Another critique my diet/routine thread

PaulKK

Hi folks, long time reader of this forum and first thread here.

I have read some great advice on here and was looking for a critique on my diet and exercise routine.

I am 22, 6' 2" and just under 14 stone. I've been lifting weights properly since October and have made some nice muscle gains.

I am a student and we have a bench in the house and about 70kgs with a barbell, and dumbells, do my lifting during week in the house and at weekends in a gym at home with oly weights.

My goals are to gain muscle and be as lean as possible, I do have a small bit of extra bodyfat around the waist. I know my goal should be to either bulk or lean but thats my ideal goal.

Here is my diet:

8.30/9.30:
A serving (cup) of porridge with milk and half a scoop of whey for taste.
Cup of tea, no sugar.

1.00:
White roll, loads of chicken, bacon, lettuce, cheese.
Cup of tea, no sugar.

4.00:
Apple

5.30:
Slice or two wholemeal toast
Cup of tea, no sugar.

6.00-7.30
Workout/Cardio
After workout I have a protein shake, 2 scoops whey, 400ml milk.

8.00 Dinner:
loads of veg (mixed green veg or peas, no spuds)
2 chops(no fat)/fish/chickenbreast/bolognese(no pasta or spagetti)
Cup of tea, no sugar.

10.00:
Cup of tea, no sugar.


Ok thats my diet etc, now heres my workouts:

Usually lift weight on Mon, Weds and Sat/Sun.

On Tues I run about 5km HIIT in ~28mins and row 2km in 8ish mins and on thurs I hit the pool, nothing too strenuos though and the steam room.

My lifting consists of the following:

Bench mon and weds, usually one day 5x5 at 50kg and on the other I go for bigger weight(around 65kg) for max reps and then drop back, and also do dumbell presses on chest days (17kg each dumbell)

Squat weds and sat about 35/40kg ( i know, pathetic), I'm building this up.

Deadlift on sat, 100kg x 5 and usually 90kg x5x4 and deadlift on one of the weekdays also, about 70kg x10x3.

I do bent over rows with barbells/dumbells twice a week 40kg barbell and ~20kg dumbells.

Along with this at least once a week i do triceps, military press, leg raises, bicep curls and now and then chinups, pullups and pushups.

Is there anything anyone would recommend to change in this diet or routine. I would like to get the best benefit from it as possible.

Cheers in advance for any help,

Paul

BossArky

Eat something at 11 and 3pm. You seem to be going a long time without substantial food between breakfast and lunch ... and lunch and dinner.

Pick from the following: tuna & sweetcorn, milk, almonds, chicken slices, boiled eggs, fresh veg chopped up, etc.

rccaulfield

Ok-Firstly you can build muscle and lean out- its actually easier that way! At lunch-White roll? Cmon- Bacon-Thats the worst food imaginable for fat and calorie content.
7.30- Big protein shake? If you wanna lose the body fat- give that up- the amount of calories in that shake nullifies your workout- by the looks of your diet youv got a hell of a lot of protein there already!!
All i can say about your workout is it seems your lifting sat/sun and mon?? Are you working the same muscles these days ,if so thats bad give each muscle a day off-Fair play tho your dedicated!!

Colm_OReilly

Paul,

You may like CrossFit type programming, which combines cardio/weights into workouts. Have a look around www.crossfit.com or www.crossfit.ie for a workout that looks interesting and give it and a few others a shot. Considering how dedicated you are to your training it seems like it would be right up your alley.

A great workout is "Cindy". As Many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats.

PaulKK

rccaulfield wrote: »

At lunch-White roll? Cmon- Bacon-Thats the worst food imaginable for fat and calorie content.

I know, i thought it would be ok though seeing as its earlyish in the day, its hard to get an alternative though as I eat in college canteen. I will give the bacon a miss from now on.

rccaulfield wrote: »

7.30- Big protein shake? If you wanna lose the body fat- give that up- the amount of calories in that shake nullifies your workout- by the looks of your diet you've got a hell of a lot of protein there already!!

