"Beginning Fitness" Article rough draft- please be brutal

[mlc82]

Just finished an initial draft of this for the still one day upcoming nerdwhoworksouttoomuch. com, and want to get some input on it.
Constructive criticism is sought after, so rip it up as badly as you can for me!

Please note, I still plan to include some extra info, links on how to do the listed exercises properly, and etc.

Bolded text is not displayed yet either. Some of this, spacing and otherwise, isn't displaying correctly due to copy and paste from wordpad- if it looks way off on spacing or something, it isn't supposed to and I'll fix that in the final one!

(note as well, I'm not a vegan or raw foodist, nor do I desire to be, and am not mentioning anything of the sort here as it's hard enough to get others to eat decently as it is without terrifying them with something most people find "extreme"... just saying )




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Beginning Fitness Article (obviously tentative title)

So you've never touched a weight in your life, only run when your life is in danger, eat whatever comes your way without any regard for nutrition, and have at least a little extra gut (if not alot) that you'd rather be without? Have no fear, getting into shape isn't all that complex, and you can start today without having to go out and buy a single piece of equipment. This really isn't all that scary, it just takes a moment of decision to commit to your desire to get yourself into shape.
Here's the breakdown of what you'll need to do:

1. Start moving around more often.

2. Start eating foods that enrich your body with nutrients and provide you with energy instead of fattening you up and dragging you down.

3. Force your muscles to become stronger and better-defined by working them directly for roughly 30-45 minutes, 3 or 4 days a week.


Number 1 is the simplest one to succeed at. Starting out, just set aside 20 minutes a day (any time of the day), 6 days a week, to go out and walk at a fast pace. If this sounds like a chore, think of it this way: It's 20 minutes set aside to either think deeply about whatever you feel like, or take some headphones and a CD/Mp-3 player and listen to some music you enjoy. This should have you feeling energized and probably uplift your mood by the time you finish, and before long you'll be looking forward to your 20 minutes of zoning out and exercising.


Number 2 is the hardest to start at, mainly due to the common and fallacious myths which claim that in order to eat healthy, you must torture yourself and eat foods that would gag a maggot. This is pure crap. If your goal is simply to shape up, lose some fat, gain some energy, and become healthier, then there's no need to eat like either a competetive bodybuilder or, at the other end of the scale, a rabbit. Do yourself a big favor first of all and drop the fast food as much as you possibly can! Start packing a lunch the night before to take to work/school/wherever you spend your day. The two major benefits of a self-packed lunch are that it can help you achieve your fitness goal much faster, and also saves quite a bit of money over paying for fast food every day. If you absolutely can't take/keep food with you during the day, then go ahead and hit a fast food shop but start going for the "grilled" selections- Grilled chicken sandwich, grilled chicken salad, or something similar should replace artery-clogging, energy draining triple-cheeseburgers. Go on and get your fries if you like them, but keep it to a small order.


The same idea goes for your dinner- which of these sounds more filling and appetizing to you:

A grease-soaked fast food triple cheeseburger with fries and a supersized 48oz sugar-laden soda, weighing in at well over 1,000 calories (and guaranteed to see you snoozing soon after eating it).


or

A home cooked burger using 93/7 (extra lean) ground beef on a whole wheat bun, with all of the veggies/condiments you want on it (go easy on the mayo) and seasoned however you like it, a quarter cup of brown rice mixed in with steamed veggies, and a tall mug of Beer.


Guess which of those two is "healthier"- I'll give you a hint, the correct answer provides more energy-promoting and muscle-rebuilding nutrients, won't knock you out cold after eating it, and best of all, includes that blessed substance known as Beer. Believe it or not, Beer in moderation isn't going to turn you into a couch-dwelling fatass with an enormous gut who suffers from erectile dysfunction- assuming you aren't preparing for a bodybuilding competition or modelling photo shoot requiring you to be ultra-lean, a beer with your dinner will be just fine, and much better than a greaseburger and supersized fries. If you aren't old enough to legally drink beer yet, substitute in the non-alcoholic drink of your choice, just watch the sugar.
;-) It's also nice that this option ends up being much cheaper in the long run as well than the every day fast food fix!

If your initial thought on reading the above is "I don't know how to cook any of that!", just drop me an email and I'll be happy to help- if I can do it without burning my place down, anyone can.


I plan to write plenty more on healthy eating ideas, but for now the above should give you a basic idea. On to #3...

