Food intake

[AB]

As I've mentioned numerous times I've lost loads of weight and I am now embarking on an increase muscle, tone up, gain strength, look better etc regime.

I've not been eating an awful lot whilst getting rid of the fat but now I know I need to pick it up again.

Tend to go to the gym in the morning before work and concentrate on the weights, varying sections of my body, I think I have the exercise side pretty sewn up in terms of what I am doing. Playing lots of tennis/badminton for cardio.

My question relates to my diet which at the moment consists of 3 scoops of my PHD diet whey, generally 2 when I get to the office post workout where I will have either a bowl of porridge or 2 pieces of wholemeal toast with light flora.

Dependant upon what I had for breakfast, I will have the other for lunch i.e. porridge for breakfast then toast for lunch or vice versa. With lunch I eat 200g of chicken breast.

Generally speaking it is toast with the shake for breakfast and porridge for lunch.

At about 3pm I will eat another 200g of chicken breast.

At about 6/7pm I will have a nice dinner consisting of perhaps tuna/salmon/meat with salad/veg.

Then in the evening before bed (say 10/11pm) I will have a scoop of PHD diet whey.

120g of protein per day perhaps? This maybe should be nearer 180 going with the 1g to 1lb bodyweight?

Trying to limit fat/carb intake.

Is the bread a bad idea? Wholemeal should be OK but my worry is that sometimes I will eat 4 slices due to how much I enjoy it. That too much?

Any ideas on what I should be adding or taking away?

It's not easy when in an office job or out and about to balance it all out.

I am basically trying to build a bit of muscle tone and definition whilst cutting remaining fat.

Edited by AB on Tuesday 30th March 13:59

[AB]

JDMFanYo said:

AB said:

I am now embarking on an increase muscle, tone up, gain strength, look better etc regime.

stuff...

I am basically trying to build a bit of muscle tone and definition whilst cutting remaining fat.

eh?

Diet looks good to be fair.. When you say toast, stick to brown breads. Go for scrambled egg on toast as well

Amazing how hitting the T instead of the W can make you look like a plonker

[AB]

I'm splitting back legs and arms over seperate days in the gym although I do have free weights at home which I will quite often just sit there lifting so spend a lot of time on arms, also I tend to do a few sets of press ups when I'm sat in front of the TV just because I can? Does that make me weird?

I do 250 sit ups a night using the ab roller thing I found in the attic - all that does is make sure I am doing them properly and acts as a guide, definitely feel the burn more than doing them without.

Advice welcome as I'm the biggest novice going when it comes to weight training.

[bales]

AB said:

I'm splitting back legs and arms over seperate days in the gym although I do have free weights at home which I will quite often just sit there lifting so spend a lot of time on arms, also I tend to do a few sets of press ups when I'm sat in front of the TV just because I can? Does that make me weird?

I do 250 sit ups a night using the ab roller thing I found in the attic - all that does is make sure I am doing them properly and acts as a guide, definitely feel the burn more than doing them without.

Advice welcome as I'm the biggest novice going when it comes to weight training.

I don't know what kind of shape you are in in terms of weight BF % etc...but you would be amazed what you can achieve with bodyweight exercises.

I have done weights quite intensively the last couple of years but have done it since uni really - i'm 26 now. I'm not big at all (weigh 72kg) but stepped up my weights last year as I am also a runner/sprinter so have been training pretty intensively for the last year and a half.

I used to do loads of weights like you describe with split routines etc and I got relatively strong. However this winter I changed groups within my athletics club so don't do weights anywhere near as much - 2 times a week max and usually once but we do a lot of circuits/conditioning/med ball type work and body weight stuff such as press-ups/chins/crunches.

All I do in the gym is cleans/bench press/squat and shoulder press - I don't do any individual muscle group type work yet I am the strongest and fittest I have ever been and without being a bit ghey also the best I have ever looked in terms of physiques etc...

You seem to have a great diet (better than many top athletes!) and have put all the hard work into losing the weight - a lot of people when they hit weights hard just bulk up and lose any definition they may have had and then get frustrated. I think it must be a common misconception that you have to lift heavy to put on bulk - you don't. It would be a shame to see you in 6 months time where you have put on 1 stone in muscle but then have to keep 'cutting' to look like you want to.

There are lots of ways to put muscle on and look good and they don't all involve lifting dumbells - look at gymnasts for example!

Erm....anyway my point was to investigate lots of different ways to achieve your results don't just assume you have to hit the weights hard to get where you want to.

[AB]

Currently at 14% BF.

So should i be doing my arms every other day? How long should i be leaving between sets of muscles?

[LordGrover]

No idea what you should be doing, but what works for me is:
One: Chest, shoulders, triceps & abs
Two: Legs, back, biceps, calves
For example, I usually take Mondays off, then Tuesday One, Wednesday cardio, Thurs Two, Friday cardio, Saturday One, Sunday either Two or cardio - whichever I feel like, etc...

[AB]

So am I right in thinking that if you keep on with one group without taking a break, then it wont repair and therefore grow? So you are wasting your time? Or when you do stop after hammering it for ages they will be more damaged and therefore repair more/bigger?

Hard work this fitness stuff!!

