Beginners: Why weights?

Hi troops, am scott, 41yrs 5ft 10, 184lbs, went to the doctor for full check up, blood test came back fine, got a little high blood pressure, doctor say's stop the smoking & get into the gym. been off the cigs 4 weeks now & doing the gym for 2 weeks ( am a real newbie ) lol looking to loose the gut & pack on some muscle.
 
 
thanx

Hi all. 14 years ago made a MASSIVE mistake when the wife moaned that my neck and shoulders were too big so I stopped training all together, went from Ju Jitsu twice a week and 20 hrs of gym to zero. DOH!!!
 
Now have re started training again at 39 yrs old with the aim of getting back my previous neck and shoulders FOR ME this time. LOL
 
210 lbs Body fat approx 16% current diet consists as follows
 
Breakfast
Toast x2 with thin layer of peanut butter
1 banana, 5 strwberries, 3 egg whites (1 yolk)
 
Mid morn -- Syntha 6 x2 scoops + 5g Glutamine and 3 Arganine tablets
Lunch
Cous Cous with beans and pulses mixed in, spring onion chopped, tomatoes corriander and a few pine nuts
and 3 egg whites with 200g tuna
 
Mid afternoon - Syntha 6 x2 scoops + 5g Glutamine and 3 Arganine tablets
dinner
200g Chicken done kebab style with peppers and onion
 
Pre bed 30min before Syntha 6 x2 scoops + 5g Glutamine and 3 Arganine tablets (hoping to jump start the old HGH production) during sleep LOL ;-)
 
Been back in the gym 2 months and have lost visible fat layers, gained muscle but lost zero weight ;-) Happy days.

Forgot to add
Liverel liver support (awaiting Liv 52 delivery)
Cod liver oil liqi tabs x4
and to occasional cheeky broccolli smoothie - honest its better than it sounds :-)

I'm 42, recently moved fom Sheffield to Newquay. Not been in a gym for 10 years plus, but just had my first tattoo and decided it would look better on bigger arms. Been going to the gym for approx 18 months. Gone from 11 stone to just under 13 stone. Can't seem to break that barrier.

great post!.

   hi guys
 
im karen im 38  yrs old , 5ft and a hefty 11 st which is the most iv ever weighed , after years of trying for a baby and 10 unsucessfull ones and alot of tummy surgery fertility drugs etc , i feel it taken it toll and i now need to refocus my life else were
i decided on body building weights etc as i dont see myself as a typical girly girl  being quite heavly tattooed  and was very rock chic , i now feel iv lost my edge and feel very frumpy and old ,
 iv always fancied doing some training but never had the confendce but now my weight is doing my head in and feel i need a new challenge in life and some self disapline
so , i have joined a gym and had my first session with personal trainer who knows my goals , 
my problem is  , diet were do i start ???
could anyone advise me on a beginners diet recipe book please , or any help and advice would be greatly apprieciated , look forward  to chatting to ye all threw my new adventure x

Welcome, Karen.
 
Best bet is to start by starting a new topic in this section and post your current diet for us to comment on.
 
Recipes: http://www.muscletalk.co....ybuilding-recipes.aspx
 
Articles here: http://articles.muscletal...uilding-beginners.aspx
 
 
 

hi james thanks for the welcome , well my diet is just a single page from my trainer this is all i have
breakfast - 4 eggs 2  yolkes + 50g oatmeal   , black coffee
meal 2    - protien shake   +banana
meal 3    -  baked potatoe , 100g grilled chicken , mixed veg
meal 4    -  protien shake   +  apple
meal 5    -  100 boiled fish +  50g wholegrain rice
 
water 3 x what   i used to drink
 
so im going to get bored real quick with that and im a complete novis im totally at the start of learning everything , food going to be the hardest i actually need to educate myself on what food is protien , and what fats are good  and what are bad etc

It's for a number of reasons:
 
1. Primarily health. Lately I've got fat, not chubby: fat. At 27% BF and 6'1" and 40 y.o. I need a change for health reasons - I need to feel fitter and "a healthy body a healthy mind" makes sense to me as I've started feeling lethargic.
 
