Need get-in-shape advice (long)

JayJay said:

I'm a 37-year-old male. Height is 5'9" (175 cm). Weight is
approximately 155 pounds (70 kg). I have a slight belly, and a
definite layer of fat over my (small) frame. Until a few years ago,
I never had any noticeable excess fat - In my mid-20s, I used to run
approximately 40 miles a week, which was excessive and led to
near-chronic shinsplints - at my skinniest I was 135 pounds, at my
heaviest, I was close to 170 with less fat than I carry presently.
I have done some casual weight lifting in the past and I'm familiar
with the basic freeweight exercises but I was never very strong. I
have been almost completely sedentary for more than a year. I want
to get stronger and feel better but I want to be sensible and avoid
injury.

I plan to take two weeks to do a simple full body routine every
other day in order to get myself in shape to start a 'real' routine.
I'll be starting this preliminary routine tonight. When I'm ready,
I'll do the following:

------
MONDAY
------
Squats
Bench Press
DB Shoulder Press (light)
Chins
Calves and Abs

---------
WEDNESDAY
---------
Squats (light)
SLDLs
Seated Barbell Shoulder Press
Rows
Calves and Abs

------
FRIDAY
------
Similar to Monday's workout

You start every workout with squats. It's hard to argue with that
sort of workout 🙂.

Quoted message said:

-------------------------------
Misc notes:
I like doing full-range high-bar squats and I think it's the exercise that
best serves my goals. My shoulders are tiny and weak and always have been.
I would like to work them regularly, instead of ignoring them, but I work
out in a basement with 8-foot ceilings, so I have to do seated shoulder
presses.

Are you sure about that? I'm 6'2" I work out in my basement too (8'
ceiling I just measured) and I have no problem at all doing overhead
squats, military presses, Clean and Jerks, etc. Are you sure you have
8' ceilings? As an alternative you can always drag your gear outside.
It's a little rough in the winter time, but it's good incentive to get
in and get done 🙂.

Quoted message said:

Shoulder exercises always give me headaches and neckaches; hopefully
I can avoid pulling my trap muscle, which I used to do all the time.
I work out alone with no safety equipment so I will try to stay at
least a rep or two away from failure, probably more.

That's always good advice. Over-reaching is a killer.

Quoted message said:

I don't have enough weight to do deadlifts (I have a 'standard' bar
with a combination of iron and vinyl-covered concrete plates), so
I'll do SLDLs. I'm familiar with the basics of designing a good
diet, but I probably lack the will to stick with it (here's hoping).

If you won't stick to a good diet try settling (at least at first) for
a "better" diet.

Quoted message said:

Any comments, questions, suggestions, or random insults are
welcomed.

Good luck, keep us posted.

Jason

If you work out alone at home I would suggest that you think about
doing incline press instead of bench press. This exercise is not too
scary if you tire out under the weight so you can work yourself closer
to failure. Bench press is a good exercise but I actually prefer
incline anyway since it seems to not stress my shoulder joints out as
much (I do bench every fourth chest day or so). Other than that I
think your routine looks like a really good full body workout utilizing
compound exercises. Maybe after you progress you can buy an olympic
set with more weights and throw in some deadlifts.

Good Luck,
James

"JayJay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

-snip-

Quoted message said:

Shoulder exercises always give me headaches and neckaches;
hopefully I can avoid pulling my trap muscle, which I used to do all
the
time.

The trick for many people is to keep the shoulder firmly in the socket
throughout a press. Since many people lack shoulder and upper back
flexibility, the way they get to full extension overhead is to lift up
the shoulder, and that's where the problems begin.

Try a one-armed dumbbell overhead press (the "Arnold" press) and try it
standing, not seated - it'll be easier to find a good groove for your
shoulders this way. Think about using your lat to pull your shoulder
down into the socket throughout the press, and as your arm starts to
straighten out, imagine that you're pressing from your elbow in both an
upward and a downward direction, i.e., you're pressing the weight up
while you're also pressing your upper arm down into your shoulder.. If
you can't get the weight straight overhead this way, just use a light
enough weight that you can find whatever position is comfortable for you
at the top, but be sure you keep the shoulder pressed down.

The bad news is that you'll move less weight this way, but the good news
is that it will be better for your shoulders and should lay a foundation
of strength and flexibility for heavier work down the road.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

"Steve Freides" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

"JayJay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

-snip-

Quoted message said:

Shoulder exercises always give me headaches and neckaches;
hopefully I can avoid pulling my trap muscle, which I used to do all
the
time.

The trick for many people is to keep the shoulder firmly in the socket
throughout a press. Since many people lack shoulder and upper back
flexibility, the way they get to full extension overhead is to lift up
the shoulder, and that's where the problems begin.

Try a one-armed dumbbell overhead press (the "Arnold" press) and try it
standing, not seated - it'll be easier to find a good groove for your
shoulders this way. Think about using your lat to pull your shoulder
down into the socket throughout the press, and as your arm starts to
straighten out, imagine that you're pressing from your elbow in both an
upward and a downward direction, i.e., you're pressing the weight up
while you're also pressing your upper arm down into your shoulder.. If
you can't get the weight straight overhead this way, just use a light
enough weight that you can find whatever position is comfortable for you
at the top, but be sure you keep the shoulder pressed down.

