HEYA!!! Need some cardio tips!

[shakesbeer]

Hi everyone. I just joined this forum and I need some help-actually a lot. So I'm totally a beginner at this and I really don't know what I should work on in order to lose weight. I know that I need a really good diet plan and I must balance out cardio and weight workouts. The thing is I don't know how to put this all together such as..what machine I'm suppose to work on..or what kind of cardio I should be doing or how many calories I should lose and what food to eat.

Just in case any of you guys decides to reply to questions I will leave some details about meself. I'm 23 years old, I'm 5'3, and I currently weight 155. friends said that 120 or 130 is where i should be at..so i guess aim this year is to get to 120 or 30 lol. So do any of you guys have a workout routine or one of those HIIT cardio workouts that would be beneficial to me? And what kind of food should i eat for someone around size? Please any tips would greatly be appreciated. Oh yeah, if I created this thread in the wrong section please excuse me for the mistake.

Much obliged.

[Boss Man]

120-130 is low, frankly your current weight is fine, so you'd be better just manipulating your body compsition to a more pro-muscle state, by working to shed a bit of excess fat if any and replacing it with muscle.

Basic guidelines for training.

1. Do total body stuff, all muscle groups worked, 2 sets per muscle 8-10 reps.

2. Do this 3x a week, using compoind movmenets like Squats, Deadlifts, Bench Press etc.

3. Repeat for 4-6 weeks starting on light weights, until your body adjusts to the biomechanics of weightlfiting.

4. Add Cardio in on a couple of the other 4 days, for about 30-40 minutes. I'd go for basic steady state for now, to help get a bit more of a cardiovascular foundation, so you're then ready for something a little more taxing in the future. Cardiovascular work should mimic weightlifting work, in relation to not doing too much too soon.

This is the sort of schedule you'd be looking at.

Day 1. Weights

Day 2. Cardio

Day 3. Weights

Day 4. Day off

Day 5. Cardio

Day 6. Weights

Day 7. Day off.

This splits the 2 off days and stopes you training more than 3 days straight.

A good gym should be able to help you do something akin to this and get you off and running .

As for the diet, what meals do you eat and times do you eat?

[shakesbeer]

120-130 is low, frankly your current weight is fine, so you'd be better just manipulating your body compsition to a more pro-muscle state, by working to shed a bit of excess fat if any and replacing it with muscle....................Do total body stuff, all muscle groups worked, 2 sets per muscle 8-10 reps......As for the diet, what meals do you eat and times do you eat?

well you see I have this disgusting blob....that's why i think i should get it down to 120 or 130 and possibly it might get flatter. I actually want to be fit for playing sports in the future such as soccer,tennis, fencing etc. So friends said that 120 or 130 would be good for me. Food?..idk..ima pig..so..i eat whenever~ What do you have in mind for someone around size boss? and another thing i dont want to bulk up i just want to i guess like you said replace the excess fat with muscles. i dont want to turn out like this guy though LOL-no offense..


btw thanks for the guidelines..i wouldnt even know where to start..this is like rocket science to me lol I really do appreciate it.

oh yeah, what do you mean by total body stuff?

[Boss Man]

By total body stuff, I mean hitting the whole body 3x a week, as opposed to doing different parts on different days.

It's a standard practice for people starting out on weights.

[sebastian643]

It sounds like you want to put on lean muscle rather than body-builder bulk. I can give you a few tips to get you started as you are a beginner.

Workout
Stick to compound exercises, it is more effective workout for a beginner. For example, avoid wasting 30 minutes on a machine doing your biceps, when you could spend 30 minutes burning fat and building muscle. A compound exercise involves numerous muscle groups working together to lift the weight; squats (legs, lower back, chest),
Bench press ( chest, back of arms, shoulders). Machines only work in a two dimensional space (up and down, left to right). As a beginner you want to get your body accustomed to lifting weight and the principles involved in weight lifting. Mix up your cardio sessions effectively by doing anaerobic cardio/ HITT sessions two to three times a week. For example....


