Newbie fitness advice

[Sunglasses Ron]

Hello All,

I'm 37 years old, 5' 8" and 14.5st (I was 15st about 4 weeks ago). I am recently single which is one of the reasons for a fitness campaign, I don't want to be some sort of puffed out heart attack candidate. I work 4 on/4 off nights and have neither the time or money to go to a gym. All I have is a pair of dumbells and a Bullworker.

Anyway, I've been busy working out a diet plan on the basis of high protein, med carb and low fat and an exercise/training routine. What I would really like is a bit of advice/critisism on the following:

DIET PLAN
AT WORK:

DAY 1: DINNER- OMELETTE, TOMS, CUCUMBER. YOGHURT.
LUNCH- TUNA/ONION, SALAD, RYVITA. 3X FRUIT.
BREAKFAST- CEREAL, BANANA.

DAY 2: DINNER- PRAWNS, BROWN RICE, GREEN BEANS. YOGHURT.
LUNCH- CARROT STKS, COTT CHEESE, RYVITA, 3X FRUIT.
BREAKFAST- CEREAL, BANANA.

DAY 3: DINNER- CHICKEN, BROCCOLI, KIDNEY BEANS. YOGHURT.
LUNCH- SALMON/SALAD SANDWICH (WHM BRD). 3X FRUIT.
BREAKFAST- CEREAL, BANANA.

DAY 4: DINNER- SEAFOOD MEDLEY, BROWN RICE. YOGHURT.
LUNCH- 3X BOILED EGGS AND SALAD. 3X FRUIT.
BREAKFAST- CEREAL, BANANA.

OFF WORK:

DAY 1:
LUNCH- SANDWICH, 2X FRUIT.
DINNER- EGG, BEANS, SAUSAGE. YOGHURT.

DAY 2: BREAKFAST- CEREAL, BANANA.
LUNCH- TUNA SALAD, 2X FRUIT.
DINNER- CHILLI CON CARNE (BR). YOGHURT.

DAY 3: BREAKFAST- CEREAL, BANANA.
LUNCH- CARROT STICKS, COTTAGE CHEESE. 2X FRUIT.
DINNER- CHICKEN OR FISH, PASTA, VEG. YOGHURT.

DAY 4: BREAKFAST- CEREAL, BANANA.
LUNCH- TUNA SALAD, 2X FRUIT.
DINNER- CHICKEN CURRY. YOGHURT.
...........................................................................
FITNESS EXERCISES

WALKING: DAILY

DAY ONE: RESISTANCE EXERCISES.

PRESS UPS 3 X 10 (DIFFERENT POSITIONS)
SIT UPS 3 X 10
SQUATS 3 X 10
LEG RAISES 3 X 10
TRUNK TWISTS 3 X 15
SHADOW BOXING
PLANK

DAY TWO: DUMBELL EXERCISES.

SHOULDER PRESSES 3 X 10
BICEP CURLS 3 X 10
CONCENTRATION CURLS 3 X 10
LATERAL RAISES 2 X 10
TRICEP PRESSES 3 X 10
UPRIGHT ROWS 2 X 10
SINGLE ARM ROWS 2 X 10 (EACH SIDE)
SHRUGS 3 X 10

Apologies for the long post. Thanks for taking the time to read and advise.

Edited by Sunglasses Ron on Monday 20th September 20:03

[Rocksteadyeddie]

You need some cardio if you really want to shed the lbs. Cycling, running, cross-trainer, swimming. At least 3 times a week. Stick with it and the weight will just fall off.


Good luck

[ShadownINja]

Yep, all about the CV work. If you shadowbox for an hour a day... failing that, try varying it as suggested above.

[Lost_BMW]

The diet looks pretty good, apart from the sausage day! Obviously as long as you are burning more calories than you consume you will lose weight. Your diet doesn't look excessive and is pretty clean.

Is the 10 rep routine arbitrary or is it because 10 is the most you can do at the weights you use? If you can do more (reps or weight) you should, but not necessarily sets.


Boxing/shadow boxing is a great way to burn calories/lose weight + get fitness benefits, as skipping would be. Have you thought about getting a bag so you can actually hit something? Might be more fun?

[Sunglasses Ron]

I suppose I could up the reps on my exercises. I'm looking at getting a cheap second hand bike for increasing my CV work.

Apart from that hopefully with the healthy diet and training I will be fairly fit and toned soon.

Thanks for your input.

[Lost_BMW]

Just another question (or two?) is the day 1, day 2 pattern repeated during the week or is it 2 days of resistance work per week. Also, are your wishes to get fitter and lighter or are you after much in the way of muscle development too?

