
>> I'd like to develop my upper body somewhat, I'm fairly slim at the
>> moment (apart from a growing belly!)....I don't really get a chance to
>> do much exercise these days cos of work/studying hassles...I'm 29,
>> male, about 65Kg and 5'11.
>
> 65 x 2 = 130 + 13 = 143 lbs.
>
> Okay, so you're a slim one. THANK YOU! I'm tired of being the skinniest
> person here.

Your other faults make up for it.

Ha ha!

David
in Las Vegas, no peace-inducing ear muffs
 >> Stay informed about: Advice needed - newbie 

"David Cohen" <sammiesdad DeleteThis @earthlink.net> wrote:
>"Curt" <curtjames DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote
>> smokejo wrote:
>> [...]
>>
>>> I'd like to develop my upper body somewhat, I'm fairly slim at the
>>> moment (apart from a growing belly!)....I don't really get a chance to
>>> do much exercise these days cos of work/studying hassles...I'm 29,
>>> male, about 65Kg and 5'11.
>>
>> 65 x 2 = 130 + 13 = 143 lbs.
>>
>> Okay, so you're a slim one. THANK YOU! I'm tired of being the skinniest
>> person here.
>
>Your other faults make up for it.

Curt? Faults? How can you say that about MFW's Font of Googled
Wisdom and Defender of the Downtrodden®?
 >> Stay informed about: Advice needed - newbie 

On Nov 26, 7:50 am, "Pete" <phouts... RemoveThis @wanadoo.nl> wrote:
> "Tom Anderson" <t... RemoveThis @urchin.earth.li> schreef:
>
> > Yes. There are some pictures of a chap doing it here:
> >http://www.bench-press.net/swiss-ball-bench-press.htmlWhat a weird exercise.
>
> Whats the point?

"2)The swiss ball bench press is a great exercise to compliment your
normal bench press routine. You can use this exercise to increase the
power in your stabilizer muscles, thus increasing your overall bench
press power. "

Btw you can buy exercsie balls that are for weight lifting.
http://backbenimble.com/new/pages/powerballs/?bbvid=hav
"The Sissel X-treme Ball has a weight limit of up to 6,600 lbs and an
ABS (Anti Burst System) rating of up to 2,200 lbs. The Anti Burst
System ensures that the ball deflates slowly if punctured (provided ABS
limits are not exceeded)."


joanne
 >> Stay informed about: Advice needed - newbie 

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter,
and those who matter don't mind."
- Dr. Seuss

"Andrzej Rosa" <bakters.DeleteThis@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ek9dlr$hd1$1@inews.gazeta.pl...
> ["Followup-To:" header set to misc.fitness.weights.]
> Dnia 2006-11-25 smokejo.DeleteThis@googlemail.com napisa³(a):
>> Hello everyone
>>
>> I was just after a little advice really, there seems to be so much on
>> the web, but I figured it would be better getting info from the horses
>> mouth, so to speak.
>>
>> I'd like to develop my upper body somewhat, I'm fairly slim at the
>> moment (apart from a growing belly!)....I don't really get a chance to
>> do much exercise these days cos of work/studying hassles...I'm 29,
>> male, about 65Kg and 5'11.
>>
>> What I've started doing is 30 pressups
>
> You mean pushups?

No, in English, they are, always have been, and hopefully always will be
press-ups!


[...]


--
Bully
Protein bars: http://www.proteinbars.co.uk
 >> Stay informed about: Advice needed - newbie