Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

to those who suggested mark rippetoe and stumptuous - these are great sources for beginning weight lifters! smart, sensible and no-nonsense weightlifting advice with a focus on technique. i haven't read starting strength but i've meant to.

as a sort-of-new weightlifter, i've found rippetoe's youtube videos for basic exercises (squat, deadlift, etc.) invaluable! i also really like the way he talks, incidentally. he has the cadence of a really good, perceptive teacher. it's weirdly soothing to me.

"A recent article in Time magazine actually said that excercise does not help you lose weight and that it is all diet. "

BTW, this article has been debunked 10 ways from Sunday. The author is totally wrong, didn't do any research, and based his conclusions on the fact that he used exercise as an excuse to eat junk afterward because he "craved" it. Exercising is NOT an excuse to go out and eat fries and ice cream and cake. If you are hungrier after lifting weights (and I'm always ravenous) eat HEALTHY foods, and make sure you get a good bit of protein in after your workout - when your muscles are most receptive to metabolizing that protein for strength and muscle growth.

I am surprised and delighted to see several other commenters recommend Crossfit.com before I even had a chance to do so. Crossfit is my religion. Forget paying attention to your weight, Ed - just try it for a few weeks and you'll marvel at the way this program turns you into a superhero.

I lift weights 4-5times per week, have been doing so for 3 years. At 57, I'm the strongest i've ever been in my life. There's a sign in my gym that says "I workout so that I will be better at the things I like to do". Hope this motivates you to give it a try.

if you're not a member of a gym, i'd second the jillian michaels suggestion. you do need to invest in some free weights, but her workouts are GREAT. you WILL be sore the next morning, but think of it as a good thing! if you can get yourself to stick to the 30 day shred routine, good for you - her 'no more trouble zones' dvd is also fantastic. i saw a difference in my arms within a matter of weeks. the dvds are usually between $8-10 on amazon. give it a shot.

i just started a kettlebell training program, and i love it so far. it's lifting heavy things but still manages to get and keep my heart rate up, so it feels like i'm getting weights and cardio from the same exercise and thus have to spend less total time exercising.

while i do think it has effected my metabolism somewhat, it's not in a way that promotes weight loss. it basically just ups my appetite in accordance with how much i'm lifting/swinging. but i think there are enough other health benefits that i'm not really concerned with that.

most experts on weight training agree that it's very difficult, if not impossible, to both gain muscle and loose fat at the same time. muscle gains always come with a little bit of fat gains and fat loss almost always means a little bit of muscle loss. serious bodybuilders alternate between 'bulking' and 'cutting' cycles, but for the rest of us that seems sort of unnecessary and unpleasant.

though it's primarily geared for women (in a no-bullshit way that is unlike most weight training resources geared towards women), stumptuous.com is a really great resource for anyone interested in starting with weights. it demystifies things in a really helpful way.

@jive, you can certainly read a lot of conflicting information these days about diet, exercise and nutrition.

what i took away from that time article was to be wary of the increase in appetite that high intensity exercise causes. since then i have stopped telling myself that i could have a three course dinner with a rich dessert because i had worked out, and have been more realistic {and much more spartan} about my intake. i've also started making sure i take something low calorie but filling, like nuts and fruit or vegetables, for after my workout so that i'm not inhaling the first thing i come across when i leave the gym {which would be a slice of pizza or a bagel}. as a result my clothes have become much looser in a short period of time.

the photos of me before and after i started exercising regularly are so different, it's amazing. the before photos show a puffy, pasty, overweight person, the recent ones show an energetic, healthy, glowing, toned one. one person looked at a before photo on my fridge {kept there as a reminder not to open it too often} and asked who she was. that's good enough for me.

If you've never lifted before, agree that I highly recommend a trainer, particularly one that believes in the importance of establishing core strength and proper movement before delving into general weight training. For anybody in the Pittsburgh area, I recommend this fellow.

I am firmly convinced that weight training significantly altered my metabolism, and if you do it right, I assure you will lose weight and improve your overall health with a sustained period of weight training.

I agree with @vegetarianka--if you can afford the time and the money, going to a trainer is a good way to start. A trainer will probably have you lifting, alternated by brief bursts of cardio (like jumping/running in place) to get your heart rate up, so it won't be boring grunting and sweating necessarily.

Whenever I can afford to take a fitness class it amazes me how easy it is to get comfortable in a fitness routine, and how much fitter I feel with variety.

Also, since you love squash and tennis, in addition to weight loss you can ask the trainer to give you exercises that will improve your skills in a sport-specific way, which is an additional motivator to work out, beyond weight loss.

I am always cheering for you Ed, you are so inspiring!

Check out http://crossfit.com/

Great workouts that are intense, but short. And, most of them you can do in your own home with minimal equipment!

Hi Ed,
I've been following your diet saga since the beginning, and rooting for you the whole time! I highly recommend reading "Starting Strength", by Mark Rippetoe, if you are interested in lifting weights. It was a book originally targeted for high school coaches to get young athletes started lifting correctly, but has since gained a much broader audience because of the quality of advice.

Rippetoe basically goes over 5 barbell exercises in great detail: Squat, Deadlift, Overhead Press, Bench Press, and Power Clean. he also gives a good program for beginners. Those five exercises are really the only lifts you should focus on starting out, and really all you need to ever do.

--paul

Hey Ed -

Crossfit.com offers a daily workout schedule that will help you get in shape very quickly. It varies widely from day to day, but in general the workouts consist of simple, practical movements which combine light strength training with cardio. If you can stick to it for a couple of weeks, I guarantee you'll start seeing some really positive results.

All of the above