You’re fat and you want to know how other fat people workout, what their preparation is before going to the gym and their overall schedule. If you’re not then head on back to Google. This post is written by a fat guy who does like to workout, but I have not time for gym bunnies or meatheads that spent so many hours in the gym that they’re the type of people looking at themselves in the mirror all day long.
So, let’s look at the things that I do before I do my workout:
Mental preparation
For me, it’s a challenge if going to the gym isn’t a habit. If I get used to not going to the gym then I’m not the type of person who can then get back into the rhythym of going again; in fact, getting back into the habit of even being mentally prepared to ‘do my thing’ with those weights and cardio machines is a must.
Sometimes I will say that I’m going to the gym tomorrow, to get my mind fixated that I am definitely going to get my gear on in the morning and head off with my training programme in hand, whether or not the weather is great. There are some quite a few times when I say this to myself on the previous day – and sometimes to the people around me – but I tend to find an excuse reason why I don’t go.
Most of the time it is because I just don’t have the time to get sweaty. I have a busy schedule and there’s loads of things that have been on my to do list for quite some time (people that know me will agree with this, I can see you nodding now). But, I think that a lot of the time it is fear that overrides my ability to get into the proper mental state and actually want to go.
What fear?
- Being fat and always being that way: kinda ironic, I know
- Being the ‘sweaty fat mess’ that people stay away from
- No being able to progress as quick as I want
Gym Gear
After mental preparedness, I, of course, need to get my gym gear ready. Two essential items that will always be coming along with me are my leather weightlifting gloves as I get sweaty palms when I’m training and tend to lose grip on dumbbells or on a bar, and my vibrams. The little blue toe running shoes (no, I don’t use them for running before you get thinking all weird on me) are great for the gym.
Wearing them is a bit strange at first, but I always feel safer and more confident in myself when I have them on. Maybe it’s because you can feel nearly every bump in the ground – but they are really comfy too.
Then, I’ll also be wearing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. For shorts, I usually go with a leading brand and wear the football type ones: those that have the extra snug lining inside that keeps everything together when you’re stretching and working out, especially went working legs and lower body (I don’t want to be showing people more than my legs when I squat now, do I?).
I used to wear any old t-shirt and cotton was my first choice. Not anymore though. I tend to be a really sweaty guy, so I do for one of those sports ones that wicks sweat away from your body: it has that affect and about halfway through my workout session it looks like someone has just pour a bucket of water over me, but it feels much better to wear one of these types of shirts.
Water and Supplements
In general, I hope it’s common knowledge that we all need to drink eight glasses of water each day (or whatever we calculate is necessary), and for me it’s important to drink quite a lot of water at the gym. I’ve seen other people complete a workout, have a little bottle of juice with them and hardly break out in a sweat. That’s great for them, but I’m the total opposite.
I’ll always be taking a towel with me and a large bottle of water to drink to quench my thirst.
I’ll also be taking some form of supplement. I know some people who are against any form of supplement, such as BCAAs or Whey protein: I’m definitely against taking steroids as I think it’s just unnatural. But, I do tend to take BCAAs during my workout as I consider them beneficial and I will (but not always) have a protein shake after workout. Sometimes I’ll jump in the bath too if my muscles are sore, but this only tends to be the case when I’ve recently changed my training regime.
I tend to mix up my pre and post workout eating regime so that my body doesn’t get used to the calorie intake, but that’s a whole other post on here.
Fitness Programme At The Gym
I use a personal trainer as highlighted in this post. I do go into a who load of reasons why in that article, but the main points are because someone knows me and can write a training programme for me that is individual and will help me advance quicker than if I didn’t, and that even when I’m not training with him he’s only a phone call away.
A great support from fitness coaches is that they offer a lot of mental help to their clients – or that’s what I’ve experienced and seen other people experiencing.
So, my programme mainly takes the focus of staying away from the general drabble of cardio – much because I don’t like it, and if I don’t like it I stay away from the gym – and focuses on large muscle groups and lifting weights.
There is some cardio, which includes high intensity exercises, but I don’t sit on a bike or a rower for half an hour trying to beat my previous best: I’d rather lift more weight and get some anaerobic exercise/muscle development in there. (If you’re not too sure what all that means there’s a few links dotted about that go into more depth on what I mention here.)
So, for example, if I was working on my legs & shoulders today then my workout regime might look like:
- 3 sets of lunges
- 3 sets of squats
- 3 sets of deadlifts
- 3 sets of shoulder press
- 3 sets of lateral raise
- 3 sets of upright row
- two sets of abs exercises
The above would last me about 50 mins to an hour. I wouldn’t necessarily do sets of 10 with a minute rest in between with a weight that I feel burns hard towards the end of all sets – as is the ‘norm’ when working out – but will work with my PT to change the programme every 4 weeks or so. Which means I might be doing smaller sets with heavy weights or longer sets with lighter loads on the bar.
That’s pretty much it. I don’t have any photos of me training at the moment as I’m currently away, but as soon as I do I’ll post them up here for you to take a look: I’m not in the best shape, but I’ve made such a massive impact both on my body and my mind over the last few years that I know great things are on the horizon.
What do you think?
I’d be interested to see if anyone has the same opinions/views as me, and will equally welcome comments from others who think I’m a bit, well, different. I know if you’ve got to here then you might be thinking why couldn’t I have just posted my workout with a few pictures? Well, that would be too easy.
I’ve grown to understand that, for me at least, it’s not just about what we do in the gym, it’s also about what we think before, during and after that’s of huge importance.
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