Ok, but I did notice a serious difference in DOMs the next day with and without it. What if I had it for breakfast instead on lifting days? Or should I cut it out altogether? I normally only have it maybe Mon and Weds, I couldnt be bothered bringing the tub home! Maybe i should mix with water or something?

rccaulfield wrote: »

All i can say about your workout is it seems your lifting sat/sun and mon?? Are you working the same muscles these days ,if so thats bad give each muscle a day off

I usually lift sat, Mon and weds, I dont work the same muscles on sat and mon I give them a few days.

@Colm: Thanks, I'll check that out.

@BossArky: Thanks for that, I was thinking of bringing walnuts/cashews for during the day.

Thanks all for the advice, keep the opinions coming!

rccaulfield

PaulKK wrote: »

I know, i thought it would be ok though seeing as its earlyish in the day, its hard to get an alternative though as I eat in college canteen. I will give the bacon a miss from now on.



Ok, but I did notice a serious difference in DOMs the next day with and without it. What if I had it for breakfast instead on lifting days? Or should I cut it out altogether? I normally only have it maybe Mon and Weds, I couldnt be bothered bringing the tub home! Maybe i should mix with water or something?



I usually lift sat, Mon and weds, I dont work the same muscles on sat and mon I give them a few days.

@Colm: Thanks, I'll check that out.

@BossArky: Thanks for that, I was thinking of bringing walnuts/cashews for during the day.

Thanks all for the advice, keep the opinions coming!

A weights programme is one thing! But if your looking to lose belly fat and build muscle at the same time- u need to ease up on those shakes big time! Full of calories mate. Once youv lost it- no harm working out how much protein is too much but now is not the time!
As for the bacon-yea full of fat-body just sends it straight to the bones with no conversion-try egg instead for breakfast- good source of protein! Good luck!

Rocket!

rccaulfield wrote: »

7.30- Big protein shake? If you wanna lose the body fat- give that up- the amount of calories in that shake nullifies your workout- by the looks of your diet youv got a hell of a lot of protein there already!!

No offence, but thats awful advice. Unless you want him to suffer the effects of catabolism, advising him not to have an intake of protein is a terrible idea.

It doesnt have to be a protein shake btw, any high protein digestible food is great postworkout(tuna, chicken etc).
And as for 2 scoops of whey being loaded with calories; thats total nonsense! Try 240 calories of thereabouts. Although if you are trying to lose weight I would forgo the milk pwo(your intaking about 12g of fat there). Try mixing it with water/skimmed milk, or some form of simple carb(gatorade or lucozade would do the trick).

Listen to Colm and BossArky, they know what theyre talking about.
Keep up the good work man.

Roper

You can't do HIIT in 28mins. Running 5k is not HIIT.

scquinn

PaulKK wrote: »

Here is my diet:

8.30/9.30:
A serving (cup) of porridge with milk and half a scoop of whey for taste.
Cup of tea, no sugar.

1.00:
White roll, loads of chicken, bacon, lettuce, cheese.
Cup of tea, no sugar.

4.00:
Apple

5.30:
Slice or two wholemeal toast
Cup of tea, no sugar.

6.00-7.30
Workout/Cardio
After workout I have a protein shake, 2 scoops whey, 400ml milk.

8.00 Dinner:
loads of veg (mixed green veg or peas, no spuds)
2 chops(no fat)/fish/chickenbreast/bolognese(no pasta or spagetti)
Cup of tea, no sugar.

10.00:
Cup of tea, no sugar.

I would suggest swapping the white roll for wholemeal bread, add tunna, cottage cheese or chicken fillet, put your 4 & 5.30 snacks together and eat something with some protein, carbs & fat.
Why are you taking in so much protein powder? In the morning why not add cottage cheese or a scoop of peanut butter to your porridge for protein?

PaulKK

rccaulfield wrote: »

A weights programme is one thing! But if your looking to lose belly fat and build muscle at the same time- u need to ease up on those shakes big time! Full of calories mate. Good luck!

Rocket! wrote: »

And as for 2 scoops of whey being loaded with calories; thats total nonsense! Try 240 calories of thereabouts.

Ok lads, not sure who to listen to here, but I was under the impression that 1g per lb bodyweight was about right for protein needs, and sticking my diet into fitday seemed to show a significant shortfall of that figure. Its not that practical to prepare eggs in the morning and I'd say I would be getting sick of them pretty quick. I only have a shake twice a week on mons and weds anyway after lifting. I will deffo try it with water from now on to cut the fat and calories though.

