SideShowBob

I joined a health club about 6 weeks ago, primarily to get rid of stomach/saddle bags that although arent huge, are bigger than id like.
Ive been going 5 times a week, alternating between swimming and gym, and have made some progress on the stomach front, so im at a stage now where although I still want to get rid of the belly further, I want to start seeing results in muscle size too.

Thing is, ive been eating healthier/small amounts to remove the stomach, and I think as a result my body doesnt have the necessary excess nutrients it needs to build muscles, so my gym workouts arent really producing the results id like. Does this sound about right?

What do I need to do to build decent muscle? Im thinking those power shakes or similar, but would things like eating pasta an hour before gym help?

Im really not sure how to approach it, happy to take safe shakes (ie, not the ones bordering on steroids or anything, want to be 100% clear of any rubbish), but what foods should I conectrate on? and when should I be eating?

Swim consists of approx 40 lengths at lunchtime every second day, gym consists of:
Warm up on bike/row machine
stomach work
Lateral pull downs
tricep extensions
Bicep curls
Chest press
leg extensions
Then more bicep curls
all this after work, so around 6PM

Want to develope a defined rather than bulky build, but although relatively defined, want to increase the size of this definition, if that makes sense.

Any ideas or advise?

Cheers
SSB

EXSCOOBY

id recommend myoplex
its the best complete food possible
either buy the bars or the powder
its yummy too

Tiggs

to build muscle you need more calories, to loose weight you need less - you will find it easier to focus on one than the other. doesnt mean you wont get both but if you start wolfing down shakes you will slow/stop your fat loss.

as for your work out:

Swim - work HARD, its very easy for a pool session to be too easy on the body (take your pulse)

Warm up on bike/row machine - fine
stomach work - fine
Lateral pull downs - ok
tricep extensions - waste of time
Bicep curls - waste of time
Chest press - ok
leg extensions - waste of time
Then more bicep curls -more waste of time

do the pull downs for your back, the press for your chest and squats for your legs (even standing squats with no weight will be better than extensions)

your weights workout now takes 30 mins MAX and you can do it every 3rd day with more swimming in the middle.
all this after work, so around 6PM - you'll be home by 7pm

SideShowBob

So really, id be working one against the other by taking shakes, but as for bicep/tricep, how would I build those without doing specific routines for these? anythign recommended?

andy97

iTrader: (1)

You've only been going 6 weeks, give it time. You should start to see some small improvements but nothing major. If you want an overall good shape then you need to work every part of your body. I see that there is no shoulder work out or lower leg exercise.

to build mass, heavy weight, low reps

to firm up and keep lean, lighter weights, more reps and at a faster workout rate (no long rests between exercises)

I would start of by improving endurance and working all the major muscle groups to get an overall good shape, then build mass from there, a certain level of mass will come by the fact you are lifting weights,

Food wise, just eat healthily, cut down on fatty foods.

GrahamG

What you like with your swimming? If you want i can plan you a session. if so let me know the amount of time you want to spend in the pool and how long it takes to do one lenght.

I will dig out some of my old sessions.

G.

super_si

Your doing too much to attain any decent muscle. 5 days a week it too much 2-3 is better.

i would bulk up, add the fat for 3 months muscle size. Then diet down to lose the fat over 6-8 weeks. You cant do both at the same time!

thats what im in the progress of doing at the minute.

Food thats usful is
Tuna,weetabix,porridge, mince,potatoes, brown rice pasta bread, chicken, turkey, eggs, cottage cheese.

Just a few off the top of my head

S

SideShowBob

Cheers all, with my 5 times a week, I do either two or three sessions of swimming, or 2 or 3 sessions of gym, per week, as opposed to only gym, so hopefully will still allow me to build up.
Swimming tends to be approx 34/35 lengths, as in 17 crawl 17 br**stroke, I alternate between lengths, as to do 17 crawl in a row is still a bit too much of a push.

Ive done around 40 lengths in 35 mins at times, but am restircted time wise to around 35/40 mins due to it being in lunch times, will start going after work if this doesnt prove sufficient.

Ive got some Build Up, by Nestle', lol, hardly a hard core supplement, but taken it a couple times before working out, and probably phsycological, but have felt like I can work harder with it, and also I drink Lucozade during the workout, may try one of the more intense supplements to see if I get any benefits.

The Chief

If you want chesap whey protein may i suggest the whey consortium - you can get a massive bucket for 40 quid

jonc

What body type are you? Your genetics will dictate how easy it is get what you want.
Ectomorph - "thin build" with narrow shoulders to waist ratio, easy to loose fat - hard to build mass.
Mesomorph - wide shoulder to waist ratio, easy to loose fat and build mass.
Endomorph - wide waist to shoulder ratio, hard to loose fat, easy to build mass.

