Returning to the Gym - need some advice

[canberra_raiders2k2]

Hey guys

Quick run down, I was always quite fit in my younger days, played multiple sports throughout the week and generally sucked in all of them lol. Anyhow, when I hit approx 25-26 yrs of age, I became lazy and my diet turned to shit.

My diet was primarily fast food. It didn't help that my wife couldn't cook either.

I am approx 184cm in height and was weighing approx 85-90 kgs, then started to put on the weight. As of late June I was about 120kgs and was wearing XXL clothing!

I decided to shed the weight for my kids, as the thought of not being around scared me. I'd seen a dietician and basically followed her plan, I was losing weight very quickly approximately 2.5 kgs a week. By August I had hit 95 kgs.

Id maintained that weight and continued to eat healthy, however, my outdoor cardio exercises had decreased from 6 days to about 2 days, mostly from boredom.

Ive been keen to return to the gym and decided to return approximately two weeks ago. The goal is to lower my body fat and add some muscle mass.

The program I am doing is:

Bench Press 12 reps x 3 sets.
Incline Bench Press 12 reps x 3 sets.
Lat Pulldowns 12 reps x 3 sets.
Weighted Rows 12 reps x 3 sets.
Squats/Leg Presses 12 reps x 3 sets
Lunges 12 reps (each leg) x 3 sets.
Shoulder Press 12 reps x 3 sets.

I am also adding two exercises for (each) biceps and triceps.

The above program would be completed every second day, with a cardio day (HIIT) during the rest day.

The question I have, is this program going to work - ie: is the rest period sufficient between lifts, as an example a weight day on Monday and then Cardio on Tuesday and then back to weights on Wednesday?

I would be completing this program for approximately six weeks.

Should I be taking any supplements to lower the body fat, or should the cardio be enough along with the diet. Also with the amount of cardio, I am worried that I would be burning too much muscle.

Should I continue with this program?

 

[The Charlatan]

You don't need to do heaps of cardio if you eat right.

I was eating 1200 calories a day and running 15 mins a day (about 2.5km,) and I lost 25kg in about 7 months.

 

[Walt Flanigan]

The goal is to lower my body fat and add some muscle mass.

The Dream haha.

I think the program is a decent starting point and good to get you through that initial muscle soreness stage. After a few weeks I'd divide it into splits though....

Mine for example:

Day 1 - Chest and Triceps
Day 2 - Shoulders
Day 3 - Back and Bicpes
Day 4 - Legs (never skip leg day)

That's what I usually do but I've been hitting this Terry Crews workout for the last month and it's ruining me (in a good way). http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/terry-crews-expendables.htm He has these "giant sets" in there that are almost a cardio workout.

As far as burning fat goes, I've been on a Keto diet for the 3 and a half weeks and it's probably the easiest diet I've ever done. The basic idea behind it is to force your body to burn fat for fuel rather than carbs (a simplistic view), so you're eating a ton of fat, moderate protein and very little carbs. I've lost 8kg already and the reason I say it's easy is because I'm never hungry.

The only thing is that it's not supposed to be great for building muscle (because of the reduced protein intake) but excellent for maintaining it while burning fat. A lot of bodybuilders use it for cutting.

 

[Thomas]

How old are you now?

First thing is to get your diet dialled in and you look like you've got that sorted. That's the hard part. The next important thing is to get a program. Nothing wrong with yours but maybe something with some progression. Maybe Starting Strength or Strong Lifts. Get your form down right and start getting strong. Then maybe branching off onto another program.

I started with SS but switched to the 5/3/1 workout and I love it.

 

[canberra_raiders2k2]

Hi guys thanks for the information.

i am 29 years of age.

Presently my diet is 2 eggs cooked on a pan using non stuck canola oil spray with tomatoes and onion for breakfast.

lunch is a hand serving of chicken with vegetables on the side as is dinner. The chicken is primarily grilled in the oven. I was having a serving of carbs during each meal until a week ago, but was told to stop that and eat more protein.