#3. Once you get past that initial period of making yourself do it in the first place, this WILL become the really fun part. There is no better way to vent after a bad day, or get yourself fired up for whatever you like to do at night, then a good resistance training workout. Even if you don't enjoy the act itself for awhile in the beginning, the feeling afterword becomes addictive, and is well worth getting the whole thing done for. I'm going to assume you've both never worked out with resistance training before (or only done so minimally), and have no weight training equipment in your home (and of course, no gym membership). This is a routine that anyone can do starting out, assuming you have no knee or shoulder issues- if you do, drop me an email and I'll set up an alternate plan for you.


Squats (bodyweight)- 50 reps, or as close as possible
Push up (from knees, full if you can do them)- 25 reps
Calf Raises- 50 reps
Prone Cobras- 25 reps
Crunch Sit Up- 25 reps
Repeat 3 x total

Doing this 3-4 times a week will be fine. Go down the whole thing as a circuit, ie do your set of squats, then your pushups, then calf raises, and so on until you complete the circuit (all of the listed exercises), then restart again from the Squats two more times. Keep your break time to a minium, ideally no more than 15-30 seconds between sets through the whole thing, although at first you'll likely need to take a while longer, that's fine.
Work up to the number of reps per exercise I've listed, and be prepared to be really sore during the first week or so! The soreness will lessen after that first week, but the results to come will not!

When that feeling kicks in that it's getting too hard to do, or you don't feel like doing it, or whatever other excuse you can dig comes to mind, remember these things:

1.
It will make you look more physically attractive!
2.
Keeping yourself healthy should be a priority to anyone- you're never too old to start, and the younger you start, the better!
3.
Working out regularly promotes feelings of well being, increased energy, and increased self confidence!
4.
Members of the opposite sex will like you more!
5.
Ahem, again, anyone you're interested in will find you more attractive! Same goes for your spouse/significant other, they'll like the change, and you'll reap the benefits!

So just keep at it, do your best to cover all of the steps, email me if you need any tips, encouragement, or have any questions.

[silicon toad2000]

I think in an article for beginers there needs to be a focus on understanding the body, and the effects hydration and exercise have on muscles.
A section on recovery outlining that too much exercise will make the bodyweaker. Understanding when it's safe to work a muscle group again after a workout.
Perhaps also a paragraph about pre workout nutrition and post workout nutrition.

[mlc82]

This is why I posted- I knew there would be some gigantic, obvious fundamental missing like Water Intake Good call!

On the other stuff, since is this is geared toward someone who's never touched a weight or exercised before (or much), do you think stuff like pre and post workout nutrition could initially be information overload for such a person? As in the simpler it comes across, the easier it is to motivate someone to do?

I know pre and post workout nutrition is a HUGELY important factor and plan to write up some easy to read stuff on that as well, but do you think it might overly complicate this article, and maybe should be linked to from it instead?

[Elrond]

Do you have a niche? Nerds? (Maby it's just refering to yourself being geekishly obsessed with fitness?) Maby i have not read it good enough, but it doesn’t seem like it is aimed at a partcicular demographic, and maby it should. There are hundreds, maby thousands of basic fitness articles, and maby you could have some luck with giving the readers of your site something that no other get-started-with-fitness articles does.

Are one supposed to do all the three points? Cause’ that sounds like it has a big potential of overwhelm built into it. Also, it si relatively time-consuming: 20 min with 1# six times a week, 30-45 min strenght training 3-4 times a week, and getting used to cooking your own nutrituous meals, instead of buying them at Burger King . Why not starting off with 1#, then after a while add 3# and then finally add 2#.

And about getting sore with the strenght training: why not advise to take it easy in the beginning? Like, really easy: only 1 set of each, and only 70%/80% of how much you can do in a set for the first day, and maby 2 sets of the same for the next day. As far as I know, soreness is not a virtue, and giving all those muscles that are hardly ever challenged such an overload could easily make you sore for 3 days or more. Which can further mess the rest of your pre-planned strenght training days up.

The exercises sounds reasonable, except for calf.raises... I don’t see the point in that. The only reason that comes to mind for a beginner to do calf-raises are if you wanna improve your ”fast-walking” or power-walking. And you might not want to take that one too far... Nerds are often self-consciouss enough even if they don’t power-walk
You could do vertical jump exercises, and thereby kinda get both squats and calf-raises in one. Though you might not be able to get a good enough burn from just jumping... yumm, fatigued calfs, having your ankles wobble when you walk afterwards...

