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ebginner needs some imparted wisdom...

S

sjay

New member
Hi Guys,

I’m hoping to get a bit of advice on getting fit, putting on some muscle mass and losing fat.

About me: Im a 36 Yo male with a full time office job, a wife and a young son. Im about 173 cm tall, weigh 71kg and have quite a bit of fat around the middle but am skinny everywhere else!I eat pretty well most of the time but tend to indulge in chocolate and sugary drinks after my main meals. I have a pretty fast metabolism and eat a lot and often for a person of my size.

I have about average fitness and swim laps at the local pool once or twice a week or when I get a chance and often go spearfishing on the weekend. I have average recovery ability and don’t get sick too often. I have some gastric issues, may have a gluten intolerance, which I am seeing the doctor about. I have been seeing a psychologist for mild / med anxiety and am generally a highly strung person but nothing major.

My last blood test showed a slight deficiency in folate and potassium but other than that everything looks OK.

I have had a hormone level blood test a couple of years ago (due to low libido) showing mid range testosterone levels, high LH but elevated estrogen and progesterone. The specialist wasn’t concerned however and my libido has improved since taking up swimming.

My workout history: I have tried to put on muscle mass in the past but wasn’t successful, at all. The first time was when I was 20: Did a basic routine 2/3 days a week (focussing on upper body) but no squats for about 6 months, ate like a horse, drank whey, but didn’t put on a gram.

Second time in my late twenties, similar routine with a few squats thrown in, put on a couple of kilos of fat but no muscle after 3 months, then quit.

Goals: Im hoping its 3rd time lucky for me. My goal is to put on some muscle mass, reduce my belly and love handles and kick my sugar addiction. If I could put on 3kg + of muscle in 6 months I would be very happy!

Routine: If anyone has some suggestions for basic starting routines I would very much appreciate it. This one here looks OK to me?: http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-beginner-weight-training-workout-routine/ OR … http://simplebeginnerroutine.wikia.com/wiki/All_Pro%27s_Simple_Beginner_Routine_Wiki

Not sure if a have to modify these to suit my age and recovery ability?

Diet: For diet I’ll have a close read through this and prepare an eating plan: Calculating Calorie & Macronutrient Needs - Bodybuilding.com Forums

Seems the jury is out on if it’s possible to cut weight while keeping / gaining muscle mass (?) but im willing to take any supplements that will help to achieve this (A friend has recommended I look into peptides and HCG along with correct diet). I will be going for a body composition scan soon for BF% and muscle mass so that will be a good baseline for me to work from. Will post the results here when I have them.

Any other tips / direction would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

PS also noticed this as i was about to post: http://ausbb.com/bodybuilding-training-discussions/9660-beginners-look-here.html. Ill have a good read of that too.
 
Routine:

Nothing wrong with the 2 you have suggested, the 2nd one looks very similar to the beginner's routine on here (if you dropped the calf work and didn't fiddle around with the rep ranges).

Have a read of that last thread you linked us to as well - but don't stop at the first page, keep reading through.

Diet:

Don't get too caught up in coming up with a meal plan per se, I would more look at the total food you need to eat throughout the day (e.g. you can skip breakfast and just have bigger lunches or dinners - whatever works for you so that you either don't overeat or don't undereat too much on any given day).

What you should get from that sticky on bb.com is that you need 1g of protein per pound of BW (i.e. 2-2.2g/kg) and up to 0.45g of fat per pound of BW (i.e. half the amount of protein) and then fill your calories as you like.

Honestly, what I would do is work out how much you need to eat of protein and fat, and then add in carbs as required for energy/sanity purposes. Try eat the same for a couple of weeks and if your weight doesn't change, you've found your base maintenance level. Then adjust from there to lose weight.

Taking peptides/HCG is a matter for you - personally, I'd just get a solid WPI or WPC and take that initially. Lifting weights, eating sufficient protein and sufficient overall calories will help you maintain your base muscle. Some people may suggest, creatine. 5g a day wouldn't hurt - drink plenty of water. Also, I'd get a good fish oil and multivitamin.

/edit - also consider eating things like eggs/red meat with a bit of saturated fat, might help boost your testosterone levels.

Any other tips / direction:

It's not good to try and achieve MUSCLE gain and FAT loss at the same time - generally you will spin your wheels. It is easier when you're in your first 3-6 months, but still I would pick a goal and focus on that.

In that respect, I believe you have 2 options:

Option 1 - Find out your BF%, get yourself down to around the 10% mark, then from there just slowly bulk up. I don't mean dirty bulk (eat everything in site), eat sufficient calories so that you gain about 1-1.5kg a month (anything more and you're probably gaining fat - in the absence of 'assistance' or general newbie gains). Have a read of this article, it's one of my favourites going around: T NATION | Truth About Bulking

Option 2 - Bulk until you can cut down to the weight you want to be. This may mean minimal fat loss initially and in fact some further fat gain along the way, but you could then 'cut' at a level where you have a bit of room so that if you lose some muscle you're still bigger than when you started.

Which one you pick is up to you.

As I said before just read through that beginner's thread and you will probably find some gold advice by Fadi to beginner's (on more than just their training). I would also look through the bodybuilding section and the nutrition section for similar posts for help by people and you find advice from others, on both routines and diet.

Hope this helps in some way.
 
Thanks Judgey, good advice there.

With respect to fat loss, if I choose option 1 (shed the fat before bulking) should I start weight training at the same time? I have heard that this will allow me to keep most of my muscle whilst burning the fat.
 
Yes, definitely. You need to give your body a reason to maintain its muscle i.e. lose body fat (weights + calorie deficit), rather than losing body weight (calorie deficit).

Another great sticky from bb.com: How to lose fat for Noobs - Part II - Bodybuilding.com Forums

Having recently run a 12 week cut, focusing on getting the right amount of protein and hitting the weights (at least 3x a week) plus adjusting the amount of food I ate per day to ensure that I kept slowly going down on the scales were the only things I really paid attention to.

Also, I forgot to mention Fadi's circuit training program: http://ausbb.com/bodybuilding-training-discussions/9219-lose-fat-maintain-muscle.html

I know of a couple of guys who are trying this out (to try reduce BF as their initial goal). If you look near the end of that thread, they should mention it and then you can check out their logs and see whether it's working for them.
 
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