Generally to loose fat you need a low calorie diet, but high carb to maintain energy for aerobic/cardio vascular exercises. Do the high rep weight training exercises, but to get best fat burning results the majority of your workouts should be aerobic/cardio vascular exercises, running, cycling, swimming etc. Your exercises should last at least 40 mins, as depending on your body type, it will take at least 20-30 mins before your body starts to burn fat. Don't overtrain as this is counter productive and increases your chances of injury which could prevent you doing any more exercises. Your body needs time to "heal" from the stresses of the exercises.

Tripple'O G

As it's been said on here, food is the key.

Idealy you want to eat 6 meals a day with 40g Protein and 60g Carbs......filtering the carbs out by about 4pm as carbs are only there to give you the energy to train.....no point in having carbs before you sleep as they are just gonna store over night.

Protein shakes do help for added help or replace a couple of meals but the basic gist of it is don't eat fatty foods, train hard and stick with it.......maybe have a day off once a weekend to have what you like but don't try to cut out carbs all together cause you'll just be doing that poxy Atkins diet.

I train weight with opposit body parts every-other-day with cardio on my days off.....then you give you main muscle groups rest but keep the blood pumping..........plus doing cardio first thing in the morning does a great deal as then your body burns fat throughout the day

paul-s

I would suggest spliting your weights into different muscle groups on different days, so you only do everything once in a week. You will see better results this way.

and stop the beer, that makes a MASSIVE difference

BOB.T

I've just joined a gym, I'm going for the first time tonight. What sort of food would you recomend as low fat / high carb? I normally have my evening meal at 6ish but that's when I'll be in the gym tonight so I've got myself a small tub of pre cooked pasta and ham to have around 4.30...I figured this would put the hunger aside for a while and also top my energy levels up for working out, then I thought it might be counter productive for weight loss! If it helps, I just want to loose my blubber, I'm not fussed about getting any bigger but it would be nice to see what I have now!

I can't have my assesment till Monday so obviously I'll speak to the trainer dude then, just thought I'd ask here to get me going in the mean time!

Cheers!

PS, I don'treally drink so I can't cut that out!

Tripple'O G

Rice is a great carb as it's slow releasing......so the best food stuffs would be grilled (on one of the Forman lean Grills) skinless chicken, tuna, salmon,etc. cous-cous is also a great carb...the problem is that these food stuffs are boring but really DO work........

after working out on muscle building you have the 30min Golden Window where you wanna shove as much protein down your neck as possible as it will go straight to the torn muscle i.e. the muscle you've just trained.

GrahamG

Thats not too bad. i think you should change that a little. Doing lots in a row is not always the best. Shorter sprints tend to help a lot more. It's good to mix it up.

I used to do 60 lenths in about 19.50mins, think i would be off that now. maybe about 24/25 mins.

G.

SideShowBob

Ive just invested in some Cyclone to do exactly this, suppose best bet to ensure that you get it in within 30 mins would be to make it up in the shaker, then keep it in the fridge at work, go to gym, finish that, and drink it just before driving home, do you know if it would keep okay for a day?

Also, would you recommend drinking it even after a good swim (40 - 50 lengths of 25m pool), or just after gym work out?

SideShowBob

God!! I though I was doing well with 50 in 45 mins, but thats seriously steaming!! Er, this pool is 25 meters, you're not talking about a 3 meter inflatable pool are you?

Ill do alternate style swims, sprint one day, around 20/25? and then my usual long sessions of up to 50 odd.

BOB.T

Thanks Trip'...predictable next question, what's good for protein, potatoes?

I really like rice, cous cous etc so I should be ok!

GrahamG

lol, yeah that was it.. inflatable pool

No, mix it up in each session. Always start with about 6-8 lenghts froncrawl. Warm the body up.. just like any other sport...

is there a big clock on the wall that just does seconds?

If so i can set you up a session and email it to you. that might be easier.

G.

GrahamG

i will work something out for you now. for a 45 min swim..
G.

If you like i will do you one for the paddling pool too

G.

SideShowBob

There is a timing clock.
Be good if you could mail over a good program, email is graylangy@hotmail.com, cheers.

Thanks, and remember to take into consideration that I wear armbands for the duration, and wouldnt mind incorporating a floaty chair into the routine

GrahamG

ok will sort something out now.

G.

Tripple'O G

No, the potatoes are your carbs

Protein is the tuna, chicken, red-meat but thats not a good as chicken......
Like I say it's boring as hell......when I was in competitions and on my diet season, I lived on 40g chicken 60g rice six times a day for 12 weeks.........
dedication or stupidity? stupidity.....the best advice I can give you is listen to the way your body reacts to dieting, food and the types of exercise
you do. EG I used to use the leg press to do concentrated abs work!
try to figure that one out

In regards to the protein shakes.......yes drink it (slowly) straight after your workout........but don't overdo the protein cause then you'll be constantly sh1tting and thats a pain in the harris.

GrahamG

YHM!

GrahamG

BOB.T

Thanks!

Tripple'O G

I do try with my double meanings.........

Funny thats a great source of protein so my bird tells me.......but I think i'll stick to the shakes

If you can though, and it tastes nasty but it's the best way, mix your protein with water NOT skimmed milk........tastes nasty but then you're having total protein, no fat.