Need help setting up a fitness plan

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Someone on IRC already gave me a few sites, but all of this is just overwhelming, honestly.

There are so many exercises, and none are sorted in a list of exercises, instead by muscles.
Now I'm known for a horrible memory, especially when anxiety kicks in, so when I have to pick via muscle, and it lists even more muscles, I'm 99% sure I'm not going to remember them all.

What I'm looking for is to set up a plan that won't kill me, but that will get all of my muscles in shape. So I was hoping for a bit of help, or a lot of advice, on this subject. Note that I do not have any sort of weight system, like dumbbells or a bench-press, so I'll need alternatives to the muscles those work out.
I also have no real decision over the food in this house, as I live with my mom in the country, and I have no car or license of my own, so I don't ever shop as there's nothing within walking/biking distance that isn't a gas station.

Any help and advice is appreciated. =D

I don't have the patience to do exercises by muscle group so i do compound lifts, for me these are squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press. These are all strength exercises meant for 5x5 reps/sets. Am sure kurgan and 1000Knieves will help more

I'd say don't think of exercises by muscle group, instead think of it based on activity. IE, what does the exercise help with activity-wise? Squats for example will help you jump higher. As you get more advanced training, then you figure out muscle weaknesses and can work on individual muscles, but for now don't bother. Just think of movements and how they'll help you. A deadlift for example will help you pick up heavy crap off the ground. Overhead press will help you with strength putting things over your head, etc.

For some exercises, look up bodyweight exercises. amboxer on here is in very good shape based upon doing mostly those. In my opinion it'll take longer compared to weight lifting, but if it's what you got access to, there you go. Personally I don't like "slow" bodyweight exercises, but love the plyometric ones.

As far as diet, don't worry about calories and whatnot for now. Just make sure everything you eat is reasonably fresh and home cooked from scratch. If that's the case, figure out (roughly) what's going on calorically, and go into a caloric deficit if you're looking to lose weight. If your food isn't good, then go with your mom to the store and put stuff in the cart.

If you do get tired of bodyweight exercises, then I'd look on Craigslist for someone getting rid of weight equipment. It'll be substantially cheaper than new. Have your mom drive out with you to pick it up from the guy's house (or sometimes a warehouse) and tada. I'd recommend a gym membership, but it'd probably cost you more money longterm to drive out to it if you're in the country.

Overall, don't worry. You're better off doing something than nothing. So don't worry, just do something and you will be better than before.

I had thought that the basics I could do were: Squats, sit-ups, push-ups and pull-ups (If I can find something to support my weight.). May not have gotten all those names right.
So yeah, I was going to do something, other than nothing. By the way, if I get in shape enough to do handstands, that will work out my ability to push/lift things above me, yes?

Can you tell me what these words mean: amboxer (Guessing this is a name, actually.) and plyometric?

Anyways, the goal is to eventually get in shape for when I move. I'll want to get into martial arts and maybe free-running (Which involves a bit of gymnastics.). So those are the muscles I would be looking to work (Which is probably all of them.).

Let's not count on being able to go to a gym pick up any equipment or have any say over what goes in the shopping cart, in my scenario.

So I'll start with what I listed above. Should I do them all daily, or do certain exercises one day, and then switch the next day? Would a hour a day be fine, or should I just work out for as long as I can to get in shape? Again, this is all new to me.

http://nerdfitness.com/ Has alot of information on Body weight exercises and getting into shape if you've no fitness background.

Thanks, I'll definitely check it out.

I suppose it comes down to just starting and trying one thing at a time, even if it's one a day or every several days.

Ultra basics for you though would be sit ups, push ups, pull ups bodyweight squats. Do you max for 60 seconds on each exercise, have a few mins rest then do it again for a few times. Or something like that heh.

Of course go running a few times a week.

You should buy or make some equipment. For bodyweight, you'd probably want things like gymnastic rings. If you say "I can't afford equipment" I don't know your exact finances, but people just usually don't care enough to apportion money toward it. My sister's boyfriend would spend like $40-60 a week on pizza and fast food for him and her, but it was pulling teeth to get him to spend $40 a month on a gym membership. So, you know, if you want something enough, generally you'll find a way to get it or get close to it, even if it takes a while.

For example, my figure skates would have ran $1k new. I got them boots and blades used and separate for under $300. I waited like 8 months to get them after my old boots started falling apart (and I held those together with my own screws so I could still skate) and I had to wait like 2-3 months of just looking at my boots in the box to get blades, and another month to get said blades mounted. If you want something bad enough, you'll achieve it somehow. For most people with the money thing, I see them spend a ton of money, on say, video games, and then complain they wish they were more fit but can't afford to get to a gym. In your case, it's more understandable as you probably have barriers to employment, and you live in the country, but you have to analyze how bad you want something, and devote a lot of time and a bit of money toward it if you wanna succeed. If you're serious about freerunning, or getting good at gymnastics stuff, on average to get at least reasonable at the sport you're gonna have to spend (averaged out) an hour a day doing it.

I don't mean to say this to scare you, as you do have concrete goals, which is better than most people, but that's the kind of devotion required to be good at stuff. And this makes for a good fitness plan. Instead of exercise being a chore, it's just practice, like playing an instrument or something.

I figured it would take exercise every day, but I'm not sure I want to do anything competitively. At least, I have no set plans for it, just to do them for fun.

