Hey guys.

Im new to the forum, and im just after some help and/or advice. Ive been starting to hit up the gym lately, and have been going for 5 weeks solid, and just wandering if what im doing is OK and/or correct to achieve the results I want.

To start off, im 19, male, 5'8" tall (172cm) and currently weigh about 209lbs (95kg) . I was sitting at smack bang on 220lbs (100kg) when I started a month ago, and have since obviously lost ~11lbs (~5kg).

Basically ive been going to the gym at least 3 times a week, sometimes 4 times, and this is what we usually do. I go with my brother in law, and so far its been great, because we are motivation for each other, and seeing some results already is really encouraging.

Monday
1 hour 'Body Pump' class, which is the full body workout class. We usually do this with about 16~22lbs (7.5~10kg) of weight on the barbell, and we do biceps, triceps, shoulders, lunges, squats, etc etc. If we miss the class, we do our own thing (usually the Tuesday workout, see below).

Tuesday
Cardio workout. Usually 10~15 minute warm up on the treadmill, with occasional running/jogging. Then 15~20 minutes on the upright/seated bikes with a hill program that gradually gets harder etc. Occasional bench press, 3 or 4 sets of 12 reps, then peck deck 3 or 4 sets of 12 reps. Overall about a 50 minute to 1 hour workout.

Wednesday
1 hour 'Body Pump' class. Again, if we miss the class, Tuesday workout.

Thursday
Day off.

Friday
Tuesday workout.

Weekend
Both days off.

In addition to this, every day that I go to the gym, I come home and do the following:
* Pushups, 5 sets, 15 reps
* Cross/oblique crunches, 5 sets, 20 reps. (the ones where you try to touch your left elbow to your right knee and vice versa, I don’t know if that is the correct name).
* Reverse crunches/leg extensions, 5 sets, 20 reps (laying on your back, with legs held mid air, then extending them out, pulling them in. Again sorry if this is the incorrect name).

My eating habits have changed significantly since ive started. Where possible I have breakfast, which is usually a bowl of Nutri-Grain (cereal) and/or an a piece of fruit. For lunch a sandwich with multigrain bread, and/or another piece of fruit. After the gym, for dinner I eat, either steak. meat, chicken or fish, with salad or vegetables. Sometimes an egg or something with the meat. A pretty low carb diet really. I only drink water. 2 to 3 (maybe more), 25.3fl/oz (750mL) bottles a day.

I need to work on a better sleeping pattern, but that's something I can sort out.

Basically my goal is to lose some of my weight. Mainly on my stomach and chest etc, which is where the bulk of my excess weight is. Is what im doing OK? Any suggestions/recommendations/criticisms?

Obviously it wont be overnight, and im willing to put in the hard yards, and have been sticking to this for the past 5 weeks, and doing the extra stuff at home for the past 3 weeks I think.

What sort of results could I expect to see if I were to stick to this for the next say (at least) 3 months? (I ask because im going on holidays at the end of November, so im just curious). Obviously i will be maintaining it after that etc etc.

As I mentioned, im still new to all this, so any advice, suggestions and criticisms are welcomed.

Cheers for any help!

I was also curious as to whether i should be taking any supplements or protein or anything like that before and/or after workouts?

Cheers for any help.

It looks like you have a good program--others here are nmore educated and will be more specific...

My main suggestion for you is to make sure that you don't do the "same" routine for another 3 months. After 5 weeks of the same program, your body is adapting to it and in the weeks to come, your progress may slow down if you don't change it up some. Usually you'll want to significantly change up a program at least once every 6 weeks or so.

Congrats on the 11 lbs! You probably lost more fat than that because your body is "re-copmping" itself--meaning that you are gaining some muscle while you're losing the fat...good work!

Thanks for your response.

I know what you mean with keeping the same routine for the next 3 months. Perhaps ill mix it up a bit and throw in the rowing machine instead of the bike or treadmill in some of the days.

Any other suggestions etc would be appreciated.

Cheers.

From what i see there, you seem to be doing 3 days a week. I'm not 100% sure but your going to get better results if you move this to maybe 4 days. Keep the majority of the week active 4/7 atm your 3/7 if i read you correct.

-Jason

If you've lost 11 lbs in a month, I would keep doing what you're doing until you start to plateau then come back for more advise. People are going to micro-manage your routine, no matter how good it is. Right now you're seeing some serious results, so rep range, isolations, days a week don't seem too important. Just keep doing waht you're doing and like greenhorn gal says, mix it up. I've found youtubing "________ workout" is a great way to learn new exercises for the muscle groups.

Congrats, welcome to the forum, and keep it up! And remember it's more nutrition than exercise!

Its generally 4 days a week. What i meant was that if we miss the class, we do the Tuesday workout on that day. Being that i go with another person, occasionally we might miss a day due to other commitments, but at worst its 3 days a week. Usually 4 days but.

Thanks for the congrats and encouragement.

Ill definitely be looking into mixing it up with some new exercises.

Im after some advice regarding the extra work im doing at home aswell. Is my 'home' routine suitable do help burn fat or whatever on my stomach and chest? I also was considering throwing in a dedicated oblique exercise in there aswell, but im not sure what?

I have taken most of this advice on board and changed up my program a little. Ive added in the rowing machine to the cardio workout so that its not just bike or treadmill. I might do a bike program, then some rowing, or running on the treadmill, then bike, or rowing then treadmill, in an attempt to mix it up a bit as recommended. I generally do at least 30~40 minutes of cardio each day though, so its just any combination of those machines.

