Work Out Books

Glad someone else is thinking along the same lines. I'm way past the stage of reading working out books and such though, I'm planning on joining a fitness boot camp in NYC for a couple of months before I start.

Depending on your goals you should do cardio for 3 days a week and lift 3 days a week.

dont read books about exercise.

exercise.

I already exercise--push ups, sit ups, jogging, etc. I want to start working on different muscle groups, but I'm not sure the best way to go about this. Any advice?

Just join a local gym and workout. Free weights would be harder for newer people that workout. That's why gyms have machines.

Just work out at the gym. There is no need to read exercise books as well, it's not worth it at all. Just stick to working out AT LEAST (minimum) 2-3 times a week, 45 minutes-1 hour each time.

Couple it with a good diet.

bodybuildingforyou.com is a good site. guides for beginners, and advanced.

Anyone who tells you not to familiarize yourself with different exercises/workouts (e.g. by reading) are the ones who go to the gym year-in-year-out and never see any results.

I second bodybuilding.com.

Other very good sources of information are the fitness/health/nutrition sections of menshealth.com or askmen.com. These sites may be a little easier to navigate.

If you're really, really serious about this and wanna do it long-term i.e. more than just a summer, then go get Arnold's encyclopedia of Bodybuilding, best workout book ever.

is good, good exercise data base, good articles.

my advice would be to go hard but be careful/sensible, u don't wanna be going to the gym everyday and have a good level of fitness and then injure urself and end up not being able to train for 2 months (e.g. like i did - dislocated sholder doin sholder press.... not good, not good.)

I'm suprised no one has reccomended a personal trainer. If you're truly a beginner and know dick about working out, I would strongly recommend working with one for about a month or so until you get a good routine down. I can't tell you how many people I've seen at the gym who are wasting their time. I look at their routines and wonder what in the hell they are doing. Most trainers really suck though so it's a bit of a crap shoot. But a good one can put you on the right path, the rest is up to you...

by Mark Rippetoe is a great book that teaches the core lifts. It pays so much attention to detail, that you can teach yourself proper form, etc without major issues. The workout program that it provides is designed for novices and has given many people major gains. You can also go to http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=998224 to find a guide and faq on the program in the bodybuilding.com forums. And, the author of the book will answer any questions you have that are not in the book at www.strengthmill.net/forum. Many other questions such as diet, etc can be answered on bodybuilding.com and t-nation.com. Personal trainers are expensive and can often give you bad information. Mark Rippetoe is a former powerlifter and has coached athletes for over 20 years, so his advice will be better than 99% of the stuff you see on the internet.

I work out pretty often and use this site to track everything online: http://menshealth.genesant.com/www/xnt/mh/pages/Splash.aspx

It's only about $5 a month and will allow you to choose from multiple workouts. As you enter your data into the system, the workouts adjust and become tougher. There are also good instructions for each exercise (some are text, some are animated gifs).

For diet (very important to eat right), pick up Nutrition for Dummies.

i wouldn't bother with books, i'd stick with google.

personally, i'm pretty anti-trainers, classes, etc. i like to keep it nice and simple.

go to a weight room and start using the machines & free-weights. if you can get someone to go with you so you could spot each other, i'd stick with freeweights as much as possible vs. machines, you get a better workout. however, you also have a higher chance of hurting yourself like i did (as a result i have to use machines for a particular muscle group until i get better).

i'd go 3-4 times a week and do a different muscle group each time. i know a lot of people with different groupings but mine are as follows:

chest biceps/back triceps/shoulders legs

and i do abs in between workouts for each of the aforementioned groupings.

just my $.02, good luck.

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"its the running joke now, we now have fair trade with china so they send us poisoned sea food and we send them fraudulent securities."

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com - has some of the best workouts, run by exercise physiologists, has searchable message boards for members...far better than bodybuilding.com imo, just less known...

Forget everything everyone wrote up here (except fonz's suggestion on the book Starting Strength). To add some credibility to my post: I did bodybuilding for 5 years, I went from pipsqueek in grade 7 to being named "most ripped/best body" during graduation (Im 20 btw), MMA/Wrestling athlete, blah blah blah....

