Mr Shannon

I've been doing abit of training at home everynight for the past month and tomorrow I'm due to join the gym.

I'm willing to be comited but I need some advice on what I should be eating / doing to acheive my goals because my knowledge of the subject its very basic.

I'm looking to loose some excess body fat but also bulk and tone up, if thats possible

Any advice is greatly appreciated

Tangodeltasierra3

Well i'm no expert but just use yer common sense, once you start doing regular exercise at a gym you will begin to lose weight believe me, i'm living proof. But then its no good leaving the gym and calling at the pub for 5 pints and getting fish n chips to walk home with. Whatever you like eating eat smaller portions, drink 6 pints of water a day, fruit, yoghurts instead of snacks, plenty of fish meals, chicken, pasta, .....i'll shut up as i aint really got a clue.

Tigran

I use a pyramid system for weights. I do a weight of which I can only do 6 reps of, then do a slightly lower weight with 10reps and finally do half the weight of the 10reps but do 30 reps. This has really done the trick in building up muscle. I do 3 sets of this exercise for whatever muscle groups I am doing. Another thing - do different muscle groups on different days - the main one not to combine is your biceps and triceps these two should be done on different days. As you use shoulders a lot with tricept exercise this means that the tri's and shoulders get done together and bi's and pecs get done on another day.

I have been going 5 days a week with the altering muscle groups thing, and having sat and sun off. Food wise I just grab a bannana about half an hour before exercise and then have some lean white meat and/or fish (without batter!) in the evening after the exsercise. Make sure you drink a lot of water - don't bother with lucozade - as that does sweet FA for most people from experience. I try and get through a 2litre bottle from half an hour before going to the gym to the half hour after that. Staying hydrated is very important for muscle tissue regeneration.

A big thing I would recommend is plan out your exercise otherwise you will wander around aimlessly just dabbling with each machine - get a routine going, and jot down what weights you are on each couple of days/week. This routine works for me.

Like I said I am no expert but this is what works for me.

P.S. remember to stretch and warm up (perhaps do a cycle or a row) before doing weights - pulled muscles or even torn ones are not much fun.

Mark B

when you say triangle ive been approaching weights by doing 15 of said weight an 3 set of these not changing the weight or the reps, is this ok???

MB.

Tigran

Erm the thing is that is neither here nor there really. Too low a number to do toning. But too high a number to build muscle mass.

Try upping the weight and doing 10 per rep.

Mark B

no probs mate will try this tomorrow,

MB.