I Don’t Know Where To Start

[Testingitnow]

Hi, so I’ve been recently thinking about working out, but I don’t know what to do from this point on.

So far I’ve set a goal (mainly want to gain weight and grow muscle) I’m not sure where I can find good resources for workout plans, meal plans etc. I’ve heard that there’s a lot of misinformation about fitness on the internet, so I wanted to make sure I’m getting the right information

Any websites, YouTube channels, books, and overall tips are appreciated

 

[flcl04]

You tube will probably be your best friend
Check out athlean-x lots of good beginner info
Mike Rashid also gives some good info sometimes a little more advanced but still good
You just gotta stay consistent and don't get frustrated

 

[deleted553203]

For Youtube: FitnessFAQs, TappBrothers, PictureFit. If you want something more in depth go with Jeff Nippard.

 

[twoton]

Do you have home equipment or a gym membership?

 

[Testingitnow]

Do you have home equipment or a gym membership?

I have neither

 

[twoton]

It's going to be hard to grow muscle without equipment, regardless of which websites you follow.
Pushups can be very beneficial, but they can only get you so far.
I don't have any recommendations for resources, other than to look for information related to "Starting Strength," the book, website, etc. It's all based on weightlifting, however.

What you can do in the meantime, though, is get started. Set your own goals and track your workouts.

 

[someperson]

Do you have home equipment or a gym membership?

walmart has a cheap weight set for 40$ ** bought it years ago for 100 pound barbell set concrete

but the price skyrocketed it's 150$ for it now
basically more then triple the price...

it's going to be hard to find cheap equipment now days because the demand is so high..

 

[Call_Me_Dave]

Check Facebook marketplace for people selling gear near you. I see a ton of weights for sale near me. Also Craigslist.

 

[Scarletbegonia]

Check Facebook marketplace for people selling gear near you. I see a ton of weights for sale near me. Also Craigslist.

Also, play it again sports. My hand weights came from there, fairly cheap.

 

[Scarletbegonia]

Hi, so I’ve been recently thinking about working out, but I don’t know what to do from this point on.

So far I’ve set a goal (mainly want to gain weight and grow muscle) I’m not sure where I can find good resources for workout plans, meal plans etc. I’ve heard that there’s a lot of misinformation about fitness on the internet, so I wanted to make sure I’m getting the right information

Any websites, YouTube channels, books, and overall tips are appreciated

What are you doing now? Work that is laborious, playing ball with friends, hiking, running, climbing?

How much time have you to devote to this, and when?

Are you a morning person? If so, look at morning workouts.

What is your current diet?

What are you willing to change in your life?

what does “strong” mean to you?

 

[Scarletbegonia]

@Snarky_succubus
We need your expertise!

 

[Testingitnow]

What are you doing now? Work that is laborious, playing ball with friends, hiking, running, climbing?

How much time have you to devote to this, and when?

Are you a morning person? If so, look at morning workouts.

What is your current diet?

What are you willing to change in your life?

what does “strong” mean to you?

Right now, I’m just staying at home all day. I don’t have a job (although I am looking for one) since I finished my quad-semester at school not too long ago. I do take walks from time to time but that’s about it when it comes to some type of exercise

I have plenty of time, I just need to get a job so I can stop financially depending on my parents; be able to purchase the things that I need with my own money.

I recently fixed my sleep schedule so I’d consider myself as a morning person. (I never had the thought of working out in the morning. Thanks for bringing that out into the light)

My diet is really bad. That’s something I want to change before I start working out. I eat a lot of unhealthy, processed foods. I started to learn how to cook a couple of months into quarantine, so I feel like learning new recipes and changing my diet will be fine for me

I’d say overall, I’d want to change myself to be more independent. Like I said before, I want to become financially dependent on myself, I want to cook for myself, and just fulfill myself without validation from others

Strong to me means not only strength physically, but strength mentally. I want to be able to lift heavy things, and to not crumble up by the littlest of disrespect

Thanks for asking all those questions. I never really thought about most of these things, and now I can feel where a lot of my drive comes from

 

[Scarletbegonia]

@Testingitnow

I’m almost certified in nutrition, meaning I’m almost done with my live people training. Which is a joy in COVID-19 lockdown.
Here’s my basic advice for slowly shifting your food in a bag/box diet to real food.
Start my adding non-starchy veggies. They are both nutrient dense and will fill you up. Don’t fry anything, and add a salad of veggie soup to your meals.
As you add vegetables you will start to retrain your tastebuds. Sweets won’t be as attractive, and you’ll gain some control.
I’m not anti unprocessed carbs, so fruit is fine. Easy on the dried form as that concentrates sugars.
Whole grains (keep the good stuff in your food), lots of fruits and veggies, less potatoes/winter squash, if you eat meat, go lean and small potions.
Think of this as a lifestyle change, not a “diet.” Who likes diets?