Those last ”encouraging statements” or whatever you call it... you might want to make that a separate point, and not just something to remember on the fly in a moment of weakness. An exercise were you write down all the benefits that fitness will bring you. Maby also more negative statements, things that might go bad for you in the case you quit, etc.
Also, statements that matter to oneself. Not dogma:
”Keeping yourself healthy should be a priority to anyone”

[Angela]

Hi, mlc82! Good for you, for taking it upon yourself to make a difference in this very important part of people's lives -- fitness, vitality, and well-being.

Your article starts of by telling people not to fear, it's not as scary as they think to get in shape. I would like to suggest to you that it's not so much fear that keeps people from getting started, but inertia. Maybe you would like to rethink starting off by telling them not to be afraid (and thereby planting a suggestion that there's something to be afraid of ), but to give them a big bang of inspiration. What would have them leap up off their sofa and move around a little bit? What would inspire them to eat revitalizing food? Why should they bother? It might be helpful to instill inspiration throughout the article, rather than just listing the benefits at the end.

Especially about getting fit, I'd much rather move towards something than try to get away from something.

[silicon toad2000]

you're right. At this stage it could well be some information overload.

[Monique7nuns]

I wouldn't follow it. It already is imposing too many rules. It's to clinical to really reach anyone. Awareness is the place to start. IE) Figuring out why a person eats what they do and how it makes them feel.. same with exercise. Encourage them to figure it out themselves and to learn how to love the process by taking baby steps.

[mlc82]

I should add, my site is dealing with bodybuilding/fitness, and PC games. So yes, my main demographic is "nerds", which I'd consider myself to be, and when I was younger I was of the scrawny, shy, couldn't defend himself type. Kind of a good way to mix the computer nerd crowd in with fitness.

[mlc82]

On calf raises- it's something easy to learn and do that keeps the person moving, and thus burning calories. Edit: they're also much easier on the knees than a veritcal jump, and less horrific for a beginner. I think jumping squats are fun, but I'm in the minority, as even most fit people are flat out terrified of them.

I'm also a big believer in training and strengthening every muscle group whether someone sees an immediate point or not. If I work with a 18 yr old guy whos only concern is to be the strongest bench presser in the world, he's going to be doing plenty of squats, deadlifts, and even rear delt lateral raises as well, as any muscle imbalance in the body is likely to cause problems- of course this is well beyond the scope of my article, but you get the idea

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by Monique7nuns

I wouldn't follow it. It already is imposing too many rules. It's to clinical to really reach anyone. Awareness is the place to start. IE) Figuring out why a person eats what they do and how it makes them feel.. same with exercise. Encourage them to figure it out themselves and to learn how to love the process by taking baby steps.

I'm not sure what you mean. To me, what I've outlined are just very basic fundamentals- definitely nothing clinical about it. I mean for this to be read by a broad spectrum of viewers, not a single personal client who I could really get to know and thus learn what specifically would make them tick. That's what I do for work

Also, this is meant for someone already wanting to get themselves into shape, and just lacking the info. I'm not trying to convince or coddle those who don't care into doing it.

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by Angela

Hi, mlc82! Good for you, for taking it upon yourself to make a difference in this very important part of people's lives -- fitness, vitality, and well-being.

Your article starts of by telling people not to fear, it's not as scary as they think to get in shape. I would like to suggest to you that it's not so much fear that keeps people from getting started, but inertia. Maybe you would like to rethink starting off by telling them not to be afraid (and thereby planting a suggestion that there's something to be afraid of ), but to give them a big bang of inspiration. What would have them leap up off their sofa and move around a little bit? What would inspire them to eat revitalizing food? Why should they bother? It might be helpful to instill inspiration throughout the article, rather than just listing the benefits at the end.

Especially about getting fit, I'd much rather move towards something than try to get away from something.

Good point... now to think of something to start with.

"Wanna lose that gut, build some muscle, and get more sex?"...
that would work for me but probably wouldn't make for the best intro

[Angela]

Originally Posted by mlc82

Good point... now to think of something to start with.

"Wanna lose that gut, build some muscle, and get more sex?"...
that would work for me but probably wouldn't make for the best intro

Yeah, I'd put the sex first.

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by Angela

Yeah, I'd put the sex first.

Initially, that was a HUGE motivator for me- I wanted to be able to actually get it one day

Well, sex and good old fashioned anger at least. Really a great combo for workout motivation!

[ZeeZoy]

Before people begin a fitness program, they need to have a direction in which to go. Thus, clearly defined goals are important for all persons undertaking a fitness at all levels.

If your goal is to lift heavy weight, then a weight training program that emphasizes lifting progrssively heavier weight (preferably sticking with barbells and dumbbells) and a diet that allows enough clean calorie intake to allow the body to grow.

