Newbie to fitness, got some questions.

[mb121]

Ok, I've been weak, scrawny, and tall pretty much all of my life. I am completely new to this.

- I do not have a gym or weights, what are some good excercises i can start learning to "buff up".
- A freind suggested I started eating more. I cannot see the point in being scrawny but with big stomach, but maybe my lack of understanding of how things work contributes to my phobea of this. Does this mean I go out to Taco Bueno or whereever I want and pig out without worrying as much? Or what?

- I am not afraid to work on this, I have lots of free time this summer, so give as much as possible : p.

- Also, should I only do "work outs" every other day? Is it hazardous if i do excercises every day? One of my freinds told me it could have negative effects but i can't understand this concept either and need a confirmation.

- [edit] Lol, also what are "love handles"

Also, this might be important, I am only 16 years of age.

THanks to those who reply for taking the time to answer my newb questions.

 

[semag]

First off.... love handles are the little "rolls" of fat on the side of your stomach, if you've got them.

Being 16, it's good that you don't have free access to a gym or weights, possibly. If your body is not done growing then you could possibly hurt yourself doing heavy weights too early in life, however, with the exercises, I'm not sure which these guys would recommend. Probably the generic push ups, pull ups, crunches...

Eating more will help you bulk up, but you have to eat the right things. Read the "guide to bulking" that's stickied at the top of the forum.

Working out every day - Generally, your muscles break down when you work out. That's what causes the soreness. The muscles then build themselves back up, and build themselves stronger, hence making you more "buff." However, to break them down that far you normally need the higher weights. So, I'm not sure if you'd be able to hit your muscles hard enough with the general exercises to warrant taking a day off in between... wait for another reply for the answer to that one...

 

[mb121]

I have read the "guide to bulking up", but find it slightly hard to follow due to all of the foreign terms like "criotine supplements" etc. Thanks for your help though much appreciated.

 

[semag]

all right... since you already have read it, use this thread to ask the questions you have from that. Otherwise, basically your answers are gonna be repeated from the bible.

Creatine is a suppliment, a drug. I believe that it makes your body retain water, and allows you to work out longer and with more energy.

 

[Templeton]

Originally posted by semag
all right... since you already have read it, use this thread to ask the questions you have from that. Otherwise, basically your answers are gonna be repeated from the bible.

Creatine is a suppliment, a drug. I believe that it makes your body retain water, and allows you to work out longer and with more energy.

Creatine is not a drug. Maybe that was typo?

To mb. You need to read up on the basics. Get a good book. The stickies on here arent really applicable to you in my view at this stage. Just learn some basic exercises - free exercises and a few free weight movements (eg press ups, pull ups) and just workout 3 days per week to start with. Concentrate on your exercise form for now. Eat a good balanced diet mainly of natural foods. No need to complicate anything at this stage. Keep it simple.

 

[mb121]

Ok, about working on form..can anyone recommend some good sites or advice to show me how to do a "proper" crunch etc. I've tried to rule out the obvious's like not using momentum in all of my excercises etc.

I've noticed at first crunches would make my abs soar and tight, but now after doing them I don't get that affect. I'm either doing them wrong or not enough I suppose.

 

[semag]

Creatine is not a drug

Sorry about that Templeton... I guess I messed my explanation up... hehe... I meant that Creatine is something your body has (right??) , and the "-ine" tends to mean it's a protein. However, I kinda was leaning towards telling him that when they talked about creatine, they were talking about taking it as a suppliment... I guess I kinda thought of suppliment and drug in the same context because they're external additions to your body of pure chemicals... Sorry if I messed anything up