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[scrdest]

Since I decided that I would like to avoid growing a gravity field, combined with the fact that I pretty much have to actively avoid walking into the gym door when I leave my apartment (warning: the statements in this post may or may not be 100% factual), I decided to start to even lift.

Now, after my first visit yesterday I have realized a minor issue with that plan, that being HOLYFUCKHOWDOIINTOTHAT?

Of course, I have tried Google. But the thing is, there's a ton of this crap everywhere, and it's often not quite consistent. Could someone recommend me something?

[nenjin]

For er, lifting or general workout tips?

For lifting, you have two varieties. High reps and low weight, or low reps and high weight. The first will increase tone and stamina, the second will increase muscle mass. Both do both, but each does one better than the other.

You need to establish what your max press is. This is the highest weight you can do safely, 5 times, for each machine or workout you're doing. There's a formula you use (which I don't remember) to calculate the weight you should do in 10 repetitions. Our workout regime in highschool iirc was like 65 or 70% of your max press, 10 times, for three sets. And you'd do that two days a week, alternating to other muscle groups to give your body time to rest.

There's also form to consider. Lots of people try to rush through the workout, and essentially cheat by using momentum to give them the power assist they need. Don't do that. Your goal is to isolate muscle groups so they're doing the work. That means have good form. If you're curling, rest your arms over the curling bench so you can't throw your back into it. If you're working on thighs on a leg machine, do not throw your weight and your back into each lift. You want want slow, consistent reps. That will tear you up much much faster than trying to go quickly and using the rest of your body mass to assist.

Also, if there's anyone around in the gym, ask if they can give you some pointers. They're going to know the machines better than anyone here.

[ancistrus]

Lifting... first of all you need to accept that it is either inefficient or dangerous (if you are really bad, it is both).

No matter how well you do your exercises there will always be some risk of an injury (hernia, disc hernia, torn rotator cuff etc).

I actually find the information on the internet to be quite consistent;
-stick to compound movements with free weights and avoid the million different machines commonly found in the gyms
-exercise 3 times a week
-there is no reason to spend too much time exercising, 45 minutes should be plenty
-do squats above all else
-do deadlifts, press, bench press, bent over rows or whatever. Google how to.
-3x8 / 5x5 / that sort of setsxreps
-it is all useless if you dont eat enough protein. Get 150g a day, spread into more meals
-it is generally accepted that to gain muscle mass, you should eat more calories than your output, google "TDEE calculator"

-for more specific advice i suggest you search for stronglifts or starting strength program

[scrdest]

For er, lifting or general workout tips?

General, I was feeling very silly while writing this. Sorry for the confusion.

[LordBucket]

I would like to avoid growing a gravity field

Could someone recommend me something?

There are multiple viable strategies. I see other people discussing weightlifting, so I'll let them discuss that and offer you a different viable strategy:

Find an athletic hobby you enjoy. Do it a lot. It's really that simple. Weightlifting can be effective if your goal is to become more muscular, but it's not usually very good for losing weight. For fat loss, to be "slender" what you want is an aerobic activity with a wide range of body motion. Inline skating, swimming, dancing, yoga, tennis, martial arts, whatever. Something that is a whole body activity that requires you to breath a lot, and that you can do regularly and would choose to do regularly even if you weren't concerned about your weight.

Find an athletic hobby you enjoy, and do it a lot. When engaging in a "I'm going to lose weight!" sort of activity, there can be an issue of motivation. If you don't enjoy lifting weights, if you don't enjoy running, it can be difficult to "make yourself" do it on a regular schedule. And it really has to be a regular thing to see much benefit. Lifting weights twice in your first week and then once a month later and then never again because you don't enjoy it won't help you. But if you realize that you enjoy ice skating, for example, it suddenly becomes very easy to go ice skating for a few hours once or twice a week because you're not "doing a thing you hate to avoid being fat."  Instead you're "doing that super fun thing you really enjoy." You'll naturally do it more often and for longer without forcing yourself.

So find an athletic hobby you enjoy and do it a lot. Incorporate it into your lifestyle. And enjoy it. The weight loss and maintenance will come naturally.

[gimlet]

BE CAREFUL!  If you're in really bad shape, before you even TRY to do any serious lifting I really really really recommend strenghtening your core first.  Yeah it's kind of boring but it will keep you from avoidable stupid injuries.