If the goal is to lose fat, then emphasis on leg workouts along with a smart cardio program along with a healthy diet making sure to progressively decrease caloric intake until the goals have been acquired.

There are age considerations. Someone younger with healthy joints should focus a little more on weight training while someone older may need to emphasize flexibility.

With all of the knowledge out on the market today it is important a persona knows 1) where they want to be in 6 mos and in a year and realize the need to re-evaluate and update those goals, and 2) understand how to find the right information to achieve those goals. The best way from my experience is to find a person that has what you want and ask them how they got it. Then go from there.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

[Elrond]

Originally Posted by mlc82

On calf raises- it's something easy to learn and do that keeps the person moving, and thus burning calories. Edit: they're also much easier on the knees than a veritcal jump, and less horrific for a beginner. I think jumping squats are fun, but I'm in the minority, as even most fit people are flat out terrified of them.

I see. And they are most probably much easier on the knees. However, I don’t see how this can be a big factor. You naturally land on the balls of your feet, and thereby absorb much of the shock. This is in contrast to jogging, where it is more intuitive to land on your heels, especially whilst using shoes. Besides, you cannot do near as much vertical squat jumping as jogging.

Also, a compound exercise is probably more effective at burning calories. It may be more hard to learn, but not greatly.

Originally Posted by mlc82

I'm also a big believer in training and strengthening every muscle group whether someone sees an immediate point or not. If I work with a 18 yr old guy whos only concern is to be the strongest bench presser in the world, he's going to be doing plenty of squats, deadlifts, and even rear delt lateral raises as well, as any muscle imbalance in the body is likely to cause problems- of course this is well beyond the scope of my article, but you get the idea

If you want to take the ”strenghtening every muscle group” philosophy as far as training the calfs by isolation, than you have logically left out many muscle groups in this regime:

- Lats
- Upper back muscles, reverse of chest-muscles
- Biceps
- Shoulders (arguably get some workout with pushups, but then probably the front-deltoids more exclusively)
- Wrist and fingers, training helps prevent carpal tunnel and tendinitis brought on by repititive keyboard and mouse use.

There might be many more that is benefitial to train for all I know, for example hamstrings. All of these muscle-groups can be trained with minimal eqiupment, i.e. no gym-membership required.

You might not have had the intention of taking the ”muscle imbalance” concept very far in this article, but it is weird that you write that one should do calf-raises when you could easily have taken a much more well-rounded and compound exercise in its place. A pretty obvious one would be pull up/chin up (and you don’t need a pull up bar for this). Granted, it's harder learn and you might have to restrict yourself to doing negatives in the beginning so it is not as straight-forward. But by my advise, I wouldn't have done so much in the first few workouts anyway, so it might be a good time to practice and be aware of good form.

[chopsaw]

mlc82

I'm not going to discuss the details of your article. I'll focus on your delivery.

The tone of your piece isn't nearly as inviting as it should be. The delivery is of an instructor to a student, "first you do this, then you do this..." It's as dry as a recipe. I found the article a bit too preachy and I honestly wouldn't have read much further than the first couple of paragraphs. Most reader's are looking for an interesting story, one that is chock full of good information, that will inspire them to get off the couch.

Embed links to the "nuts and bolts" of a training session within the story. This way you are casting a wider net and those interested in your specific approach can then follow your lead.

Take a look at Steve's piece "The Sock". It's a good story with a solid message. By altering your approach, I believe you'll have a heck of a piece.

Good luck with it.

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by Elrond

I see. And they are most probably much easier on the knees. However, I don’t see how this can be a big factor. You naturally land on the balls of your feet, and thereby absorb much of the shock. This is in contrast to jogging, where it is more intuitive to land on your heels, especially whilst using shoes. Besides, you cannot do near as much vertical squat jumping as jogging.

Also, a compound exercise is probably more effective at burning calories. It may be more hard to learn, but not greatly.



If you want to take the ”strenghtening every muscle group” philosophy as far as training the calfs by isolation, than you have logically left out many muscle groups in this regime:

- Lats
- Upper back muscles, reverse of chest-muscles
- Biceps
- Shoulders (arguably get some workout with pushups, but then probably the front-deltoids more exclusively)
- Wrist and fingers, training helps prevent carpal tunnel and tendinitis brought on by repititive keyboard and mouse use.

There might be many more that is benefitial to train for all I know, for example hamstrings. All of these muscle-groups can be trained with minimal eqiupment, i.e. no gym-membership required.

