Its been 2 years and im out of shape, looking to get back in the saddle.

Hi, i'm apromisingyear and new to this forum.
 
I'm 18 years old. Over the last two years i've terribly gotten out of shape. At one point (when i was 15-16 years old) I was very lean and actually had a 6-pack going with little/no work. I was in a band and would spend my time making skateboarding videos with friends. You can say i was very active.
 
Since then i moved about 20 miles away and have pretty much sat around all the time, watching sports and smoking cigarettes (about half a pack a day on average). I used to do the same thing before but i was active, now im not.
 
I credit some of it to my relationship insecurity and some of it so a loss of motivation/inspiration/etc. The reason im trying to work out again is because i seen a home video of me from this past Thanksgiving and now i look fat.
 
At my leanest point i was about 6'1 and 175 pounds. NOW just 2 years later im still 6'1 and 250 pounds.
 
sorry this is so long....
 
Now im just trying to get rid of my beer belly and build up muscle because I want to try out for a college football team in the next year or two. So i need to get not only lean but strong in all areas as well. Im talking legs, arms, chest, stomach, back, etc. (you get the idea.)
 
I need a starting point. I need somone to help me create a routine. I heard about a guy (who was in great shape, football player by the way) who did this:
 
He said something about finding out how many calories he needed per day (dont remember the number) and would divide the number by 6 and eat six equal meals a day. Mainly composed of complex carbs, protien, and (i think) fatty acids. The fatty acids were used the least, mainly carbs and protien.
 
he would do cardio every other day and weights everyday. He took one day off as a rest day.
 
I forget what order he did it but worked different areas on different days. He said he only worked one area once a week (no more than twice) he did cardio for 20 minutes every other day.
 
This all sounds great but i need it kind of mapped out so i dont screw up. How do i think out how many calories do i eat? what do it eat exactly (everyone here eats junk food ALL THE TIME, esp. fast food) so there isn't many good things to eat here.
 
Im sorry if this doesn't make sense but im just trying to get this off the ground and be in a lot better shape. All suggestions and ideas are more than welcome.
 
 
P.S. i dont mind using supplements as long as they are safe and wont cause me harm (no steriods or anything like that) i dont need to get freakishly large...just fit...think linebacker size/strength.

I was pretty much in the same boat as you, after I graduated from high school I got extremely lazy and out of shape. I gained close to 45 pounds before I decided to hit the gym. I messed around with high rep/low weight training with mild success for a few months, but I didn't feel great about my training until I started using a 5x5 routine (recommended by Purenatural). For each lift, use a set weight and do 5 sets of 5 reps. It is important that you do not change the weight throughout the sets. You should use enough weight that you struggle on your 5th rep. Rest for about 60-90 seconds before you do your next set. Each week attempt to add 5 pounds to each of your lifts. You should see great results in strength if you progressively add weight in this manner. I just hit my 6th week using this program and I'm loving it so far.

Focus on your big compound lifts. Squats, deadlifts, benchpress etc.

Example:

Monday:
Deadlifts
Bent Over Barbell Rows
Wide Grip Chins

Wednesday:
Flat Barbell Benchpress
Weighted Dips
Military Press

Friday:
Squats
Stiff Legged Deadlifts
Calf Press

If you're training for football, you could possibly add Cleans to either your back or leg day. Cleans would help to promote that "explosiveness" needed for a demanding position like linebacker.

Tuesday and Thursday I use for abs. I generally train them with weighted exercises in the 10-12 rep range. If you feel the need to, you can add some bicep isolation work on your deadlift day.

Also, since you're looking to drop a few pounds, find out exactly how many calories you need to consume. Use this link: http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/How_Many_Calories_Do_You_Need_Calorie_Calculators_Includes_Quick_Spreadsheet_Too/m_45013/tm.htm
Reduce your suggested calorie intake by 300-500, and add some cardio on Tuesdays, Thursdays and maybe on Saturdays. 30-40 minutes should be sufficient, especially if you're eating clean foods at 300-500 calories below your maintenance level.

I'm by no means an expert and I haven't been lifting for extremely long, but I thought I'd try giving some advice for once. Get some more suggestions and figure out what you want to do. I highly recommend this routine, but others may feel differently. Hopefully my post helped a bit.

Edit:
I almost forgot, you may want to look into some plyometrics to increase your agility. If you want to play linebacker, you're going to need to be in on a lot of tackles. Additionally, you'll be required to drop back into pass coverage. Speed and agility are very important in a position that demands you get to the ball on almost every play.