The bad news is that you'll move less weight this way, but the good news
is that it will be better for your shoulders and should lay a foundation
of strength and flexibility for heavier work down the road.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

I'll keep that in mind. I really haven't done much shoulder/trap
exercising in the past (which, for someone of my limited experience, means
I've done next-to-none) because I always end up with extremely annyoing
injuries that feel like muscle pulls in the trapezius near the spine. This
has happened to me at least a dozen times, sometimes while working out but
also when lying in bed or showering (presumably when the musculature was
tight after a night's sleep).

A good ten minutes per day of shoulder/upper-back stretching in front of a
mirror was the only way I was able to 'cure' this propensity towards
pulling the traps. If anyone's interested I can post the stretches I use,
but they're nothing special that you can't think of on your own.

I have done Arnold presses in the past, but I am not a fan of strict,
bodybuilder-style exercises. I may take the advice given by Jason Earl in
an earlier post and bring the bar outside since, at present, I can only do
overhead pressing while I'm seated because my ceiling is too low. I might
try to do some heavier shoulder presses that require me to get my entire
body into the movement. I want to strengthen myself and get 'in shape'
rather than just isolate a bodypart like most bodybuilders seem to want to
achieve.

Thanks for the clear, concise info.

"JamesG" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

If you work out alone at home I would suggest that you think about
doing incline press instead of bench press. This exercise is not too
scary if you tire out under the weight so you can work yourself closer
to failure. Bench press is a good exercise but I actually prefer
incline anyway since it seems to not stress my shoulder joints out as
much (I do bench every fourth chest day or so). Other than that I
think your routine looks like a really good full body workout utilizing
compound exercises. Maybe after you progress you can buy an olympic
set with more weights and throw in some deadlifts.

Good Luck,
James

I have a 'standard' bar. Also, the posts on my bench which hold the bar
are located just inside the collars. As a result, I always feel like I
can't quite get my hands wide enough apart to do a proper bench press. It
'feels' like a close-grip bench press (lot of tricep involvement, not so
much shoulder and chest). Since I've never had access to a knowledgeable
person or coach who could diagnose my bench press, I'm just guessing that
this is the case.

I will take your advice and use some incline. If I feel like my shoulders
are getting too much work, I'll go back to flat.

Thanks for the comments.

Jason Earl <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

If you won't stick to a good diet try settling (at least at first) for
a "better" diet.

That's a pretty sensible way to look at it. Will do, thanks.

"Renaldo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Steve Freides" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

"JayJay" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

-snip-

Quoted message said:

Shoulder exercises always give me headaches and neckaches;
hopefully I can avoid pulling my trap muscle, which I used to do all
the
time.

The trick for many people is to keep the shoulder firmly in the
socket
throughout a press. Since many people lack shoulder and upper back
flexibility, the way they get to full extension overhead is to lift
up
the shoulder, and that's where the problems begin.

Try a one-armed dumbbell overhead press (the "Arnold" press) and try
it
standing, not seated - it'll be easier to find a good groove for your
shoulders this way. Think about using your lat to pull your shoulder
down into the socket throughout the press, and as your arm starts to
straighten out, imagine that you're pressing from your elbow in both
an
upward and a downward direction, i.e., you're pressing the weight up
while you're also pressing your upper arm down into your shoulder..
If
you can't get the weight straight overhead this way, just use a light
enough weight that you can find whatever position is comfortable for
you
at the top, but be sure you keep the shoulder pressed down.

The bad news is that you'll move less weight this way, but the good
news
is that it will be better for your shoulders and should lay a
foundation
of strength and flexibility for heavier work down the road.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

I'll keep that in mind. I really haven't done much shoulder/trap
exercising in the past (which, for someone of my limited experience,
means
I've done next-to-none) because I always end up with extremely
annyoing
injuries that feel like muscle pulls in the trapezius near the spine.
This
has happened to me at least a dozen times, sometimes while working out
but
also when lying in bed or showering (presumably when the musculature
was
tight after a night's sleep).

A good ten minutes per day of shoulder/upper-back stretching in front
of a
mirror was the only way I was able to 'cure' this propensity towards
pulling the traps. If anyone's interested I can post the stretches I
use,
but they're nothing special that you can't think of on your own.

I have done Arnold presses in the past, but I am not a fan of strict,
bodybuilder-style exercises. I may take the advice given by Jason
Earl in
an earlier post and bring the bar outside since, at present, I can
only do
overhead pressing while I'm seated because my ceiling is too low. I
might
try to do some heavier shoulder presses that require me to get my
entire
body into the movement. I want to strengthen myself and get 'in
shape'
rather than just isolate a bodypart like most bodybuilders seem to
want to
achieve.

There is nothing bodybuilder-like in anything I do, I assure you. At
5'8" and having just weighed in at a meet at 147.5 lbs., I ain't big. 🙂
The Arnold press, just like any other exercise, can be used for a lot of
different goals. It's an excellent compound exercise, working the
shoulder through a wide range of motion, which is why I recommend it
regularly. I do mine with kettlebells and we call it a military press,
but it's the same basic idea.

You ought to look into the type of kettlebell training advocated by
Pavel - you can find a decent bit of info at the site in my sig below
and that site has links to other places as well.

-S-
http://www.kbnj.com

Quoted message said:

Thanks for the clear, concise info.