You might not have had the intention of taking the ”muscle imbalance” concept very far in this article, but it is weird that you write that one should do calf-raises when you could easily have taken a much more well-rounded and compound exercise in its place. A pretty obvious one would be pull up/chin up (and you don’t need a pull up bar for this). Granted, it's harder learn and you might have to restrict yourself to doing negatives in the beginning so it is not as straight-forward. But by my advise, I wouldn't have done so much in the first few workouts anyway, so it might be a good time to practice and be aware of good form.

What compound exercise could I use in place of calf raises for someone who's a. not in atheltic shape at all, and b. doesn't have any weight equipment? I really don't see the problem in working calves on their own, but then I enjoy training calves quite a bit as well so maybe I'm just biased.

Also, prone cobras very well should work the lats and rhomboids (upper back)- not to the extent that chin ups will, but chin ups are definitely NOT an exercise to use with someone who isn't in shape at all. Even negatives just won't be happening for such a person at first- many people in decent shape still have real trouble with negative chins, let alone full ones.

What would be a good wrist/finger exercise as well? I'd never even thought of working that...

[mlc82]

Originally Posted by chopsaw

mlc82

I'm not going to discuss the details of your article. I'll focus on your delivery.

The tone of your piece isn't nearly as inviting as it should be. The delivery is of an instructor to a student, "first you do this, then you do this..." It's as dry as a recipe. I found the article a bit too preachy and I honestly wouldn't have read much further than the first couple of paragraphs. Most reader's are looking for an interesting story, one that is chock full of good information, that will inspire them to get off the couch.

Embed links to the "nuts and bolts" of a training session within the story. This way you are casting a wider net and those interested in your specific approach can then follow your lead.

Take a look at Steve's piece "The Sock". It's a good story with a solid message. By altering your approach, I believe you'll have a heck of a piece.

Good luck with it.

I'll check out that "The Sock" piece, thanks for the idea!

What did you mean by "too preachy"?

[mlc82]

Thanks again for all the responses btw, I appreciate all of them!

[Elrond]

Originally Posted by mlc82

What compound exercise could I use in place of calf raises for someone who's a. not in atheltic shape at all, and b. doesn't have any weight equipment? I really don't see the problem in working calves on their own, but then I enjoy training calves quite a bit as well so maybe I'm just biased.

Jumping squats. But I don't aspire to train calves at all, so I'm biased too.

Originally Posted by mlc82

Also, prone cobras very well should work the lats and rhomboids (upper back)- not to the extent that chin ups will, but chin ups are definitely NOT an exercise to use with someone who isn't in shape at all. Even negatives just won't be happening for such a person at first- many people in decent shape still have real trouble with negative chins, let alone full ones.

Yeah, it will definitely work the upper back (dunno about lats) if you are conscious about pressing the scapula (or whatever you call it) together.

A few months ago, we were doing chin ups in my class. It turned out that many could do several of them, but I could barely do one whilst not using too much momentum. I was heavier than most of them, but to compensate I have a natural somewhat muscular build. When I tried lat negatives a while ago, I found I could hold for 5 seconds at the top and extend the trip downward to 5 seconds. So maybe I have over-rated peoples general proficiency at this.

But there is something you could do to work the upper back muscles. If you are lucky enough to find a chair that can facilitate it, you can do an "australian pull up". You hold your body in plank-position and pull your body upwards whilst grabbing onto the chair. Almost the perfect opposite of sit ups. This relies on being able to find a chair or anything other that can facilitate a decent ROM.

Originally Posted by mlc82

What would be a good wrist/finger exercise as well? I'd never even thought of working that...

You work your finger while doing the australian pull up and regular pull up /chin up. You can also just focus on the fingers. Take a towel and put it over a door. Now grab the top of the door, maby a little more than shoulder with apart, and proceed to hang from the door. You can also opt to hang from only one hand. You can also limit yourself to a few fingers, for example holding your entire bodyweight with your index finger only. It seems there is a lot of potential here.

Finger pushups. It works both the fingers and the wrist.

Hand grippers. You can get these in resistance equaling 1 lb right up to the ridiculous 365 lb!!! (Captains of Crush).

I guess you can also find random objects and curl them with your wrist. You don't need very much weight for this so maybe it's practical.
EDIT: I just found this exercise. It looks very cool. All you need is a sturdy bag and sand or something to put into it. I guess you can make this yourself very easily.
Grip strength training tips by John Brookfield for building hand, wrist, forearm strength – IronMind