Would you say it's bad to exercise twice as much one day, if you skipped a day? I usually have tons of things I want to do or read each day, so I'm not sure I'll always have time. At least, not until I move out and get situated in my own home. Of course, that's all stuff to worry about in the future.

I actually heard from a few people that long-distance running actually wasn't healthy, according to new studies? Is this true? Is the research reliable? Because running would definitely be an easy way to exercise, if I had the right music and maybe a partner to job/walk/run with. So it would be bad if it's not actually good as exercise itself.

You work literally all your muscles on squats, bench presses, pull-ups, overhead presses and deadlifts. With that being said, not all muscles are worked to the same extent, so you may want to add rows, narrow grip bench presses and incline presses + a few isolation exercises if you feel that any parts of your body aren't being worked enough by now.

A dumbbell set can be obtained cheaply used, and the same goes for a pull-up bar. If you do some research, you'll also see that serious gyms are often way cheaper than f*ckarounditis gyms.

Generally speaking, a standard American (or Norwegian, for that matter) diet won't give you muscles no matter how hard you lift. Be sure to get a small amount (but do not exaggerate) of slow carbs at the beginning of the day, a few fast carbs right after workouts and lastly: Get enough protein (this is extremely important). Since the distance between your home and a grocery store is fairly big, order proteins from the internett... this is an extremely good investment!

If you're going to workout at home, check out the P90X programme.

Last edited by Kurgan on 28 Feb 2013, 6:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It depends on a lot of things. Individual composition, sleep you get, nutrition, etc. Alot depends on your exercise load. Sometimes it's not possible. Like yesterday I lifted 8 tons total for all my lifts. If I missed lifting yesterday, would it have been wise for me to try to lift 16 tons (for the record, Vasily Alexeev, Olympic lifter in the 70s, used to lift 30something tons a day, I only lift 3 days a week.) If you can do DOUBLE of what you can do, then you're probably not trying hard enough. Aim for improvement of some sort, and getting better at whatever exercise you're doing, rather than just pumping out exercise for the hell of it. IE, swimming. I used to be only able to swim maybe 8-10 laps before quitting, and after one lap I'd have a 2 minute break. Now I can go 3 laps at a time and do 52 laps total for a session. Swimming's not even something I take seriously, just I aim to be better.

If you like long distance running, then do it. As far as it being healthy or not, it depends. Anything in excess isn't healthy. People do drop dead after marathons. People also drop dead from bodybuilding, powerlifting, and break their necks and become paralyzed doing gymnastics. Anything you do has risks. The only things about long distance running is it's catabolic, ie, it robs your body of muscle mass, and it can be hard on the joints, and modern shoes imo don't help it. There can be some negative changes hormonally, too. BUT, it's certainly better than just sitting at home. People can also make similar arguments about lifting, too. Look at long distance runners and long distance athletes in general. If you think it's cool, then do it. I personally hate it don't really get the big deal about it or see the practicality. But, neither will most LDR people see the practicality in lifting heavy weights up. Generally the best athletes use lots of things from other sports. Mariusz Pudzianowski was a strongman, but he'd swim 3 miles everyday, and compared to all his competitors was very lean and had loads of aerobic endurance. Bruce Lee used to be a champion ballroom dancer. They both did activities because it helped them. If you like an activity, do it, do other activities to benefit whatever your goal is.

That's the main thing with fitness. You have to setup some sort of concrete goals. Even if it's not "I wanna win _____" you have to say, "I wanna lift ______." "I wanna do a backflip/one hand pullup/52" box jump." "I wanna run _____ in ____ time." Then work to achieve that goal. Without goals, you'll go nowhere. At least this is my experience. Even if you don't reach your exact goals in the amount of time you want, you'll certainly be better than where you started. I can't do triple jumps skating, but hey, I know almost all my 3 turns and stuff. Will I ever hit, say, triple jumps, in skating? I don't know. But if I didn't do it at all, for sure I'd never do it. The reason why this works is, it keeps you exercising, as you're looking to achieve a goal. Otherwise, the only goals for exercise are vague goals of health, and maybe looking cool at the beach (if these goals are cool for you, then make them your goals, then.) They're simply hard goals to motivate yourself with, in my experience anyway. When I had vague silly goals like that, I sure couldn't motivate myself.

I really didn't understand a lot in those last 2 posts.

If I did not list the exercise name, chances are I don't know it. I don't know what fast or slow carbs are, either. I don't know anything about how know how much protein and other vitamins and nutrients that I'm getting.
I may be able to get a dumbbell, but I'm not counting my cards before I get them. Can I make do without a set?
What's the P90X program?

What exactly is "excess?" How can I tell the difference between working hard, and working in excess? I don't want to hurt myself, but I have a feeling I have no idea how to tell if I am.
What hormonal changes can occur from running, and why does muscle mass degrade, and how bad is that, from a permanent stand-point?
By "twice as much one day," I meant 2 separate workout sessions that day.
How do I know what activity would best help me? I know dancing might help me, but I'm not sure which.
Even with a goal, I'm having trouble getting motivated. I'm not sure why. Though it may be in regards to that this is all so new.

Also, I hear it's bad to work out after eating. This is still true in light of more recent studies, yes? Is it better to work out before or after you sleep?

I keep coming back with more questions. And I feel I still have no idea where I am on all this. =/