Roper wrote: »

You can't do HIIT in 28mins. Running 5k is not HIIT.

Ok, well I do about 3km rotating maybe 2mins 10km/hr and 1min 14km/hr and when i get wrecked i walk at 7 for a min and then just run out the last 2km or so at 10km/hr, not sure what to call that exactly, sorry if HIIT is wrong phrase. I'm trying to cut this time for 5km, I was doing it in around 27 mins before xmas and I'm improving each week.

scquinn wrote: »

I would suggest swapping the white roll for wholemeal bread, add tunna, cottage cheese or chicken fillet, put your 4 & 5.30 snacks together and eat something with some protein, carbs & fat.
Why are you taking in so much protein powder? In the morning why not add cottage cheese or a scoop of peanut butter to your porridge for protein?

I'm only putting a small bit on the porridge for taste instead of jam or whatever, as the porridge is a bit bland otherwise, its only about quarter of a scoop or less, I'll give the peanut butter a go!

I might throw in a few nuts at 5.30 too then to get the protein and fats in, cheers.

I'll try brown bread sandwiches from now on, whats the story with wraps, are they better?

Thanks for the advice and encouragement all!

quirkster

id say not enough protein/calories for muscle growth and not enough rest between working bodyparts.man you wont grow unless you give your body time to grow + the nutrients and calories to grow.

aim for 6 meals a day, with protein in each meal. minimise shakes to post workout and before bed if you can. tuna, chicken, steak, cottage cheese, turkey are all great protein sources.try to keep your carbs low GI (sweet potatoes, pasta etc) try not to eat white bread, or white potatoes, unless just after workout.

i dont care what anyone says, a guy your size, needs to have a caloric surplus to put on mass, and enough protein to build and maintain muscle. plus at least 2 days between working the same bodypart is essential

try your best to aim for 1gram of protein per pound bodyweight daily.theres a reason its followed by so many people - it works.

your workout needs help too.
monday - shoulder + triceps
tuesday - off
wedensday - back
thursday - off
friday - chest + biceps
saturday - legs
sunday - off

stimulate you muscles into growth enough on their given day and youll grow.no need to overtrain them.
youd want to be doing at least 3 exercises per muscle group, and maybe 4 for back and legs.

hope this helps

Roper

PaulKK wrote: »

Ok, well I do about 3km rotating maybe 2mins 10km/hr and 1min 14km/hr and when i get wrecked i walk at 7 for a min and then just run out the last 2km or so at 10km/hr, not sure what to call that exactly, sorry if HIIT is wrong phrase. I'm trying to cut this time for 5km, I was doing it in around 27 mins before xmas and I'm improving each week.

That's just called running and slowing down when you get tired.

HIIT is a buzz word, or buzz acronym if you will, right now. Basically anyone not jogging is doing HIIT right now. HIIT can cure the common cold, make mortals into Gods and if only they introduced it into the middle east there'd be peace at last.

Paul you sound like a lot of people who attend the gym. Pretty aimless, not too much in the way of direction and your programme isn't bad but it seems random. What is it you want to do? What do you want to achieve?

Brian?

Roper wrote: »

Paul you sound like a lot of people who attend the gym. Pretty aimless, not too much in the way of direction and your programme isn't bad but it seems random. What is it you want to do? What do you want to achieve?

Roper,

Thats actually a great question to ask him, fair play to you. I know personally that if I had an ultimate goal, I could probably train a lot more effectivly, unfortunatly I am also aimless and am current lifting heavy **** for no other reason than I enjoy it and it makes me feel better.

PaulKK

Roper wrote: »

Paul you sound like a lot of people who attend the gym. Pretty aimless, not too much in the way of direction and your programme isn't bad but it seems random. What is it you want to do? What do you want to achieve?

How do you mean pretty aimless and random, I go regularly and do the same exercises every week, and have been doing so for the last 4 months? I also have goals that I want to achieve for bench, squat and deadlift in the coming months.

As I said I want to gain muscle and be as lean as possible.