So onto my advice: After 5 years of bodybuilding I wish I done more powerlifting (more focus on strength). So that is what I suggest...stick to STRENGTH TRAINING. It will pay dividends when you are working 100 hour weeks and that stress is eating away at you.

A program that has been proven AGAIN AND AGAIN is the Bill Starr 5x5 program. I can pretty much guarantee you will get MAXIMUM results with MINIMAL time in the gym...aka "efficiency". You will get stronger, put stress on the central nervous system (VERY KEY!!), and you will get a great body...again with minimal time in the gym (NOT to be mistaken with minimal effort though).

Follow this link, I suggest reading the info as it will save you from injury. http://www.eclipsegym.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=57 **Note: I would suggest switching out the Dynamic Row for the Bent-over Row.

If you are unsure of how to perform an exercise, visit bodybuilding.com and search their exercise database; its vast and contains videos to teach you how to perform the exercise properly.

All this may seem like a lot of reading but it will literally take you maybe 1-2 hours which is nothing compared to the knowledge you will gain.

GOOD LUCK.

ps. if you wanna buy a book, the ONLY one i would suggest is Starting Strength.

I second Arnold Schwarzenegger's The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. You can probably get a used one for cheap in Amazon. It has a good overview starting from beginners to professionals, etc. and includes most exercises you'll ever need. Only downside is too many pictures of him and others posing.

If you have the money to hire a trainer, I would. I started working out regularly in high school for sports and all of my friends were big on form and technique when lifting, so that helped me quite a bit. At the very least, you'll be doing yourself a disservice by cheating or having poor form while lifting (defeating the purpose of going to the gym in the first place), and at the very worst you'll hurt yourself.

You don't have to hire a trainer for months or even years, I would recommend getting a trainer to help you hammer out a good schedule and routine, then walk you through it, showing you exactly how to use proper form when lifting. Books are great, but some people have trouble translating words and pictures into action. And I see alot of people using terrible form at the gym or using too much momentum while lifting weights (unless you're powerlifting, this can seriously injure you).

I've been lifting weights for the better part of 10 years now, and I'm not ashamed to admit that once in a while I'll pony up and get a trainer. It helps me accomplish two things: get new ideas for a routine when I'm stuck in a rut, and also make sure that I'm not developing bad habits or cheating on the exercises I'm already doing. And everytime I get a trainer I end up REALLY sore the next day. Something about having someone there to push you for those extra 1 or two reps makes all the difference. If you're in New York, the NYSC is offering a package of 3 personal training sessions for 99 bucks. I'd say you do two of those, and you'll be all set to venture out on your own.

Turbulence Training is pretty good. They also have a bodyweight manual where you do workouts with your body weight.

This is the workout that will work for any beginner, 3 sets of 8 to failure:

Day 1: Bench press Incline bench press Weighted dips Misc shoulders Skull-crushers optional

Day 2: Pull-ups or Lat pull-downs Seated or bent-over rows Deadlifts Preacher's curl optional

Day 3: Squats Calf raises Lunges Misc abs

Day 4: Rest

Repeat

train for a triathlon or marathon at the beginning of the summer...you'll get in shape

This was already mentioned, but is important and deserves restatement:

Pick up Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. It will change how you perceive strength, exercise, and health. Plus, the guys fucking hilarious.

Note: Avoid workout routines that separate muscle groups. Avoid excessive "cardio" - some is good (i.e. marathon training). For overall health and well-being, you can't stop functional strength training combined with a regular activity which elevates your heart rate.

And if you really want to be a stud...www.crossfit.com

Bikram Yoga.

Body for Life by Bill Phillips is really popular and effective. It's based on a 12 week plan that you can extend for as long as you want. It teaches you about exercising, eating, lifting, etc. and has pictures and examples of how to work certain muscle groups. You just have to ignore some of the proselytizing crap in the earlier parts of the book. The people I know who have done it have had really great results.