If I eat more protein doesn't my calorie intake increase and would I then get fat? Or if I consume more protein would that turn to muscle?

 

[Walt Flanigan]

Your calorie intake won't increase if you eat foods that are high in protein. My Fitness Pal is a good way of tracking what you're eating. They have huge database of foods that tells you calories, carbs, protein, fats...etc. Works great as a food diary for a standard diet.

If you keep your weights up, that protein will be used to build muscle. IIRC the rough estimate for daily protein intake is something like 0.85 x Bodyweight. Excess protein is stored as fat.

 

[canberra_raiders2k2]

Thanks Walt.

So as an example since I'm 93 kgs it's that X .85 so I should consume 79 grams of protein a day?

 

[Walt Flanigan]

Yeah sounds about right. But that's not taking into account weight training where you should have a bit more than that.

I read this article not long ago which features a study that indicated 1.4 x Bodyweight was more effective for building muscle.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/maki1.htm

It's a pretty contentious issue but 1.4 sounds right to me. As long as you're not taking in way too much or way too little.

 

[canberra_raiders2k2]

Mate you have been a great help. I would need 130 grams of protein daily, then a further 100? Or so for muscle gain?

 

[Walt Flanigan]

I think 130 - 150 in total should be fine. That 1.4 rule does take into account frequent training.

 

[canberra_raiders2k2]

Another calculator has me as needing 208-308 grams of protein daily lol. I see what you mean about the debate of protein intake.

 

[Walt Flanigan]

Yeah some base it on Lean Body Mass as opposed to total body weight which makes it a bit tricky to work out.

 

[goodplayer]

stop the junk food ok . thats my advice ok , before you reach a very fat 150kgs

 

[Pete Cash]

Wat

 

[GC_Gladiator]

Your current diet seems really on the low calorie side. From all my reading you don't want to eat too few calories or you run the risk of losing muscle through the weight loss.

In terms of gaining muscle, beyond what they call "newbie gainz", you need to ear at a caloric surplus.

 

[canberra_raiders2k2]

Yeah I just read up on calories aspect. I need to up my calories to approximately 3600.
today I tried to go out on a healthy bender. Ive eaten wsy more then i have in the past.. but only racked up like 2000 calories lol. What the...I'm trying not to eat junk food but still it's hard lol.

I ate approx 9 chicken skewers for dinner on the side of a potato and salad. Still not enough lol

 

[GC_Gladiator]

I'm by no means an expert, but probably best to increase calories gradually. Eat 1800 a day one week, see what happens to your weight and go up by 100-200 if you aren't increasing/decreasing fast enough. Bodybuilding . com has a pretty comprehensive nutrition section for beginners.

 

[GC_Gladiator]

And by beginner I mean someone that hasn't counted cals etc before. You've done well so far!

 

[canberra_raiders2k2]

Thanks mate.

just got to work out my split in terms fats protein and carbs. 3600 calories easy at maccas but I don't think that's what's required lol.

 

[canberra_raiders2k2]

So I divided my calories to a 40/40/20 plan, I downloaded that fitness application and tracked my meals.

Yesterday I consumed 2490 calories, which is below my required calorie intake of 3600. But overall I think I know where to build, as my breakfast was quite low at 308 calories.

The following is what I consumed yesterday and divided using the 40/40/20 split,

I had 298gms protein / requirement according to calculators - 360grams
I had 57 carbs / requirement according to calculators - 360grams
I had128 fats / requirement according to calculators - 80 grams.

So my fat intake went over, carbs was non existent. Most of my calories yesterday came from Grilling Chicken skewers and chicken pieces. Increasing my carbs with potatoes and brown rice should be easy.

I am confused about the fats though, how do I lower that whilst consuming high protein?

Every article I find seems to switch from doing a 40/40/20 to something random, which confuses me again lol.