Still fat, need muscle

[smprince1]

Originally Posted by JustinDetail

My "diet" now....sigh

Only drink water (96oz-128oz per day)
2-3 cups cooked brown rice (the good stuff that takes 50 min to cook)
2 6-10 oz servings of lean chicken/beef/tuna a day
2-3 myoplex meal replacement packages
handfuls of natural, unsalted almonds
natural, unsalted peanut butter
2 clif bars a day
apples
bananas
broccoli
raw baby carrots

Pretty exciting huh!?

That takes a lot of discipline

[JustinDetail]

Originally Posted by xmx250

Thanks guys. I have the eating down pretty well. All i need to do is up the protein intake. How many grams of protein should i eat a day? i've heard 1 gram per pound of body weight, but isnt that excessive for someone like me?


So its two to three sets all i need to work a specific muscle. So i could do 8 reps 3 times and that would be good for my biceps? Should i use the heaviest weight that will allow me to fail at my 8th rep?

1 gram per lb of bodyweight is high, yes, but it will definitely help to repair damaged muscles from the quality weight training. On the split I mentioned, I'd do 2 exercises for the big muscle groups like back, quads, hams, chest, shoulders, and 1 each for bis, tris, calves. Also 2 for abs is fine as well. Once you move on to a more advanced split, you can do 3 exercises for lrg groups and 2 for small. Eventually you can call yourself crazy like me (lol and do 4-6 for large and 3 -4 for small. hehe

I "pyramid my weights" as far as weight goes.

[Calogero]

Well you need to focus more on the diet and less on the gym.

Although the gym is very important, I'm going to say 80% is diet or your healthy eating habits.

Are you sure you're eating the proper foods at the proper time. Nutrition timing is very important.

My splits in the gym are this. I do cardio about 4 times a week and have just bumped up the time to cut back even more.

Chest/Biceps
Back/Triceps
Legs
OFF
Shoulders
Repeat
OFF

Focus on using more dumbbells and shooting for 3-4 sets at 12-15 reps if you're looking to cut down or personally I shoot for failing at 10-12 reps and have made plenty of success this way.

In terms of healthy eating, I shoot for a solid 2000 to about 2500 calories. It may sound like you're not getting enough calories/protein.

1800 may be to low for you right now as you don't have enough lean mass.

Eating to little calories can actually have the reverse effect on your body and immune system.

My day to day eating is as follows.

Working you legs equates to an overall 33% increase in testosterone so that's why/how you gain more muslce.


Pre-Workout (4-5am)

1 scoop BCAA’s


Post Workout (6:30ish)

Protein Shake 2 scoops Isoflex Protein
Waxy maize starch 1 scoop
10g Glutamine

Meal 1 (7:30ish)

1 cup egg whites + 1 whole egg
½ cup large flake plain oats

Meal 2 (10:15am)

1 can chunk lite tuna in water
2 tbsp salsa
1 tbsp udo’s oil

Meal 3 – (12:00pm) -

6oz. chicken breast
1-2 cups broccoli (chopped)
1 tbsp udo’s oil

Meal 4 – (2:15ishpm)

6oz. chicken breast
1-2 cups broccoli (chopped)
1 tbsp udo’s oil


Meal 5 – (6:00pm) -

6oz. chicken breast
2 cups mixed green vegetables


Meal 6 – (9:00pm) -
Time released protein shake (Qauttro)
10 almonds

OR

1 cup cottage cheese and 1/2 cup yogurt

[Accumulator]

JustinDetail- Sheesh, we really *are* in synch here huh?!? Well, physiology is physiology (as I posted in another, similar thread) and what works works. Yeah, IronMan was OK (at least back when I was reading such mags), so was MuscleMedia.

Oh, and I just found out that EAS has discontinued the Tropical Variety flavor of Myoplex that I like before my pre-breakfast dog walks (on the days I don't do cardio) I'm stocking up from the places that still have it in stock but that stuff *does* have a shelf-life.

xmx250- If you've never read Bill Phillips's Body for Life you really oughta pick up a copy. Used book websites oughta have it cheap, they've printed a zillion of 'em. You could do a lot worse than just reading that and the Poliquin book and ignoring all the other "advice" on the internet and in magazines (heh heh, you could even ignore *my* advice as you'll read the same stuff in those books anyhow ).

I got in shape over 20 years ago and I've stayed that way; you can do it too.

[xmx250]

Good info in the above posts. I do have my diet doing okay right now. Its not perfect, but i cant go from a junk food junkie to perfect healthy eater overnight. I've been getting better and better though.


I guess the main thing i need to learn about and do more of is how to lift weights to get the best gains.

[Calogero]

You should shoot for one gram of protein per pound of body weight.

In terms of your arms, work your whole body equally and with the proper eating habits your arms will grow on their own.

I am happy with my arms but some weeks I don't even work them out individually, they're just worked out when I do back or chest. I mean, someweeks I won't do curls and other biceps only exercises and same for triceps.

Looking back over what you wrote, I think you should start off slow and do a full body workout program for 3 weeks to train your immune and nervous system.