 

[Snarky_succubus]

There is a LOOOOTTTT of bad information out there. I'll start by addressing your comment about wanting to change your diet before you start working out. No need to wait unless you feel like doing both is going to be too much change too fast. The key to ALL of this is making changes that you can maintain. With diet and exercise. The upside of being untrained and having a garbage diet is... any change is a step in the right direction and it probably wont take anything massive for you to see some results. The results are inevitably the best motivation and motivation is what you need in the beginning. Later on down the road the motivation aspect will come and go and discipline will be the thing you *need*. That's why it's important to make sustainable changes now. If you make changes you can stick with, you'll create good habits and pattern yourself to make these superior choices.
Like @Scarletbegonia said, making nutrient dense food choices is a big deal. If you want to build muscle you want your body to be working as well as it can be... so shopping around the outside of the grocery store is a good place to start. That's where the fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy, and less processed whole grain products are. The stuff on the aisles in the center of the store are there because they're super processed and preserved, so they ca stay on shelves with no refrigeration. To build muscle you're going to need to be in a slight caloric surplus unless you're currently overweight but it doesn't sound like you are. Macrosinc has a reasonably good calorie/macro calculator that will help you get an idea of where you should be nutritionally to build. Make your calories and your protein intake the priorities. If you only track those, you should still be fine but make sure you get in that protein and all of your calories or your body can't do what you're asking it to do.

As for workouts. I agree that athleanx is a great resource. I'd also take a look at Stefi Cohen's channel. She's a wizard. If you join a gym, do yourself a favor and hire a trainer at least a few times to show you how to safely use the equipment. Nothing will discourage faster than an injury so set yourself up for success. You most definitely can do it wrong... Even on machines. If you want to start at home you certainly can. You don't need a ton of weight, especially in the beginning. Push-ups, pull-ups, squats, and lunges can all be done with just your body weight (and a pull-up bar obviously) and can put plenty of muscle on you. Don't let anybody tell you they can't. It takes a lot more reps and effort but it can be done. Gymnasts have had fantastic bodies since long before weight training was a regular thing for them. Look into mind muscle connection and how to develop that. It's a BIG deal and one of the biggest failures of people who are training endlessly and not getting where they want to be. I see people in the gym every single day throwing around weight and sloppily tossing machines around with no focus, no intention, no idea of what muscles they're trying to use. Motions don't build muscle, resistance does. You can put a 35 lb dumbbell in your hand and use momentum to whip it up in the direction of your face and you wont do as much good as you would with a 10lb dumbbell and a little effort to slowly contract your bicep, squeeze that muscle at the top of the rep, and lower it with control. whether you're working out with body weight, free weights, machines, bands... whatever you're using.. Don't bounce... Don't sway... Don't swing. Be still and move the weight by contracting the muscle you're trying to target. Do that simple thing and you will make progress no matter how you choose to work out. There's many many programs that will work... There's a ton of "right" ways. You have to try some stuff and see what works for you and what you like, but if muscle growth is what your goal is, you should be looking at programs/workouts for hypertrophy.

Also, @socalfreak and I will talk your face off about this stuff if you let us so feel free to ask questions if you have them

 

[Scarletbegonia]

Thank you, @Snarky_succubus!

Because folx will get lost between our food recommendations, I’m plant-based.
I have been at least vegetarian since 1980. I work from a place that says animal protein, including dairy and eggs are unnecessary in a human diet. (I came to this for spiritual reasons, and through a couple crises of faith, have emerged still following a plant based diet, but without dairy. I chose to learn the science.)
We are designed to eat what we can, but we see the results of that.
I call it “opportunivore.”

Here is where plant based diets of most stripes and the ketogenic/paleo/primal diets agree:
More vegetables. Way more vegetables.
Cover that, and a lot of the rest is just fuel for arguments.

I eat for extended energy. So, I am good with fruits, whole grains, and beans and lentils. I personally limit fats, because I had reason to believe I was “skinny fat,” holding fats in my body even when I was underweight. I had a cardiac incident in the 80s, likely a combo of asthmatic damage to the heart paired with a violent incident. So I function as if I’ve got damage in the heart muscle and my age is when arteries get stiff just because.

I aim for two pounds of veggies a day.
My goal is multi mile/multi hour/multi days hiking with 20-30 lbs/9-13 kg on my back.

I use a couple online calculators.
I’m on spark people, so I use theirs, which is a basic macros, with a few micros you can add. pits very pedestrian.
For more in-depth, I like Cronometer: Track nutrition & count calories
I use its iOS app.
I also use a paper journal. Paper for me is more convenient, and allows me to enter all the food at once in an app. I track how hungry I was, what I chose, and the way I felt physically and mentally after each meal. I discovered a mild sensitivity to raw tomatoes this way.
I mentioned my own goal of two pounds of veggies a day. The journal helps me get there. I noticed if I was OMAD, eating one meal a day, I was not hitting that. So I went back to 15/9 fasting. I’m 52 and female, so shorter fasts work for meals daily practice. I still go 20-24 hours one or twice a month, and I have a feeding day, where my calories are high, a few times a month so my body doesn’t go into fat preservation. I’m 20-25 lbs over where I want to be. Cycling a high calorie day keeps the system on its toes.

 

[Snarky_succubus]

Thank you, @Snarky_succubus!