[Sunglasses Ron]

Lost_BMW said:

Just another question (or two?) is the day 1, day 2 pattern repeated during the week or is it 2 days of resistance work per week. Also, are your wishes to get fitter and lighter or are you after much in the way of muscle development too?

Question 1: Yes, day one and day two just repeated in a constant loop.

Question 2: Yes to all.

[surrey7er]

Loads of other quality body weight stuff you can do to: box jumps (jumping on and off a box!), burpees, dips, chins... The list goes on... It's great fun and pretty much free... Check out your local park too... More and more are getting fitness equipment installed... Good luck and don't give up!

[Morba]

The workout plan looks horrible tbh.
What dumbells do you have and how much weight?

[Sunglasses Ron]

Morba said:

The workout plan looks horrible tbh.
What dumbells do you have and how much weight?

They are a pair of old York ones, 6.8kgs each.

In what way does it look horrible mate?

[Shinobi]

Work out looks a bit empty and needs loads of cardio if you want to shed the pounds.

[ShadownINja]

In his defence, he didn't specify how long he was going to box me for.

[Halb]

Sunglasses Ron said:

Lost_BMW said:

Just another question (or two?) is the day 1, day 2 pattern repeated during the week or is it 2 days of resistance work per week. Also, are your wishes to get fitter and lighter or are you after much in the way of muscle development too?

Question 1: Yes, day one and day two just repeated in a constant loop.

Question 2: Yes to all.

Then do lots of running, burpees, press-ups, single leg squats, box jumps as stated. Pull ups as well if you can find a place to do them.

[obob]

Swap cereal for porridge too. Keeps you full for longer and a good source of protein.

[Morba]

Sunglasses Ron said:

Morba said:

The workout plan looks horrible tbh.
What dumbells do you have and how much weight?

They are a pair of old York ones, 6.8kgs each.

In what way does it look horrible mate?

Too much concentration on arms and abs.
You want to be doing compound exercises, using as many muscles in each rep as possible.
You don't have much weight, those dumbells will become too light very quickly.

If you have some money all you need is bigger dumbells, swiss ball and a chin bar. From that you can do a well rounded routine with some other body weight exercises thrown in.

[samdale]

obob said:

Swap cereal for porridge too. Keeps you full for longer and a good source of protein.

Do you mean a source of complex carbs?? Oats are like 6% protein, 60% carbs. If he wants higher protein, scrambled eggs for breakfast would be much better.


ETA: OP when you say "walking each day" how much is this? Is it just a mile to and from work or are you specifically going out for a decent long walk?
Also if you haven't already get a decent (doesn't have to be expensive) pair of running shoes. Start turning the walk into a bit of a jog as you progress?

Edited by samdale on Tuesday 21st September 20:34

[Morba]

Proper scrambled that is, not microwave scrambled.

[Lost_BMW]

Sunglasses Ron said:

Lost_BMW said:

Just another question (or two?) is the day 1, day 2 pattern repeated during the week or is it 2 days of resistance work per week. Also, are your wishes to get fitter and lighter or are you after much in the way of muscle development too?

Question 1: Yes, day one and day two just repeated in a constant loop.

Question 2: Yes to all.

Well, if it's fat loss etc then the cycle might work as long as the weights are allowing you to work hard enough?

But for muscle gains fewer days focussed on intensive workouts (once you've acclimatised to it) and the compound exercises is more the norm.

TBH I know it's all too easy to criticise or tell people to do what you do but, meant helpfully, I think the weights you have are going to be difficult to build any size or strength with so if a gym/extras are out then maybe you'll get more benefit by using body weight exercises more instead?

[obob]

samdale said:

obob said:

Swap cereal for porridge too. Keeps you full for longer and a good source of protein.

Do you mean a source of complex carbs?? Oats are like 6% protein, 60% carbs. If he wants higher protein, scrambled eggs for breakfast would be much better.


ETA: OP when you say "walking each day" how much is this? Is it just a mile to and from work or are you specifically going out for a decent long walk?
Also if you haven't already get a decent (doesn't have to be expensive) pair of running shoes. Start turning the walk into a bit of a jog as you progress?

Edited by samdale on Tuesday 21st September 20:34

No, I meant fibre but research tells me I would have been wrong with that too.

[Sunglasses Ron]

Thanks for all your help and advice. When I get a bit of spare cash, I'll be buying a mountain bike and a chin-up bar. I think/hope that I've got a gym ball somewhere, I'll be using that too.