Well let me introduce myself firstly I'm Darren 33 years old from the UK, joined the gym today for the first as was fed up off looking weedy compared to most people these days vanity is a killer!

I thought I'd join here to share my progress and ask questions etc etc so firstly let's start with my build and stats I'm 5'8" tall and weigh 12stone I have no deffintion whatsoever no six pack or nothing I'm just what I guess is a weedy male lol.

How important is diet? I have down loaded a few apps which give me ideas what to eat and what kinda plan to train to let's see how it goes.

Today I did 30mins on treadmill followed buy a upper body workout mainly just to get used to the machines in my gym.

If u wanna chuckle I struggled to do 3 sets of 10 reps dumbbell curls 35kg on the machine!

Not sure how bad that is but in will get better I did all the other suggested upper body groups 3 sets of ten no issues without to much struggle on 35 to 45kg reaching failure near end of 3rd set.

Any advice would be great I plan to take measurements and pics of my current build so we can share this journey

I'm guessing weedy means skinny?

just concentrate on doing core exercises - deadlifts, benchpress, squats, dips, and pull ups.

diet is important, just eat a lot of protein from lean sources(fish, lean beef, chicken, turkey, eggs).

I wouldn't do too much cardio as it will restrict your gains if you do too much. (that is if you want to gain muscle)

As far as supplements go, I'd only bother with whey protein shakes, creatine, and a quality multi-vitamin.

not good bro go for barbells and dumbells for your base and read the FAQ

|I have a idea of how I want to look, you know the typical guy nice abbs/pec and big arms, I have no desire to be huge ie hulk size just wanna take ma top off and look bnetter than i do now, would it be better to post pics of what I am and what I want?

Ta for the advice are the machines much worse in terms of gains?

I did read using free weights much better but can u imagine how much of a pussy id look not being able to do a set????

lol.. who cares what others think how much you can lift? It's not like they're going to go up to you, laugh, and call you a pussy.

you used 35kg dumbell (on a machine wtf?) - an empty barbell is a mere 20kg. You will be fine

also no-one will laugh at you in the gym for using tiny weights. It's a huge fear for weak noobs, but in my experience as a very weak noob it just doesn't happen. gym bros have respect for a wimp starting to learn! Do it right with compound barbell lifts on a regular schedule and you'll be stronger than many at the gym in short order anyhow.

Also you have little chance of becoming a huge hulk by accident. it'll most likely require backroom dealings and regular injections

Don't be affraid of others making fun of you because you are just starting out, because they won't. They will only make fun of you if you are a complete jackass.

Not sure what you mean about the 35kg remark all i know is the machine was for a bicep curl and the plates were at 35kg small I really dont know.

As for becoming a hulk deffo not my aim.

Pics links

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/594/zx85.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/89/ev4o.jpg/

how id like to look lol!

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/43/rpqs.jpg/

Read FAQ
Starting strength first 2-3 months/GSLP after

your welcome

stop doing cardio
refer to FAQs

That's pretty stupid advice to give for most people.

Most of H&Fers (like me) skip cardio because they're too ****ing lazy, not because it'd have any meaningful negative impact on achieving their goals.

sounds like he needs to gain weight. he could do cardio once a week or so but more than that seems pointless when trying to gain weight.

I Imagine I need to gain weight im 175lbs!

thanks for the FAQ tip I skimmed it before but some really good stuff in there, I am trying to do a 3 day week ie mon wed fri may throw in a extra day but mainly going to concentrate on the upper body and maybe 1 day for legs/cardio.

I deffo dont wanna be in the huge body builder type of gym guy more the type diet coke guys u see on tv body, sadly they aint invented anything for the ugly people so its just the body for now lmao

TY Chinz, As you can see i do have a midriff/love handles whilst these are not huge ones there there I always thought lifting 3x weekly combined with say cardio b4 a session nothing huge just 10min blast on tredmill and the a blast on a rowing machine would shed the fat and show the abbs once i built the dam things

opinion????

Cardio doesn't really achieve anything for your looks that you couldn't achieve by adjusting your diet, but it has a lot of health benefits and obviously a role in your all-around physical performance.

What is your current diet OP? how many calories do you think you consume a day? and cardio is not going to get you abs, I can guarantee that. When I was in high school I thought running cross country would get me ripped and guess what? I was in excellent shape but I still was around the same body fat.

One of the biggest misconceptions about strength training is that if you do exercises like squats and deadlifts then you'll suddenly explode into some huge hunk of a bodybuilder. This isn't going to happen unless you train insanely hard for a number of years and take lots of drugs. What will happen is that you develop a good quality of functional strength and a much more balanced body than if you just do what you're suggesting.

You're the perfect candidate for Starting Strength as you're weak and skinny. It will do more for you than anything you're going to be able to work out for yourself, and for that matter anything you read in Men's Health magazine or whatever.

TBH I honestly could not tell you what the amount is but I can give u a breakdown of my current diet this is how i eat prior to going to gym 1st time last weekend.

Breakfast is a Bacon Butty

Lunch is normally a pie or pot noodle

Tea is normally say a Pizza, a Microwave noodle meal or similar

Im also partial to Mc D so prob have 3 x large big mac meals a week

I have a sweet tooth so I will have 2 bars of choc daily and a carton on pringles 2 times a week most likely

so there u have it the WORST diet ever

Yeh I know cardio wont produce the abs but am i right in assuming if I do the core work out and use the running to strip stubborn fat away from the waist it will 'show' them more?

TY Ron I deffo dont take what i read in publications as gospal there trying to shift copies lol

deffo going to start on SS tho

How defined your ab muscles are is a function of:
- Body fat %
- Genetics
- Direct (e.g. planks, rollouts) and indirect (e.g. squats, deadlifts) ab work

Doing core workouts and running when you're already weedy won't transform your abs into a beautiful sixpack. You'll just be a skinny dude with low BF.

Sure does seem complicated lol

No, it's not really complicated. To look good naked (as defined by "diet coke" guys):
- Get a solid amount of muscle mass
- Have low body fat

Boom. Is it easy? No, it's gonna take a lot of time and dedication, more than 95% of the population has. But it's not complicated.

Great to see you're thinking of doing SS. Lots of people come into this forum either looking for advice or thinking they know best about training, and end up doing SS on the forum's recommendation. I don't think I've ever seen a single person regret it or say they didn't enjoy it/it didn't work for them.

Good link on core work that you can supplement SS with: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_...ore_training_1



Btw your diet just sucks.