The weight loss went great. Very slow, but I could see my self improving week after week. It helps that I put on a good amount of muscle. The shape of my body has changed significantly. The last time I checked, I had put on around 8-10lbs of muscle and lost 8-10lbs of fat (since the thread). I jog for 10-15 minutes before a workout and I also play football (soccer) once a week. You think that's it? Maybe I just need to take 10 days off to relax? I took a week off last month though, didn't seem to help much.
Not sure if this has been answered, but how much protein are you getting every day? What's your weight?
dont' stress out about the timing...i've packed them in early, later, spread them out, everything...and its not going to make a lot of difference, what matter is the total amount at the end. The only time to worry about it would be before exercising to make sure you have energy and after to replenish, but i dont think you're at a point where you should worry about precision so much. The most best simple advice i can give you is to eat less the further you are from your workout(from each end). So if you want 2000 cals today, i would do breakfast- 350 preworkout- 400 WORKOUT postworkout - 600 dinner 400 late snack 250 so it's like a pyramid with the workout at the top, increasing on one end, then decreasing on the other...dont stress out over the numbers, just get the general idea down and apply it to your own eating schedule/meals.
How many days a week are you lifting? I might have missed this earlier, but I didn't see it posted. When I changed from lifting 5 days a week to 3 days a week, I saw much more lasting gains. Sometimes the concept of less is more truly works. It's also a good way of avoiding burnout.
the joggin part might be it...you really dont want to do cardio before lifting unless you're going for a lean toned look. I'd do it on a non-lifting day or if you must, do it after, but if may be creating too much of a caloric deficit and keeping you from making gains. If you havent been gaining fat, then jack up the calories or cut back on the cardio.
That's going to come out to about .5 grams per pound of body weight with fat incl. I think that's the recommended amount for the average person, but you want it higher than that. Just do about 1 gram per pound of body weight, without subtracting fat. If that's too much for you at least try keeping it at .8 g per lb.
i take a post-workout protein shake with a mix of fruit (banana or berries) and whey protein, and throw in some oatmeal, peanut butter, and soy milk for taste. Works great in satiating me for about an hour but I find that I need to eat a meal shortly thereafter as well. All in all, I don't take any other supplements. I tried creatine when I was younger and found it to give me more stamina and speed recovery but didn't really bulk me up and made me gasy as well.
I usually follow this: day 1 chest day 2 legs/biceps day 3 back day 4 triceps/abs day 5 shoulders I do this for a number of reasons. 1) Split up and isolate the shoulders/back/chest. 2) My arms are weak, so I need to isolate them. 3) Each day takes about 50 intense minutes and I jog 10-15 minutes before working out. I considered cutting down to 3 or 4 days, but I'm worried that I'll will be less effective on the 2nd muscle of each day then. I usually do reps of 12-10-8.
Thanks dude, you've given me some good ideas to try out. I'll try these three things: 1) Sleep more. I only get about 5-6 hours rite now, I know this has to change. 2) More calories around workout. 3) Get more protein into my diet. I'll hold off on including simple carbs in my shake right now. Let's see how these 3 things go.
Hmm, I don't think running everyday of a workout is a good idea if you're trying to gain weight. It tires you out even if it's just for 15 mins. I would suggest cardio once a week. IMO, you should cut down to 4 days a week with a day off in between day 2 and 3. This was my regimen when I used to work out Monday: Back/chest Tuesday: Legs/abs Wednesday: off Thursday: Shoulders Friday: Cardio (basketball mainly) Saturday: Biceps/Triceps Sunday: off I did this for 45 days and gained ten pounds (all tuna). Then lost it all when I stopped working out. (I hear you need to work out at least 4 months for your gains to be partially permanent). As far as being exhausted when you begin your second muscle group, within the first hour you really shouldn't be feeling exhausted, especially if you cut out the running before every work out. What I used to do is I'd do a chest workout, then a back workout, then chest, then back, and so on. Equal opportunity workout.
