Fed up.

[Peter L]

You don't want fat, you want muscle. Fat = more body mass but Muscle = more body mass + being stronger is beneficial anyway.

Start a diet, but do not starve yourself. Eat fruits/vegetables, no greasy foods, and make your you're eating around 2,000 calories per day.

Then start working out. To be honest you only need to do push ups and sit ups. There are man variations of pushsups to work your whole upper body and same with situps to work your whole abdominal area.

I also suggest cardio workouts, which is things like running and jump roping. Those will really help and are nearly essential. You should do a sport for these because running alone or on a treadmill is boring. Sign-up for track if it isn't too late.

Good luck.

[Mous]

I'm also thinking of taking up a few martial arts, Such as Taekwondo, Ju-Jit-Su, And Karate.

I'm also learning how to use Nunchucks because things like that look fun etc.

Also, I plan on joining the Royal Marines (Yes, I'm from the UK) In 3 years (After my education).

Don't bother with Taekwondo,

That's the most useless martial art ever.

You have to be about 5'2" and be able to do crazy jumps and throw your
weight around like you're jackie chan to use that style effectively.

I'd say do some research on Martial Arts before deciding on one.
Also, now is a good time to start training if you're going military.

If your training is anything like the US Marine Corps than you're in for a
kick in the pants. I'd say do 60% weight training for muscle, and 40%
endurance training, so you can easily pass the physical tests.

That, and if you're book smart (Score high on your ASVAB/AFQT), and know the regulations for acceptance (In the USA) you can START with an officer ranking.

[spection]

Don't bother with Taekwondo,

That's the most useless martial art ever.

You have to be about 5'2" and be able to do crazy jumps and throw your
weight around like you're jackie chan to use that style effectively.

I'd say do some research on Martial Arts before deciding on one.
Also, now is a good time to start training if you're going military.

If your training is anything like the US Marine Corps than you're in for a
kick in the pants. I'd say do 60% weight training for muscle, and 40%
endurance training, so you can easily pass the physical tests.

That, and if you're book smart (Score high on your ASVAB/AFQT), and know the regulations for acceptance (In the USA) you can START with an officer ranking.

I'm 5"6 and i can throw myself around like Jackie Chan, If not, Better

Also, I can pass the test because i took it to try and get into a Defence College in the UK, And passed.

And, I will be working on endurance aswell as Weight gain and muscles etc.

Thanks everyone, This is great

[Mous]

I'm 5"6 and i can throw myself around like Jackie Chan, If not, Better

Also, I can pass the test because i took it to try and get into a Defence College in the UK, And passed.

And, I will be working on endurance aswell as Weight gain and muscles etc.

Thanks everyone, This is great

xD That's only to actually USE taekwondo.

The martial art is still lame in comparison to other ones.

Just make sure you look into them before you go paying for classes.

[Swat Runs Train]

Bulk up, and to just generally be more fit.

Like i said, I'm not fat.

Never said you were fat, plenty of "skinny" people have the goal of further reducing body fat to look ripped.

Anyways you're going to want to do high weight low rep workouts, no more than 8 reps per set.

If you can do them, dips, pull ups and chin ups are great workouts and I always recommend free weights versus machines, assuming you keep proper form you will see far better gains.

[Mous]

I always recommend free weights versus machines, assuming you keep proper form you will see far better gains.

This isn't true, by any means.

Weights/machines will both work equally effectively.

[Swat Runs Train]

This isn't true, by any means.

Weights/machines will both work equally effectively.

Okay then, ask anyone and they'll tell you the same thing, free weights also generally work your stabilizer muscles far more. Not to mention the motion of machines are optimized for the average sized male, whereas with free weights, your size is irrelevant.

Of course there are some workouts like lat pull downs and hi/low lat rows that need to be done on machines.

[Mous]

Okay then, ask anyone and they'll tell you the same thing, free weights also generally work your stabilizer muscles far more. Not to mention the motion of machines are optimized for the average sized male, whereas with free weights, your size is irrelevant.

Of course there are some workouts like lat pull downs and hi/low lat rows that need to be done on machines.

So, you're telling me that if I lift a 50 pound rock directly, I'll
gain more muscle than if I add pulleys and strings, and lift the SAME
50 pounds?

Sounds like you need a biomechanics/engineering lesson.

[Swat Runs Train]

So, you're telling me that if I lift a 50 pound rock directly, I'll
gain more muscle than if I add pulleys and strings, and lift the SAME
50 pounds?

Sounds like you need a biomechanics/engineering lesson.

It's simply the range of motions in free versus machine, you mentioned the exact reason, pulleys and strings. It doesn't hit your stabilizers nearly as well nor allow people of below or above average size to utilize the intended motion.

Yes you will still see gains and to be honest 2 beginners, one starting with free and one with machines, you probably couldn't notice a difference after a couple months.

Not to mention the machines aren't identical, some of them simplify the workout so you can lift more, I can curl 90 pounds per arm on the machine but only 60 with free weights.

[Mous]

It's simply the range of motions in free versus machine, you mentioned the exact reason, pulleys and strings. It doesn't hit your stabilizers nearly as well nor allow people of below or above average size to utilize the intended motion.

Yes you will still see gains and to be honest 2 beginners, one starting with free and one with machines, you probably couldn't notice a difference after a couple months.

Not to mention the machines aren't identical, some of them simplify the workout so you can lift more, I can curl 90 pounds per arm on the machine but only 60 with free weights.

Depends on the machine/setup.

But honestly, lets say you could adjust the height of where the range of
motion was on the string/rock. (Like you can with most machines)

That's still 50 pounds, and you're still going through the SAME motion, using the SAME muscles. You can't tell me that there's a difference, I'm sorry.

50 pounds is 50 pounds, and I use the same muscles weather I curl a
freeweight, or a handle attached to 50 pounds of anchored weight.