From what I hear, it's good to do get one's heart rate up before lifting, and then again after. Is this the case? If so, would jogging a mile around the gym before and after lifting fill that need?

Secondly, how regularly should I go for maximum benefit? How long should I spend working on any particular group? What lifts should I do to get the most results?

Finally, what will I have to make sure to have in my diet while weight training other than a normal diet?

Thanks in advance.

Jogging would be good for a warm up, but it's not completely necessary. All you really need to do to warm up is a few reps of a lighter weight than normal, and it only takes about 30 seconds. If you have the time, you can jog though.

I go 6 days a week with Sunday as my day off. I rotate muscle groups every day - on day one I work on triceps, chest, forearms, and shoulders, and on day two I work on biceps, back, and legs. The lifts I do are:

Day one
Bench press
Wrist curl
Lateral raise (deltoids)
Shoulder shrugs
Pec flyes
Overhead tricep extension

Day two
Preacher bicep curl
Pull ups
Leg curl
Calf raise
Leg press (I have bad knees)

When looking for a fat loss diet, you might as well cut out all saturated fats. Normal fats are ok, but not in big amounts. Sugar in the form of sacharrin is also a no-no. If you want sugar, get it in fructose from fruit. Carbs are alright in this situation, considering you're doing muscle work. On top of all that, get as much protein as you possibly can with as little saturated fat as possible. Here's an example of my diet:

Breakfast: 2 cups of plain oatmeal, a banana, 20 oz of skim milk, 15 oz of grapefruit juice, muffin or two slices of whole wheat toast

Lunch: Raw tuna sandwich with lettuce on whole wheat bread, 20 baby carrots, 40 grapes, 20 oz of skim milk, cup of fat free yogurt

Snack (~2:30 PM): Fat free yogurt, whole wheat bagel, 20 oz skim milk

Dinner: Poultry, rice, broccoli, and 20 oz skim milk usually

Snack (~10:00 PM): Fat free yogurt, 20 oz skim milk, 20 carrots

That'll give you good room to grow and it's worked well for me so far.

[ 01-08-2004: Message edited by: Fazum'Zen Fastfist ]

heres my daily rutine...

1) streach for about 5 minutes
2) run 2 1/2 miles ont he gazell (trying to get up to 5)
**all the following at 10 sets of 10**
3) bench 150lb
4) chest fly 100lb
5) tricep (forgot the name) 90lb
6) bicep curls 50lb
7) sholder press 90lb
8) seated rowes 140lb
9) resisted abe crunch 100lb
10) leg press 300lb
11) claf pull thingy 150lb

12)streatch for about 10-15 minutes

it all takes aobut 1 hour anf 40 minutse, maybe 2. but i do it first thing in the morning.

the important thing to remember is to starrt out small, don't break yourself. start doing 5 sets of 10, then build up the weight, the go to 10 sets. and if oyu can't run 2.5 miles, run 1.5, or even one. just do what you can, it takes time, but it's worth it.

either way, find out what your limit is, your maxmimum.

if you want to tone, start lifting about oh 60-70% of your max weight in high repetition.

if you want to build strength (and inevitably mass), go for burnouts of 80-90% of your max weight, and try to push it up every week or other week. You won't hit high repetition, when you do, its time to move up the weight.

track weights are the best for beginners, free weights give the best results, but with any free weight, absolutely have a spotter, do not neglect this in any way ever.

edit addendum: stretch before lifting, do some cardio after, also, wait 72 hours before working a muscle group again, 72 hours is the time it takes the muscles to repair and build upon themselves, if you wait less, then you just disrupt and delay the process. This information came from men with degrees in physical training, I trust their judgement in the matter.

[ 01-08-2004: Message edited by: CBTao ]

quote:

---

CBTao stopped staring at Deedlit long enough to write:
track weights are the best for beginners, free weights give the best results, but with any free weight, absolutely have a spotter, do not neglect this in any way ever.

---

That being said, if you are a beginner, use track weights.

Free weights can be dangerous, and I don't just mean if they fall. If you're using an incorrect form, you could hurt your joints, sprain a ligiment, tear a muscle, or just get 0 results for all the work in the world.

Do yourself a favor if you want to use free weights: go to a gym where they have a trainer, and learn the correct form for every exercise. You will have faster results, less pain the next day, and after you've memorized all the forms you can go to the city rec center and use their free weights instead.

There's two real ways of body building. It's pretty simple. Muscle mass and toning. If you want to tone, do a lot of repetitive weights over and over again. If you want to gain muscle mass, do a small number of very heavy weights. It is a generally good idea to do both.

Give your body a time to recoup after a tough workout. You'll actully progress faster if you work yourself hard one day then go lighter the next. A good way to "cheat" with this is to work one set of muscles one day and another set of muscles another day. That way one set can recover when you work the other.

Don't worry about other people's numbers. Start how you have to, and work your way up. Personally, I don't consider myself in shape unless I can bench at least my own weight. Then again, I'm a skinny fuck. I only weigh about 140... 145.. (not sure) so that isn't exactly a big deal.

As for a diet, at least for me, I've noticed that when I'm in shape it changes to foods that are healthier and actually needed for me.

Don't ever pass up pushups and crunches. They are great becuase you can do them almost anywhere.

Edit: Situps can reek havoc on your back. I know you'll probably be told "don't be a fucking pussy" or something, but honestly - if they both do the same fucking thing for you, do the one that doesn't destroy your back. There is a huge difference between being a pussy and not being an idiot.

[ 01-08-2004: Message edited by: diadem ]

quote:

---

A sleep deprived Skaw stammered:
Faz is a fatty.

---

Faz is BUFF.

You heart rate before lifting isn't as important as your opening stretching. A good rule of thumb is before your first set of reps, is to do half the # of reps with 50% of the weight, (5 reps of 60 pounds, or whatever) this will warm your muscles up and also get your heart going a little.

I was a personal trainer for sometime and one of the toughest things for people to decide is what they wanted out of their body. Muscles can do 2 things when you work them: stay the same, or get larger. Men can get lean (or tone) by losing fat around your current muscle and gain endurance by doing cardio exercises and such. Or you can try to get buff with strength training.

You can't really lift weights to tone your body as a man. So I would only recommend lifting if you want to bulk up, even if only a little bit.

PM me with what you want specifically and I'll try to help you out.

Last I saw him he was lifting some absurd weights and was in pretty damn good shape (for being a short muscle-bound geek)... His major bitch was that the instant he started drinking cokes again he instantly gained 5 poinds of 'flab'...

To work out your abs at the gym, you can do hanging leg raises on the pull up bar, or just do crunches. I have an intricate ab workout that I do and I don't feel like typing it out haha