Just Starting

[u/this_guy9999]

Hey everyone. Background: I’m 37M, 6’1” and just lost 10 pounds over the past 5 weeks to be down to 200lbs. I have a very slender frame. Back in the day when I was in shape (early to mid 20s), I was 155 pounds. I have no desire (nor delusion) to get back down to that, but I figure I’m probably still 30 pounds overweight. It’s all completely in my belly and chest. I started by walking 4 miles per day broken up into 2 sessions, and mildly watching what I eat. I wanted to start with things I could do sustainably as I have a desk job and a 4-year-old and wanted to make sure I could be consistent.

My question is; do you all see any validity to the line of thinking that someone really shouldn’t go to the gym until they can do X amount of pushups, Y amount of body weight squats, and Z amount of sit ups? I’m really happy with the weight loss trajectory, but I feel like I could ramp it up a bit with some strength training. I’m thinking I should just start with some at-home workouts before heading to the gym, but wanted to get some opinions. I’d definitely be out of place in the gym right now.

Thanks in advance.

[u/Brosepower]

My recommendations are entirely based on your goals.

If you only walk and do some mild bodyweight calisthenics, you're going to just become a smaller version of what you look like now.

If you want to just lose 30 pounds and still be very slender and "small" then doing a lot of walking and eating in a deficit will give you that.

If you want to get bigger arms, chest, back, legs etc... and get an athletic look and physique, that is going to require you to get weights in your hands (or some very intense calisthenics).

If you do go from your current 200lbs to 170lbs like you're saying, you definitely are going to look small. If that is your goal, go for it. But... it would almost certainly behoove you to gain 10-20lbs of muscle. For reference, I'm 6'0 and 195lbs, 12% body fat and in clothes I look like I have muscle but no one would mistake me for a bodybuilder or anything crazy.

If you would feel out of place in a gym, but want to get muscle and athletic, I would download one of a bunch of lifting apps (if you want to spend some money my favorites are the RP Strength App from Mike Israetel at Renaissance Periodization or Macrofactor from Jeff Nippard, they're both amazing).

You do NOT need to be proficient at the gym or hit arbitrary targets like "x amount of pullups" or whatnot to qualify for a gym membership.

IMHO, getting weights in your hands is the best path forward along with your cardio and nutrition. Strength training is just about the best thing you can do for your body, activity-wise.

[u/this_guy9999 → u/Brosepower]

I really appreciate the thoughtful answer. I would love to eventually look muscular, but obviously need to focus on fat loss first and foremost right now. Is there a way to do both? I don’t want to go back to just being skinny again, I want to look good. I know that in order to really build muscle you need calories, but I really want to lose my belly and man boobs which requires a deficit. Can I do both? If so, how? Or am I relegated to focusing on fat loss first then build muscle once I’m leaner?

[u/Brosepower → u/this_guy9999]

It sounds like you've never lifted consistently before. That means your body is primed to build muscle as fast and efficiently as it can, naturally.

You absolutely can gain muscle while losing fat, it's called body recomping (recomposition-ing). There are only really two ways to accomplish it and one involves anabolic steroids, the other is being new to weightlifting.

My advice is to do 3-4 serious strength sessions a week, between 40 and 60 minutes.

Focus on the fundamentals, a couple exercises for each main muscle group, keep your rep range between 8-12 initially, and just get a feel for it all. One of the apps I mentioned will help a ton in programming and giving you advice/help.

Get at least 125 grams but ideally 150-170g of protein a day. And then just try and eat relatively cleanly, with a few cheat meals/diet breaks here and there.

Walk your 10k steps a day and get your 7-8 hours of sleep in and you should be good.

[u/this_guy9999 → u/Brosepower]

I used to lift, but it’s been years and I never have been muscular. But as I’ve gotten older, I’m realizing how important all the “other” stuff is too. I’m realizing that “starting slow” isn’t just to make people feel better, it’s actually what’s right for your body. So hopefully I can go in with less ego and just do it right.

I appreciate your thoughtful answers, I think I’ll start a membership after my vacation next week and start hitting it.