/r/newbieintro

[jar92380]

Greetings from Kansas City, Mo. My name is James aka jar92380, and I am a 30 year old geek. During my lunch breaks at work I tend to work out, lift weights, etc.. I have noticed the second I get tired I stop completely, shower and go back to work. I tend to lose my motivation when I work out. I tried the insanity workout for 3 days, couldn't keep up so I stopped.

My goal is to go from 225 to 185, any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

ciao

James

[Alethea]

Hallo and welcome!

How do you mean tired? As in, your muscles are fatigued and no longer able to give full effort, or your mind gets bored of what you're doing, or something else?

To put it a different way, I think this quote applies to any exercise:

"Runners run the first 1/3 of a race with their body, the second 1/3 with their mind, and the last 1/3 with their heart."

Sounds like your quitting around the first or second third...? Why do you lose motivation? Do you like what you're doing, or would a different activity hold your interest better? What's your motivation for working out? Is it a passion to accomplish something, or a sense of obligation?

Here at NF, we exercise because we enjoy it. If you're not enjoying it, you need to figure out why!

[spezzy]

Greetings from Kansas City, Mo. My name is James aka jar92380, and I am a 30 year old geek. During my lunch breaks at work I tend to work out, lift weights, etc.. I have noticed the second I get tired I stop completely, shower and go back to work. I tend to lose my motivation when I work out. I tried the insanity workout for 3 days, couldn't keep up so I stopped.

My goal is to go from 225 to 185, any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

ciao

James

hi james, welcome to the boards

what kind of training do you do? what's your current program look like? what do you enjoy? what do you hate?

getting you on the right training program is step one for motivation.

step two is just pushing yourself. every day. when it gets harder, and you get tired, push harder. you have to really want it. if you don't really want it, you'll stop.

[jar92380]

I think when I just get a little fatigued I tend to stop working hard and just half a$$ it. When that happens if I can not complete a set, I just quit and that is where the negative mindset kicks in, you can't bench press this, you can't do that. My mind probably does wonder more than it should, thinking about work and such. I think I tend to lose my motivation because I get tired easily (former smoker for 13 years), so if I try to run on the trend mill, I can run for about 4 minutes then I just get tired and stop. I enjoy working out, I tend to get more discouraged if I can not see results faster than I hope to see them. My motivation is the want to be healthy like I was in high school, I played basketball and ultimate frisbee, now i can barely play 5 to 10 minutes of basketball without feeling completely winded and I have to sit out for a few minutes just to catch my breathe.

Here is my current workout routine at work. To get my heart rate up, I run on the tread mill for 2 to 5 minutes. I then go do some dips/pulls on the dip/pull up machine, then I use a smith machine to do my bench pressing (alot of the time i work out alone, safety first) then do some pushups, leg presses, etc... I can generally do a complete circuit before the negative mind set starts. If I am out playing sports like ultimate frisbee, I can go and not think of it as exercise, but just fun. I know my biggest hurdle is my motivation and how to over come the negative thinking.

[Alethea]

Sounds like it's your expectations that are hanging you up. You want to be at a different level than you are, and you're not being patient with yourself or giving yourself the time and effort to get better.

You're not in highschool any more, and your body will take time to get stronger. That's okay. This is where you are at, and you WILL improve if you put the time and dedication in. Be patient with yourself, and don't expect superhuman results. Enjoy the journey. If you can bench press 10 lbs more than you could before, thats awesome. Celebrate it. Don't beat yourself up because it wasn't 20.

[Glenndingo]

Hi James,

First you should establish a baseline routine, you know your goals and what you want to do but you do not have a plan. Take 10 minutes and jot down your goals on a sheet of paper, then go to the gym and (on a fresh monday) do a max set of push ups, pull ups, dips, and squats (bodyweight) until muscular failure and giving yourself ample time to rest in between each exercise; this will establish your baseline for your solo workouts. I'd recommend against using machines, as they tend to only work a few muscles in the compound muscle group, and they do nothing for stability muscles which can lead to injuries later on if you switch from a weight machine to free weights (as your stability muscles have had little to no training). If you want to do free weight chest exercises swap to dumbells instead of a machine, and use a squat rack for squats but remember it's better to use less weight and go up, than use more weight and go down(hard).

After you've set a baseline for yourself, develop your workout around the numbers you recorded on your max set day, and again do not concern yourself with numbers...practice form. Form, form, form. Don't "kip" or "kick" on pull ups, do controlled pull ups, push ups, and dips. Don't cheat yourself to get an extra rep, just remember you aren't going to see huge/massive gains in just a couple weeks...don't buy into crash diets, don't take andro and mega max and super fast mass builder with extra test booster creatine formula 9. Don't get locked into the "hollywood" diets.

