Men's Health Training Guide....

[towncop]

OK, former Marine here that has recently started jogging again. I'm looking to get back into the gym, not to get huge, only to cut some weight and get a more cut look. I bought this book, Men's Health Training Guide 2006 and was wondering if anyone has looked through it and can advise if it's a good start for someone that hasn't hit the weights in years. Main reason I got this one is because it shows each exercise and how to perform it correctly. And for what it's worth, my diet SUCKS. I hate veggies and most fruit. I mainly eat meat and potatoes.

Any info is greatly appreciated. How about it ProWriter? This is aimed at you in particular, lol. :D

[vicmackey]

Prowriter is a good one to ask. My opinion on those books is that, yes they are ok. I think that they go out of there way though to show new and interesting ways of doing what we already know. Just starting out I think just general running and light basic lifting is the way to go. Good ole bench, curls tricep ext. so on. Sometimes the Men's Health guys get a little too yuppy because they have to change things from last years book to sell it. The book will give you some good general guidelines on sets and break down a plan for you. I have bought two of the books though and never used a single workout from them. That's not to say I didn't learn anything about lifting ideology and nutrition. So my opinion of them is this. If you know nothing about what to do in the gym they will help you. However I don't think that you really need to use one of those big ole rubber balls to do an excercise. Some of the new ways are good though for a little bit of a change up from the old ways.

[malka881]

Best bet (advice from someone who took ten years off... Which I don't reccomend, by the way)-

1) Join the gym. Go to the front desk and ask which personal trainer will do the best job of kicking your butt into shape. Make an appointment.
2) Ask the trainer about your diet, and if he/she doesn't do that ask for a reccomendation to a dietician.

My time with the trainer was worth much more than I paid for it. My bench press weight doubled in three months.

[ProWriter]

What's up fellas. I just plugged the title into Amazon to see if any excerpts were available, but I think it's a different book that comes up. Do they list any of the authors by name?

In general, those books (if they're good), and for that matter, gyms, are more useful for building muscle than for dropping weight and getting more cut. That stuff's all mainly a function of your diet, and while you can do a lot of aerobic stuff at the gym to burn calories, it's really a losiing battle if you know your diet's the problem. Higher reps don't get you more cut, either; it's all dictated by how thick or thin the fat layer is covering the muscle.

I'm not crazy about asking personal trainers for advice, because personal training isn't a regulated field at all. Some of the most successful trainers (based on earnings and a loyal following) preach a lot of nonsense, and the voluntary "certification" system does absolutely nothing but earn money for the companies that stamp them out for anybody who pays their course fee and then passes a multiple choice test that is designed to be passed and doesn't even relate to much that is helpful in training people. If you're a former marine, the last thing you need is some kid "pushing" you to do more, because you already know how to train hard and you want to take it easy your first few times back in the gym, anyway . Personally, I've always considered training new clients so hard that they can barely move the next day to be a mark of inexperience and/or just showing off by the trainer. If you ask for that, you're going to get the loudest, most obnoxious, attention-seeking prima dona trainer the gym has on it's staff.

I'll check out the book if I can find it, but even if everything thing it says about how to do which exercise is great information, none of it will really help you drop the unwanted weight or get more cut without changing your diet. If you're wondering about anything specific before I can find the book, just post or paraphrase it here in the meantime.

[nrneuha]

I"ve seen the book, look on newsstands with magazines rather than with books, it's just a "Men's health" publication. From what I could tell, it has a lot of good stuff in it, I am a frequent reader of Men's Health and they generally are well informed.

[Cold Zero]

here i go again so forgive me. Men´s Health´s the Abs diet book contains a ton of info on nutrition and some nice training schedules to get you back on track. Worked for me and 4 buddies.
ProWriter is totally correct, bad diet----->bad results.
And a trainer might be fun but if your serious you will do a better job yourself finding wich excercies work best for YOUR body. Good luck!

[BigDaddy]

Here's two cents from a guy who took 15 years off and is currently training for an academy I hope to get in. Cut your carbs in half. Eat lean meats. Snack on a handful of almonds or cashews. Eat salads. Find a vegetable you can force down and eat it once a day. Have some fruit. Water Water Water. As for exercise, start off with the old standbys....walking, then running i.e.- walk 2 min run 1 min for 30 minutes every other day. After the first week run 2 walk 1. Next week run 3 walk 1 etc. I could barely run for a minute 5 weeks ago, then one day I was supposed to run 5 walk 1, and I just kept going. I just ran 3.5 miles in 45 minutes...that program works. As for the other stuff pushups and situps, then crunches and squats with no weight...build from there. Strengthen your core and the body follows....5 weeks and you'll feel great!

