New to training

[onelife]

hi guys, i have decided after devouring David D's ebook that it's time to get my body sorted out.

Im a skinny guy, medium height and weigh about 65/70kg.
I dont have much body fat, a bit over my abdomen (5/10mm) and a tiny bit on the place where i would have tit's if i was a chick.

My goal is to get rid of this first, and then bulk up.

I went for a run this morning (my first real exercise in ages resulting in some really cramped up leg's) and am heading to the gym on my day off.

I know this is asking alot but could you guy's give me a hand with what i should be eating, and how i should be training to acheive this?
Being a chef i work 10+ hours a day 5 day's a week so dont have a heap of time to excersise before or after work but could probably fir in some cardio so i can focus on weight's on the days off.
Also i am having cerial before work, only small nibbles at work and then a huge meal of veg/rice, pasta or stirfry when i get home plus suppliments.
-codliver oil
-vitamin C
-multivitamin
-iron
-berocca

is this an adequate diet?

i would really appeciate any advice large or small as i had trouble understanding most of the Cutting stickie by Diesel

 

[AbAbber2k]

If your goal is to bulk, read the bulking thread rather than the cutting thread. Start eating a bigger breakfast, and take anything you can to work to nibble on while you're there... do you have breaks? As a chef hopefully you at least won't have any problems making meals for yourself. Try eating 6 small meals a day rather than 2 or 3 large meals. In addition, you're gonna need to really up your protein intake if you want to pack on some muscle.

In regards to working out... you have to MAKE the time. Your gains are gonna suck if you're doing cardio all week and then just lifting on the weekends. I'd recommend forcing yourself to the gym at least twice during the week, then go twice on the weekend. Work out some kind of 4 or 5 day split routine, and make sure you hit all heavy lifts. Squats/Deadlift, Wide-grip Bench, Wide-grip Chins, Dips, etc.

If you're having trouble finding the time to get to the gym, think of it this way. You work 10 hours and you sleep [hopefully] 8, that leaves 6 hours in your day, and hitting the gym should take no more than 1-1.5 hours. Sit down and take the time to work on a schedule. Designate times for meals and times for the gym then STICK TO IT.

Best of luck... and read the bulking guide!

 

[check_mate_kid_uk]

Originally posted by onelife
and a tiny bit on the place where i would have tit's if i was a chick.

or if you where fat

and for future refrence its called your chest.

 

[onelife]

thanks for the words of wisdom AbAbber2k, it's going to take some real dedication to go to the gym 4 times a week (not to mention $$) but if that's what it takes..

 

[Warboss Alex]

it's going to take some real dedication to go to the gym 4 times a week

That my man, are not words of someone determined to change the shape of their body. Going to the gym for most is the EASY part (the eating properly being the hardest), and if you're not prepared to put in the effort on the easy parts, you'll never get anywhere. Harsh but true.

You don't HAVE to go four times a week, you could probably get away with a 2-day split (i.e. half your body each time, twice a week) if you're interesting in just maintaining your current muscle before bulking up. For serious gains though you'll need to train more often than that, but as a beginner who just wants to shed some fat twice a week is quite sufficient IMO.

Diet will play a key role, and as far as I can your diet is where you're falling down. You say you have breakfast, then work (for ten+ hours!) and then a meal at night? This is not the way to do it.

As others have mentioned, 5-6 small, healthy meals a day each based around some source of protein, plenty of fruit and veg and water, remember to get your EFAs in and cut out the junk (if you eat any), at least for now. As for what to eat: this is a HUGE subject, but basically stick to non-processed, whole, natural foods and you can't go far wrong. I'd recommend dividing meals into pro/carb (have no fatty foods) and pro/fat (have no carb foods) - although this might not work for you, just experiment and see what happens.

These changes alone, coupled with cardio 3-4 times a week before breakfast (on non-weight days for now) SHOULD get you going: try these for now and see how you go. Which cardio should you do? Your choice mate. Easiest thing is a brisk walk, start at this to improve cardiovascular fitness, then possibly you could start on jogging or something more intense to blast away your bodyfat (note I wouldn't advocate this for your 'bulk' phases).

My personal opinion is that alternating bulking and cutting cycles is daft, but in your case (and I'd've done it myself right at the start if I'd known) I'd recommend concentrating on slimming down, and then just 'bulk' intelligently from your albeit smaller, but leaner, base.

Keep a journal here if you like - I'd be happy to check on your progress and offer advice where I can.

Hope this helps.

