Quote:
Originally Posted by keenan87
BUMP (sorry for bring up an old thread)
I was looking for some advice and after reading through this thread, I came up with questions for myself and what might be beneficial for me.
Currently, I am 5'7 and weigh about 170 pounds and a lot of it is fat. I have a relatively active lifestyle as I try to play squash 3-4 times a week but the factor for me is the proper diet. My ideal weight is 145 pounds as I want to get rid of a lot of excess fat and build muscle as well.
First of all, I am not sure if I am over-doing the amount of exercise that I should be doing as my daily routine for the past week has been:
8:00 AM GYM - Before my classes
30 minutes on the bike, Hill+ (kind of like HIIT, with 1:1 minute ratio)
Weights for about another 20 minutes
Then, before bed I do 75 sit-ups and 3 sets of bicep curls (light 25 pound ones)
I have done this routine for 6 out of the past 7 days (Mon-Sat) and feel a little tired but something that I can handle. Is this too much, too little or am I doing it right? I also play soccer on my rest day for about 1 hour, but that is mostly because I love playing the game.
Secondly, I love fruits (something I will eat a lot) and know if I really focus I can take care of my diet but for building muscle, how important are protein shakes etc? I see a lot of people with shakes in their hands after a work-out and I am not really sure if it is necessary. I have decided on No fast food, pop or candy/chips, even though candy is going to be the toughest one for me.
Thirdly, I have always gotten mixed answers for this but is it necessary to pick different muscle groups everyday or can you just work them all everyday. Obviously, one muscle group won't be getting more attention than any others and I have been told that it is okay to just do everything when starting up.
I plan on losing 25 pounds in the next 3 months and I hope i can pull it off. Also, is there stuff that that has motivated other people as I know that results do not come in a day and that I need to keep working at it (I also heard that many people get discouraged for this reason and give up).
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I can only speak on personal experience and what works for me. I am constantly reading health articles and with so many new studies and changing trend in diet and fitness, it makes my head spin. What's great today, seems not to be tomorrow.
I think if you have an endomorphic build and tend to carry the extra bodyfat, you have to do cardio every day, for at least 30 minutes. Don't do more than 30 minutes if you're doing high intensity intervals, and don't do intervals every day. Switch it up with some steady state. Otherwise, you will burn yourself out.
For resistance training, rest is equally important as the work. If you are training every body part with one exercise each in one day, take a day off before you do it again. As you advance, you will change this routine and maybe move up to 2-3 exercises per body part.
I prefer a 45/35/20 (carbs, protein,fat) diet for best results. Everyone will have a different strategy on this. I think you know what kinds of food you should be eating but if you have trouble tracking the macros, I recommend fitday.com It's a free site that tracks your diet and activity, and allows you to add custom food and exercises. Counting calories isn't for everybody, but I don't think you have to do it forever. Try tracking for the first month or so. You may be surprised the caloric content of some foods.
As for shakes, they are the easiest way to get protein. If you're trying to build some muscle (which is great for losing fat as well), you'll probably be shooting for about 1 gram of protein per pound of mass. That's a whole lot of chicken breasts to eat in one day so supplements are convenient.
You're clearly on the right track but you have to keep the dedication up. Listen to your body. If you're too tired all the time, you could be overdoing it, or not eating properly/enough. All you have to do is get to the gym. That's the hardest part. Once you're in, your body will take over and do all the work.
Don't undervalue water intake, sleep, and stretching. They seem insignificant but they make a massive difference in your performance and mental strength. I knew about water benefits for a long time, but only recently have tried to get more sleep and I've added yoga. Wish I would have done that years ago.
As for discouragement, don't look at the scale every day. Check it weekly or less because it can be deceiving. Even better, take body measurements instead. A smaller waistline is much more telling than what you see on the scale.
Now, go watch Pumping Iron and work on those poses!