I just joined a gym now what?

I feel like we have had something similar to this thread before but I would like to see the 2018 version.

My therapist keeps telling me to exercise and made it a homework assignment so I joined a gym today. It has the weights, spinning, those group classes, yoga, and cardio equipment. I just want to get high. It would be nice to lose the belly I have accumulated but I am not going to do that lifting weights. That is mostly about not stuffing my face with garbage. Why do I want to be strong? Sometimes I just get this tingle that I want to just be able to help someone move a gargantuan couch or something like that. Dress in a kilt and throw heavy shit around outdoors. I want to do deadlifts, kettlebell swings, dips, chinups, tire flips, sled drags, sprints, ... basically I want to go on really long hikes through the mountains and then I want to do extremely explosive movements.

The whole point really is to let go of the bullshit. Clear it all out and move some heavy weight around and get high.

What is everyone else doing? I remember Drone was just cross country skiing around. I am envious of that. I think Loco was just lifting heavy weights doing like Starting Strength or something like that. How is that going? Baal was putzing around with MMA. I really still am considering joining a proper gym like in Pittsburgh but it is so damn expensive and nothing is going to beat a Renzo Gracie gym here. GoTunk! Does he still post here? I remember he was going for big things. Big totals. Big weights. I would like to hear his experience. Maybe I should go back to jiu jitsu. Despite all my rage I was still just an upper white belt getting RAPED by blue belts.

I could see myself doing yoga. Really breathing it out.

Maybe do those Barre classes. My sister swears by those.

I just need something to help me with blowing the past away and getting a bit high... Unfortunately, it can't be in chemical form I have to exercise.

i go to the kids playground after school and work out on the bars, ect, and kick a ball around with my bro. I walk up hills or mountains every once in a while too.

Paralysis by analysis. Just start exercising, refine later.

I feel you Daut.

After posting I said fuck it, drank a Monster, played Rage Against the Machine really loud, deadlifted relatively very heavy weight, did 4x8 kettlebell swings and peaced out. I am still feeling pretty good man.

JOCKO WILLINK

Decent article. That is more or less what I am going for. It looks like I might have to buy the book for more detail.

In general focus on high intensity in terms of resistance, and low duration in terms of time, like sprinting. A weight you can lift more than 10x is probably too light, a weight you can't lift more than 3 times is too heavy. It's shouldn't take more than 45 min to get a good full body workout, and that's including warming up.

I would focus on movements such as squatting, deadlifting, over head pressing, pull ups, bench pressing, rowing, etc. with free weights i.e. barbells or dumbells. Increasing your muscle mass and doing regular bouts of high intensity training will increase your metabolic weight and will help you stay lean in the long run. For long duration cardio just do the sports you enjoy or running jogging outside.

One thing I would add is to not work out too hard or too long at 90-100% capacity where you get too sore and can't do the same workout for a week. It's better to train somewhere in between 70-80% intensity so you can be doing the same movements and train the same body parts more frequently (i.e. every other day or every other other day). This will lead to being able to achieve a higher volume of training done in shorter periods of time, which leads to getting results more efficiently.

stay away from bodybuilder type advice too.

I forgot where we stood on Krill oil?

Right now I am only taking vit b12 and vit d. I have some leftover shroom tech I will probably just add onto the pre-workout cocktail. Monsters seem good enough. I may experiment with other pre-workout just for the fuck of it. I don't think I want to get into pre, peri, and post workout nutrition at this point. Just eat decent enough and I will get results. I'd rather get quality food than the junk that is in protein powders...

I would argue that one of the worst ways to start exercising regularly after not having done so in awhile is to come online to a forum and ask others, in detail, what they are doing. It shouldn't matter to you and all it does is delay you from actually getting to it. Just be disciplined for a couple weeks doing fairly basic, but still appropriately rigorous workouts. Establish your baseline strength and cardio. Pay attention to your core. And as said, proceed from there with specific goals/methodology

Also, if you are reluctant to use protein powders because of the 'junk that is in there,' I'm not sure why you would think Monsters are acceptable as what you take beforehand. If you drink a full 16 oz one, that probably has something like 50 grams of added sugar in it and a couple hundred calories purely from the sugar. That's a pretty good way to keep a gut that you don't want and just generally be unhealthy. If you want a fairly benign one, I use:

https://www.amazon.com/Optimum-Nutrit...2Bnutrition%2Bamino%2Benergy&th=1

Proper caffeine, no added sugars, and an amino acid blend that has both pre and post benefits for recovery if you want to use it for that. Or just drink a heavy dose of simple green tea

Good luck

I recommend fucking around for a bit just doing whatever you like in the gym, familiarizing yourself with the place. Once you feel ready to be a bit more efficient with your time, pick up a starting routine from here. And read some tips here. I'm doing my own Greyskull variant but it's very similar the commonly used one. I always add some extra arm and core work to this basic template. My gym has opened a new functional training section recently and I might start messing around with that in the near future. Kettlebell lunges and such.

