Ashr1
02-10-09, 7:43 pm
Hi Guys,
Been checking this site out for a few months and have just signed up. Hope all is well with you guys.
I'm 30, from the UK and have been training on and off for around two and a half years.
I'm 5ft 11" and have always been a pretty big bloke... at the moment I weigh 220lbs or around 16.5stones. Unfortunatley mostly fat. :(
I have tried 3 types of training:
1. Burn fat and gain muscle by way of morning cardio sessions and afternoon weights over a 6 day week. (4 days weights only)
2. Burn fat only - loadsa cardio and very minimal weights (to stop myself from getting borred) :)
3. Gain muscle only and try lose fat by reducing caloric intake.
All of the above plans have there ups and downs... as I'm sure you guys know.
And we all know, that by reducing caloric intake, building muscle isn't really going to happen or will happen but at a very reduced rate.
The workout plans I have tried are:
3 days weights - 2 sets only per exercise (bench press, deadlifts, squats etc) aim for 5-7 reps per set...
This was mentally pretty cool, coz you didnt have to think about a long training session... but as it was only 2 sets per exercise, you came out of the gym in less then an hour (inc warmup) and not feeling like u had done much...
I soon added the cardioo session in the mornings to this routine and i started to lose the 'belly' pretty quick... however, as I was hugely watching what i was eating, how much I could lift, push, pull was affected. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are pushing more you are getting stronger. And if you are getting stronger, you are getting bigger?
Anyway, the above routine is what I started out with a coupla years ago... at a gym which was part of a hotel and did not have a bench press... (need I say more)
The routine made perfect scientific sense, ..."your muscles only need 2 sets, between 5-7 reps for stimulation and growth..., anything more is just a waste of a time..." I want to post the article but don't wana get into trouble... :)
About 2 months ago, after a prolongeed illness, which left me bed bound for around 6 months, I decided to go back to the gym. I popped along to the 'hotel' with my gym stuff only to find it was closed for refurbishing for around 2 weeks...
Rather then wait any longer I found another gym, a proper gym... where the women were bigger than me! Dumbells went up to... err, lots! Superb mix of machines, Hammer strength etc... and its owned by an ex pro body builder..
I now do a 4 day split... (which I found on this site)
1st day - Legs ( I cnahned this to Legs/Biceps)
2nd day - back/calves - ( I changed this to Back/Shoulders/Triceps)
3rd day - off
4th day - Back/biceps
5th day - Chest/triceps
The aim is to bulk up. 5 sets. Weight increases after every set. 5th set is reduced weight but more reps to failure...
More info here : http://www.animalpak.com/html/article_details.cfm?ID=48§ion=training%0A
My questions are:
Is this a good routine to add muscle size? I changed the routine to add more days for arms (day 1 day2)... is this classified as overtraining, or is this ok?
I can't make up my mind, if I should fat lose 1st and then muscle build, or muscle build then fat lose, or both?
I know I have a 'sweet tooth' problem and have now completely CUT OUT on that crap.
My diet at the moment is:
9 am - Breakfast: Porrage oats with tea spoon of honey and semi skimmed milk.
Cup of tea - no sugar
11am - banana
11:30am - gym
1:30pm - Protein shake
2:30pm - Jacket potato with beans and low fat cheese; orange juice.
7pm - 2 standard bagels with 100 grams of breast chicken (no skin) sligtly fried in 2 teaspoons of olive oil and 100 grams of lamb cooked same way.
All in all, this is a 1800 calorie diet... slight mods to this depending on day will push it up to 2000 calories.
I am seeing results with what my current training plan.... but results are very slow.
Is there any advice you guys can offer...?
What do I do 1st? Fat loss? Or Muscle gain? I can then trailor my workouts according to my goals.
Sorry for the massive post... ;)
Been checking this site out for a few months and have just signed up. Hope all is well with you guys.
I'm 30, from the UK and have been training on and off for around two and a half years.
I'm 5ft 11" and have always been a pretty big bloke... at the moment I weigh 220lbs or around 16.5stones. Unfortunatley mostly fat. :(
I have tried 3 types of training:
1. Burn fat and gain muscle by way of morning cardio sessions and afternoon weights over a 6 day week. (4 days weights only)
2. Burn fat only - loadsa cardio and very minimal weights (to stop myself from getting borred) :)
3. Gain muscle only and try lose fat by reducing caloric intake.
All of the above plans have there ups and downs... as I'm sure you guys know.
And we all know, that by reducing caloric intake, building muscle isn't really going to happen or will happen but at a very reduced rate.
The workout plans I have tried are:
3 days weights - 2 sets only per exercise (bench press, deadlifts, squats etc) aim for 5-7 reps per set...
This was mentally pretty cool, coz you didnt have to think about a long training session... but as it was only 2 sets per exercise, you came out of the gym in less then an hour (inc warmup) and not feeling like u had done much...
I soon added the cardioo session in the mornings to this routine and i started to lose the 'belly' pretty quick... however, as I was hugely watching what i was eating, how much I could lift, push, pull was affected. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are pushing more you are getting stronger. And if you are getting stronger, you are getting bigger?
Anyway, the above routine is what I started out with a coupla years ago... at a gym which was part of a hotel and did not have a bench press... (need I say more)
The routine made perfect scientific sense, ..."your muscles only need 2 sets, between 5-7 reps for stimulation and growth..., anything more is just a waste of a time..." I want to post the article but don't wana get into trouble... :)
About 2 months ago, after a prolongeed illness, which left me bed bound for around 6 months, I decided to go back to the gym. I popped along to the 'hotel' with my gym stuff only to find it was closed for refurbishing for around 2 weeks...
Rather then wait any longer I found another gym, a proper gym... where the women were bigger than me! Dumbells went up to... err, lots! Superb mix of machines, Hammer strength etc... and its owned by an ex pro body builder..
I now do a 4 day split... (which I found on this site)
1st day - Legs ( I cnahned this to Legs/Biceps)
2nd day - back/calves - ( I changed this to Back/Shoulders/Triceps)
3rd day - off
4th day - Back/biceps
5th day - Chest/triceps
The aim is to bulk up. 5 sets. Weight increases after every set. 5th set is reduced weight but more reps to failure...
More info here : http://www.animalpak.com/html/article_details.cfm?ID=48§ion=training%0A
My questions are:
Is this a good routine to add muscle size? I changed the routine to add more days for arms (day 1 day2)... is this classified as overtraining, or is this ok?
I can't make up my mind, if I should fat lose 1st and then muscle build, or muscle build then fat lose, or both?
I know I have a 'sweet tooth' problem and have now completely CUT OUT on that crap.
My diet at the moment is:
9 am - Breakfast: Porrage oats with tea spoon of honey and semi skimmed milk.
Cup of tea - no sugar
11am - banana
11:30am - gym
1:30pm - Protein shake
2:30pm - Jacket potato with beans and low fat cheese; orange juice.
7pm - 2 standard bagels with 100 grams of breast chicken (no skin) sligtly fried in 2 teaspoons of olive oil and 100 grams of lamb cooked same way.
All in all, this is a 1800 calorie diet... slight mods to this depending on day will push it up to 2000 calories.
I am seeing results with what my current training plan.... but results are very slow.
Is there any advice you guys can offer...?
What do I do 1st? Fat loss? Or Muscle gain? I can then trailor my workouts according to my goals.
Sorry for the massive post... ;)