I started with this for 2 months so far and it is working a treat - I used to pull muscles in my back all the time just moving boxes of books (I have a lot of boxes of books) but now I can move dozens with no problem.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/beginning-workout-plan/
Planks, push ups, pull ups, goblet chair squats - kind of boring but surprisingly difficult when you're starting out.
And cardio, pretty much daily as he says, if you don't have *some* endurance it's just gonna make it much more likely that you'll slip into bad lifting form 'cause you're tired.  Waste of training time and potential for injury.  Definitely find some cardio you like, or at least tolerate, so you'll do it regularly.

Then when you do start seriously lifting weights, it's really worth it to pay a trainer for a while to teach you the right form, you can seriously injure yourself (and limit your gains) by doing it wrong.  Start with something straightforward like Starting Strength or 5x5.  Learn it right, do it right, stick with it.  Unless something is SERIOUSLY going wrong, don't try to change anything for at least 6 months.
http://startingstrength.com/index.php/site/about#start
http://stronglifts.com/5x5/

[ancistrus]

.......Weightlifting can be effective if your goal is to become more muscular, but it's not usually very good for losing weight. For fat loss, to be "slender" what you want is an aerobic activity with a wide range of body motion. .......

....Instead you're "doing that super fun thing you really enjoy." ....

...So find an athletic hobby you enjoy and do it a lot. Incorporate it into your lifestyle. And enjoy it. The weight loss and maintenance will come naturally.

I must disagree. You don't just want to lose weight, you want to lose fat, while preserving your muscles. Muscles are more expensive to mantain than fat, so your body is quick to remove them if it thinks you have trouble finding food. On the other hand, having lots of muscles means you burn more calories even without doing anything. For this reasons, lifting is essential for becoming leaner.

As for the other part of your post, I think that if he was the type who likes athletic hobbies, he would be doing one already, but that is just speculation.

[sneakey pete]

Surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet. If your main goal is to drop body fat, start eating better. Weight loss is 70% diet.

[scrdest]

As for the other part of your post, I think that if he was the type who likes athletic hobbies, he would be doing one already, but that is just speculation.

It isn't that obvious.

It's been (nearly exactly) a year since I moved to an actual city from Middle-of-the-fucking, Nowhere, and until then availability of various activities was somewhat limited.

BE CAREFUL!  If you're in really bad shape, before you even TRY to do any serious lifting I really really really recommend strenghtening your core first.  Yeah it's kind of boring but it will keep you from avoidable stupid injuries.

I started with this for 2 months so far and it is working a treat - I used to pull muscles in my back all the time just moving boxes of books (I have a lot of boxes of books) but now I can move dozens with no problem.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/beginning-workout-plan/
Planks, push ups, pull ups, goblet chair squats - kind of boring but surprisingly difficult when you're starting out.
And cardio, pretty much daily as he says, if you don't have *some* endurance it's just gonna make it much more likely that you'll slip into bad lifting form 'cause you're tired.  Waste of training time and potential for injury.  Definitely find some cardio you like, or at least tolerate, so you'll do it regularly.

Then when you do start seriously lifting weights, it's really worth it to pay a trainer for a while to teach you the right form, you can seriously injure yourself (and limit your gains) by doing it wrong.  Start with something straightforward like Starting Strength or 5x5.  Learn it right, do it right, stick with it.  Unless something is SERIOUSLY going wrong, don't try to change anything for at least 6 months.
http://startingstrength.com/index.php/site/about#start
http://stronglifts.com/5x5/

I have some stuff already mildly covered - I used to do the A6W, though sadly didn't finish it (I used to do it with my parents, around week 4 or 5, can't recall, they stopped because it took too much time even after some adjustments, I kept until the end of that week but it was too boring alone), and I can walk really fast - as in, jog fast - presuming the setting on the treadmill I used was actually kp/h and not some arcane thing, around 8 kp/h.

On the other hand, I cannot run. Like, at all. I can do a quick burst of speed, but my immune system hates me if I run longer and I get an asthma attack (actually diagnosed; it's pretty much only allergy/exercise triggered).

Also, my arm noodliness to bodyweight ratio means that pushups are not really efficient. Any recommendation on other kind of exercise for these muscles that is more easily adjusted for my current limits?

