Hello fellow gurus, as the title says, I'm going back to the gym after soo many years. Working an office job ruined my body mentally and mostly physically. I'm starting a recovery program, I'm not going to the gym for vanity, for literally for saving my life. My GP told me that this life is lived once, better take care of myself. So, if any guru here can share a tip or two, you're more than welcome. Cheers!
I've worked office and driving jobs so I know what it's like to put on weight. I was nearly 300lbs about 5 years ago, but I'm 6'3" Most importantly watch your calorie count. A full grown male should eat around 2000 calories a day along with some walking/jogging.
Best advice I can give you is to sit and think about what you want to accomplish, then write down something specific. If you don't have a goal and just go to the gym "for health", you won't accomplish anything. At first you'll keep going based on positive momentum. But once that wears off (it always does), you'll loose motivation and the gym will become a chore. Pick a goal like running a half marathon, getting down to 14% body fat, deep squatting x 1.0 your body weight, etc. Pick a goal that seems interesting to you, then find training, nutrition, and recovery programs that help you reach that goal. Work away until you accomplish it. Along the way, don't get too obsessed with your goal, or the training programs you use to reach it. Some people get too into it and start to believe they've got the "right" goal, or the "right" program, and other people are "wrong". Just maintain some sense of objectivity.
I've been going to the gym for over 10 years now with the biggest break being 3 weeks. So that would be my first advice, be consistent. Learn what your limits are, and try to push yourself close to them, only then can you see results. At the same time, don't go over them, or only do so when you feel you got stronger and are ready (but not every week!). I've been through so many injuries, that if I could go back in time, this would be my first (in your case, second) advice, to train smart(er)! Third advice, nutrition. You have to eat clean, doesn't matter if you want to lose or gain weight, clean, nutritious food is paramount. Never have the mindset that you go to the gym so you can eat crap, trust me I've been there for many, many years and it sucked, since it made me look like a powerlifter, even though I tried to be more of a bodybuilder. Forth, rest, especially if you are not used to a lot of physical activity, 6 hours should be the bare minimum. Strive for 7-8 for maximum recovery (remember, your body grows when you rest). If you want, I can give you more advice, it's a huge topic as you might know, these are just some general tips that came to mind on the spot, but if you have more specific questions, feel free to ask.
yeah. 1. Injury prevention. By far the most important thing long term, both health and results wise. 2. Squat is everything 3. if you're into it for the health specifically, swimming, running or calisthenics are far better activities than weight lifting.
Solid advices, thank you all. My goals are: loose 10 KG, recover my running stamina (used to run like a horse), rebuild/recover my back muscles, and correct my posture. More, for other reasons I have to do cardio and overall boost my metabolism. Sitting all day is a killer, my body is a wreck. Yes, eating clean. Luckily, I am pretty careful with what food I eat. The only thing that's a bummer is that I open a beer (or more) once that I am at home.
Simple advice I can give you is the most important - GO. You're gonna have days you are tired, want to make excuses, come up with other things you "need" to do instead. Ignore that garbage and just GO to the gym or a trail...something. I'm 6 feet even. I was 326lbs at my worst in 2005. 10 years later in 2015, after hitting 200 for a while (years), I went back up to 250 because I quit walking and doing stuff. Started eating more...relationship weight they say...as of 2017 I now hover between 195 and 205. I allow a 10 lb fluctuation. Go and don't stop going. Don't find reasons to not go.
For the body - the gym. What about the mind? Is the force that drives us all. I feel that my mind is sharp as it used to be. I have to reboot, rinse, reinstall, whatever it takes to clear my mind. Working with people directly "poisoned"my mind. I mean talking, listening, analyzing each situation with all laws and regulations and counseling for average 100 persons per day.
If you can swing it, I would get a standing desk. I sat for 10 years in my 20s and wound up with low back problems. About 4 years ago, I bought a standing desk, a tall chair and started spending as much time standing as I could. I was surprised how sore it made my knees - they had gotten weak from all the sitting I used to do, so there was definitely an adjustment period of a couple months. These days, I only sit for 1-2 hours total. My lower back is in much better shape. For the mind, one of my most important tools is foam ear plugs. I know how left-field that sounds, but they really help. I got used to sleeping with them when we had a colicky baby, and I find they help me relax and focus on my workouts as opposed to headphones. Mainly, they amplify the sound of your breathing and heart rate which helps me get more in tune with my body. Good noise canceling headphones can also be a great tool. The Bose QC 35 are some of the best on the market, but they're spendy. Cheaper models I've tried don't come close. I would also encourage you to stay away from social media and youtube. Wean yourself off if you have to, but get away from the echo chambers they pigeon hole you into. Get some books, or a reading app and spend that time exploring new subjects you're not familiar with. Just changing my intake has been very helpful for me.
IMHO i think there 4 columns for building a healthy life on: 1. Going to the gym 2. Eat meaty meals and from midday on stay away from colihydrates, esp sugar and alcohol 3. Sleep well 4. Keep a positive outlook on life. A good trick is to think about what was good about yesterday every morning when driving to work or where ever you go.
