Hey all,
I'm a bit new to the fitness game. Just went through some personal things that made me take a new stance on what I was doing to body and the like. Anyway, I am 23 y/o 6'1'' 160 . I have a slender build but considering diet of soda and fast food for the past 3 years it became habit to eat the high calorie/fat foods and just not eat/drink very much. However, all of that has changed in the past few months. Now I am faced with a dilemma; I have very little body fat that needs to be lost (amazingly) but I still have a slight problem area that seems pretty common with a pinch of fat keeping lower abs from showing through with much definition (upper abs and obliques are actually quite defined considering what I've put them through). I know cardio and diet are generally the best ways to get rid of the fat patch but question is wether or not I should give this equal importance or if I should shelve it whilst I try and build bulk/agility/speed/stamina. Here is current routine (it is a rough sketch at this point because only being a few months in I am still working out the kinks.
Please keep in mind I am a student and I work 40 hours a week on top of it so always eating well is a bit of a struggle but anything I do good for body is much better than what it was getting.
fitness goals : Build bigger muscle mass for a toned and athletic physique while losing the small amounts of fat that keep the definition from shinning through.
diet :
Morning: 2 cups natural oatmeal w/milk + tbsp of raw sugar
1 serving on Yoplait light yogurt
1 Protein Bar - Tiger's Milk typically
2 10 oz (ish) glasses of water
Afternoon: No workout - sandwich and water (Subway - turkey breast/wheat/ veggies and none of the fatty toppings) or something along those lines I will often do the same thing if at home.
Workout - 16 oz Protein shake
Nuts and fruits
Chicken and complex carbs
Evening : Quarter plate of salad
4 - 6 ish ounces (guessing) of lean protein - Fish and chicken
A couple of times a week on dates or whatnot I will go out and I try and focus on low salt, low sat fat, high protein and veggies.
Snacks: Generally natural beef jerky (to what extent that can be true, tried to find some with limited salt and preservatives)
Cashews and Almonds
Apples
Yogurt
Workout routine :
Sunday : .5 Mile run (5 - 6 min)
3 sets triceps
3 sets biceps
3 sets lats
3 sets chest
100 - 200 incline crunches sets of 40
.5 Mile Run
Yoga inspired stretching
Monday: .5 Mile run
3 sets for core (generally cables of some sort depending on whats available when i'm at the gym)
3 sets of dumbell row
3 sets lower back
3 sets pullups
(insert random back and core training here)
.5 Mile Run
Tuesday Rest
Wednesday: .5 Mile Run
15 ish sets of Legs depending on whats available
30 ish leg lifts
.5 Mile Run
I generally seem to alternate Thursday as starting back with Sundays routine, or some times depending on how I'm feeling/time I will rest up thursday and start all over again. Also, there is some more excercises included in the arms days and back days but generally this is a pretty common rubric for what I do.
As I said, it's the dead of winter so having intensely visible abs is not primary concern, but If doing the extra cardio and stuff is just hurting initial goals of packing on some muscle then I'd like to know that so I'm not over training.
Thanks for any input or suggestions....
J.
Bulk and Toning in the same time period?
Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose
- amazingly low body fat, what a bastard
- what one do you want the most? abs or performance? usuaally performance training will do both anyway so i'd go with that
- don't get sucked into thinking that what you used to do is shit compared to now...what you do now might be shit to what i do so in the scheme of things you still might have a a far way to go...don't use excuses either, if you want it go for it and do what you need to do to get it
- athletes have strong muscles more so than big muscles...growth is more a by product of their performance training
- for breakfast add fruit...if yoghurt is low fat than get rid of it and get a good one that actually has real ingredients in it...never have a perotein bar again for the same reason...tiger's milk?????
- you need a mid morning meal of fruit and solid protein
- on non training days avoid bread, pasta and rice except for
breaky as you don't need it if not exercising..on training days keep them breaky and the meal immediately after training
- take nuts out of post training meal as it will slow digestion which you don't want and add them to mid morning meal
- do you have carbs in your shake? if so than have that straight after training than 30 - 45mins later have rice or pasta with chicken as listed
- beef jerky is made/processed i assume so leave out and try beef, turkey etc
- everytime you eat there must be at least 20g of protein except for breaky which will have aboout 15g anyway
- you also need at least 5 meals a day and with a body like yours 7 - 8 is probably better
- training needs a lot of work...too much arm/ab work...if it's only warm uo/down easy cardio it should be alright...program wise search The Waterbury Method by Chad Waterbury
- what one do you want the most? abs or performance? usuaally performance training will do both anyway so i'd go with that
- don't get sucked into thinking that what you used to do is shit compared to now...what you do now might be shit to what i do so in the scheme of things you still might have a a far way to go...don't use excuses either, if you want it go for it and do what you need to do to get it
- athletes have strong muscles more so than big muscles...growth is more a by product of their performance training
- for breakfast add fruit...if yoghurt is low fat than get rid of it and get a good one that actually has real ingredients in it...never have a perotein bar again for the same reason...tiger's milk?????
- you need a mid morning meal of fruit and solid protein
- on non training days avoid bread, pasta and rice except for
breaky as you don't need it if not exercising..on training days keep them breaky and the meal immediately after training
- take nuts out of post training meal as it will slow digestion which you don't want and add them to mid morning meal
- do you have carbs in your shake? if so than have that straight after training than 30 - 45mins later have rice or pasta with chicken as listed
- beef jerky is made/processed i assume so leave out and try beef, turkey etc
- everytime you eat there must be at least 20g of protein except for breaky which will have aboout 15g anyway
- you also need at least 5 meals a day and with a body like yours 7 - 8 is probably better
- training needs a lot of work...too much arm/ab work...if it's only warm uo/down easy cardio it should be alright...program wise search The Waterbury Method by Chad Waterbury
I appreciate the info, and I'll have to check out that method, thank you for the input and the response.
Like I said, diet 6 months ago was fast food and cokes. So relatively I've been doin much much better. Amazingly low body fat was in conjunction with the diet I had been on and lack of any physical activity. I am still a skinny little tyke so I was just kinda suprised looking back that I hadn't gained 100lbs of body fat.
Thanks again for the input
Like I said, diet 6 months ago was fast food and cokes. So relatively I've been doin much much better. Amazingly low body fat was in conjunction with the diet I had been on and lack of any physical activity. I am still a skinny little tyke so I was just kinda suprised looking back that I hadn't gained 100lbs of body fat.
Thanks again for the input