Because folx will get lost between our food recommendations, I’m plant-based.
I have been at least vegetarian since 1980. I work from a place that says animal protein, including dairy and eggs are unnecessary in a human diet. (I came to this for spiritual reasons, and through a couple crises of faith, have emerged still following a plant based diet, but without dairy. I chose to learn the science.)
We are designed to eat what we can, but we see the results of that.
I call it “opportunivore.”

Here is where plant based diets of most stripes and the ketogenic/paleo/primal diets agree:
More vegetables. Way more vegetables.
Cover that, and a lot of the rest is just fuel for arguments.

I eat for extended energy. So, I am good with fruits, whole grains, and beans and lentils. I personally limit fats, because I had reason to believe I was “skinny fat,” holding fats in my body even when I was underweight. I had a cardiac incident in the 80s, likely a combo of asthmatic damage to the heart paired with a violent incident. So I function as if I’ve got damage in the heart muscle and my age is when arteries get stiff just because.

I aim for two pounds of veggies a day.
My goal is multi mile/multi hour/multi days hiking with 20-30 lbs/9-13 kg on my back.

I use a couple online calculators.
I’m on spark people, so I use theirs, which is a basic macros, with a few micros you can add. pits very pedestrian.
For more in-depth, I like Cronometer: Track nutrition & count calories
I use its iOS app.
I also use a paper journal. Paper for me is more convenient, and allows me to enter all the food at once in an app. I track how hungry I was, what I chose, and the way I felt physically and mentally after each meal. I discovered a mild sensitivity to raw tomatoes this way.
I mentioned my own goal of two pounds of veggies a day. The journal helps me get there. I noticed if I was OMAD, eating one meal a day, I was not hitting that. So I went back to 15/9 fasting. I’m 52 and female, so shorter fasts work for meals daily practice. I still go 20-24 hours one or twice a month, and I have a feeding day, where my calories are high, a few times a month so my body doesn’t go into fat preservation. I’m 20-25 lbs over where I want to be. Cycling a high calorie day keeps the system on its toes.

The diet thing is just like the workout thing. There’s a lot of ways that can work. You have to try things and see what works for you. No matter what you choose, nutritionally dense is important. Like you said, most diets agree that vegetables are important. Personally, I suffer in a big way on vegan or vegetarian diets. I never feel good, I never feel satiated which makes me over-eat, and I feel like I’m constantly struggling to stay on plan. I have a dear friend who is the exact opposite. Her body weight quickly stabilizes, she feels fantastic, and she’s full of energy. So, who’s to say? There’s ways to “do it right” with and without animal products but the only way to know if it works for you is to try.

 

[Snarky_succubus]

Thank you,

oh.. also..

anytime!

 

[deleted972421]

Do you hear that sound? It's the audience applauding vigorously for all the good advice being offered here. Read what S_s and ScarletB have written... then process and apply to your life. So much good stuff there.

 

[Testingitnow]

Wow, I got a lot more information than I was expecting!

Thank you guys so much. I’m really happy you guys understand how much I wanted this, and I’m glad I got exposed to a ton of brand new information.

I think I’ll stick to worrying about my diet before I start to work out. I don’t wanna move too fast so I believe focusing on my diet for now is best for me.

I’ll definitely check out all the YouTube channels, websites, and apps you guys recommend. And if I have any further questions, I won’t hesitate to ask any of you

Again, thank you so much for the wave of information!

 

[Scarletbegonia]

Wow, I got a lot more information than I was expecting!

Thank you guys so much. I’m really happy you guys understand how much I wanted this, and I’m glad I got exposed to a ton of brand new information.

I think I’ll stick to worrying about my diet before I start to work out. I don’t wanna move too fast so I believe focusing on my diet for now is best for me.

I’ll definitely check out all the YouTube channels, websites, and apps you guys recommend. And if I have any further questions, I won’t hesitate to ask any of you

Again, thank you so much for the wave of information!

make it simple. Add a serving of veggies to two meals a day. To start. Greens, red cabbage, even carrots can go in a smoothie. Like eggs? Put them on a bed of sautéed spinach.
Lean away from starchy veggies. (I personally file potatoes, sweet potatoes, and yams as starches with whole grains.)
Lunch can have soup, salad, loads of veggies on a sandwich, leftovers from the night before.
Dinner can be a sheet pan of roasted veggies. It often is in my home.

When I was raising my son, we had brown rice and veggies every other dinner. We’d tweak spices and sauces, but it’s was having a blueprint made it automatic. The second blueprint was whole grain pasta, with veggies and ...you get the picture.
Add beans and rice, and that’s pretty much what we did for 17 years.
Today, my kiddo, almost 29, does the same, except he adds chicken and fish and occasionally steak. He is some form of body builder... not a bulky form. Something that reminds me of Victorian era photos. Sorry, not my wheelhouse. Yet, three days a week are vegetarian in his home, too.
Given he was a split custody time kid, half veg means it took.

He preps three meals, and repeats them each once, every week. He makes enough to be lunches, so he can not think about it. Works for him. He and his gf go out once a week. With smoothies, he’s covered.