Krill oil is an overpriced gimmick, as is most stuff. The only money that is worth spending on gym supplements (but still not a necessity) is for creatine monohydrate (very inexpensive if you shop properly) and a basic protein powder for convenience. I use pea protein isolate for post workout and hemp concentrate the rest of the time. Nothing is added to them.

Btw, if your goal is "getting high", you're probably going to get injured rapidly by lifting too heavy without proper form. If you want this thing to be sustainable and you want a real high then get it from doing cardio.

I wouldn't worry about routines, diet, or which vitamins you're taking. Pick up a simple beginners weightlifting routine and hit the gym.

Watch youtube videos for tips on proper form.

test

Yoga was definitely life changing for me. It comes in second place after BJJ. Other than that I am doing a 5X5 training. In a nutshell its 3 exercises every other day in a bank of 5. Squat, Deadlift, barbell row, overhead press and bench press. You can go real progressive with it. But as many people said, you can start by cherry picking exercises you enjoy for now. This way there is more chance of you sticking with it. Once you feel comfortable you can get more ''serious'' about it and find a program that fits your needs.

On January 12 2018 02:09 LikeASet wrote: In general focus on high intensity in terms of resistance, and low duration in terms of time, like sprinting. A weight you can lift more than 10x is probably too light, a weight you can't lift more than 3 times is too heavy. It's shouldn't take more than 45 min to get a good full body workout, and that's including warming up. I would focus on movements such as squatting, deadlifting, over head pressing, pull ups, bench pressing, rowing, etc. with free weights i.e. barbells or dumbells. Increasing your muscle mass and doing regular bouts of high intensity training will increase your metabolic weight and will help you stay lean in the long run. For long duration cardio just do the sports you enjoy or running jogging outside. One thing I would add is to not work out too hard or too long at 90-100% capacity where you get too sore and can't do the same workout for a week. It's better to train somewhere in between 70-80% intensity so you can be doing the same movements and train the same body parts more frequently (i.e. every other day or every other other day). This will lead to being able to achieve a higher volume of training done in shorter periods of time, which leads to getting results more efficiently. stay away from bodybuilder type advice too.

I like your post except for bolded. It is unreasonable to train at 100% all the time but the point is to get after it every day. I would never ever want to set a goal to train at 70%. Sometimes 70% happens but I wouldn't be too pleased about it. Some days you get going and you end up hitting 95% well that is a helluva day. Appropriate volume can still be achieved. I think it is mostly a program issue, a sleep issue, or a food issue if you can't get enough volume and intensity in. Obviously, things can be overdone but I am just caught on this going into a workout with the mindset that the goal is 70%. That is crazy to me.

On January 12 2018 05:23 iakim322 wrote: I would argue that one of the worst ways to start exercising regularly after not having done so in awhile is to come online to a forum and ask others, in detail, what they are doing. It shouldn't matter to you and all it does is delay you from actually getting to it. Just be disciplined for a couple weeks doing fairly basic, but still appropriately rigorous workouts. Establish your baseline strength and cardio. Pay attention to your core. And as said, proceed from there with specific goals/methodology Also, if you are reluctant to use protein powders because of the 'junk that is in there,' I'm not sure why you would think Monsters are acceptable as what you take beforehand. If you drink a full 16 oz one, that probably has something like 50 grams of added sugar in it and a couple hundred calories purely from the sugar. That's a pretty good way to keep a gut that you don't want and just generally be unhealthy. If you want a fairly benign one, I use: https://www.amazon.com/Optimum-Nutrit...2Bnutrition%2Bamino%2Benergy&th=1 Proper caffeine, no added sugars, and an amino acid blend that has both pre and post benefits for recovery if you want to use it for that. Or just drink a heavy dose of simple green tea Good luck

I am more so curious what people are doing and maybe it would start some discussion.

I drink the Monsters with 10 calories. I just remember I would be consuming copious amounts of Muscle Milk which was found to have all sorts of shit in there like metals and fillers and what not. I don't know if I need a protein powder for now and will go with foood.