Once you hit the three week mark, then we can up the cardio a bit and change your workout. The key is to keep your muscles guessing.

[clintb]

JustinDetail has nailed it 100%, without question. "Eat clean, stay lean.", is my motto. Build more lean muscle and your body turns into an incinerator of extra fat. And what he says about the "*** to grass" squats is the straight up truth. Don't be fooled into thinking sissy squats, what you see most people doing, are any good. They're not. All that's about is posturing in the gym. Get in, stick with it and resist the poor food choices. You can do it.

[Calogero]

Originally Posted by clintb

JustinDetail has nailed it 100%, without question. "Eat clean, stay lean.", is my motto. Build more lean muscle and your body turns into an incinerator of extra fat. And what he says about the "*** to grass" squats is the straight up truth. Don't be fooled into thinking sissy squats, what you see most people doing, are any good. They're not. All that's about is posturing in the gym. Get in, stick with it and resist the poor food choices. You can do it.

But what sissy squats are you talking about.

Actual Sissy Squats are not even and are good for definition. If done properly are a great addition to your leg workout.

But squats are not to be forgotten.

[Accumulator]

Calogero- I use a different split/reps regimen, but I sure agree about dumbells being a great way to go. I started using them for all my benchpresses when I had a shoulder injury and I've stuck with them every since. I agree about the importance of diet too, it seems that too often it either gets overlooked or approached from some weird angle that's not sensible.

Originally Posted by JustinDetail

1 gram [of protein] per lb of bodyweight is high, yes, but it will definitely help to repair damaged muscles from the quality weight training. ..

I shoot for at least one gram per pound too. When I drop it lower the muscle seems to melt off of me

..I "pyramid my weights" as far as weight goes.

At least we differ on *something* After my warm-up sets I have to do my heaviest work first and then drop the weight on subsequent sets. Perhaps my age (48) has something to do with it.

Heh heh, I gotta quit this and go wash the MPV...discussing this topic online sure beats cleaning up the family minivan

[xmx250]

Thanks guys.


I also want to know, what exercises should i be sure to include to ensure that my deltoids grow? yes i'm trying to widen my shoulders, lol, even if its only a millimeter

[Calogero]

Originally Posted by xmx250

Thanks guys.


I also want to know, what exercises should i be sure to include to ensure that my deltoids grow? yes i'm trying to widen my shoulders, lol, even if its only a millimeter

Like I said you have to keep your muscles guessing.

You can not spot reduce/gain.

If you go the gym and train your delts everyday not going to work.

This is where less is more.

But you asked for shoulder growth.

Front Delt Dummbell Raises x 4 - 8-10
Seated Side Delt Raises x 4 - 8 - 10
Barbell Miltary Presses x 3 - 4-6
Dummbell Shoulder Shrugs - x 3 - 10 - 12
with superset Upright Row - x 3 - 10 - 12
Dumbbell Military Press - x 4-5 - 8 - 10

You gotta change it up every so often.


Workout 2

Smith Machine Overhead press - x 4 - 6, 6, 10, 10
Straight Bar Cable Raise - x 3 - 10 - 12
Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raise - x 4 - 10 - 12
Seated Bent Over Lateral Raise - x 3 - 10 - 12
Dumbbell Shrug - x 4 - 10, 10, 12, 12

Workout 3

Overhead Dummbell Press - x 3 - 8, 8, 8,
Overhead Barbell Press - x 4 - 10, 12, 12, 12
One Arm Cable Raise - x 4 - 10 - 12
One Arm Dumbbell Lateral Raise - x 4 - 10 - 12
Dumbbell Shrug - x 4 - 10 - 12
super set with Barbell shrug - x 4 - 10 - 12
One Arm Bent Over Lateral Raise - x 3 - 10 - 12

[JustinDetail]

Accumulator, Calogero, and ClintB all have fantastic points. I hate to make us 4 sound cocky, but from what I can tell, you could do a lot worse listening to, oh about 99.9% of the other advice out there.

I am 27, 6'3 212 lbs at around 8-9% bf now, and I eat no less than 240 grams of protein a day, sometimes as high as 300+. As mentioned before by the previous posts, it's ALL DIET, by "all" I agree with Calogero, at 80%. I usually quote 85%, but you get the point.

I'm at the point now where my diet is so spot on, that it's caused the most rapid physique changes in my training life (17-27). I've done powerlifting, dabbled in the olympic lifts, and even being what I thought was a "hardgainer" I do extremely well off of high volume, tons of sets, all to get a good pump, trash that muscle group, and wait 7 days before I do it all over again.

By "pyraminding" the below example might make sense (closer to how Accumulator explained it, where you warm up, go heavy, then back off a bit).

Incline Barbell Press (I don't do flat, inclines work the pecs better for me).
135x12-14
185x10
205x6 (just to feel the weight)
225x10 (first work set)
265x5
(sometimes I drop back to 225 for another set, before the burnout set)
185xfailure (typically 17-20 reps to "burnout" the muscle and start the pump I shoot for)