I intend to begin a new diet and exercise routine in my life. I do NOT want to do a trendy 'lose-weight-quick' diet full of 'no-carb' crap. I intend for this to be a life change in my diet and exercise. I'm 6' tall, 170 lbs, medium frame. Most of my body fat is in my upper torsoe, while my legs are thin. I want to burn off most of my excess fat and build muscle mass. I would actually like to gain weight (in muscle mass) up to around 190 or 200. Once I reach my goal, I will need to adjust my plan to just go on maintenance. The worst part about this is.... I have little or no money to spend on weight-trainers or nutritionists. I could probably afford one visit, but certainly not routine visits. I will be working out at home (I have a home gym). I need to know... how many carbs, calories, and fats I should eat each day how much food to eat, and how often to eat what kind of aerobic exercise to do to burn calories and fat how often to do aerobic exercises what kind of weight-lifting to do to build muscle mass how often to do weightlifting what must I do to build size in my legs? how to build a schedule/calendar for all of the above what NOT to do how long will it take to reach my goal Can anyone provide links to free internet information that might help me? I've Googled this to my best ability, but I have not been able to find a site that addresses my specific concerns. Instead, I have found too much info on trendy diets. -- droxford
For nutrition advice check johnberardi.com and read the articles. Amounts of carbs, protein, and fat is an individual thing based on activity level and other factors. Read both the Massive Eating articles which will help you calculate your intake needs. For getting bigger legs you have to squat (with proper form). You don't need to pay a trainer or nutritionist. There's plenty of information on the internet. If you have any specific questions, I might be able to help.
It depends what kind of cycling? Is it uphill? Is it intense or moderate pace? How long? Mountain biking? Spinning...just stores fat in your legs.
Have you heard of Body for Life? http://www.bodyforlife.com While some people look down on the author (he hypes EAS, which he owns, as a good supplement), I know 5 people who did this and not one of them failed. All lost weight, all gained strength. It IS a lifestyle change - tries to get you to change eating habits and workout more. You can skip the supplement (protein shakes) by cooking/packing more food.
To build muscle mass with your frame, take in about 170 grams of protein a day. Lower your carb intake, but make sure you eat carbs pre-workout. Within 45 min. after your workout, take in some protein. You can get a shake at Smoothie King or you can eat a piece of chicken. Just get some protein in your system when you are done hitting the weights.
reasonably intense i guess 17kilometres to work in about 42 minutes and 17 kilometres home in about 38 minutes do this 3 to 4 times during working week and then maybe another 20 or so kms on the weekend generally i am going 29 kilometres an hour or above
Thx for the link there tozai.. I've been working out for about 2 months now(I'm in the gym 5 days a week). I'm 5'10.. started at 165 lbs, burned off about 5 lbs of fat in the first 2 weeks, then I started putting on some muscle and I'm up to 170 now. My workout routine is day 1: chest/triceps, day 2: back/biceps, day 3: legs/shoulders, day 4: rest or cardio. I've been practicing periodization(learned this from a weight lifting course I took at UT). Weeks 1-4: High Reps(10-12)/Low Weight, Weeks 5-8: Medium Reps(6-8)/Medium Weight, Week 9: Low Reps(3-5)/Heavy Weight. As far as supplements and nutrition go.. I've been pretty lazy about it the past month or so. I take creatine(2 weeks on/2 weeks off) and I drink tons of water. My diet really sucks because being a student doesn't give me the flexibility I need as far as eating right all of the time. I have been saving up money to buy more creatine, L-glutamine, and whey protein. My diet will improve once this freakin semester ends. One article that kinda intrigued me on that sight was a anaerobic/resistance training schedule: Day 1 - 1.5 hours of Resistance Training (Upper Body - Pushing Type Exercises) Day 2 - *30 minutes of Anaerobic Interval Training (Rowing) Day 3 - 1.5 hours of Resistance Training (Lower Body) Day 4 - *30 minutes of Anaerobic Interval Training (Cycling) Day 5 - 1.5 hours of Resistance Training (Upper Body - Pulling Type Execises) Day 6 - *30 minutes of Anaerobic Interval Training (Running) Day 7 - Rest I would like to reach single digit body fat % and I think I could still keep up with the periodization. However, I'd be cutting my lifting in half per week by doing this. Here is the link to the article: http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/training/gettinginshape.htm
www.fatlosstips.com and www.skinnyguy.net both offer a lot of good free information. What's worked for me is working out with weights 3 days a week and doing cardio and abs 3 other days a week. Any type of cardio that gets your heart rate slightly below your target heart rate for 20-30 minutes is all you really need if you don't want to lose weight but want to trim fat. It doesn't matter what type of cardio you do really (running is best IMO) because trimming fat is 90% how you eat. That's the tough part unfortunately, I'd suggest you look at those sites to find out what's best for you.
