Advice needed for program

G'day everyone, jimmy here and my first post so I hope this is in the right forum. I am really confused and badly need some help to design a program. To give you a bit of background, I am 35 years old, 6'1" tall and weigh 89kg. Am in reasonable shape (bit of a gut and love handles but not to bad) although fitness is nowhere what I would like. Played a heap of sport in my younger days (up to early / mid 20s), then got busy with work , mortgage etc and drank way more than I should have!
So, I have decided it Is time to hit the gym and work on my overall fitness. I have never really been right into the gym / weights but have been there on and off over the years, although i don't have any real knowledge at all on how I should be working out to get the best results.
My goals are to put on more muscle, would like to reach 95kg, be lean (not interested in having a bodybuiders physique, would rather look like an olympic swimmer // afl footballer) and really increase my overall fitness.
I have been doing a heap of reading over the past few weeks to try and work out a suitable program / exercises for me to do but am now more confused than ever! Everytime I read something there seems to be a different view on what exercises to do / how many reps / what weights etc.
Would really appreciate some advice on what exercises I should be doing / how many times a week I should do it etc etc. I know that I just need to get in there and do something, but would much rather be doing it properly so that I get to my goals quicker and keep the motivation up.
I also enjoy riding (road and mountain bike), running, circuit classes / crossfit so want to do this as well, but then I have read that cardio is no good if lifting weights??
- sorry for the long post and again will appreciate any advice!!

Do starting strength. Just google it there is heaps of info on the net about.

Run the programme for 6 months and for the love of god don't change it just run it and reap the rewards. Good luck bro your post is going to get hit with a shitstorm about different programmes, but starting strength is the go for someone in your position. 3 days a week and will whip you into shape.

It will probaby take a couple of years of bodybuilding to get an afl style body, so don't worry too much. The quickest way to reach your goals is lift as hard as possible....

Opinions will vary on what style of trainimg to do (as brick said).

I prefer a bodybuilding style split over a starting strength type program..

But whatever you choose, you must go balls to the wall.


Have fun

Brick said:

Do starting strength. Just google it there is heaps of info on the net about.

.

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I agree; it is a good program to start with as it teaches the basic compound exercises and will guide you to determine the correct weight to use for each.

Brick said:

Do starting strength. Just google it there is heaps of info on the net about.

Run the programme for 6 months and for the love of god don't change it just run it and reap the rewards. Good luck bro your post is going to get hit with a shitstorm about different programmes, but starting strength is the go for someone in your position. 3 days a week and will whip you into shape.

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Thanks for that brick, just googled and got some info. I also came across the '365 day muscle building plan' by roger lock ridge. - do you know much about this one??
With the starting strength program I know that I will feel like I should be doing more then 3 days a week, if I hook into the cardio for say 2 other days or maybe do a couple of circuit / crossfit classes will it be a help?

Haha, first reply and it's starting strength, who would've guessed

My dislike for starting strength is up there with my disdain for arm days

The Hamburgler said:

My dislike for starting strength is up there with my disdain for arm days

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Amen to that

I may have entered...


The twilight zone :O

The Hamburgler said:

My dislike for starting strength is up there with my disdain for arm days

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....this is the confusing bit for me, one says to do this, the other says its shit! (well not in so many words) please also bear in mind that I am new to this so need to keep things simple and still get results. Also will be training by myself so won't have anyone besides me who knows heaps of stuff about heaps of stuff.

jimmy said:

....this is the confusing bit for me, one says to do this, the other says its shit! (well not in so many words) please also bear in mind that I am new to this so need to keep things simple and still get results. Also will be training by myself so won't have anyone besides me who knows heaps of stuff about heaps of stuff.

Click to expand...

Welcome to bodybuilding

In the end you will get results with whatever you choose, so long as you give it all you've got.

Do something that focuses on compound movements at a minimum, has progressive overload set up, has enough volume and/or frequency in it and make it something you will like doing and just do it.

Keep lifting hard, keep lifting more and eat a lot. Keep away from too much cardio unless it is helping reach your goals i.e. More conditioned for sport.

Focus upon compound movements and keep the isolation stuff for last as assistance work IF you choose to do them.

Have fun and be consistent.

As anothe alternative look up the beginners program by PTC on this forum I have been doing it three weeks so far and loving it.. you see progression pretty early on... See wingman and semillons training diaries too...

Just another option

Jimmy, I've mentioned exrx a few times. Workout Creation Instructions and their other pages will give you knowledge for a long time to come.

As for your question about training more than 3 days a week; remember that your body grows, in strength, fitness, endurance, etc. during rest, not during training. Think of it this way; assume your current level is 100%. When you train, your level drops to, say 90% over the next days. You feel this as sore muscles, fatigue, sluggishness etc. Then your body starts to recover and you finally reach a level that is called supercompensation. This can take from 1 or 2 days to longer. My personal experience when I was a competitive athlete was 4-5 five days and by that time I'd have so much energy I could do anything, compared to your orginal level you would be, say 105%. That's when you train again (or the same muscle group). The trick is to develop a program using periodization so you can train more frequently without overloading particular muscle groups, or energy systems etc. (Sports periodization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Periodization Training, HK Search)

Also remember that as you get older, your body needs longer to recover, but that as you get fitter, you will require less recovery. So you need to find a good balance between recovering sufficiently, and working out more often as you become fitter.

I began Starting Strength say 2 weeks ago, after a good 6+ months of varying stuff without a lot of knowledge, a lot of machine iso's etc. I had great initial progress and then flat for 4 months, thus the recent change to SS. So yeah get the program right upfront, at least make sure it is compound movements as Dave said.

Too early to tell is SS is any good from my experience, some here hate it, others love it. I think SS (or something like it) at the beginning is probably a safe way to go, thus I am.

I'm doing this variation of it: Starting Strength Wiki - Wichita Falls Novice Version

I too feel like I should be doing more, but you need rest and recovery time. I will supplement SS after a few weeks with some extra's and assistance work only where time, where I specifically need it most, where it won't negatively affect my next session, and where it means I'm not overtraining. So pretty much the program comes first.

FYI careful on the cardio - I play basketball pretty hard on Monday's, and find that strips back some of the gains I make. Plus you can confuse the body, giving it different stimulus all the time.

And after you sort your program, sort the diet. That was my other failing!