 

[onelife]

yep i can see where your coming from about having the wrong attitude.

this morning i was thinking of going for a jog on the beach but keep throwing up reasons why i shouldn't in my mind eg. i dont have any proper running shorts, i have to work later.. then i realised i was doing the same thing i had been doing for the last 5 years, justifying my lack of exercise. I chucked on my board shorts and a ****ty old pair of shoes and did 2 laps of a cricket oval near my place.

was bloody hard to keep going but pushed myself and glad i did now.

thanks for the advice and encoragment, im going to go get some prices on gym's before work..

 

[onelife]

just got back from a 3 hour workout at the gym. and am totally spent.

ate a footlong chicken breast sub on wholemeal with lettuce tomatoe cucumber and onion with low carb dressing from subway on the way home.

today i did virtually my whole body starting with 10mins of light cardio then weights for 2 1/2 hours followed by some ab work then another 5 min of cardio to cool down.

weight session consisted of mainly 3 sets of ten with 1 minute rest in between.

i need to focus more on my technique and breathing as i pulled a muscle slightly in my neck.

going for a small jog in the morning then back to the gym in the afternoon.

any advice or suggestions on my workout would be welcomed

 

[Moving_Target]

One suggestion: Shorten your workout regiment. You will burn out spending that much time in the gym.

You really should limit your time in the gym to no more than an hour or an hour and a half regardless of if you are bulking or cutting. There are diminishing returns for plugging away that long. Good start just ease off a teeny weeny bit.

 

[onelife]

alot of that time was learning how to use the differant weight's so it was probably around the 1 1/2 mark of actual training.

a friend that i go with is sort of taking me through it but he train's his whole body at once where's i have heard on this board that you should only do upper or lower body each session.

will my muscles be able to recover if i work my whole body every few day's?

ps. i can hardly turn the steering wheel on my car im that exusted.. it's great

 

[Moving_Target]

I don't do a upper/lower body split. I don't want to be in the gym all the time. I do a full body workout 3 times a week barring sickness or other commitments.

Squats
Leg Extentions
Leg Curls
Dumbbell Pullovers
Dumbbell overhead shoulder press
Seated rows
Bench press
Chinups
Dips
Standing Calf Raises
Dumbbell Crunches

I am usually out of the gym in about an hour. I am finding my triceps are feeling a bit wimpy so i might add some more tricep exercises.

 

[onelife]

woke up this morning stiff as hell from yesterdays weight session but stretched it out as best i could and went for a quick 20min run to get some cardio happening.
was really hurting when i finished i gotta say

i bought a 400g tin of 97% pure whey protein powder yesterday for $23 which i hope will help with the fatique and suppliment my diet which at the moment looks something like this:

Breakfast: Sustain cerial and Protein shake
Morning Tea: Fresh fruit juice
Lunch: Sandwich of some sort and fruit
Afternoon Tea: Protein shake
Dinner Chicken, broccoli and half potato

i am meant to be going to the gym again this afternoon but i think it might be a bit soon, should i wait untill tomorrow morning and go before work?

also when at the gym i did a few reverse incline situps which where awesome is there anyway i can replicate this at home to really push my abs?

 

[Warboss Alex]

Diet needs changing my man, you're not eating enough. Where's the protein mid-morning?

Train your abs in the gym, as regularly as you do any other muscle. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that with heavy squats and deadlifts you don't NEED to directly train your abs - I don't!

Your workouts should max out at 90minutes, any longer and you'll burn out, mate.

 

[onelife]

would a whey shake be enough to cover my protein needs at lunch?
i usally start work at 11:00am and being in a busy kitchen dont have time to prepare a sitdown meal, hence the sandwiches.

does anyone know a link to a good meal plan so i can make sure im eating right?

i did end up going to the gym but am now alternating weight/cardio days.

went for a 5km powerwalk stopping halfway and running up 100 steps and back x3. quite a few hill's this morning, made me realise you can get the heartrate up by walking though i still pefer running.

i reckon having a motivated training partner is SO helpful when you first start exercising, i never woud have pushed as hard as i do at the gym and during cardio if i didnt have a friend motivationg me and urging me to push out one more hammerpress or run that extra 500m!

 

[Warboss Alex]

Good meal plans aren't cookie cutter so I wouldn't recommend one for your body - that's for you to decide after trial and error.

A whey shake at lunch isn't enough, make it into a MRP of sorts or have a banana sandwich with it then maybe (pro/carb) or through in a load of peanut butter (pro/fat) and it's looking better.

Protein-only meals only pre-cardio IMO.