Sup NF?

[Aejaxe]

Couldn't sleep, so I figured I'd finally sign up for the forums here. I'm 20 years old, and a retired swimmer of sixteen years. From those years, I've developed a solid work ethic, I've learned to control my diet and research the foods I put in my body [currently trying out the paleo diet. Two weeks in, so far so good!], and a decent body. The problem is... I have no direction. I've trained for so long with a coach to follow, and incredibly specific goals to focus on, that I don't have a clue how to guide myself and develop my own workouts.

I know I want to continue to get stronger, and I've began putting together a diet plan to put on 5 lbs [currently 6 ft tall, 165 lb] by October. My ultimate weight goal would be to get to the 175-180 range, and then learn to maintain.

Anyhooooo, that's my bit. From here I think I'll head to the Muscle Building Brigade [how bad ass sounding is that?!] and see what information I can absorb from there. If there any other rookies that are in a similar boat, or perhaps some who have tips or insight, feel free to share, or just stop to say hello =)

Cheers,

AJ

[Dio]

Welcome to the forum! Direction or no, just starting here helps.

There are definitely plenty of people in the same boat as you. I'd recommend posting/reading around in The Muscle Building Brigade if you haven't already. Lots of good insight there!

There's also a new 6-week challenge right around the corner, so that might be a great way to get your feet wet. Here is a great thread on setting good goals. It makes an interesting point that I'll reiterate about being careful with setting weight goals. Body weight is a result of overall fitness, in some respects. I would think rather you are looking for more muscles mass, or at least to be stronger. Couple with just being on a paleo diet, you may find yourself gaining a lot of muscle, reducing your body fat % but hovering around the same weight for a little while. Certain strength training programs will also focus more on strengthening your muscles that are already there than necessarily building new ones.

Hope to see you around the forums!

Dio.

[Aejaxe]

Hey Dio, thanks for the links, I'm gonna scope those out right now. I've seen references to the six-week challenges, but I'm not sure exactly what it is.

As for the weight, that's really just my way of at least having a goal. If it turns out that my body composition is naturally based around being in the 165 lbs area, as long as I'm feeling and looking stronger and healthier, I see no problem with that at ALL! But I see your point, and I definitely wouldn't want to make the scale the deciding factor of my success. Speaking of training programs, do you have any that you might suggest?

Thanks again,

AJ

[FiendFyre]

Welcome! You sound like you're headed in the right direction for your muscle building goal, and Steve has some good general workouts in his blog that you don't need a gym membership for. I definitely agree with Dio that using strength rather than weight is a better gauge of fitness. I'm more weight loss oriented, but I think the same general things happen when you do it healthfully: you plateau in weight while getting stronger and then the weight changes. I've heard about people recommending just stuffing yourself to put on weight, even if it's fat, and then turn it into muscle with training. However, in all of my education the belief that fat cells and muscle cells "turn into each other" depending on how your lifestyle is, is totally bunk.

The new 6-week challenge isn't starting until Labor day, Spezzy still hasn't totally decided (so far as I know) between the 5th and 6th. You decide on about 3 personal goals and there's accountability and support all in one place, rather than just having your own thread that might not get seen as often.

[Dio]

To pimp this site further, I'd suggest starting on this page:

http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/05/10/real-life-role-playing-what-is-your-profession/

Decide what race you're starting from and what class you most want to level up in. When OMFG (online multiplayer fitness game) is back up this will be even more complex, or so I'm told.

Fighter is going to be lots of protein powder with 5x5 lifting, ranger is going to be a bit of lifting combined possibly with body-weight training (beginner or advanced) or a program like cross-fit.

With your goal of putting on muscle (notice I didn't say weight!) these are probably your two most-desired classes.

I'm coming off of being fairly out of shape, so I've been doing the beginner body-weight training modding exercises to make them more challenging instead of adding reps. You can look at my training log in the link in the signature. You having come off of an active lifestyle might be able to go at it a bit more intensely than me.

But again, I'd say head over to the current challenge forum and get an idea of what other people do, and then set SPECIFIC goals related to your fitness. Do you want to be able to do more pushups/pullups/planks/et cetera? do you just want to run a certain distance? Like I said, there will be lots of good examples there.

Good luck!

[NorthRoad]

Welcome to the forum:) looking forward to seeing your improvements

[Tom Kenobi]

welcome to the site! Definitely agree with Dio, I cant wait for the OMFG comes out! (snicker...i keep thinking OMFG stands for something else) Of course it might just be the explicitive that we scream after working out! haha. Northroad, I LOVE that quote!