Routine at L.A fitness? Please help.?

Esmeralda Pigram: First, you must understand that none of this is going to happen fast or easy. Second, it is not just appearances. Your body is your dwelling place for the rest of this life.No exercise will stunt your growth.Most people emphasize the arms, abs, and pectoral muscles because they like the appearance.Upper body is really not as significant as most think.The larger muscle groups are more critical to your long term development.There are some things that you need to take into account in your early training to prevent injury and get better results sooner.New muscle needs to develop "infrastructure" meaning blood supply first. You should start with very light weight and high reps and increase in reps for a while. How long that is depends on your age and physical condition. For most people that would be at least 1 month. The other thing you should do is to strengthen your shoulder rotator cuffs. People who get injured there may not be doing anything much for a ye! ar. You can find exercises for that on the web. Be sure you do this to give yourself years of training stability.Running is good for cardio but does not develop strength or muscle mass.You might consider running the stairs or stadium bleachers if you have been running for a while.The single best thing you can do is not something which appeals to most people. Full squats will do a huge amount for your legs but also for your chest, heart and lungs. Paul Anderson the great American weightlifting champion said that " If you do not bend your legs and do those squats, you will never reach your potential."After you get the beginning conditioning done, you can go to more weight and lower reps. There is a lot of controversy about what is best but 3 sets of 10 reps max should be OK.The other thing is not to neglect your other infrastructure, heart and lungs. Cardio should be part of every workout. Cardio will give you the endurance necessary for serious training. You can run, jump ro! pe, use an elliptical (best), or a stair climber, or stationar! y bike for cardiovascular training.Your legs and chest development are closely connected. Squats are a must from the beginning. More or less the same thing there.In general, you need to do something for each and every muscle group with more concentration on your legs at the beginning.Do not neglect your abs and lower back because they protect your spine from injury. Injury is the worst enemy in fitness of any kind.Strenuous exercise will require you to eat a little differently. Nuts are a good protein supplement (about 25% by weight which is equal to any kind of meat). You must also eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.Most people need about 50 grams of protein per day. You do need to consume more protein with hard training but there are lots of veg sources such as nuts and soy. When training very hard you will need about 150 grams a day. Without working with weights, you may only need about 100 grams.Your body and your mind are both gifts from God. Make the most of bot! h.In any event, good luck to you. The decision to improve yourself is always a good one.Book: Body for Life by Phillips...Show more