[AB]

Maybe I'll just dabble with the steroids What's the worst that can happen. I heard Winstrol is good

[okgo]

14%?

I have seen the pics, and I reckon its higher than that. What method are you using?

Bearing in mind anything under 10% will leave you looking ripped with viens everywhere...

Anyway, diet looks fine. But I doubt your weights routine is much cop.

I use one that is called Frankies NY Mass program, its a tough sounding name but its very simple, and has helped me no end, and I think covers all the bases one could want unless they are bodybuilding and need to build obscure parts of the body. here it is.

DAY 1 – PULL

Deadlifts or Power Cleans
Barbell Rows, Dumbbell Rows, or Wide Grip Chins
Barbell Curls, Close Grip Underhand Chins, or Hammer Curls

DAY 2 – PUSH

Incline or Flat Barbell or Dumbbell Bench Press
Barbell or Dumbbell Shoulder Presses
Tricep Dips or Close Grip Bench Press

DAY 3 – LEGS

Front or Back Squats
Barbell or Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlifts
Calf Raises (3x12) - only if a seriously lagging bodypart
Weighted Crunches or Weighted Hanging Leg Raises (3x12)

[AB]

okgo said:

14%?

I have seen the pics, and I reckon its higher than that. What method are you using?

Not from the last couple of months you haven't.

Mate of mine did it with some clipper things that look like pliers!

[LordGrover]

AB said:

So am I right in thinking that if you keep on with one group without taking a break, then it wont repair and therefore grow? So you are wasting your time? Or when you do stop after hammering it for ages they will be more damaged and therefore repair more/bigger?

Hard work this fitness stuff!!

I've read a lot, seen a lot, discussed a lot and tried a lot of different 'regimes' and found this works for me*. I'm sure it'll work for some and not others. I'm not what most people think of as a body builder, more a work in progress. My body fat's too high (c. 18-20%) to see any real definition but I have enough 'bulk' to keep me happy and it's relatively easy to maintain even with a couple of curries a month and a little more beer than I should.

ETA * At the moment. It'll need changing in 3 or 6 months when I plateau... again.

Edited by LordGrover on Tuesday 30th March 16:57

[996 sps]

Ab everyones covered everything here to be honest, i m with Bales just concentrate on your body resistance training as much as your free weights, I do press ups and heaves every morning (Mon-Fri)without fail at half 7 have done for years yet if i m taking a client I would not recommend that for reasons of whats been said, your not wierd doing press ups everyday before my hernia op I was doing press ups and heaves on the toilet bar in the hospital toilets as I knew I could not train for 6 weeks. If your near Birmingham and want to join in on a functional hard weight session give us a shout. Get on that x training web site mentioned earlier and smash yourself up with some of those exercises as well. Edited to add you really should not do arms everyday as everytime you complete a pulling exercise i.e. Lat pull down etc you are working biceps as well, I usually do specific arms on a Fri but again i ll throw in a load of other exercises for other muscle groups as well.

Edited by 996 sps on Tuesday 30th March 21:06

Edited by 996 sps on Tuesday 30th March 21:09

[AB]

Ate a Cadburys Dairy Milk before, I've got some terrible feelings of guilt, I think I'm obsessed.

[Matt_N]

AB said:

So am I right in thinking that if you keep on with one group without taking a break, then it wont repair and therefore grow? So you are wasting your time?

Pretty much.

Muscles only recover and grow when you are resting, so by training your arms everyday your probably not achieving as much as you could if you just let them recover.

Most routines recommend training one body part per week, which from your split looks like you do, but you say you spend a lot of time on your arms, which hints at almost everyday.

[AB]

It's fair to say I have been doing every other day, but as mentioned a hell of a lot of the exercises use the triceps, even when not primarily targeted at the triceps.

It's fair to say I have a lot to learn and a lot of modification to do to my routine.

[okgo]

Just do the one I posted, it takes about an hour and will hit everything.

[Matt_N]

Like bales said, if your pretty new to the weights it might be a better idea to stick with the compound exercises that work your core muscles, rather than over doing the isolations.

Things like bench press, deadlifts, squats, shoulder press, press ups will work all the major muscles in your body and really help build your core strength.

Are you trying to get ripped arms? Seems to me like your focusing on trying to get the 'guns' by doing a lot of arm work.

Post up what exercises you do for each day perhaps?

[LordGrover]

Because your body adapts quite quickly you'll soon find no single routine works forever. Be flexible, experiment and find what works for you. Then change it as soon as your body's adapted to it.

[AB]

Yes I am going for the arms in a big way. Generally upper body has always been OK, stomach and arms are where I will concentrate mostly.

Legs, well I can quite happily do 50 reps of the full stack so get no enjoyment out of doing that. Legs have always been very strong due to sport and historically carrying st loads of weight whilst doing it.

When I get a second I will write it all down and anyone who wants to scrutinise it can tell me where I'm going wrong/what to change.

Variation and resting sufficiently would appear to be the key to all this from what you guys have said.

Appreciate the advice.

[okgo]

you can max a leg press, guess what there is probably nobody in my gym that couldn't.

Get doing the big three and you will get stronger, build more muscle and can track your progress much easier.

Sqaut
Bench press
Deadlift