Beginner's Guide to Health and Fitness

[RemedySC]

One subject I like to think I know a lot about is health and fitness. I have been an avid weightlifter for about five years now. I started in 2010 at a measly 128lbs (5 foot 9 inches). I am now about 165lbs and hoping to compete in power lifting in the near future. I figure I'll try to provide value in an area I am comfortable in first.

This is my first time writing something like this, so criticize away.

For the aspiring entrepreneur, not knowing how to improve your health and fitness can be detrimental.

A common trait that entrepreneurs seem to share is working a ton of hours per week (60-80 hours). This may make it tough to find time for yourself, and also has a huge impact on your overall health. I hope this information helps someone to better themselves physically.

Relationship Between Diet and Exercise.

I. Diet modulates weight

II. Exercise modulates body composition.

Our weight is determined by the amount of calories we consume, and our body composition (How we look) is determined by how hard we train. The average human needs about 2200 calories to maintain their weight as it is. If we eat more calories than our body can burn, than we start to gain weight, and if we eat less calories we will start to lose weight.

However, if we don’t exercise while dieting we will start to gain fat in a caloric surplus, and start to lose MUSCLE in a caloric deficit.

Vice-versa, if we exercise without a nutrition plan we won't get adequate muscle gains, or fat losses.

Weightlifting vs. Cardio

Cardio at its heart is very weak at burning fat. On average a person will burn between 200-300 calories per mile ran. Since there are about 3600 calories in one pound of fat, you will need to run 12-18 miles just to lose one pound. It is easier, and less time consuming to just cut those calories out of your diet. Hence the saying that abs are made in the kitchen.

Weight training on the other hand provides a stimulus for building muscle. In response to the stress put on your body from weightlifting, your body will produce a neuroendocrine response in which it will release anabolic hormones to repair your muscle tissues.

In essence, our bodies adapt to stress. The more stress the body receives, the bigger the adaptation. This is why higher intensity protocols such as weightlifting and HIIT get stronger adaptations to them than lower intensity such as cardio or very light weights.

How to go about gaining muscle.

It can be very difficult to build muscle because it requires a lot of calories. A person looking to gain weight and muscle will need to eat more calories than their body burns. It is recommended to only eat in a surplus of 300-500 calories, as eating more won’t contribute to gaining muscle and will only produce more fat.

At a caloric surplus of 500 calories, your body weight should increase by 1lbs/week. Not all of that will be muscle though, as you can only gain so much muscle in a week.

The average male in their first year of weight lifting, can gain anywhere from 12 – 25 pounds of muscle. (0.25 – 0.5lbs / week)

The average female in their first year of weight lifting, can gain anywhere from 6 – 12 pounds of muscle. (0.12 – 0.25lbs / week)

The amount of muscle gained is the greatest in the first year. Muscle gains will diminish about 50%/year after.

Lowing your body fat.

Lowering your body fat is basically the opposite of the above. You'll want to eat in a caloric deficit of 300-500 calories. If your maintenance is 2200/day, than you will eat 1700-1900 calories/day. At 1700 calories a day, you should lose 1lbs/week.

Your goal shouldn't be to gain muscle while on a cut. Exercising while losing fat is to help maintain the muscle you do have, and prevent muscle loss.

*It should be noted that a person with more body fat, can both gain muscle and lose fat on a caloric deficit. As their muscles are stressed, they will metabolize adipose tissue to supply the energy. As the person loses weight they hit diminishing returns and won’t gain as much muscle.*

Protein

Out of the three macro nutrients (Carbohydrates, Fats, Proteins), protein is the most important when it comes to building muscle. The other macro nutrients (fat and carbs) matter less.

You need the protein for building muscle if you are trying to gain weight. Protein intake should be about 1g/lbs or 2g/kg of lean body mass. *Make sure to drink lots of water if you are eating higher amounts of protein.

If you are trying to lose weight it seems odd to get the same amount of protein, but it is the truth. Protein is very satiating which makes it harder to over consume food. Additionally, protein is very thermogenic and used as signalling molecules to help stimulate metabolic processes which are beneficial to losing weight.

Generally speaking, however, a macronutrient based diet is a bit extreme. There are good and bad things about specific things in macronutrients, so breaking it down that way is not as good as a eat-real-foods approach.

Recommended Beginner Routine

For the novice lifter I recommend following a modified version of “Starting Strength” a program developed by Mark Rippetoe. His book has invaluable information, having about 50 pages on back squat form alone.

You will practice form with just the bar. Once you have the form down you can start to add weight. It's recommended to find a weight that just starts to add resistance and start there.

The program consists of lifting heavier weights at a lower rep range (5-8 reps).

Increase the weight by 5lbs every workout (If you do 135lbs for bench press, do 140lbs next time). If you miss > 3 reps altogether redo the same weight next workout. If you happen to fail that lift in 3 consecutive workouts, than you will want to deload by decreasing the weight by 20%.

I suggest training at a minimum of 3 days per week. Ideally you'll want to go every second day alternating the two workouts (A, off, B, off. Repeat). Honestly though, as a novice your body can't be over trained if you're eating properly. You could go multiple days in a row if you feel up for it.

Workout “A”

Back Squat: 3 (sets) x 5 (reps)
Bench Press: 3 x 5
Pullups: 15-20 total reps, add weight or use assisted.
Bent-over Row: 3 x 5

Workout “B”

Front Squat: 5 x 3
Standing Overhead Press: 3 x 5
Deadlifts: 1 x 5
Dips: 15-20 total reps, add weight or use assisted.

Note * Before each lift you should do warm up sets, ramping the weight up to your work sets. A basic progression of a warm up looks like:

2 (sets) x 5 (reps) @ 45lbs
1 x 5 @ 95lbs
1 x 3 @ 135lbs
1 x 2 @ 185lbs
1 x 1 @ 225lbs

In Conclusion

Gaining or losing weight is simple if you are dedicated and follow a system. Hope this information benefits someone. Feel free to PM for questions.

 

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