2. Also, some call it vain (whatever), but I want to look good. The missus and I have both put the weight on recently and although we still love each other, we're not into sex like we were - fat is unsightly and it's getting told to f*** right off. Going on holiday in September so wanna look good for the wife: it's not a crime is it
 
Hopefully some of you experts can help me out if I get stuck.

A few reasons, namely to get a little bit bigger, health and for work.

Hi bud you have a great time with your weight training and please remember you have a great tool on your side "time" , it will all come together and you're on the best site possible to learn how to do it well.
Try a steady eating plan say once every 4 hours to start with but never eat till you are full, moderate sized meals that are balanced will give you good nutrition to build healthy muscle and steadily gain weight.
You can increase the meal frequency to every 3 hours once you are used to eating at set times .
There are some fabulous training routines on MuscleTalk site forum with fantastic experienced bodybuilders and PT's to assist you.
All the best , stay strong
Daz

Hello my friend, it sounds like you have really set your plan out and will achieve your goals for sure. Great balance of nutrition and it sure will push the fat loss at the same time feed the muscle growth.
Stay strong
Darran

Well, I guess its down to a few reasons, wanting to get in shape and look better being the main ones, but also I have been lucky with genetics, I am naturally big and strong, and when i look round and see people busting their arse to get big and strong I feel like a bit of a git really and wasting what I have been given. Over the years so many people, often those who workout/bodybuild have said damn get in the gym you'll be massive, but just never got round to it.
 
Well, no more, I am going to do something about it.

I'm about 5ft 8" and 3 months ago weighed myself for the first time in around a year after I tore the ligaments in my knee so stopped playing rugby, stopped going to the gym etc

I weighed 14st 8 pounds and was actually embarassed of myself, i'm naturally built wide shouldered and had dabbled with doing some light weights when playing rugby but never anything serious but thought hell why not give lifting a try properly, and that is where I am now.

I want to look and feel better for myself and my girlfriend

Hey. Im Jordan
 
Height: 6ft
Weight: 165.5 lbs
Pretty much wanted to be bigger then average mainly for my own satisfaction and happiness with my own body.

Hi all i'm David
 
I'm 5'8'' and 138 lbs  , i'm doing gym to build up my muscle and also to improve my strenght.
 
I want to reach 154 lbs.

Hi all,
 
I'm 1.82m, I currently weigh 87.1kg and have roughly 20% body fat, I can't work these callipers to save my life :P. My goal is to lose 10kg in fat, and put it (or most of it) back on in muscle. I've gotten a little chubby around the midriff. I'll be honest and say that I used  to eat a lot of junk food, at one point I would have take outs 2-3 nights a week, and the portions were ridiculous, I got to the point where sometimes I would order myself an extra portion of chips with my regular fish and chips. After hitting 92kg and sick of carrying around a gut I realised something had to change.
 
About 6 weeks ago I took up running, now I regularly run 35-45 km a week and have lost a couple of kilos, but the fat isn't shifting quick enough for my liking so I've signed up to my local gym and put together a new diet plan. I have cut out most of the carbs (bread, pasta, potatoes etc) and have based my meals around the principles of half a plate of lean protein and half vegetables. I've stopped snacking on bread and crisps. Instead if I get hungry between meals I'll have the odd egg, nuts, protein shakes or fruit. I'm a week in to my new diet and I'll be honest, its tough I don't think there will ever be a day when I enjoy left over roast beef slices for breakfast. I am starting to miss my morning toast and have been craving sweet things and fast food more than I anticipated, but come weighing in time I hope the results will spur me on, I haven't cheated once!
 
I hope that by incorporating 4 days a week in the gym and strength training I can reach <10% body-fat within 4-5 months. My main motivation is to be generally fit and maybe one day run a marathon, but for the time being I need to sort my body out so I can look at myself with pride. I have had quick read around the site and looks like there's lots of useful info here, I hope to share my progress and maybe it might provide inspiration to some other gym newbie some day.
 
Rutger