Help a fitness newbie out (please, I'm very motivated)
I'm 20 years old, 6'3" 197lbs soaking wet (literally, I weighed myself at the gym after an intense workout ). My body fat % is probably anywhere from 15-20% (I'll find out exactly how much sooner or later). I have a gut (not huge by any means, but it aint pretty) and a slight case of man-boobies. As you can imagine, I am incredibly motivated (more motivated than I have ever been in my life, anyone who knows me will vouch for this) to get into shape. I don't like what I look like right now and with summer around the corner, I want to start making progress. I don't expect to achieve my goals by summer, but I want to start now and do it efficiently. My basic goal for working out is to look better. By look better I mean: - More muscle - More definition - Less fat 3/4 gallon of water per day I've been doing a lot of research (both on this forum, the archives and google) and think I have the gist of it down pretty well. I'm doing a 5-day switch HIIT (is this a good method for my goals?) followed by some pretty intense cardio. Cardio: 15 minutes on the bike ~150 calories, eliptical for 5 minutes ~100 calories and the treadmill for 15 minutes ~200 calories. So without weight lifting, I'm burning at least 400 calories. In one of the threads on this forum, I found a link to a caloric intake calculator. According to the calculator after plugging in a workout rate of "moderate", I need this (if I use heavy workout, it increases 10%): Calories required to maintain body weight: 3480 Protein (50%): 435grams Carbs (30%): 261.02 Fat (20%): 77 grams Obviously, those are rough figures, but they're a good start right? So...my caloric intake is roughly 2000 calories per day. My protein intake (with protein shakes and lean meats) is ~120 grams per day. My carb intake is probably < 100g and my fat intake is < 30g. I try to eat as best as I can: 10+10 cereal from Trader Joe's (10 grams fiber, 10 grams protein) Bananas Apples Tuna Protein shakes (3x a day, 1 in morning, 1 pre and 1 post-workout) Lean meats Vegetables Supplements:Multi-vitamin Fish-oil Calcium I honestly don't think I can eat 3500-4000 calories per day. I take two days off, so I'm at a positive balance there, but still nowhere near enough to make up the difference. I also don't think it's possible for me to match those protein/carb/fat numbers or anything close. What should I do? What will this diet and this workout do to my body? Will I lose fat? Will I lose muscle? Will I waste my time? A HUGE thanks goes out in advance to anybody who takes the time to help me out. I'll definitely post before/after pictures after a while. Thanks again Edit: I've already lost 5lbs in two weeks
If you are really serious about it, then you won't be looking for any quick fixes. I would bulk for a few months, then cut. If you try to lose weight right now, you will not gain any muscle, but will just lose fat. The caloric intake needed for gaining muscle is too high to be losing fat. It is one or the other. Think about that, and post what you really want to do....then you can get further help.
Socrates If you are really serious about it, then you won't be looking for any quick fixes. I would bulk for a few months, then cut. If you try to lose weight right now, you will not gain any muscle, but will just lose fat. The caloric intake needed for gaining muscle is too high to be losing fat. It is one or the other. Think about that, and post what you really want to do....then you can get further help. I am really serious about it. Bulking for a few months wont make me any fatter will it? If not, I'll go with bulking, then cutting, but I seriously doubt I can eat that much cleanly. If it's possible though, I'll be the first to do it (with some guidance :P). I just wish it was possible to lose fat and gain muscle all in one fell swoop.
hootpie I am really serious about it. Bulking for a few months wont make me any fatter will it? If not, I'll go with bulking, then cutting, but I seriously doubt I can eat that much cleanly. If it's possible though, I'll be the first to do it (with some guidance :P). I just wish it was possible to lose fat and gain muscle all in one fell swoop. If you bulk you will gain fat but you will gain muscle. Bulk and go to the gym for awhile then cut. Youll look better than if you cut now then bulk.
hootpie I am really serious about it. Bulking for a few months wont make me any fatter will it? If not, I'll go with bulking, then cutting, but I seriously doubt I can eat that much cleanly. If it's possible though, I'll be the first to do it (with some guidance :P). I just wish it was possible to lose fat and gain muscle all in one fell swoop. Most the people i've met who started off chubby and bulked did not gain too much fat. Since you gain muscle at the same time, your chest starts to take form and you look less fat than you did before you started bulking. Then when you are ready to cut, you will look fantastic. You should sacrifice about 5-6 months to bulking up, then cutting. You won't look fatter, and when you cut, you will be happy you sacrificed those months because you won't be a skinny twerp. http://www.fastmusclegain.com/ --- check that out for bulking help. http://www.fatlosstips.com/ -- check that out for cutting help.
Socrates Most the people i've met who started off chubby and bulked did not gain too much fat. Since you gain muscle at the same time, your chest starts to take form and you look less fat than you did before you started bulking. Then when you are ready to cut, you will look fantastic. You should sacrifice about 5-6 months to bulking up, then cutting. You won't look fatter, and when you cut, you will be happy you sacrificed those months because you won't be a skinny twerp. http://www.fastmusclegain.com/ --- check that out for bulking help. http://www.fatlosstips.com/ -- check that out for cutting help. I don't mind gaining fat as long as I look better. Looks like bulking is what I'm going to go for then. Should I decrease my cardio so that I'm burning less calories and have to eat less? I still want to do cardio because I'm playing in a men's basketball league this summer, so I need to be able to run for a while without getting too winded. I'll check those websites, thanks for the help . Any other opinions?
