New to Body building

jmx009

Hey people,

Since the new year i have been going to the gym 6 days a week. I am a beginner and am starting to get addicted to the gym. I have never worked out before. I did a lot of reading online and currently am doing 3 days of non aerobic ( weights) training and 3 days of aerobic ( threadmill, cycling etc) excercies. I spend 1 hour each on all 6 days and spread the aerobic and anaerobic excercies one day after the other so that i give my muscles 48 hours to rebuild. This is my routine so far

Monday - Aerobic
a) 30 mins threadmill
b) 20 mins - Eliptical machine ( dont know the exact name of the machine) or the rowing machine
c) 10 mins -cycling

Tuesday - Weights
Legs,Shoulder and stomach

Wednesday- Aerobic
Same as monday

Thursday- Weights
Chest,Biceps and stomach

Friday- Aerobic
same as Monday

Saturday- Weights
Back,Triceps and stomach

Sunday - Rest

Now my problem is have read a few articles about how important it is to cut first to attain lean body weight before trying to bulk and gain muscles. After reading these articles i am confused. I dont really know if i should keep following the above workout routines. I mean, is it ok to to just keep following the above workout routine to see some changes in me ( get stronger and more muscular) or should i focus more on reducing my weight first ( more time doing aerobic excercises and reducing caloric intakes) ? I have lost about a kilo in the last 3 weeks and am substantially stronger than i was 3 weeks ago ( being able to lift more weights with ease).

I am also eating healthy with more proteins in my day to day diet. I just dont know if i should attain my lean weight first before trying to be more muscular or just continue with the current workout routine and hope for the best?

xgtdec

hey there

in general how do you feel in yourself, can you say what height and weight you are now...where your carry fat..how much fat you carry, how you think your clothes fit and how would you like them to fit?

deciding to cut or bulk in a mind bender at first and can drive ya mad, but either one is going to be massively dependant on diet, so if ya post a regular days food too that would be handy.

fishtank5

Am a newbee too but I do think your meant to work chest and triceps together .. not chest and biceps.. and to work back and biceps not back and triceps...

also.. more info on you is needed.. as mentioned..


best of luck

Lantus

Firstly, a quick note to fish tank. The muscle groupings are fine as he's doing them. I work chest and Biceps no worries. It's a major and minor muscle grouping. Nothing wrong with that.

Reducing body fat is a matter of working at a slight calorie defecit while still maintaining workouts. The amount and intensity of cardio will need to be tailaored to you. You can either try to see a visual difference or use a scales and calipers to measure pogress if a lower or specific target is desired.

Building muscle requires a calorie excess and your body will add fat as you build muscle as a by product....And then theres a happy middle ground when you get to a point you like.

as a beginner the body can to an extent do a bit of both but this becomes diminished as you progress and your body adjusts to exercise. In reality you need to cycle between the two. Theres no point in cutting to a scrawny body. equally there is no point in building muscle for 2 years and then having to spend months achieving your goals.

jmx009

Hey guys.

sorry for the delay in replying. I am 5'3 and weigh 70 kgs (as of yesterday). I was 69.5 last week. I have no idea how it went up by 0.5 kgs, i mean i have been eating healthy for the last 3 weeks with small meals 4-5 times a day. I really hope its the weight of the muscle that i should have gained by now.

I rely a lot on canned fish food for my protein requirements. I mean i eat mix between canned tuna/mackerel/sardines pretty much everyday. I also eat chicken kievs every other day to meet my protein requirements.

I usually start my day with a bowl of cereal. I mix muesli and oatmeal everyotherday. I use low fat milk. I then eat a bannana or an apple every 2-3 hours untill lunchtime. At lunch, i eat 2 slices of bread with honey and cheese along with a fruit ( usually banana). 2-3 hours later ( when i get home ) i usually eat half a meal rich in protein or carbohydrates (depending on if i am doing weights or cardio on that day). I then go to the gym and when i get back i usually drink 1 litre of mil along with the other half of the meal that i had earlier.

Thats pretty much my deal. There were a few days where i may have slacked of and had a little wine and a pizza. It only happend 2 times in the last 3 weeks though.

I dont know what my body fat level is. The gym that i go to dont have the facility to measure body fat.

Anything else that you need to know, let me know. I appreciate all your help.

WeeBushy

You need to get lot and lots more protein into your diet imo. You should be eating a good protein source in pretty much every meal.

If you are trying to gain muscle the rule of thumb is 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight, so you should be getting ~156g of protein a day which by the looks of it you are not near. Tbh, your whole diet could do with changing... read through the stickies of nutrition, they are full of the kind of information that you want.

In terms of not sticking to your diet rigidly - allow yourself one cheat meal (within reason!) a week if you want. It gives you something to work towards, is a reward for eating well and unless you're a top end athlete won't have much of a negative impact.

jmx009

WeeBushy wrote: »

You need to get lot and lots more protein into your diet imo. You should be eating a good protein source in pretty much every meal.