This past week ive also added some more weight training to my additional 'home' routine with my dumbbells which i dusted off from the shed.

It was good, but ill have to work it out properly (as in which days i do what) and post it up. Probably tomorrow.

Thanks for the help already, much appreciated.

Just thought id update this.

Jumped on the scales yesterday morning (Monday over here in Australia), which was Day 1 of Week 11, of eating correctly and going to the gym 3~4 times a week.

198.2lbs (90.1kg) Which means ive lost pretty much smack bang on 22lbs (10kg), which is an achievement that im pretty proud of, but i want to lose even more!

Ive noticed that its pretty much came off my legs and a little from my chest/stomach, and off my face. Id prefer if it came off quicker off my stomach/chest but i guess i cant pick and choose. Ive lost like 3 pants sizes and most of my shirts are now noticeably too big on me. A few people have mentioned that ive flattened out a little in my stomach etc, but i cant really see it LOL perhaps because i look at it every single day and dont notice the subtle changes.

Ive also changed up my routine a fair bit, and now have incorporated a fair bit more of weighs/resistance training into the routine, and i have sort of dropped the home routine after the gym, as well as the body pump class.

Basically this is what we do now:
Day 1: 20~30mins of cardio (either/combination of; treadmill, bike, rowing machine) + chest (incline/decline/normal bench press, pec dec/flyes)

Day 2: 20~30mins of cardio + biceps/triceps (bicep/barbell curls, hammer curls, tricep pull downs, overhead tricep extensions)

Day 3: 20~30mins of cardio + back/shoulders (seated row, lat pulldowns, front raises)

Day 4: Pretty much solid cardio for 30~50mins or sometimes add in some random weighs exercises, or situps/crunches, leg pull in things etc etc.

Day 5: Optional, and we usually just do whatever we want. Mainly cardio though.

So anyways, just thought id update it, and if anyone has any suggestions or criticisms, then they are more than welcome.

Cheers!

You should find a picture of yourself from before and compare it to a picture of yourself right now. I am sure you will see a difference immediately. As I progress I am going to be taking update photos and posting them in my journal here. I have my before pictures from a little over 2 weeks ago and after a month of eating healthy and working out I will take some more.

Sounds like you are doing exactly what you need to do to lose the weight. It's a tough road isn't it? Keep at it. what's your eventual weight goal?

Amazing, keep crackin at it, you're seeing real results. I was dissuaded by the fact that I didn't see any change to my body shape, my clothes were looser, as yours are, but I couldn't notice anything... until I looked at pictures. Today you should take a picture of yourself and make it your "BEFORE" picture, and every month take a new picture of yourself as an "AFTER" picture. I promise after 1 or 2 months, you'll be amazed.

Thanks for the encouragement guys, it really does help thats for sure.

I really should have taken a before pic before i started any of this, so i could monitor progress, not only in fat loss, but also muscle development. Areas that i did notice some progress etc was in my arms and upper chest. I can see more of my biceps now (either because theyre getting bigger or the fat is reduced around them perhaps haha), my upper chest is getting firmer (though still has fat on it) and my shoulders are a little more round/prominent, if that makes sense.

I know there is progress, i just wish i could notice it more. Everyone i say that to just says its because i see myself 24/7, whereas if i were to look at myself once a month or whatever, then id notice it. How true that is, is debatable, but anyways.

I guess its not too late, and i could take a pic now and compare it with a few months down the track. I will do that.

As for a target weight. Im not sure that i have one really. Perhaps around 165~176lbs (75~80kg) or so? The main thing is i want to lose my stomach and chest fat, so i can have a flat stomach pretty much. So whatever it takes really, and im pretty determined to get there!

Thanks again for the confidence boost. Im really trying to crack the 90kg mark this week. Seeing figures in the 80's will also really help maintain my confidence and motivation. Ill let you know how it goes!

Cheers all!

If you want to measure progress in some way other than just the scale, take pictures of yourself and take circumference measurements of yourself (waist, chest, etc.) now. Then you will have a basis of comparison when you do the same weeks from now (compare the pictures and measurements in addition to your weight).

It all sounds very good. You sound committed and you are off to Great start.
You said you follow your workouts by doing pushups etc... at home. I think you can leave this part out. You're already working those muscles in the class at the gym. Remember this rule, give you muscles 48 hours rest when you do any type of resistance or weight training. So work them only every other day.
Rest is just as important as working out.

Also someone else mentioned this too, don't do the same thing for 3 months. It takes the body anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks to adapt. So increase your intensity and vary your exercises each month. Then rotate back to the lighter less intense workouts. So low intensity (less weight, higher reps), then moderate then intense. Go through each for a period of 4 to 6 weeks and just make sure you rotate and give your muscles time to recover.

Good Luck and Great Job so far.

Thanks guys.

Well, today is Monday in Australia, and the beginning of week 13, and here i sit writing this at a very proud 194lbs (88kg). Which means a total of exactly 26lbs (12kgs) in 12 weeks.

Im pretty proud of the effort ive put in, and it makes you feel great going to shops and trying on clothes 2 sizes smaller than what you are used to. Ive gone from size 40 pants to a 36, and from an XXL shirt to a L.

I not only feel so much healthier and have more energy to do things, but also feel more confident and better about myself in general.

So anyways, yeah, i just thought id continue posting some progress/updates with how im going. I still want to lose at least another 17lbs (8kg) or so, possibly more. I really want to lose a bit more of my stomach and chest, which makes it frustrating that you cannot spot reduce fat or target certain areas

But thanks for the well wishes and encouragement.

Cheers all!