[sjm9876]

Have you tried incline pushups? As in, against a wall, gradually getting steeper (ie, against a chair)as your strength increases? It isn't exactly thrilling but it'll do the job until you can do proper pushups.

[gimlet]

Or bent knee pushups?  Seriously, push ups rock and they don't need equipment.   Do as many regular push ups as you can (with good form) then do the rest on your knees.  You should fairly quickly progress to doing more and more non-modified pushups.

[LordBucket]

Any recommendation on other kind of exercise

I think you might be goign about this the wrong way. Really if you get down to it, weight loss is simple: exert more calories out than you eat calories in. Which I note is the opposite of what ancistrus is advising. Ignore him. He's telling you how to "bulk up" and get muscular, not how to lose weight.

Most of the answers I see people giving you here are activities that, in my opinion, are difficult to maintain very much. Pushups? If you do pushups, sure your triceps and pecs will get stronger, but how many pushups can you do? 20? 30? So you do pushups for 40 seconds and you're done for the day. It probably burns fewer calories than taking out the trash.

People can list exercises for specific muscle groups all day, but that's unlikely to be enough. A whole body activity that engages every muscle group in your body is obviously going to burn more calories than something that only uses two or three at a time.

What's your goal? Do you want stronger arms? Then sure, follow the advice you're seeing here. Do pushups. Inclined to start, if you need to. Eat lots of protein and lift weights. If that's what you want, then fine. It's easy to do. Getting stronger is absolutely easier than losing weight. Take a look at these guys for example. They're strong. But nobody would call them slender.

If losing weight is the goal, then...again: expend more calories than you take in. It pretty much is that simple. If you can and are willing to and actually will spend 4 hours in the gym every week lifting weights...then great. That will work. And it will  tone your muscles in addition to helping you lose weight, and you'll get stronger. Those are all good things. But can you spend four hours lifting weights every week? Will you? Or will you do 20 pushups, 30 situps and then stop? 3 sets of ten each, squats/curl/bench/lats and then stop? 15 minutes twice a week will make you stronger, but it's not going to take off much weight.

Sneaky Pete mentioned diet. That's a great point. But, personally my experience is that weight loss exclusively through diet is difficult. It's uncomfortable. Being hungry all the time is unpleasant. Ask any fat person in the world who's ever been on a diet. Look at all the fat people who've been dieting for years but are still fat because they alternate between binge dieting and binge eating. It's difficult to maintain. If you want to try an exclusively diet method and if you can spend $30/day on food, you might consider looking into Atkins. Basically, cut out simple carbohydrates from your diet and replace it with mostly meat. It works very well. Protein is more energy intensive to digest than carbohydrates. And even if you don't have the money to do a protein diet, removing simple sugars from your diet will help regardless of what exercises you do or don't do. Drink water instead of soda. Use mustard instead of ketchup and mayonnaise. Order a side of mixed fruit instead of french fries with your hamburger. A lot of little changes like that can collectively add up to a big difference over time.

But, I reiterate my previous suggestion: find an athletic hobby you enjoy. Guys who love to surf, and spend 6 hours a day surfing every weekend do not have to worry about their weight. Not only because of the exercise, but also because it's hard to eat a big meal and then surf for six hours. And so a couple hours later maybe they're hungry but they're so busy having fun surfing that they keep surfing rather than going to eat. "Just one more wave." For 30 minutes, "just one more wave."

Not because they're "dieting." Not because they're "exercising." Not because they're guilt-tripping themselves into doing something that don't enjoy so avoid feeling bad. No, they do it because they enjoy it. That is the way to stay fit. Start surfing. Take up salsa dancing. Or tango. Start taking martial arts. Find something that you enjoy so much that you'll easily and effortlessly do it a whole bunch without feeling like you're going out of your way to do a thing that you hate in order to not feel bad about yourself.

Treadmill? Sure. Absolutely you could do that to lose weight. But will you spend an hour a day on a treadmill every day for the rest of your life? Probably not. Thinking of exercise as being "for the purpose of losing weight" is the wrong way to think about it. Change your lifestyle. You can probably effortlessly spend 15-20 hours a week watching tv, playing computer games, etc. Why? Because you enjoy those things.

Find a hobby you'll enjoy doing a lot that happens to be athletic.