Hey all, I'm new

hjohnsonECU · January 20th, 2009, 03:49 PM

Hey- I am 18 years old, 6ft 0", white and around 170lbs. I have absolutley no expirence with proper training of any kind. I have been running on a treadmill for about a year and a half, and have logged around 500 miles on the odometer. I am not attempting to loose weight by running, I was just wanting to keep my heart healthy. I usually run about 1 1/2 or 2 miles at once.

I am not exactly skinny. I have a considerable amount of belly fat, but at the same time, I'm not fat. Its hard to explain. I am not very musclely, but not scrawny either.

Basically, I want to firm my entire body, and I do not know where to start. Yesterday, I bought some 100% Whey Protien from GNC. I have access to a gym at my apartment complex (college), but I have refrained from lifting in fear that I will have the wrong technique and harm myself.

If I'm looking to firm my arms and stomach, what would you guys suggest realistically? Is the protien okay?

**wil** · January 20th, 2009, 04:23 PM

Welcome to EF.

If you want to firm up or gain muscles, you'll have to start lifting. There are lots of sites that have descriptions and videos showing proper form. Here is one... Bodybuilding.com - #1 Exercises Guide - Over 300 Exercises!

The protein supplement is fine but without lifting you won't get the real benefits.

So check out the sticky topics in the various forums especially Bodybuilding and Strength Training. There is gobs of great information in there. Also the members here have a lot of knowledge and have always been helpful to me and I'm sure they will be helpful for you as well.

**A1food4U** · January 20th, 2009, 04:32 PM

Welcome hjohnson, I'll call you ECU fro short.

The first thing to check is if the college you attend has a physiology or kinesiology program. If they do then the canpus gym will be full of people eager to help you with form and the like. Ask around you may be surprised to find how helpfull some will be. On the flip side new gym goers are sometimes inhibited by the gym rats they meet. So go slow, but go. To firm and build you need to work with weights. Be carefull with the protien until you can give more information about diet and calorie intake. Just adding alot of protien to the diet isn't going to give you what your looking for, you'll need a plan. Search the bodybuilding section, many have posted great routines and the results they achieved. Good Luck!!

hjohnsonECU · January 20th, 2009, 04:56 PM

Thanks so much! That link with video demonstations helps A LOT!

**tooncesthecat** · January 20th, 2009, 06:19 PM

Welcome! Listen to Wil and A1. They are some of the best

You also might want to do a search on this site for specific information after you browse the stickies in the training section as Wil suggested. Also, bodybuilding.com (like Wil suggested) is awesome and you should consider exploring it thoroughly!

**gYmgIrL** · January 20th, 2009, 06:27 PM

Hello! Welcome! what does ECU stand for? Where are you from?

So many questions!

I'm so excited for you! Seeing as you're a 'beginner' with weights you are going to see results super fast! and cause you're already fit well that's just going to help even more. And you're obviously doing your research by finding us! yay!

I really cant wait to see it all happen!

**lizzyb** · January 20th, 2009, 06:40 PM

Ditto what everyone else has said already........we are a wealth of info here at this site and if we don't have the answers we'll direct you to where you can get the answers.

Welcome and congratulations to taking this first step to healthier fitter YOU.....don't be surprised if it becomes addicitve.....IT IS!!

hjohnsonECU · January 20th, 2009, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gYmgIrL

Hello! Welcome! what does ECU stand for? Where are you from?

So many questions!

Wow, there seems to be some really nice, decent people here! Hard to find that kind of thing these days.

ECU stands for East Carolina University. I am originally from Raleigh NC, but atttend ECU (Greenville NC).

I am also very excited about changing myself. I have ditched fast food completley for 2 weeks now and have had nothing but water to drink, haha. Strangely, this hasn't changed my appearence at all?

I just thought about it one day, and I told myself that we are only givn one body- might as well take care of it. (Or start taking better care of it)

**Steel_UK** · January 20th, 2009, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizzyb

don't be surprised if it becomes addicitve.....IT IS!!

I get depressed if I can't do physical stuff.

**wildstang** · January 21st, 2009, 01:41 AM

as everybody mentioned research and dont get carried away with extreme workouts, stick 2 your basics such as a 3 day split routine 4 starters. obviously your getting good cardio but you mention you are carrying some abdominal fat. so that indicates your calorie deficit used may be a bit off unless what you mentioned about the fast food is the culprit 2 having the excess unwanted weight. dont make the mistake most beginers make by trying 2 many goals. pick one andstick to it 4 example if you want muscle you will have2 sacrifice and carry a little excess fat in order to put muscle on. figure your daily caloric needs with online calculator even and get an idea what you need to gain muscle orloose fat wich is normally 500 cal deficit per day after getting diet down pact. good look.

hjohnsonECU · January 22nd, 2009, 11:59 PM

Well- some progress has been made. I hit the gym 2 days ago, and went again the next day. I was way too busy to go today

.

Here's what I did/ate:

day1: did a lot of random lifting with a buddy of mine who told me how to do it right. Wow, I am amazed at how weak i am! Most people were looking at me expecting me to lift tons due to my natural stature, but were amazed at how un-trained my muscles are. It was fun, I had a good time in there. I did some back workouts, but mainly some arm stuff, and very little ab stuff. I have no clue what the machines are called, so I don't know how to explian what I did, haha!

i finished up by running 1 1/2 mile.

Had about 80g of whey afterwards. Surprisingly, I was only minimally sore.

Day2: No cardio at all. Only lifting. Basically the same as day 1.

80 more g of whey.

I was a little more sore afterwards.