I'm not training for anything in particular, I used to be over 16 stone though and very unfit, so motivation for me is knowing what it was to be like that as opposed to being somewhat in good shape now.

I suppose an exact way of putting it would be to have a rugby type fitness, be good at running and have a nice bit of muscle too.

And by the way, HIIT is defined on wikipedia as

"A form of cardio which is beneficial to burning fat in a short and intense workout. Usual HIIT sessions may vary from 15-30 minutes. Most HIIT sessions have a 2:1 ratio in terms of time"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training

I know wikipedia is not the last word on anything by the way, although that article does have a few references.

So if you'd like to tell me exactly how you would define HIIT as opposed to what I do I'd be glad to hear it.

@quirkster Cheers man, I'll have a look at fine tuning my workouts to something like you suggested. Thanks for the advice.

Roper

PaulKK wrote: »

How do you mean pretty aimless and random, I go regularly and do the same exercises every week, and have been doing so for the last 4 months?

Exactly. If I was doing the same thing every week for 4 months I'd have plateaued by now too and be making very little prgress.

As I said I want to gain muscle and be as lean as possible.

Okay

I'm not training for anything in particular, I used to be over 16 stone though and very unfit, so motivation for me is knowing what it was to be like that as opposed to being somewhat in good shape now.

That's pretty good motivation.

I suppose an exact way of putting it would be to have a rugby type fitness, be good at running and have a nice bit of muscle too.

Do you play rugby or are you just looking for that type of physique/fitness? In either case you're going about it the wrong way.

And by the way, HIIT is defined on wikipedia as

The day I listen to wiki is the day I start asking people on the bus for their opinion on my many hats. Many, many hats.

High Intensity Interval Training. The routine is broken into intervals which are performed at the highest intensity possible for the given time period, which should be short. Intervals are good but for what you're looking for, running is not the answer.

I'm not trying to get at you personally, you asked!

PaulKK

Roper wrote: »

Do you play rugby or are you just looking for that type of physique/fitness? In either case you're going about it the wrong way.

No I dont play, I would like that type of physique and fitness though as I think its a great mix of strength and cardio fitness.

Roper wrote: »

The day I listen to wiki is the day I start asking people on the bus for their opinion on my many hats. Many, many hats.

I did say wiki is not the last word on anything, but the article does have references.

Roper wrote: »

Intervals are good but for what you're looking for, running is not the answer.

Ok but what would you suggest?

Roper wrote: »

I'm not trying to get at you personally, you asked!

Fair enough thats cool with me, but your not suggesting what I should do differently to improve.

I obviously want to make the best use of my time, thats why I posted this thread, for some useful criticisim, I knew that I probably was doing a lot of things wrong.

Roper

PaulKK wrote: »

Fair enough thats cool with me, but your not suggesting what I should do differently to improve.

I obviously want to make the best use of my time, thats why I posted this thread, for some useful criticisim, I knew that I probably was doing a lot of things wrong.

The reason I'm not posting anything is because I'm not you, there is no magic workout programme and without you standing in front of me it's hard to prescribe anything. I know my posts probably look a little over critical but I think seen in that light you might see what I'm getting at.

That being said, if you were to do something like starting strength or 5x5 you'd probably see results but your best bet would be to get your form down first and work from there.

PaulKK

Roper wrote: »

The reason I'm not posting anything is because I'm not you, there is no magic workout programme and without you standing in front of me it's hard to prescribe anything. I know my posts probably look a little over critical but I think seen in that light you might see what I'm getting at.

I know its hard to perscibe things like that but the main reasoning for my posting is to cut out any problems that might not be glaringly obvious to me but are to some more experienced people.

I appreciate you taking the time to post though, I know what your trying to say.

Roper wrote: »

That being said, if you were to do something like starting strength or 5x5 you'd probably see results but your best bet would be to get your form down first and work from there.

Yup I'm doing 5x5 at the moment on bench, deadlift and squat and I'm making gains, my squat is up to 50kg as of last weekend :pac:

I do tend to concentrate on form too, i think its better to do something properly than do a big weight with half arsed form.

As soon as I start plateauing I'm planning on mixing it up weight/rep wise.

Thanks for the advice all, some good points in this thread.