Newbie Question

[Frozenmoses]

Hello. Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Wade, I'm 17, and from Texas.

Just recently, I've been trying to get into shape. I'm 6'0" tall, and at one point, I was at 215 pounds, and that's with just about zero muscle. I started dieting and got down to 135, but I was just a stick boy, so I wasn't really pleased with that either. Now, I've joined a gym to start getting some muscle and reducing my overall bodyfat percentage.

My daily diet looks something like this:

Breakfast:

2 pieces of whole wheat toast
Glass of fruit juice
EFA Supplement
Whey Protein Supplement

Lunch:

Tuna on 2 pieces of whole wheat toast
Tortilla chips and salsa

Dinner:
Salad with Italian Dressing
Assorted fruit

I drink lots of water throughout the day as well.


I go to the gym around 5 days a week, and have been doing so for about 2 months so far.
My workout looks like this:

40 mins of cardio (3 mile run, 1 mile walk)

30 mins of upper body training (freeweights)

20 mins ab strength training (Freemotion machine and ab exercises)


Keep in mind that I'm not looking to get huge, I just want to add a little bit of mass while getting a toned look overall.

At the moment, my biggest goal is to get a six pack (to impress the ladies of course, I'm a teenager after all). However, I have about 10 pounds of tummy in the way. After reviewing my diet and workout routine, will this work? If so, about how long would you guess it would take?

Thank you very much in advance for any advice.

[NateDogg]

First, welcome...
Second, you do not train your legs at all tuttut?

[Frozenmoses]

I do small amounts of leg training. Not nearly as frequently as upper body though, I guess I just get a little lazy after my running. I'll make an effort to work on it more though. Thanks for the response!

[NateDogg]

Ok.

I would also add that you should eat more food and eat it more often to speed your metabolism up. That looks like the diet of a sedentary individual as you need MUCH more than that to put muscle on. I can not believe you ever have any energy!

[BennettBoy]

I'd say first you need to add more calories to your diet and then take all that and split it up over 6 smaller meals eaten every 3 hours. Do not worry about that 10 pounds of bodyfat as you say. You only weigh 135 right now for God's sake.tuttut As you start lifting and adding calories to your diet you will start putting on some good lean muscle mass that will help you burn fat much more efficiently. Dude, you may be getting 75 grams of protein a day. You need AT LEAST 135 and better yet....shoot for 200.

Add some chicken breats, turkey, skim milk, eggs, steak to that diet plan. These are great protein sources.

Next, I'd simply ditch the cardio.....or at least cut WAY BACK. You will never be able to put on any muscle or weight for that matter doing all that cardio with such a small diet right now. Limit your cardio to maybe 2 times a week for 20 good intense minutes.

Finally, you don't need 20 minutes of ab work 5-7 days a week. IMO, doing that amount is what is keeping you from seeing any abs now. You are overtraining them. Work your abs 2 times a week very intensely for like 10 minutes. You might want to do some things where you can use some weights to assist you like a Cybex ab machine or cable crunches. That will help thicken your abs. Otherwise, stick to basic crunches, leg raises, knee-ups, etc.

Workout 4 times a week trying to hit every major muscle group. Be sure to include compound movements like squats, deadlifts, bench press, chins, and military presses in your workouts. Make them the centerpiece of your workout. Right now you don't even need to worry about any isolation exercises. Try to limit your workouts to about 1 hour. Get a good whey protein to supplement with right after your workout if you can afford it.

And finally, be sure to try to get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Do these things and your abs will be there.

Peace.

[NateDogg]

Good post BennettBoy. You pretty much said it all there.

[Frozenmoses]

Thanks for your reply. I forgot to mention that I'm up to 150 lbs now. I have noticed a bit of muscle gain so far, but I will start eating more often. Thanks again.

[BennettBoy]

Originally posted by Frozenmoses


Keep in mind that I'm not looking to get huge, I just want to add a little bit of mass while getting a toned look overall.



Oh, and by the way.....we have all said this before:D Once you start adding some muscle, you will like what you see. And guess what, you will NEVER be satisified. You will want more muscle and you will want to get bigger;)