Monday

Barbell bench press 8 repetitions

Barbell bench press 8 repetitions

Barbell bench press 8 repetitions

Barbell bench press 8 repetitions

Barbell squat 10 repetitions warm up

Barbell squat 8 repetitions -maximum weight

Barbell squat 8 repetitions -maximum weight


Barbell Dead lift 8 repetitions

Barbell Dead lift 8 repetitions

Barbell Dead lift 8 repetitions

Barbell Dead lift 8 repetitions

Tuesday

On completing a sprint, walk back to the start and start the next sprint

200 meter sprints (75% of maximum pace)

200 meter sprints (75% of maximum pace)

200 meter sprints (75% of maximum pace)


Recovery/ rest period of five minutes, but keep warm by walking and moving about. Then repeat workout (increase your pace to 85%)

These kind of sprint or interval running session will help your cardiovascular health and maintain muscle gains, whilst burning fat. Think of sprinter's physiques, now think of long distance runners. Avoid regular long runs on the treadmill!

Rest day Wednesday

Thursday weights

Friday HITT session (sprints, interval running, weights circuit)

Saturday Rest/recovery





Food

Eat lots of high-quality protein in your diet to repair and gain your lean muscle; chicken breast (no skin), fish, egg whites and reduce your carbs throughout the day. Look for the glycemic guide to food and check out which carbs give you a stable blood sugar. Keep your fats to less than 15-20% of your entire daily calorific intake.
And avoid cakes, fizzy drink, and stick to a moderate consumption of alcohol on the weekends if you must! Good luck



How much to eat

This is a very basic guide you can try, there are better and more accurate principles, however I do not want to make it too complicated for now, so try the formula below.

FAT LOSS = 12-13lbs X each pound of your bodyweight

WEIGHT MAINTENANCE = 15-16lbs X each pound of your bodyweight

WEIGHT GAIN = 18-1lbs X each pound of your bodyweight

GOOD LUCK!

[Jentry07]

HIIT is a great fat loss workout, you are right there! How it works is you will start with a 5 minute warm up. Then move on to the intervals, 30 second sprint at about 10mph followed by a jog for 90 seconds at 5mph. Repeat this 10 times, ending with a 5 minute cool down! This workout will really get your heart racing and metabolism running, why it is a good fat loss workout! It will burn 9 times more fat than other cardio workouts. I do recommend doing this workout on a treadmill, I know http://www.nordictrackcoupons.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; has some really inexpensive good quality treadmills if you are interested. This will help you to keep your speeds consistent on those intensity intervals. Do this workout 3-4 times a week, with strength training exercises 3 days a week. Resting one day a week. Building that muscle will help you to burn more calories while at rest, and the cardio will help to shed the fat!
Combine this with a healthy well balanced diet full of fruits,vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. Eat frequent smaller meals, about every 3 to 4 hours to help keep your metabolism revved through out the day. Count your calories, you should be eating about 1500 calories a day! Make sure you are not eating too less, which is a the biggest diet failure. Eating too few calories will only slow your metabolism, your body going into "starvation" mode and holding on to the calories for fear of not knowing when they will get more.
Also stay motivated and determined, don't lose hope. Weight loss can be a slow process at times, not shedding the pounds as quickly as one might like. But just remember how long it took you to put on the weight, it will take time to get it off. Stay focused, you can do it!
Good luck to you! Let us all know your progress!!!

[marinovich]

Great job setting that goal and believing in yourself enough to reach it! I would suggest doing REHIT stability ball training and pool workouts. i would not recomend a heavy running schedule due to ankles legs etc get soar and achy and prevents you from actually wanting to get out there and work out. The pool is great for low impact training as well as stability ball training to ease impact on the joints etc. I suggest doing nervous system training in the pool instead of spending an hour, only need 10-15 min. Another great way is using the stability ball to do REHITS and nervous system training to ease the impact on joints and will see results much faster then sticking to the same routine ie. weights, running, pool. Keep us posted on your weight loss journey!!!!!!!



Mikhail Marinovich
http://www.marinofit.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Tallgirll22T]

If you want to do something fun that makes you feel alive and like you really accomplished something at the end of it, pick up Jillian Michael's Kickbox Fast . It has 3 20 minute workouts with intervals. It isn't that hard for a beginner knowing zero about martial arts, plus it is really fun and lots of hot girls motivating with inspiring bodies!
As far as your nutrition, we all struggle with that. Just try to avoid sugar and processed foods as much as possible and eat some sort of protein at every meal or snack with a fruit, veggie, or whole grain. Drink as much water as possible.

[toddhicks209]

In addition to eating a nutritious diet and cutting back on the amount of fats you consume, feel free to use all of the weight lifting and cardiovascular exercise machines at the gym at least three times a week.