If you are trying to gain muscle the rule of thumb is 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight, so you should be getting ~156g of protein a day which by the looks of it you are not near. Tbh, your whole diet could do with changing... read through the stickies of nutrition, they are full of the kind of information that you want.

In terms of not sticking to your diet rigidly - allow yourself one cheat meal (within reason!) a week if you want. It gives you something to work towards, is a reward for eating well and unless you're a top end athlete won't have much of a negative impact.

Is a whey protein supplement a good idea for me? I dont know much about it but i have been reading about it all morning, Is there any side effects to it and what would be a good brand to buy?

wersal gummage

jmx

i'd leave out all the 'stomach' stuff you have in. i'm guessing this is sit ups is it ?? if you've a bit of a belly on you this is really a waste of time in my view. do some core work instead if you want - plank type variations, i.e. with dumbells and rows etc.

wersal gummage

jmx009 wrote: »

Is a whey protein supplement a good idea for me? I dont know much about it but i have been reading about it all morning, Is there any side effects to it and what would be a good brand to buy?

it is exactly what you call it, a 'supplement'. you should work out how much protein you need, work out how much you are getting from you food intake, and then take a supplement for any short fall. also a whey protein shake with some carbs straight after weights is probably no harm at all.

jmx009

cool. Guess i will have to eat more protein then. I think i will rely on supplements for now. Any good brands that you guys would reccomend. Something for wey protein?

wersal gummage

jmx009 wrote: »

cool. Guess i will have to eat more protein then. I think i will rely on supplements for now. Any good brands that you guys would reccomend. Something for wey protein?

probably best to keep away from the holland and barrett stuff, also while it is no doubt good quality, prob best keeping away from the ON and maximuscle stuff - tis marketing you're paying for.

i think people use myprotein (dont know it myself). I buy my stuff from bulkpowders.co.uk - you pay a bit for delivery so its best to wait till you've saved up to buy a fair bit or else see if you can split an order with someone else and share the delivery costs.

also whey protein is fast absorbing. great for straight after training. if you are using a protein supplement as more of a meal replacement, you should probably consider looking at other more slowly absorbed protein sources.

wersal gummage

just saw this bit now

jmx009 wrote: »

weigh 70 kgs (as of yesterday). I was 69.5 last week. I have no idea how it went up by 0.5 kgs,

that's perfectly normal. your weight will fluctuate a small bit. get a bodyfat % taken so that you can make proper comparisons. you may find that in a month or two you will still weight 70KGs and think you're getting nowhere - you may have put on some muscle though and lost some fat (people say this is impossible to do but its not when you're starting out).

jmx009 wrote: »

At lunch, i eat 2 slices of bread with honey and cheese along with a fruit ( usually banana)

that's a pretty lame lunch there if its bodybuilding you're after. for example - i eat two lunches. first at 1 then again at 3.30. both lunches are made up of two cans of tuna and things like peppers, celery, spinach leaves etc. or two chicken fillets with same. so that is four tins of tuna or four chicken fillets every day for lunch. now - i'm bigger than you - you dont need that much. but still, bread and a banana for lunch is pretty useless.

manu2009

Firstly, your main question was do you think you should focus more on cardio rather then weights so that you can lose weight first.

To lose weight the most important thing is your diet, you meantion you have chicken kievs as a source of protein, they are full of bad fat and are processed food so i wouldn't go near them, i'd also cut out the bread, cheese and wouldn't go too mad on the bananas all the time.

You need to get your diet right first, if its good then with the training plan your currently doing you should see results.

Here's a sample meal plan:
Meal 1
6 eggs, 5 whites, 1 full
Oats or Weetabix with blueberries

Meal 2
Wholewheat Pasta
Can of Tuna
8 Almonds

Meal 3
Oats
Protein Shake 1 hour before training

Meal 4
Protein Shake immediately after training

Meal 5
2 Chicken breasts
Brown rice
Green Veg

Meal 6
Can of Tuna
Apple
Teaspoon peanut butter

Basically if you want to lose weight and gain muscle you need to eat clean and have plenty of protein in your diet. You could follow a diet similar to the above on the days your in the gym, maybe just the protein shakes on the days your doing weights if you want and allow yourself a cheat day on Sunday when your not.

jmx009

and all these years i thought body building was all about going to the gym 5 days a week. How wronger could i get !!!

Ok, so i am going to start changing my diets considerably. I will probably buy a whey protein supplement too. Is there anything in particular that i should check for when buying whey protein supplements ? I mean like the fat, carb and protein percentage in the actual supplement itself or anything like that?

ray jay

jmx009 wrote: »

and all these years i thought body building was all about going to the gym 5 days a week. How wronger could i get !!!

Ok, so i am going to start changing my diets considerably. I will probably buy a whey protein supplement too. Is there anything in particular that i should check for when buying whey protein supplements ? I mean like the fat, carb and protein percentage in the actual supplement itself or anything like that?

It should be mostly protein with little carbs and fats. This is what I buy, it's pretty cheap and tastes fine.

SYLT

No magazine, trainer or website will know how your body functions. Get in the gym and do what works for you. It's all about try and fail until you fully understand the ins and outs of your body.