Concerning the smoking... I would highly recommend trying to quit. Your body will thank you for it and you will have a much easier time when doing cardio. Just my two cents.

hey there. I play football too so maybe i can help ya out here.

Calories - There is a calorie counter in the nutrition thread on this site. it is very good. If you have microsoft excel, all you have to do is plug stuff in. Basically the idea behind the calorie intake is, you have a daily requierment. say its 3500 for example, if I wanted to lose wieght I would subtract about 20% from that and that would be my new daily intake. Or if I wanted to gain wieght (more muscle) I would eat more. the counter will help you with all the numbers. As for foods, there are a ton of good foods out there, you just have to be smart about it.

Your workout- Since your a begining I wouldnt jump into this football players 6 day a week program. For you maybe 3-4 days a week to start out with and 3-4 days of cardio 20-30 minutes. as for your actual lifting plan thats really up to what you feel comfortable starting out with. for example a 3 day a week.

Mon - Legs/back
Wed - Chest/shoulders
Fri - arms/abs

it sounds simple but small simple workouts like this will ease you into regulary lifting. But for playing football I highly recommend you definatly include

Squat
Deadlift
Hanging power cleans

Wvery single one of these exorcies will help you not only build strength, but build explosivness and speed. These should be your core exorcises. Bench is important too, but in football most of your power comes from your legs and your explosive power.

wieght wise 250 is a good size for a linebacker. But what you want is to put on muscle in place of the fat and eventually lose it.

Supplements, i would recommend adding protein shakes in to get that extra protein (Take in about your body wight in grams, so for you about 250 grams or so) Creatine, to help the recovery process. And a daily multi vitamin to help get the stuff you dont normally get.

add in the good food and 5-6 smaller meals a day to keep your metabolism up and you'll be set. Remember to make each exorcise count and always train with intensity.

Nmoney34...
 
What you're saying makes perfect sense.
 
I'm not farmiliar with some of the terms you're using...
 
I.E. Deadlift, Hanging Power cleans. everything else i know but havent heard those terms...explain please
 
thanks for the help i really appreciate it. im going to dig out the weights in my garage. (they've been burried under a bunch of crap).
 
Today im thinging of about 25 mins of cardio and hit some weights for about 45 mins to an hour to start. I was going to take a vitamin and im going to hunt for something healthy to eat...protein and complex carbs. sound good?

Deadlifts and hanging power cleans are exorcises. I could try to explain them on here but you would probably be better off just looking up picture tutorials on the web. There just complex moves that work most/all of your body.

I would recommend going to a local gym to work out if your serious about being a football player. Im not knocking the home gym, its just not the same. You will have much more acess to more and beter equipment that will really allow you to do more and perform safely. and you will be able to go up in wieghts much more easily in time at a gym that has the equipment rather than stuck at home with the same wieghts...granted you can get acess to something, if not you have to make due with what you have.

first things first you should go find out how much your daily calorie intake is. and form a diet to lose wieght or gain muscle mass depending on what you want.

second make a workout plan, and write it down.

Third follow that plan and diet. Remember it takes 21 days to form a habbit, so stick with it!

^ Could I ask you what "more exercises" you could do a gym? I have a barbell, dumbell with weights, bench, swiss ball, exercise bike and that's about all you need. I could make with a squat rack, but I haven't purchased one yet. But other than that, that's all you really need. The gym may offer machines, but really you don't need them. Anything you do with machines is just as effective or much better with free weights.

I understand exactly what you mean. You my friend, have a good amount of equipment. However I dont know exactly what all he has, he said there was some things pilled on his wieghts in the garage. I kinda got that he may just have some dumbells and or a barbell to work with.
 
Home gyms are fine, and im not a machine guy. I go to the gym for the free wieghts. But the gym has a wider selection of wieghts to choose from so lets say his highest dumbell is 40 lbs. Lets say he can go up and I dunno curl 50lbs, but he cant unless he goes out and buys them. Kinda get what im saying?
 
Its just a little more convienent to me I beileve to workout at a gym where theres a wider selection of wieghts and machines/stations. I know that right now with a seperated shoulder, I wouldnt be able to do squats without a smith machine. and I doubt people have leg press machines at there house. or even squat racks.
 
I guess what Im saying is that just going to a gym is a bit easier, thats all, and you get more depending on what you can get at home.
 
I wasnt knocking home gyms, and if it works for you thats great!

^ totally agree with your point :D...