New guy seeking some advice/OK-ing with diet and routine.

groovyguy

Hi everyone! New to the forum. :P

I've been going to the gym to gain a bit of general mass for the last couple of years but I've only got into serious bodybuilding in the last 3 or 4 months. I basically want to check what you guys think of my diet and routine, see if there any improvements or if it's OK...

My aims are to get more chunky and very muscular but not like professional bodybuilders, just generally big. Despite months of trying, I'm still trying to shift this ring of fat that sits on my belly and goes around my sides to create love handles - it can't be any more than 2lb and you'd never know I had it with clothes on.

This is my routine, I do 5 mins warm up on cross trainer and 15-20 light reps on each exercise I'm going to do, then 4 sets of 6-8 reps:

Monday:
Pull ups/lat pull down
Bicep curl
Lateral raise
Bent over row
Wrist flex

Wednesday:
Ab crunch
Chest press
Close grip bench press
Tricep dip
Shrugs

Friday:
Back extension
Quads
Hams
Calfs

After each workout I do 20 mins of 145-150 HRT to burn a bit of fat; I believe any more after a workout and you can start to burn muscle?

I'm wondering if I'm hitting everything right to beef up my shoulders, so I can eventually get that 'tennis ball' look... I'm also wondering if it would help to incline my chest press to hit my anterior delts more, but would that sacrifice the chest?

Also, as I'm doing chest press and tricep dips, does anyone think that I'm blasting my tris too much, and that there's no need to do the close grip bench press?

My diet is this:

Morning - 1 scoop of whey in water, 3 slices of whole grain toast with mashed up banana

A bit later, I have another scoop with whey in milk.

After the gym, I have another scoop of whey in water, followed by a tuna wrap, with 2-2.5 cans of tuna in it

Bit later, more whey in milk with some fruit, maybe a bag of crisps

Evening and it's another tuna wrap as before.

I have an A-Z multi vit and 2 omega3 caps before bed, too.

Sometimes instead of the wrap, I'll have a tuna salad with a little pasta in it instead.

I'm obviously trying to cut, but I'm wondering if I'm eating too little, and so my metabolism is slow as a result... could eating MORE carbs mean I lose weight and feel more energetic?

So, there it is - I'm sorry about the long post,:? I'm just after all the right answers so I can perfect my routine and my diet!8)

I'd really appreciate any help with this!

reef

Welcome to the forum

For a basic 3-day mass routine I would do the following:

Monday (Back/Biceps):

Deadlift
Chin-Up or Lat-Pulldowns
Bent-over Rows or T-Bar Rows
Bicep Curls

Wednesday (Chest/Triceps/Shoulders):

Flat Bench Press or Weighted Dips
Incline DB Press
Tricep Dips or Skullcrushers
Military Press
DB Shoulder Press

Friday (Legs/Abs):

Barbell Squats
Stiff Legged Deadlifts
Calf-Raises
Weighted Crunches

Your 6-8 rep range is a good one for gaining mass and your 20 minutes of cardio after weight training is a good idea as you will have already burned all of your muscle glycogen stores up training and burn fat. It is also important that you try to get your weights session done in 45-60 minutes, staying in the gym too long can have a negative effect.

Your triceps and shoulders will be used in most most pressing movements, so heavy bench press / military press should beef them up nicely, however diet is VERY important in bodybuilding and in my opinion is where you are lacking most.

The key things are:

- Try to get at least 1.5g protein per pound of bodyweight per day.
- Take whey in water upon waking and whey in dextrose post-workout. As you are doing cardio it may also be beneficial to take whey in water straight after weights, then dextrose after your cardio.
- Try to get your carbs from oats/brown rice/wholemeal bread etc, they are low GI and will sustain you much better without flucuating blood-sugar levels.
- Try to eat every 2 hours, eat little and often if you have trouble eating this regularly.
- Before bed consume a slow-release protein source food such as tuna, cottage cheese or a casein shake.
- Drink plenty of water!

groovyguy

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah, I drink plenty of water and always have whey in water first thing in the morning and PWO (I heard your body is so low in glycogen, it needs to absorb it fast, so it should be taken just with water), and tuna before bed too! I'm also VERY big on wholegrain/meal. I weigh 70KG, so that's 154 lb, about 230g of protein, which 5 cans of 130g (after draining) tuna and 4 x 22g scoops of whey about amounts to.

So my abs, lat delt and deads should swap days... gotcha.

You reckon my bench press should be inclined then, OK thanks.:mrgreen: Would you mind explaining what was wrong with the things I had on tricep/shoulders/chest day and how the different exercises you've put in would work - which areas they do that the others didn't I mean (I really love my shrugs - I've got great traps and I want to keep them that way!)? I'd just feel better knowing exactly what I'm doing them for, y'know?

reef

Shrugs could be added in at the end of the back/biceps day. The reason I didnt add them is deadlifts work the traps quite well in most cases, however if shrugs work for you then its a good idea to keep them

The problem with your shoulders was only doing lateral raises (I assume you mean side lateral raises) which are an isolation movement for the lateral deltoid. It is generally best to stick to compound exercises. Dumbell shoulder press and Military press heavily hit both the anterior and lateral heads of the deltoid, while bent-over rows in the back/biceps day hit the posterior deltoid.

Your chest exercise on its own was ok, however many people require two exercises for chest to see the best results. Flat chest exercises hit the Sternal head of the chest, inclines are to hit the clavicular head also. Basically you're hitting the whole of the chest, as opposed to one part of it.

Your tricep workout wasnt too bad, you had two good compounds. The only change I made here was adding only one compound after chest/shoulders as pressing movements heavily use the triceps. However, if you feel like you need a second compound movement it would be ok.

On the back day there are a variety of exercises to hit all areas of the back. Deadlifts primarily target the lower back and traps, bent-over rows hit the upper back and lats to a degree while chin ups are primarily a lat exercise. All of these back exercises work biceps pretty good aswell, hence the back/bicep combination. Generally one bicep exercise after working back will finish them off, but you could add hammer curls aswell should you feel they need working more.

On the leg day there are squats which hits the quads and stiff-legged deadlifts which target the hamstrings. Squats themselves also hit the abs so its a good idea to do you ab-crunches on this day. Also, although squats are usually enough to make the quads grow I personally dont find them enough. I usually follow squats with one more compound such as leg press or close-stance hack squats which are particularly good for hitting the vastus medialis (teardrop muscle). Basically the routine ensures you hit each body part once a week with high intensity and then it has 7 days to totally recover for the next workout.

Hope this helps

groovyguy

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT, thank you!!!

I just have one last question... I put the lat raises in because of how much the anterior delts get worked in other exercises such as the becnh and dips anyway, therfore focussing all of my energy onto the lateral delt in that one exercise. In light of that, do you think maybe it is best to do the lat raises in favour of the military press or DB shoulder press or should I definately stick with them?

I have never had such a detailed explanation for suggested workouts before, that is everything that I needed to know, and I feel great knowing that I'm hitting everything with the right intensity - thank you, thank you, thank you! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

reef

I would definitely stick to the Military Press / DB Shoulder Press, both of these hit the lateral head very well and will encourage more growth than an isolation exercise such as lateral raises. Isolations have their place, but if its mass you're after, stick to compounds.

groovyguy

OK then. Thanks a load again, reef - I'm well chuffed, my routine's finally sorted!!