On January 12 2018 14:13 Loco wrote: I recommend fucking around for a bit just doing whatever you like in the gym, familiarizing yourself with the place. Once you feel ready to be a bit more efficient with your time, pick up a starting routine from here. And read some tips here. I'm doing my own Greyskull variant but it's very similar the commonly used one. I always add some extra arm and core work to this basic template. My gym has opened a new functional training section recently and I might start messing around with that in the near future. Kettlebell lunges and such. Krill oil is an overpriced gimmick, as is most stuff. The only money that is worth spending on gym supplements (but still not a necessity) is for creatine monohydrate (very inexpensive if you shop properly) and a basic protein powder for convenience. I use pea protein isolate for post workout and hemp concentrate the rest of the time. Nothing is added to them. Btw, if your goal is "getting high", you're probably going to get injured rapidly by lifting too heavy without proper form. If you want this thing to be sustainable and you want a real high then get it from doing cardio.

That Greyskull program is a classic but I need some more volume and variety. I mean I will basically be doing the same program just set up a bit differently.

Yeah, kettlebells are great. I have a friend that was really into them with a home gym I used to train with. He was coaching me. I think I might get some coaching down here on certain kettlebell movements. I never really had a great squat and would like to get coached on that. Also, movements like the clean and jerk, snatch, power clean. I don't think I really need those exercises right now though but always wanted to get better at them.

Yeah, I have to get me some creatine. I remember studies showing it improved cognition as well as improvements in lifting strength. Where do you go for the pea and hemp proteins?

I mean if I am squatting any amount of weight that is challenging I am going to get high. I went pretty heavy for me on deadlifts the other day but that was just because I was feeling it and even held off a bit. I was pulling triples and finished with a pretty clean double. I could of gone for more but it's not time for that yet. Good point on the cardio though. That is just a nice smooth burn of endorphins.

Also, how do you like to load your creatine? Where did you get your creatine from? The site I used to get it from isn't working at the moment.

I think I will do yoga in the evenings or on my days off. I REALLY have a hankering for getting back on the mats too.

I used to take creatine in pill form. Was rly easy and simple. Grey skull is fine but its a little more intermediate progression. Not really super suitable for a novice. A novice wants to gain volume primarily from high frequency and linear progression. Not from super high reps. Because it just adds up cumulatively quicker this way. As well as starting out you actually just benefit a ton from just technique refinement. Its not unheard of for someone to run something like stronglifts 5x5 and get to 285 5x5 squat in 5~ months or so. Strength consists of 1) technique [the fastest gains to be made]. 2) Neurological adaptation [the second fastest for a novice especially] 3) Just pure muscle building from volume [by far the slowest actually]. Stuff like stronglifts have just stuck with me as a solid recommendation. Its not optimal but it just allows u to do as much extra stuff as you want for the most part. Such as hiking/BJJ/etc. As long as u modify it a little bit to not start with the fking bar also which i hate about that program

I try and do the following regarding physical activity:
-lift 4x a week: chest/triceps, back/biceps, legs, shoulders. Abs, stretching, and cardio every day.
-yoga 2x a week: I have terrible flexibility, but this also has meditative benefits
-climbing 2x a week: I stopped practicing BJJ about 2.5 years ago to take up climbing. Similar skillset required, but far less injuries. I miss BJJ terribly, but I don't miss constantly being injured or in pain. Perhaps once my body is more flexible from yoga I'll give it another go.
-Other 2x: either biking, tennis, golf, or some type of HIIT workout.

Nutrition wise:
-one protein shake a day, mainly to incorporate extra greens into my diet. I put almond milk, banana, blueberry+blackberry, frozen broccoli, 2 dates, spinach+kale, half avocado, chia, flax, pea protein
-eat lots of beef, chicken, fish, bacon, eggs, brown rice, vegetables, fruit, and nuts. Find most other foods make me sleepy/sluggish. Waiting on results of a food allergy test I just ordered to see if there is anything I should avoid.

I occasionally (but not frequently enough) incorporate some intermittent fasting into my eating schedule. Counter intuitively, I seem to have more energy when I eat less in general, so will start leaving at least 12 hours between my last meal of the day with my first meal of the following day, and try to eat 10% less calories in general (2700 instead of 3000)

I also just had my free testosterone levels tested. 82 pg/mL, which falls in the "normal" range of 49-185 for my age, but I'm going to start taking monthly tests and try and increase it via the following methods:
-lower calorie diet, aiming for 40% fat, 30% protein, 30% carbs
-cold thermogenesis: mainly 2x a week of cryotherapy, but perhaps some cold showers
-lifting harder and heavier, particularly for back and leg days
-more time spent outside in natural sunlight
-vitamins: multivitamin and fish oil
-intermittent fasting: aim for 12-16 hours each 24 hour cycle.

We'll see what my February 1st results are.