I forgot to ask another question. While bulking, do I need to keep a strictly clean diet or can I get away with eating bad things here and there? I imagine it would be much easier to fill in those calorie requirements with some food that isn't completely healthy.
hootpie I don't mind gaining fat as long as I look better. Looks like bulking is what I'm going to go for then. Should I decrease my cardio so that I'm burning less calories and have to eat less? I still want to do cardio because I'm playing in a men's basketball league this summer, so I need to be able to run for a while without getting too winded. I'll check those websites, thanks for the help . Any other opinions? You'll just have to eat that much more calories to make up for it. If you burn 800 calories at practice, eat an 800 calorie meal. I would say stop doing cardio except for what is necessary for you to perform your best at basketball.
hootpie I forgot to ask another question. While bulking, do I need to keep a strictly clean diet or can I get away with eating bad things here and there? I imagine it would be much easier to fill in those calorie requirements with some food that isn't completely healthy. That is an on-going debate. Clean Bulking : Slower results, less fat Dirty Bulking : Faster results, more fat. I would wait for someone else to come in and answer that question. Make sure and check this thread again tommorrow for an educated answer to that.
If I were you I'd keep running. You dont have to bulk up to look good, thats just an opinion. If I were you, not me, but you, I'd Keep up your routine, maybe add in like 300-500 calories and just start lifting hard. You'll still gain muscle right now and you'll burn off alot of fat and you'll start losing that belly. You wont be big, but you're not gonna be skinny and flabby, because you're still going to gain muscle.
Socrates That is an on-going debate. Clean Bulking : Slower results, less fat Dirty Bulking : Faster results, more fat. I would wait for someone else to come in and answer that question. Make sure and check this thread again tommorrow for an educated answer to that. didn't someone post a study here recently that showed that the amount of muscle vs fat gain in a caloric excess was something like 80% determined by genetics, regardless of the source of the calories? Basically as long as you work out, get sufficient protein, and you eat more than maintenance calories, you're going to gain fat and muscle, and the amount of each will pretty much depend on your body.
I should have mentioned how big I want to be. I don't want to be huge. As of right now, I have a pretty big frame and without much muscle I look pretty big. I can't imagine being much bigger. I want my arms to fill in my shirt and for my chest to look good. My legs could use some size (especially my calves) as well.
Well then sounds you should keep your cals about the same but start lifting weights really hard.
Chris3G didn't someone post a study here recently that showed that the amount of muscle vs fat gain in a caloric excess was something like 80% determined by genetics, regardless of the source of the calories? Basically as long as you work out, get sufficient protein, and you eat more than maintenance calories, you're going to gain fat and muscle, and the amount of each will pretty much depend on your body. 430grams of protein? Is that possible/healthy? I've heard of people having liver problems because of too much protein.
hootpie 430grams of protein? Is that possible/healthy? I've heard of people having liver problems because of too much protein. no you don't need 430 grams of protein. I doubt it would cause liver problems, but somewhere in the range of 1 - 1.5x your bodyweight is sufficient for protein intake.
Chris3G no you don't need 430 grams of protein. I doubt it would cause liver problems, but somewhere in the range of 1 - 1.5x your bodyweight is sufficient for protein intake. Ok, so 200-300 grams of protein per day?
hootpie Ok, so 200-300 grams of protein per day? sounds good.
ryazbeck sounds good. Good lord...that is A LOT of protein. The ~130 or whatever I'm eating now is pushing my limits. Should I just start eating more meat and maybe have a 4th protein shake before I go to bed?
protein shake before bed is a great idea. and dude, 200 grams is only 800 calories. how is that alot? eat like 200g of carbs and the rest fat, about 44g. if you wanna go higher then raise your carbs.
ryazbeck protein shake before bed is a great idea. and dude, 200 grams is only 800 calories. how is that alot? eat like 200g of carbs and the rest fat, about 44g. if you wanna go higher then raise your carbs. 200-300grams of protein is a lot compared to how much I eat to take in ~130g right now. So a protein shake in the morning, before my workout, after my workout and before I go to bed?
hootpie Good lord...that is A LOT of protein. The ~130 or whatever I'm eating now is pushing my limits. Should I just start eating more meat and maybe have a 4th protein shake before I go to bed? just make your shakes with 2 scoops of protein each..that's pretty standard. 3 of those per day should put somewhere between 120-140g right there, i'm sure you can get the rest from food.
Chris3G just make your shakes with 2 scoops of protein each..that's pretty standard. 3 of those per day should put somewhere between 120-140g right there, i'm sure you can get the rest from food. That would be 132g right there. I'll do that and try to eat more meat.
eating alot of protein is sooooo easy, its not filling at all. what you can do is get oats, low sugar yogurt, and eggs, and put those in your protein shakes, thats like an extra 15g per shake easy and some carbs.
I think these guys pretty much have the advice covered. I'm just here to thank you for doing some research before you posted. 90% of people who start posting here ask the exact same shit. GJ
Le55Than0 I think these guys pretty much have the advice covered. I'm just here to thank you for doing some research before you posted. 90% of people who start posting here ask the exact same shit. GJ
Help a fitness newbie out (please, I'm very motivated)