Hope this helps James

P.S. Don't give up on yourself just because you're not in shape now. That's why you're out there working out, to better yourself and quality of life.

[Gowaduv]

I'm with you on having crappy motivation- if you need a professional sounding excuse to not do something, PM me... and if I have the gumption I'll get back to you

It's entirely possible you've discovered that running, as an exercise, doesn't work for you. I refuse to do it. I'll do pushups, box jumps, rowing machine, jumping jacks, jump rope, whatever- but if you want a sudden end to a workout just say "run" or even "treadmill." My heart will pump overtime and my lungs will burn just fine without traveling on the rubber road. I also avoid machines in general because I think they let my mind wander, and I want the integration of mind and body that's required when I have to focus on what I'm doing.

Have you considered doing some exercises that are out of your norm, just to change things up/get you excited? Do you think you having a workout partner would make you feel like you have someone you'd feel accountable to (or perhaps a personal trainer for a session a week so you're literally financially accountable to this person)?

I'm with the other folks, try to look for improvements instead of dwelling on not being able to do a certain number of reps. For all intents and purposes you're starting over- no one expects you to be a hero. If the routine you're working from says three sets of ten, but you get to four and are wiped out, try making five your maximum per set until you feel like you can push to six.

So there's more free advice, which is worth what you paid for it Stick with it, figure out what works and keep us updated on your progress.

[spezzy]

I think when I just get a little fatigued I tend to stop working hard and just half a$$ it. When that happens if I can not complete a set, I just quit and that is where the negative mindset kicks in, you can't bench press this, you can't do that. My mind probably does wonder more than it should, thinking about work and such. I think I tend to lose my motivation because I get tired easily (former smoker for 13 years), so if I try to run on the trend mill, I can run for about 4 minutes then I just get tired and stop. I enjoy working out, I tend to get more discouraged if I can not see results faster than I hope to see them. My motivation is the want to be healthy like I was in high school, I played basketball and ultimate frisbee, now i can barely play 5 to 10 minutes of basketball without feeling completely winded and I have to sit out for a few minutes just to catch my breathe.

I then go do some dips/pulls on the dip/pull up machine, then I use a smith machine to do my bench pressing (alot of the time i work out alone, safety first) then do some pushups, leg presses, etc... I can generally do a complete circuit before the negative mind set starts. If I am out playing sports like ultimate frisbee, I can go and not think of it as exercise, but just fun. I know my biggest hurdle is my motivation and how to over come the negative thinking.

ok so. a few things

for motivation: what's your ultimate goal other than weight loss?

I know personally, I think it's completely unacceptable that I'm at the level I'm at. COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. so when i get in there, and i can't get to what i want to be able to do, i channel that frustration into motivation to help me push myself further.

this is one of my favorite motivational videos:

http://vimeo.com/15259815

for your routine:

1) i work out alone also, and i bench press alone. i'd stay off the smith machine if i were you. its actually not safer. If you dont want to bench press with a barbell or freeweights on your own, I'd skip bench pressing altogether.

2) I'd also skip the leg press machine. Squats are your friend.

3) have you tried steve's circuits? or are you kind of making it up as you go? how many days are you working out, etc?

[jar92380]

Sorry for the late reply everyone, been busy at work and with the family. At first I did not have a real routine, I would just jump from one workout to another. After talking with some friends and reading the beginner workout routine I came up with the following routine.

10 jumping jacks to warm up

2 minute jog on the tread mill

Once warmed up

20 jacking jacks

20 lunges (alternate between prisoner and 20 pd weights)

20 body weight squats

20 dumb bell rows (25 pds)

45 second plans (each circuit alternate between side and front)

10 push ups

I perform the circuit 3 times and once I get that down, I plan on adding dips (we have a dip machine to just help out the beginners) and greater weight on the lunges and dumb bell rows. I will attempt to do some pull ups, but will wait until I get more comfortable with this routine. My monthly goal is to make it through the entire workout with no breaks. I know it will be a challenge at first, but hard work will pay off in the end. My ultimate goal is just to be healthy again, be able to play a full game of basketball without feeling like I am dying. I only do this workout on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Once the weather gets a bit nicer outside I plan on going for walks/runs to help on my cardio (former smoker for 12/13 years). If anyone has any advice on what I should change on my routine, I am all ears.

[jar92380]

I forgot to add the reverse bench press (pull your body up from the ground to a squat bar).