IrongarmX
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IrongarmX
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Talk about anything you want!
A friend from high school got in touch with me about hypertrophy and fat loss. Currently all he’s doing, and feels like doing, is cardio. He’s not a fan of weights but realizes it’s what he has to do. All his cardio is on a treadmill (has severe asthma so outdoors can get rough apparently).
The guy is seriously depressed and says the cardio is keeping him sane and he likes it because it’s meditative.
If I could train with him, I’d give him 6-8 weeks bodybuilding work before getting into the big 3. But because I’m not, I want to recommend something similar to what he’s doing as a start point that he’ll likely stick to by himself – i.e. doing carries on the treadmill – before getting him to expand on that.
Any of the trainers have thoughts here? I think I will send him a vanilla, beginner bodybuilding template as well. Something tells me a switch could be flicked and he’d be all in very quickly.
I think you’re both on the right track.
An easy bodybuilding routine is safe, simple, and effective. I’d have him start low volume at first — for example: 2 sets on 4 or 5 exercises — both to allow his body to acclimate and to give him something short and reasonable.
Good luck to your friend!
Let the man do his treadmill work. He likes it, he is motivated to do it, and sees value in it.
Is he running on the treadmill? Walking? How many days a week?
It’s not like running/walking 3 to 5 miles a day hurt anyone.
Next up, resistance. Don’t change shit up and put him on a program yet.
Have him start to incorporate some basic work into his warm up. Have him do some push ups, BW squats, leg lifts, that sort of thing. If he has off days, have him do some basic BW work as active recovery.
Again, if he gets to the point where he is alternating 4 sets of 25 push ups, 50 squats, 50 leg lifts, and then running for 3 to 5 miles, he will be fine. Or alternating a day of basic bodyweight work with a day of running. The value of the BW work is it won’t really interfere with the running, and the running won’t interfere with it.
There’s no real reason to push him to the weights if he doesn’t want to. And no need to push a program yet. If he is wanting to hit the weights, keep it simple. Is this a gym? Home? How many days a week? If it’s a gym, spend as many weeks as he wants just doing machines. Then run. Or do it after he runs.
He’s running 5x a week for 45 mins at a commercial gym. Thanks newguy. The BW stuff I had thought about – the warm up part is smart! I’ll work that in.
Have him do this
Run
Bench Press (or chest press machine, whichever he is more comfortable with)
Curl
Abs
I did exactly that, 5 days a week, for 8 weeks one summer and came out in almost the best shape of my 40s.
If he is depressed, be careful about fucking with the running. The program above came out of me being in a depressed state and while it my be hyperbole to say the running saved my life, it definitely helped keep me sane. There is a weird thing about treadmill running that lets you just zone out and get out of your head.
Yeah, just dumbbells and machines will get you jacked. Its all about the volume. 6-8 exerises per workout, 4 sets of 10-15 reps, 3-4 days a week.
Squats or leg press, hamstring curls, leg extensions, deadlifts (dumbbells are fine), pushups or bench, lat pulldowns, pullups, all the flyes, rows, biceps and triceps. Since he’s a beginner, he’ll see results more quickly, but should give himself 6-8 weeks before he judges anything. Of course, diet will be important for seeing those results.
If he just wants to look like an athletic guy, running supplemented with pushups, pullups, goblet squats, and kettlebell swings works awesome.
If he just wants to look like an athletic guy, running supplemented with pushups, pullups, goblet squats, and kettlebell swings works awesome.
Yep. Throw in some cursforthegirls, too. Hell, just running, pullups/chins, curls, and abs would do pretty well.
I’d go w. what was already suggested: bodyweight exercises thrown into the mix as a warm-up or between bouts of cardio. I don’t know what they have access to equipment-wise, but adding things that are quick and easy will be key. Once they get a little consistency and competency built up, the habit will mostly in place and then maybe add some more serious resistance work if they’re open to it.
You could do a lot worse than Rippetoe. SS seems like a great fit to me. Bury a new guy in 350 exercises in a 2.5 hour workout, where form matters, targeting muscles that are almost as big as a pinky, and he’ll go nowhere. Hitting the big moves won’t make him look like a body builder, but he’ll never look like a body builder without hitting the big moves. SS is great for delivering early results and creating a base for whatever he decides to do next.
Full discosure: I am not a trainer. I am frequently surprised by what does, and doesn’t work for people.
-stick