help with training schedule

[kraut]

Hi,

I have been vegan since 2010. So far, all my training has been cardio (running, pretty much). Now I would like to also build up some upper body strength and lose fat. Mainly, I would like to focus on my arms and chest (building muscle) as well as my stomach (lose fat). I would also like to tighten my stomach, if possible. Even when I was on my lowest weight ever, my stomach has been hanging down. I am a 29 year old male, 186cm, currently around 78 kg.

Ideally, I would just do some body weight exorcizes rather than going to a gym. Can I achieve my goals this way? Alternatively, I have considered buying equipment to use at home (rowing machine or one of those all-in-one weight lifting stations).

I do not have any problems with cardio. Walking 20k or running around 12k is fine; however, working out to build muscle seems to be pretty tough on me. I did go to a gym for a month, which was just not for me. I have pretty much _no_ upper body strength, so I have to start at zero.

What kind of excercize (and possibly diet?) would you recommend for me to achieve my goals? Which, again, pretty much are: getting in shape (less fat, especially stomach, more muscle, especially arms and chest).

In the past, I have always just focused on losing weight. I ate less and ran more. But this time I’d like to really make a change. Another problem is that I have pretty bad posture. Whenever I realize this, I try to improve it but is there a certain exercise (or tool, like a back brace) you can recommend for me to permanently achieve better posture?

Thanks in advance
Cheers!

[blinki]

If you only really care about upper body then body weight exercises are fine- you can't really do decent lower body training though

Key thing is you want whatever you to do be challenging, so as you get better you need to make it harder but google has endless suggestions if you google 'push up progressions' or whatever. You want to do 3-5 sets of 5-12 reps, more than that and it's too easy. I'd do full upper body 3x a week, doing:

Dips- can be done in the corner of kitchen counter
Pull/chin ups- get yourself a door bar or find something outdoors to hang from, start with negatives if need be
Push ups- adding weight, various hand widths, incline/decline
Inverted rows- I used to do them hanging underneath a table with my feet on the sofa
Core- deadbugs, leg raises/hanging leg raises, planks etc- google 'core exercises' if you need suggestins

You might want to also consider getting some dumbbells- look for an adjustable second hand set and you should get them pretty cheap. Then you can do flies, curls and tricep extensions which don't require much weight to be effective. You can also use them to add weight to other exercises, like holding it between your feet/knees as you do dips

If you want to really train your legs then you need to be able to squat or leg press really which is getting into expensive set ups. More generally, proper access to weights does make it easier

Gaining muscle and loosing fat are opposites in terms of diet goals. I'd suggest loose whatever fat you need to first whilst lifting/doing BW exercises. As a noob you'll gain muscle pretty easy so still make some gains but you can switch to a small calories surplus once you have lost fat to gain muscle

My experience with fixing my posture is first getting the mobility to be able to get into the right position, then learning what the right position is/feels like by lot of practice in front of the mirror then tying my best to remember to do it all the time. It's a persistence game but eventually it sticks

[athlegan]

Resistance training does wonders with your strength and physique! The problem is that you need to really load it up. Most people go way too light and get results accordingly.

Blinki has some really good suggestions here and I'd only add that you could do pistol squats and carry lounges with whatever heavy object you have at hand. That'd give you a decent lower body workout, up to a point.

Could you tell us some more about your gym experience? Why isn't it for you? Maybe we could suggest an alternative where you could get lifting the proper weights.

[silver]

just throwing in that pilates is great for posture fixing and core strength. classes have a completely different feel to gym sessions too.
also worth listening to the suggestions the gym guys here come up with as different gyms have very different ethos, from what i can gather.
Damn, i missed every Caps I went for typing that...