My questions:

-How much whey am I supposed to use throught the day?
-If I am going to do cardio and lifting in one day, which do I do first?
-Is it okay to do the same stuff every day, or every other day? It doesn't physically hurt me.

I am learning. I am hoping to transform myself.

**wildstang** · January 23rd, 2009, 01:48 AM

[quote=hjohnsonECU;712041]Well- some progress has been made. I hit the gym 2 days ago, and went again the next day. I was way too busy to go today

.

Here's what I did/ate:

day1: did a lot of random lifting with a buddy of mine who told me how to do it right. Wow, I am amazed at how weak i am! Most people were looking at me expecting me to lift tons due to my natural stature, but were amazed at how un-trained my muscles are. It was fun, I had a good time in there. I did some back workouts, but mainly some arm stuff, and very little ab stuff. I have no clue what the machines are called, so I don't know how to explian what I did, haha!

i finished up by running 1 1/2 mile.

Had about 80g of whey afterwards. Surprisingly, I was only minimally sore.

Day2: No cardio at all. Only lifting. Basically the same as day 1.

80 more g of whey.

I was a little more sore afterwards.

My questions:

-How much whey am I supposed to use throught the day?
-If I am going to do cardio and lifting in one day, which do I do first?
-Is it okay to do the same stuff every day, or every other day? It doesn't physically hurt me.

I am learning. I am hoping to transform myself.[/QUOTE

you only need about half that at one helping. the body can only digest so much protein at a time. your quickly on your way to overtraining! 24 to 48 hours per muscle group of rest! come on man! research and do it right! your not listening at all. you need to train all your muscles not just arms. keep at it the way your doing and you will see you wont get to far on size. if it dosent physically hurt you you arent lifting enough weight! period! your friend your lifting with dosent seem too educated either if hes working same muscles every day. little hint! squats and deadlifts trigger your body to release more testosterone and human growth hormone. without stimulating the legs you wont release much HGH. like i stated b-4 your arms can only get so big without working the whole body. you will reach a point and plateau and wont get anymore gains in size! running dosent stimulate the release like lifting does so i will answer that question before you ask. pick a split workout or a full body workout from the link i provided previously and do it right!

**Steel_UK** · January 23rd, 2009, 03:50 AM

Quote:

There is simply no other exercise, and certainly no machine, that produces the level of central nervous system activity, improved balance and coordination, skeletal loading and bone density enhancement, muscular stimulation and growth, connective tissue stress and strength, psychological demand and toughness, and overall systemic conditioning than the correctly performed full squat.

-M.Rippetoe.

Oh, and don't forget this one either....

Quote:

"The spine is best at bearing a load in an arch".

**wil** · January 23rd, 2009, 05:05 AM

Like wildstang said, you'll need to do more than just arms.

Since you are beginning, you should really focus on basic compound lifts... squats, deadlifts, presses, and rows. Build your workouts around those because they hit lots of muscles at one shot. Those are the "get the most bang for your buck" type exercises.

acoz47 · January 23rd, 2009, 06:10 AM

Greetingzzzzzz and best of luck with your current endeavor.......

**lizzyb** · January 23rd, 2009, 02:32 PM

Hey! Glad to hear that yu are getting your toes wet so to speak, lol! But listen to these guys......You need a plan, you can't just go in and start throwing weights around w/o knowing what yu are doing and WHy you are doing it. ANYBODY new to the weight room should be given a full orientation of the gym as part of membership....it's the right thing to do. 2ndly knowing that yu are a newb, they should also set yu up with a trainer to 'design' you a program....again a proffessional courtesy that only benefits them AND you. Such program would contain a full body w/o consisting mainly of compund movements as mentioned above........like everything else in life bud, you've gotta crawl b4 you walk....we all (meaning most accomplished lifters) have started out the same way. Do enjoy the learning process though, because it is really cool to learn how your body works and responds to loads and diet.....it's cool. However, bone up and LEARN the stuff........it's like everything else, you gotta learn the stuff first, you can't just pick it up and expect it to do for you without knowing anything about it.

Love your enthusiasm too......stick with it, you'll get there with a little patience and time.

**Steel_UK** · January 23rd, 2009, 02:36 PM

Oh yes, one other thing. Be sure that you're going to a proper gym, not one of these fancy ones with all the latest must have gizmo machines and stuff while not having a proper squat rack, bars, weights etc.

I visited one place today (for other reasons) and was surprised to find the weight room comprised mostly of a few machines and one set of dumbells, a few plates and that was it. It's also a well established company throughout the UK.

hjohnsonECU · January 23rd, 2009, 03:35 PM

The gym I go to is very small. It is a part of my apartment complex. I do not live on campus. I am usually the only one in there when I do go, but sometimes there are 2 or 3 people.

There is an entire set of dumbells, 4 treadmills, leg-press machine, and many others, but I do not know what they are called

**wil** · January 23rd, 2009, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steel_UK

Oh yes, one other thing. Be sure that you're going to a proper gym, not one of these fancy ones with all the latest must have gizmo machines and stuff while not having a proper squat rack, bars, weights etc.

I visited one place today (for other reasons) and was surprised to find the weight room comprised mostly of a few machines and one set of dumbells, a few plates and that was it. It's also a well established company throughout the UK.

Oh yeah. This is huge. If they don't have a squat rack I would move on to the next gym.

**wil** · January 23rd, 2009, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hjohnsonECU

The gym I go to is very small. It is a part of my apartment complex. I do not live on campus. I am usually the only one in there when I do go, but sometimes there are 2 or 3 people.

There is an entire set of dumbells, 4 treadmills, leg-press machine, and many others, but I do not know what they are called

Can you access the campus gym when you are there either after or before classes?