T Nation

My Beginners Routine

Beginners
#1

Hi All

Stats:
Age 33
Height 5’11
Weight 173

A few weeks ago I got fed up of my lazy nature and decided for health and well being that it was time to sort myself out. A friend of mine is into fitness and Martial Arts and I asked him to give me a hand. He said he is no expert but gave me the routine he uses and told me to give it a shot for a few weeks, he also said to look up this forum as the guys on it are more experienced in fitness and are very helpfull. The routine I am doing at the moment.

Monday
Warmup 10 mins high paced Jogging
Kettlebell routine (24kg Kettlebell)
10 x Swings, Left Hand then Right
10 x Cleans, Left Hand then Right
10 x Snatch, Left Hand then Right
10 x Press, Left Hand then Right
10 x Front Squat, Left Hand then Right

100 reps altogether without stopping.

5 x 10 Pushups
5 x 5 Pullups
5 x 5 Dips

3 Core exercises
Front Plank for time
Side Plank for time
Lying Leg Raises
Inverted Situps
Hanging Leg raises
Bench Situps
Walkouts

I basically pick 3 from the above.

He says the Kettlebell work is great for buring fat, working on stamina and building some foundation strength. I have to admitt I am blowing steam by the time I am finished and have to rest 5 mins before the next exercises.

He says the Pushup / Dip / Pullup are probably the best bodyweight exercises that you can do and he always does them. As he says to me this is his workout and what works for him, he just gave me his to try.

Tuesday
Cardio HITT workout 1 minute Jogging, 30 Seconds Sprinting, repeat 10 times

He says thats enough but he does some gymnastic type stuff after his Cardio training, it looked fun and gave it a shot, only been doing 4 static holds

Handstand 2 x 30 seconds
Tucked Front Lever 6 x 10 Seconds
Tucked Back Lever 6 x 10 seconds
Elevated Static Planche Pushup 4 x 15 Seconds

I actually enjoy this day, and have to admitt after doing the above all my muscles feel it.

Wednesday - Same as Monday
Thursday - Same as Tuesday
Friday - Same as Monday
Saturday and Sunday, rest.

I have been doing the above for around 3 weeks now and I am feeling fitter and I am losing weight, I think I am also increasing strength, although no way to test it the now.

As I say above this routine is what my mate does, he enjoys it and it works for him, he says its worked wonders for his Martial Arts,

Wether its the right workout for me, who knows but its fun and enjoyable and seems to be working, although at a guess any type of training will work in the beginning.

So guys / gals what you think, is this ok for a beginners workout will it benefit me in the long run? Great thing about it is, all I need is a pullup bar (I use a door frame one), 2 Chairs for dips and a Kettlebell.

Sorry for the long post.

Cheers Nos

#2

T-nationT-nationT-nationT-nation

#3

Depends on where you bought your chairs, you might want to watch out on the chair dips. Iã??almost impaled myself in the armpit when my Ikea chair’s back support snapped.

#4

Yeah erm I about killed myself the first time, one of the chairs slipped, lol… At the moment I just want to get into shape, once in shape I will see where I go from there.

#5

[quote]Nosveratau wrote:
Yeah erm I about killed myself the first time, one of the chairs slipped, lol… At the moment I just want to get into shape, once in shape I will see where I go from there.[/quote]

What does that mean?

Lifting weights and getting stronger and more muscular will probably make it easier to get lean. It doesn’t have to be expensive either. I bought an olympic barbell, 400 pounds of weights and two adjustable olympic dumbbell handles for 500 bucks. (new) I’ll have to buy some more plates for low rep deadlifts, but other than that, it’s one helluva stable investment. That stuff will last for decades. Combined with meat and eggs, that should be enough to get pretty fit/strong/big/awesome.

EDIT: Reread your post. You’re telling me that you, as a beginner, can press a 24 kg kettlebell over you head ten times with each arm (after doing snatches) yet stop your sets of dips after five reps at a bodyweight of 173 pounds? There’s nothing wrong with five times five, but if you do it with a weight that isn’t challenging I doubt that you’ll see results.

I sounded very critical. Your routine isn’t bad, but it could be a helluva lot better. (Again, I don’t know your goals. Do you?)

#6

Hi All

Thanks for the replys…

My initial goals were just to get off my ass before my life became permantly stuck on a chair / couch. Sitting in front of a computer for 9 hours a day at work, coming home and then sitting on the couch watching telly was just wasting me away. Only thing i did right is eat healthy always have, dont like fast foods and crap, i prefer to know what I am eating, so most of my meals are fresh meats and veggies / fruits. I do have the occasional lapse when out wi mates ect, hence my current weight isnt too bad, and my mate took a reading with a set of digital callipers and says my Bodyfat is sitting between 13% - 14%. So I not exactly a fat couch potato.

Yeah I can press the 24kg 10 times ok, I struggle on 5 x 5 sets of dips though, although 5 x 10 pushups probably wear me out before the dips.

You are right though, I havent got a definite goal as I really dont know what I want, hey I can take a vain attitude and say i wanna look good without a shirt for the first time in my life, lol…

#7

[quote]Nosveratau wrote:
i wanna look good without a shirt for the first time in my life, lol…[/quote]
Sounds like you need to read Nate Green’s Built for Show.

#8

[quote]Nosveratau wrote:
Yeah I can press the 24kg 10 times ok,
[/quote]

That’s pretty strong for someone who’s pretty new to weights.

[quote]I struggle on 5 x 5 sets of dips though, although 5 x 10 pushups probably wear me out before the dips.
[/quote]

That isn’t. You clearly have the strength for more, I think you simply suck at dips and that you’ll progress pretty quickly at these if you get used to them.

For looking good without a shirt on, I recommend lifting weights. Join a gym, then learn how to do and get stronger at:

squats and/or front squats
deadlifts
bench press (bb and db)
barbell/dumbbell rows
overhead press
weighted pullups/chinups
weighted dips
curls
tricep extensions and close grip bench press
and a bunch of other stuff

This will make you look way better without a shirt on.