I'm new here, need suggestions on a workout schedule

[geulanow]

B"H

 

Hi. I'm new here, definitely a nerd, a male nerd (passionately indifferent about sports, build PCs, fix people's phones, like Mental Floss magazine, Weird Al, play drums and uke and some guitar). Anyway, in my teens and early 20s I weighed 135 pounds, at 5 foot 11. A few years later, I went up to 195 pounds. Then I went vegan and brought the weight down to about 180. But one of my goals is to get back into shape, to a normal weight, add muscle (not crazy veins-popping-out Hulk muscle, but enough muscle that I could be mistaken for an underwear model. Ha. Or at least be able to get into some swimming trunks in public and not feel embarrassed. I mean at the beach, or at a pool. Not in, you know, a mall or something, or an airport. Unless I was making some kind of YouTube video. 

 

One of my challenges is having a workable plan and sticking to it. I suppose there are such plans on the NF website, but I haven't scoured it yet. Or I could join the $99 NF thing and follow that route? I have started working out many times - I go a few days and then get distracted and the next thing I know a few weeks have passed.

 

So, if anybody has been where I am and managed to get themselves motivated and managed to work out + eat healthy consistently and have had good results (pecs replacing man boobs, abs replacing a roundish stomach, etc.) please let me know what worked for you.

 

Thanks.

[Elastigirl]

I started with the Angry Birds workout on the NF site. It was great because I could apply game mind set to it.It was fun for me to level up. The other motivating thing is building habits and setting goals. Success builds motivation. Make it a goal to work out once a week, once you have that habit make it 2 times a week, then 3 x a week. 

[Phytomancer]

I start with finding friends to workout with. Accountability buddy really helps me stay on track, or be embarrassed  because a friend get ahead of me.

 

(You probably can tell I'm slightly competitive.)

 

I like bodyweight workout when I exercise alone: push ups, pull ups, etc because it's easy to do it really quickly any time without getting dressed up in all gears.

 

Other than that, team sports and martial arts are also exciting if you are a social person, but it takes up some precious time for a nerd. I do those, but I don't like how my time in Tamriel is interrupted.

 

I'd say for the starter, change your workout a lot. Try one for a few weeks, then try another. You will build a set of fitness skills and exercise you enjoy doing and the one you do not before you stick with the chosen ones.

 

(I dislike swimming... yuck... I look like a panda in a trunk because of my sunken eye and suntanned limbs--also it's cold and take too long to change).

 

 

Have fun!   

[Piccolojones]

What they said. Except I want to toss my hat in on the opposite side of the ring from Phytomancer. I'd recommend finding something that you'll stick with. Do it for 3-4 weeks (or a whole challenge!). I had the tendency to jump around too quickly when I was first starting out, and I wasn't able make much progress, which was incredibly demoralizing. After a few weeks, if you like what you've been doing, keep doing that. If not, change it up. 

 

I started out doing a very Ranger-esque workout routine with lots of movement, mixed with strength, mixed with flexibility. Basically anything necessary to survive a zombie apocalypse. However, I hate running, and get bored with certain types of bodyweight, agility, and flexibility training (although I'm in love with pull ups). So I changed it up and eventually found myself in the Warrior camp, plugging along with the Stronglifts 5x5 routine. I loved watching my numbers climb, and the feeling of power I had when I completed a good deadlift. I did that for a little over two months, and have since shifted my routine again, but it's still in the "lift heavy stuff" camp. I'll stay with this one for the next challenge, keep track of my strength gains, and see where I'll decide to go from there. 

 

So ultimately, the important thing is to search for something you like, but make sure you stick with a program for a decent chunk of time so you can "break it in". Welcome to the Rebellion!

[AmandaM]

How I got into a schedule was I took classes.  Spin and waterfit.  They take place on certain days at certain times and so it really got me into the habit of going all the time, especially as I could just slot i into my schedule.

 

Then I joined a martial arts class.  Again, set day and time.

 

And then i joined a running group.  I continued to run on my own once it was over, until I injured myself moving (bad shoes + on feet for 12 hours = ticking time bomb going off) but I hope that once I'm pain free I can start up again.

 

My point is, start small and find what works for you.  My husband used to go to the gym at midnight because there was no-one there.  I went in the evenings because those classes worked with my schedule, and I used to run to work a couple of mornings a week.