[BigDaddy]

Oh yeah- and don't ever- ever- take 15 years off! :eek:

[vicmackey]

15 years is a lotta time off. Good luck getting back. The most important thing beyond all the "do this do that" crap is just to make being healthy a way of life. We may not all look like men's health models, but just eat good a majority of the time and do SOMETHING atleast three times a week. Even a walk with the dog is better than sleeping on the couch. And two pieces of pizza are better than four six or eight. The more you do and the better you eat the better off you will be. But even doing a little and eating smaller portions of stuff will help.

[nrneuha]

Oh yeah- and don't ever- ever- take 15 years off! :eek:

Don't take six months off. Trust me. It sucks getting back on track.

[CDFinch]

It's quite simple really.

Muscle burns calories more efficiently than fat does. Decrease your caloric intake per day, increase your cardiovascular workout (running, swimming, biking, etc), add a little light weight training (low weight, high reps) to the program and most importantly, STICK TO IT.

The pounds will melt away and the muscle definition will shine through.

Eating right also helps tremendously and will make the transition easier and faster. Avoid caffeine infused drinks (caffeine dehydrates you), consider taking a NAMEBRAND multivitamin/mineral supplement (I hate veggies too, and offbrand vitamins usually don't have the amounts they claim to have), and just like basic training drink tons of water, with an after workout recovery of Gatorade/Powerade to replenish your electrolytes.

[nrneuha]

It's quite simple really.

Muscle burns calories more efficiently than fat does. Decrease your caloric intake per day, increase your cardiovascular workout (running, swimming, biking, etc), add a little light weight training (low weight, high reps) to the program and most importantly, STICK TO IT.

The pounds will melt away and the muscle definition will shine through.

Eating right also helps tremendously and will make the transition easier and faster. Avoid caffeine infused drinks (caffeine dehydrates you), consider taking a NAMEBRAND multivitamin/mineral supplement (I hate veggies too, and offbrand vitamins usually don't have the amounts they claim to have), and just like basic training drink tons of water, with an after workout recovery of Gatorade/Powerade to replenish your electrolytes.


Well stated.

[towncop]

Damn guys, I really appreciate all of the advice and tips that have come my way in this thread. I'm thinking about posting my weight and measurements here as in incentive to keep things going as I begin to get back on track. I posted another thread here awhile back about how much I hate running, lol. We'll see where I end up! Again, thanks to all. :cool:

[ProWriter]

...Avoid caffeine infused drinks (caffeine dehydrates you), consider taking a NAMEBRAND multivitamin/mineral supplement (I hate veggies too, and offbrand vitamins usually don't have the amounts they claim to have), and just like basic training drink tons of water, with an after workout recovery of Gatorade/Powerade to replenish your electrolytes.Couples of points of disagreement:
1. More recent studies suggest that caffeine probably does not dehydrate you at all, contrary to former beliefs about it.
2. Your choice isn't necessarily between name brand vitamins and bargain basement brands: large, reputable discount manufacturers (like CVS, for just one example) produce vitamins of the same quality and content consistency as the name brands, which are ridiculously expensive by comparison.
3. Plain water is a lot better than Gatorade, because (speaking of dehydration) Gatorade has much more salt than you need, and is not absorbed as quickly as plain water.

[JustDontDie]

Couples of points of disagreement:
1. More recent studies suggest that caffeine probably does not dehydrate you at all, contrary to former beliefs about it.
2. Your choice isn't necessarily between name brand vitamins and bargain basement brands: large, reputable discount manufacturers (like CVS, for just one example) produce vitamins of the same quality and content consistency as the name brands, which are ridiculously expensive by comparison.
3. Plain water is a lot better than Gatorade, because (speaking of dehydration) Gatorade has much more salt than you need, and is not absorbed as quickly as plain water.
Water doesn't have the electrolytes and sugars that your body needs after a strenuous workout. Simple sugars and carbs are good for you postworkout and drinks like gatorade are good for this.

[ProWriter]

Water doesn't have the electrolytes and sugars that your body needs after a strenuous workout. Simple sugars and carbs are good for you postworkout and drinks like gatorade are good for this.Stop getting your information from the labels on products meant to help promote those products.

I'm all for complex carb-rich post-workout meals, but we're talking about hydration here, not post-workout nutrition. Gatorade has a lot of salt, which is really the last thing you need in a drink intended to replenish fluids and electolytes, because solutions with salt are absorbed much slower and can even draw fluid FROM your body tissues TO your stomach, by the same principle that makes sea water deadly in quantity. Nothing throws your electrolytes off worse than salt you don't need.

Also, last time I checked, Gatorade is really a completely negligible source of carbs, at about 40 calories per serving. Drink plain water before, during, and after your workout, maybe have a banana right after and eat a meal of complex carbs and protein after your metabolism slows back down a bit. Don't believe the hype printed on the label of every product marketers hope to sell you.

[vicmackey]

I agree prowriter. Gatorade is for the birds. Drink water my man.