170 grams of protein a day http://my.webmd.com/content/article/48/39193.htm?lastselectedguid={5FE84E90-BC77-4056-A91C-9531713CA348} In that article from webmd, it addresses how much protein to intake, and it even lists how much a male 170 lbs should take (61 grams per day based on the RDA by the Food and Nutrition Board. BTW, this is exactly why you need to talk to a nutritionist and/or personal trainer. You will get many ideas by different people here and internet websites, but too much differing knowledge without any guidance or understanding will lead you nowhere. If you would like a professional opinion/consultation from a qualified trainer & nutritionist, I know a great one that has helped me and others I know a lot.
Yaowink that is recomened for people that lead a normal life. but when you lift weights you need extra protien because the normal amount is depleted and you need the excess to build the muscles that are trying to grow bigger. hope that clears it up for you.
Thanks for the knowledge, pele. I do not believe 1 gram per pound is the right ratio for someone in droxford's situation, especially if he is not going to be working out twice a day 6 days a week or doing sports training with his working out. IIRC, a person can only process 30-35 grams of protein in a 3-4 hour span. For a 170 lb person to process 170 grams of protein, he or she would be looking at eating 5-6 times a day while trying to keep a good balance of fat and carbs and protein. But then again, what the heck do I know? Good luck, droxford. Hope you reach your goals and keep with your enthusiasm for your lifestyle change.
you very right yaowink about there being a ton of information out there about fitness and weight training. a lot of i think being due to the fact that people are trying to make money for themselves and are skewing the facts to help them out. for me the most important thing is to just work out and not give up. you may not being do the best right at first but dont quit. as time goes on you will learn things that will help you out and become more efficient; in regards to eating right, working out harder, while increasing weights, targeting more muscle groups with more exercises. it all just takes time but it so worth it. the best is seeing some you have seen for 6 months or a year and them looking at you puzzles asking you what happened. and if its a girl them asking you what your doing later on that night.
I gotta agree with BFL. The program was 12 weeks long, and having been thru it nearly a year ago, I still haven't gained anything back - gained a few lbs, but thats cuz I was on vacation and ate everything in site w/ no gym - but have taken it all of again, just going back to the routine of gym and sensible eating. During the program, I was taking the meal replacements. The program suggests 6 meals a day, but I couldn't go beyond 4 or 5, and even that was really stretching it. These days, I do the same workout routine but have doubled up on the cardio, and abs everyday ... and for food, just eat healthy ... splurging every 2-3 weeks on some stuff I like. In the last 3 years, I've gone from 255 to 165-170, waist 39 to 32 and it feels great!!!! It's such an amazing feeling. Good Luck!!
I know this is simplistic, but the key on the exercise side is to find something you tolerate reasonably well or even, ideally, enjoy. If you dislike or hate your exercise program, your chances of making a "life change" are slim. On the diet side, calories are the key to weight control. Also keep in mind however the aspects of diet beyond weight control. Many foods have healthy qualities that have nothing to do with diet, such as cancer prevention qualities. A good simple tip is to eat lots of colors. Good luck.
I started a program about a year ago--changing diet, lifting & some cardio. I didn't want any fad diets (I was & still am a toothpick) and I've had pretty good success with the workouts/diet I've been doing. My goals: add muscle with not fat. I was 6'3" a year ago at 150 and have added 30lbs. Doesn't sound like much but everybody in my family is really tall and really skinny. Goal is to add another 30lbs this year...I figure 210-215 with my frame is about right. Anyway, I thought I'd list these sites as I'm always checking out new stuff to keep it interesting and keep motivated. Hope these help. Also, some of them charge a one time fee but I feel they are worth it, especially the first one. steve musclebuildingnutrition.com--great site with tons of articles and great bbs--kinda like the clutchcity of nutrition&diet t-mag.com great articles & thousands of workout programs--search the back issues (all free) tons of stuff on nutrition, supplements, stretching, cardio and of course lifting getbuffed.net--site of Ian King, olympic coach & mens health writer-I bought his book and its really good chadwaterbury.com--personal trainer, lots of good info & free articles give these a try and I think you'll have a good start--just these four pages offer months of info hope that helps
You seem to have a good idea of what you're doing. I think following that split would be a great idea for you. I don't see what you mean by cutting your lifting in half though? I hope you weren't lifting days 1 through 3 in a row and then starting over. People that think you're supposed to lift 6x a week don't really know what they're talking about. 3 or 4 times max for just about everyone. About the diet, there's tons of supplements that you could buy the priority should be in this order: 1. Whey Protein/ Meal Replacement Powder 2. Gatorade/Powerade/Dextrose 3. Fish Oils Extras- ZMA, BCAA's, Creatine That's all you really need. If you can afford creatine, then go ahead with that but it's not necessary. Glutamine supposedly work for some, but most of the research say it's BS. If you want to gain muscle you have to be eating at least bodyweight in protein grams. You also need to be consistent and get the right amount of calories. Berardi has a calculator to determine how much you need. All those links listed by sfhempel are excellent resources. T-mag alone is all you really need if you look through the archives.
