Well i am finally getting back to the gym. I am a fair bit overweight and unfit but i am determined to get my health and fitness back.

Vocally i am doing well practicing 1-3 hours a day, but i need to get my body in shape, which will only benefit my voice too.

I have not been to the gym in a while so i am looking for some routine suggestions. I am aiming to do 5-6 days a week 30mins to an hour each session.

Any suggestions of workouts i should do that will be the most beneficial to my voice?
I plan to do cardio (cross trainer,rowing and bike) but as for weights and other exercises i would love suggestions.

Jaime has been posting his workouts on facebook and i have been inspired to get some kind of routine going that will help me as a singer long term.

Would appreciate any suggestions.

Luke

I'm NOT a Personal Trainer but I used to be a power lifter.
I just started lifting again and here is what I am doing for the first 4 weeks.

Start with a moderate weight.
100 dumbbell flyes for your chest
100 cable pulldowns for your back.

Warm up with 20 to 40 reps at a lower weight.

Keep in mind, you are going to be doing this 6 days a week.

People think the Bench Press is the be-all and end-all of chest exercises, but in all honesty, flyes are the best for developing the chest. Why? Your Pectoral muscles are for a grabbing/hugging motion, not for pushing away like the Bench Press.

You do this routine for 3 weeks and take the 4th week off. Then you follow it again for 3 more weeks, and take the 4th week off. Each week you add a little more weight.

If you bench press 150lbs 30 times (3 sets of 10 reps) that is a total of 4,500lbs. lifted for that exercise that day. If you do flyes with 35lbs in each hand (70lbs.) for 100 lifts, that is a total of 7,000lbs. lifted for that exercise for that day.

This will pack some muscle on quite quickly, but DIET is very important.
You're better off working with moderate weight, make sure that you control the weight, not the other way around.

This routine was designed by a Personal Trainer who is a physical therapist. Initially it started out being 50 Chin ups and 100 pushups, but was modified to by bodybuilders to use weights instead of just body weight.

After those first 6 weeks, then you switch to Bench Press which brings in triceps, and front deltoids to some degree.

Instead of sit-ups, crunches, or morning glories, you plank for 5 to 10 minutes every day. This will build your core up. Get on your elbow's and toes like a pushup type position - hold your body in that position and tighten up all your muscles. Hold it as long as you can. Do that every day.

if you want to take the body fat off, eat a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet (CKD, the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet). Read up on CKD.
You need to eat enough protein to make sure your body is not cannibalizing your muscles and internal organs for a source of protein, so generally 1 gram per pound.

Eggs are your best source of protein because they have cholesterol. Testosterone is made from dietary cholesterol. Blood cholesterol levels - the kind doctors worry about - has nothing to do with dietary cholesterol. Your body can have a high blood cholesterol level, without even ingesting dietary cholesterol. That has been proven and documented over and over again.




Tim

Great i will include most of that. I doubt i could bench 150lb that easily currently.
I am looking to tone first...lots of toning to be done before i go for mass. I am naturally wide shouldered and building mass is not hard for me.
It is the excess (wayyy too much) fat and lack of fitness that is the problem

I know what you mean. The average man is 18" wide at the shoulders, and I am 21" wide at the shoulders. Forget the whole "toning up" concept, my experience is that whole concept is a misnomer... you are either adding muscle or you aren't. (For me, I ether lift and add muscle, or I don't lift and I get fat, I'm the ultimate Endomorph.)



Tim

Not sure if i have linked this right but what do you think of these concepts tim??

Toning is basically working out/stretching with light resistance.

If toning worked than fat people would get skinny instead of being able to do the splits.

When you see someone with a 'toned' body they are either naturally lean or doing light work outs with weak resistances.

Girls often use 1-2lb weights when they want to get 'toned'.

A girl can look 'buff' with only 10lb arm weights.

Muscles burns calories, but there also slow/long cardio like walking on an incline (you can set the treadmill for this) or isometric type excersise (like yoga or more western with bands).

Chances are if you are fat and don't eat a ton you might actually have a virus or bacteria in your guts--and it can even be resistant to antibiotics.

This could also explain why you don't inherit fat genes, but instead fat inducing bacteria from you mother's gut or how she prepares food (apparently you need to put bleach in all your meat and cutting boards).

Just look up "gut bacteria obesity" in Google.

I mean ixquick--google is garbage now :P