I need some help here... Total newbie

[conan_cat]

Hi guys, I just started to join my fitness center one month ago, and yeah i am a drop dead stupid newbie that know nothing about body building. i've read through some of the articles at the stickie here, but most of them are talking about building muscle mass. i'm 5'7" (171cm) and 137lbs, with a tummy that i hate so much and want to lose. my questions are, which workout should i do first, is it the Mark Rippetoe's 3x5 workout? do i do abs exercise together with the workout schedule? if i want to lose my tummy fat should i do more cardio and eat less? how much cardio do i hav to do, around 20~30 mins or more? if i wanna build muscle mass, do i lose my fat first so that i lose my tummy first then only i eat more and build up? are there any supplement available for this?

sorry i'm just too poor to hire a personal trainer.. ^^"

 

[fortunatesun]

No such thing as a bad question, there's only the idiot too hardheaded to ask in the first place.

Yes, Mark Repptoe's Starting Strength is a excellent place to start. When you are a beginner your body will respond differently to training in a different way than with someone more experienced. It has also been shown that resistance training (i.e. with weights) will lead to fat loss. Abs would done during regular workout sessions.
Yes, cardio is good. It will burn calories which may result in fat loss. Of course conditioning plays a role in how much you do. Too much will burn you out quickly and set you back. Cardio also depletes energy reserves needed for weight training. On the other hand, increasing your conditioning will lead to better gains in the weight room. Therefore it's necessary to to learn how to balance the two. Start out slowly and do more if you feel it is necessary.
The key to fat loss is in your diet. There's a saying around here : 'Abs are made in the kitchen'. This doesn't mean going on a quick fix program. It means an entire lifestyle change which you must to committed to equally as much as your weight training. One is just as important as the other. There's a wealth of information in the nutrion forum. Lot's of info and knowlegable people there. If I were a beginner again I would try something like this:
The Trailing Edge Diet
It's a good no nonsense approach that covers all the bases until you understand what it is you need to do.

 

[s8nlilhlpr]

To get rid of your "tummy fat" you need to work on your diet. What does it look like currently, do you know how many calories you are eating? If not, then try keeping a log of what foods you eat ALL day, not just the major meals. You could choose to diet the belly away, then start adding muscle. But I bet if you clean up your diet, you could slowly shrink the belly while adding muscle elsewhere. You need to find out how many calories your body needs, not what some routine tells you.

The 3x5 Starting Strength routine is EXCELLENT. Congradulations for picking a good routine right off the bat, instead of wasting years working for a "pump". If you don't know how to do an exercise properly, video yourself and post it on here for people to critique. Otherwise, check out this website and try and imitate as best as you can.

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

 

[kittygurl]

Stay away from simple carbs and white foods.

 

[al420]

Stay away from simple carbs and white foods.

Yeah... like cottage cheese, and milk...lol.

I think they mean to stay away from white flour, simple sugars, fast food, etc. Getting "rid" of something implies it is not coming back - which is n the case of physique reqires a life change, not a diet per say.

Now if you want to bulk....... then start eating white doughnuts - the powered ones. Nothing in the world is better for increasing Squat, Bench, and Dead numbers! The Mark Riptoe program is much more fun w/ a excess of calories.

Oh - and Abs don't come from crunches - they are made in the kitchen

 

[fortunatesun]

Yeah... like cottage cheese, and milk...lol.


Now if you want to bulk....... then start eating white doughnuts - the powered ones. Nothing in the world is better for increasing Squat, Bench, and Dead numbers!

Science is wonderful. I guess I NO 2 what that secret performance enhancing substance is. Lazer like pastry and intense chomp.

 

[conan_cat]

thank you, you guys are really great, i really learnt quite some things from your replies. i'm still not very sure about the diet thing though, cause i'm living in Malaysia with my over eating parents, many things deemed common in US such as cheese cannot be found here (even if it does it's quite expensive ) i'll try to look for a diet that suits my nation...

anyway, are supplements necessary?? in my case if i am to take supplements, what sort of supplement should i aim for?

 

[Cynical Simian]

I'd say a multivitamin and fish oil are the only really "necessary" supplements. When protein is a convenient and cheap way to increase your protein intake, although most of the time getting your calories from regular food is a better way to go.

Most of the foods commonly eaten in the US are junk, so not being able to find them at reasonable prices in Malaysia might be an advantage. Here's my usual "basic guidelines for eating" link, which might help you plan things:
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/7habits.htm

If you can find a site that offers shipping at anything close to a reasonable price, I'd strongly suggest buying Starting Strength. It has the routine from the sticky, of course, but more importantly it has what're generally considered the best written tutorials on the big lifts anywhere.

 

[fortunatesun]

EFAs- Essential Fatty Acids. This is all you need to start out. Flax oil and fish oil. When you eat less caloric dense foods these will provide you enough energy to continue weight training. They will also greatly increase the rate at which your body burns it's stored fat by making it easily to metabolise. The rest is totally unnecessary.
You probably don't even need this if you live in Malaysia. Fresh fish is easy. to get. Just make sure it's the fatty kind to take advantage of the high EFA content.
Having access to different foods than Americans isn't a bad thing at all. People have always been able to become strong no matter where they live. You just need to take advantage of what's available to you. That's why you need to understand how to construct a diet plan. The best plan is one that you are able to use every day. That means doing more research and asking more questions.

 

[fortunatesun]

Yes, and a multivitamin too. Good posting CS.