Where do I start when finding/creating a fitness program for myself?
I'm a senior in college studying computer engineering, so I spend a lot of time sitting in class and/or in front of a computer. I want to commit to a fitness routine before my sedentary lifestyle starts affecting my health. Now is a good time to start since I have free access to my institution's gyms and a fairly flexible schedule.
My problem is I have no idea where to begin. Googling "workout routines" or "fitness programs" hasn't been helpful, since many of the results are geared toward rapid weight loss or "5 minute abs" garbage. I'm looking for a general fitness routine with some emphasis on hypertrophy, preferably one that is backed by research or success stories.
Currently, I'm 5'11 and ~150lbs (~68kg) so I'm a bit on the underweight side. My bench, squat, etc. aren't too impressive, nor is my cardio/endurance. I have worked out sporadically in the past, and I tried working with trainers on a couple occasions, but I never stuck with it after using up my sessions.
My main goals now are...
Gain muscle mass and reach 170lbs (~77kg) (hypertrophy)
Strengthen my core (it's pretty weak now, so it reduces my stability/balance)
Increase my flexibility (can't quite touch my toes)
Improve my cardio/endurance (I can run a mile... but just barely)
Enhance my diet (which is too microwave-dependant)
Find or create a concrete, easy-to-follow routine to facilitate these goals
Ideally, I want to be able to walk into the gym with a checklist of things I can knock out one by one. Motivation isn't as big of an issue when I know exactly what I've got to get done. Things to do outside of the gym are important as well.
Anyway, I hope I'm not being too vague or general here. Don't craft me a routine yourself, but rather point me to some good resources (websites, books, etc.) where I can find routines that meet my needs or at least shed some light on creating one of my own.
Thanks in advance!
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Let me recommend a couple books to you, as they can help you a long way towards your goals:
Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training
Practical Programming for Strength Training
Both of these are by Dr. Kilgore and Mark Rippetoe. Practical programming gives you a good foundation of understanding what you need to do to customize your training program. Starting Strength has an excellent foundation on the mechanics of the lifts, along with extensive troubleshooting sections. It's also a very good program.
Based on my own journey, and the things I've learned while doing it, I would amend your goals a bit--particularly since one of them will cause some conflict with your other goals.
I recommend gaining all your beginner strength gains before aiming for hypertrophy. It takes about 3-9 months of concerted effort (depending on many variables).
For your diet, in order to gain weight, I recommend a Gallon of Milk a Day (GOMAD)--and that's whole milk. This combined with the first bullet will help you put on the weight you are looking for.
Adjust your cardio goals. Strength training (whether for aesthetics or strength) is an anaerobic activity. If you keep your running in the anaerobic range (sprints and short distance runs), you won't be undoing in your cardio what you were doing with the weight training.
The Starting Strength program is very simple, and easy to follow. You will gain a lot of strength, which will have an effect on your muscle mass and weight goals. Combine that with a month or two of GOMAD and you are right on target. Once you hit intermediate levels, you can start specializing in physique or continue with strength. I find the easy to measure and concrete goals of strength training to be more to my liking.
Crossfit is an good place to start. www.crossfit.com/
I have gone to a box and done the exercises with trainers, but if you know how to do the movements already (and if not, they have step by step instruction videos), you don't have to go to a box unless you like someone yelling at you to keep you motivated. The workouts change every day, which means that you will never get bored. Also, they are a big supporter of the Paleo diet.
Aside from the already mentioned Crossfit, I'd recommend reading up with my personal favorite Home Workout Bible. It has good exercises and routines for a variety of goals and differing available equipment.
Cooking as a student is hard. You might want to look at something like Zonya's which focuses on healthy, quick to prepare meals. Most are scaled for four people, but you can get some down to one or two portions. She also includes useful nutrional information so you can use it to make plans about what you should be eating, not just what sounds good.
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