I'm sorry but that cracked me up, my Kohlenhydraten Freund (oder Feind ), in English it's carbohydrates. Solid advice though, I don't eat carbs either after my post workout meal, which usually is around midday. I also don't drink alcohol at all, for no particular reasons, other than not liking the taste of most alcoholic beverages (and the ones that I kind of liked, were because of the added sugar in them).
Nice advice, looking at the title I was fully expecting whayoudontevenliftbrah style remarks I should really start the gym again myself. Not been a super active gym goer ever but I managed two consecutive years in college. I always seem to lose interest / start feeling like it's a huge chore and then just drop it eventually. I'm probably doing something wrong fundamentally as initially I get results but then everything just stalls. Btw not wanting to hijack the thread, just taking part
I'm a bit counter to most folks. I've never used a gym. I toss around 30lb free weights, one for each arm. I basically do 20 to 30 minutes of stretching, curls, shoulder rolls, triceps, lunges, pretty much full range of motion. It also helps a lot with maintaining your balance when you're swinging around an extra 30 kilos. Core I do planking mostly, in conjunction with level and angle change pushups. Pretty basic. I've have an aggressive audio track for the days I am feeling slow. It becomes a habit, like brushing your teeth.
The secret lies in getting addicted to it. I've been addicted to 3 things in my life before starting to work out: junk food, video games and pr0n. Getting addicted to weightlifting/bodybuilding, while not completely curing the three, it helped tremendously reducing them (especially junk-food, of which I very rarely indulge in the past years). At the end of the day, I simply wouldn't have the energy anymore for screwing around, once I started to get properly into training. So my advice is take the addict approach, it will be a lot easier to be consistent, and it will be a good addiction for a change. That is, if you can discipline yourself and not let your ego get the better of you and get injured, like I did sooo many times...
Chiming in regarding your mental state - it is often-said that the mental state of an individual can be attributed to poor-diet, and the build up of 'negative' organisms that reside in your gut. These organisms have (possibly) been fed on a diet of processed foods, carbs, refined sugar and all manner of 'junk' over the years. You gotta kill these lil'bugs off, take them out back and double-barrel them in the head, because they are the very things that are telling you that they need all of that junk, and they end up controlling your diet for you. I can flat-out tell you that it is all true, and my perspective on the world did change, quite dramatically, after I started drinking the above magic potion and, I also stopped craving 'junk' food, which in my case was a lot of red meat. Clears you out, allows YOU to control what/which organisms reside inside of you. It won't make you lose weight, but it will make it so the only things inside you munching on bio-matter, are craving fruit and veg, and, can actually process all of that built up meat over the years. The added bonus is that if gives your awesome polyphonic gas, loud enough to wake the dead.
About gut bacteria, I know how important they are. I am lucky to have in my family medics. From time to time, I enrich my gut bacteria wit dormant bacterial probiotics. Was a keystone factor when I quit smoking 12 years ago. Guys, let's clear something. I abandoned sugar and anything with sugar in it ages ago. No sugars. The only sugars allowed in my house is the honey harvested from my uncle's bee hives. We are lucky here, too - have a source of natural raw honey. And those who are "injected" in some processed foods. Some. We don't buy junk food, we strive to eat as natural as we can and afford and eat homemade food. We both cook, and we both prefer to skip a meal, rather eat junk food. As I said, my mental state worsened, or I became mentally exhausted after working day by day for many, many years with people and dealing with their poor decisions. My GP told me that my stress levels pointers are insanely high, advised to change job, or something. Anyway, went to the gym today. First time after so much time, I focused on doing things correctly, avoiding injuries. No point impressing the girl nearby with my flaky arms lifting too much weight, right? I try to stick to the gym etiquette and etiquette in general. I like to be well mannered, always is a charisma boost. Started with jumping jacks, and stretching. Did 3 x 15 reps for each back muscle group. Did 3x15 reps for arms and legs. Worked out a sweat, got somehow near to the runner's high. That feeling, that lost feeling. Used to run only to feel that endorphins high. Ended up after 1h 15". Will rest one day, then repeat. Happy times.
I'll follow this thread closely since I'm also working in an office and have terrible posture, very weak lower back and have gained an ugly beer belly (although I don't weigh more than 180lbs/82kg and I'm 6,2ft/189cm tall). I need to start doing something! Luckily my mental health is fine. Good luck dude!
@Netherwind Sorry to hear that, office jobs weren't on the evolution list when we start modern age. It's true that those jobs are a hazard to overall health, all of my work mates suffer of one ailment or another. Some, are hiding their medical results, avoiding any job cut or anything alike. Is that how one ends? Fearing the inevitable, working and suffering? Scared me to wits end, that's why I made this turn. You have more or less my physical shape and being tall helps to hide the beer belly, but posture is enhanced. Hunched backs never impressed anyone, right?