It's always interesting to see what people are looking to get out of their workouts vs what they do. My friends and I just started a strongman-style workout program - we are doing it Tuesdays and Thursdays after work. Kettlebells, heavy bag lifts, dragging stuff, farmer's walks, etc. That should meet my needs as someone who wants to get stronger and have the ability to do stuff and just generally have really good strength and stamina. Mathloom, it looks like your program is focused on building size through muscle hypertrophy. I think you could really benefit by adding more squats and deadlifts to your program. These movements will stimulate the needed muscle-building hormones to give you the big arms you desire. Focusing on your arms isn't the most efficient way to go.
I've had success with this post-workout shake: 1 Myoplex Lite Vanilla MRP 1 banana 1 tsp natural peanut butter 2 cans of artichoke hearts
if you arms are weak, then just do isolation work after the compound work. On this split you're likely to tire out your biceps on day 2 with iso work, then the next day you wont be at your best doing back work because the biceps are needed in those movements as well. So i'd recommend working out back and biceps on the same day. Go for compound movements like pull ups and rows first, then finish off with various bicep curls. try something like Mon- chest/tris tue- cardio Wed- back/biceps Thur- cardio Fri- shoulders/legs Sat- off day Sun- cardio your reps are also too high for muscle gains...try 8-7-6, or even 7-6-5....usually even numbers are used for psych reasons, not because of training. definitely need more sleep.... i'd skip ab training, it's overrated...just focus on being stable when you do other lifts, use more free weights and tighten your core...that'll get you a six pack too..if you're not seeing its because your body fat is too high, so don't stress over doing more ab work. Not to pick on you, but this is what happens when people jump to supplements. They feel as if they're doing everything they can to maximize muscle growth, so they figure supplements is the next and only thing to do, but there's usually other factors that are not being addressed and if they're not taken care of, then jumping to supplements is useless, as they don't have enough to supplement. Comparing shakes isn't going to do any good because the difference in success is usually the other factors.
The norm in the bodybuilding community is 1g - 1.5g of protein per lb of bodyweight. If you're bulking, stay closer to the 1g, and if you're cutting stay closer to the 1.5g. Also, make 100% sure you're doing squats, deadlifts, and other heavy compound movements. I was simply spinning my tires for the first few months at the gym by doing only isolation exercises while completely neglecting and of the big 3 and I barely saw any gains. Now, I started deadlifting and squatting heavy weights for less reps (5x5) and I am starting to really see some improvement.
im not sure what your trying to get at................but............ professional athletes take all kinds of crap including mixed drinks, and pills. phelps ate all that a day plus took whatever legal (anything) that he could put in his body. seriously, just food? year right.
i have been taking a cup of whey protein after every workout. but have decided to stop it cause i just don't think some powder is that good for you. so after a work out, would a tuna sandwish and a cup of milk be good? other then chicken, tuna and beef, would lamb be good? i love lamb chops :grin: . One last question, how soon should i eat food after my workout? i normally eat about 15-20 min after due to the long drive from the gym and home.
Just so many ideas. That's what annoys me about weightlifting. So many theories, ideas, etc. Basically the only universally agree thing is that you need protein and to go regularly. Everything else is up for debate. Uggh... Here we go. It actually makes sense to me that isolation exercises are not best for me. I'd be perfectly happy being fit, strong and without a "beach body". My number one goal is health. My concern with deadlifts/squats is that they do not seem (to me) to work the chest and arms enough. So how about this: day 1 - Deadlifts + biceps day 2 - chest + triceps day 3 - squats + chest day 4 - cardio + lower back + abs (basically a rest day) That program actually excites me, versus the isolation stuff. Now that I think about it, is it idiotic that I started as a beginner doing isolation stuff?
Day 3 chest I'm going to assume you meant back? Looks like a good plan but I'm not sure about doing chest and triceps on the same day. Plus, where is your shoulder day, the most important muscle group? I feel like you need to put more legs in there than just squats. Also, abs day is NOT "basically a rest day." Trust me.
