Just started the gym....some advice and tips please

[5AMBO]

I have just started the gym and have been going for a week so far. I am planning on going every other day and sometimes more when i can. I am hoping to tone my body and bulk up a little ans im a little scrawny you could say.lol

I am new to it all and after some tips from those that have been at it for a while.

I am lifting between 10-15kg weight training and 30-45mins cardiovascular. I have also just started taking whey protein shakes which I plan to take once a day on the days im working out.....is this ok or a waste of time??

I am also trying to alter my diet to suit, i.e fish, potatoes, meat, veg etc.

How often do i need to keep at it to make it worth while and see results in the long run?
Are there any additional supplements I could be taking to help?

Any further advice appreciated.

Current stats for info if makes any difference....... 5ft 9inch, 10st 9lb.

Thanks

[Crunkers]

Diet mate, get it sorted mate, you'll need to be eating 5-6 meals a day to see good growth. I personally have 2 protein shakes a day, one before and one after workouts. Don't workout 7 days a week, no more than 5, as your body needs time to repair itself, remember you grow outside the gym, not in it

[5AMBO]

I have read about eating 5-6 meals a day but not sure when and what and how much i should be eating.

I am planning on having promax protein bar in the day, maximuscle protein milk before gym as i go straight from work so cant make a shake and then having whey protein shake after the gym.

Any advice on what to eat in between time, for meals etc. Baring in mind i work in an office so it would have to be stuff i can take with me but there is a fridge.

[Crunkers]

tuna sarnies, chicken salad sarnies, pasta etc all that kinda stuff

[5AMBO]

ok cool, cheers mate. ill have to do some research too but if anyone has any other tips or advice they can give me, it would be much appreciated.

[s1-hi11]

alright the mate i am a personal trainer the best thing to do is go out at get a good tube of protein with a good amount of protein in there is a good 1 it call nitro-tec and it taste great and get so and norateen it cost abit but it will get you started also eating wise just eat alot of fish and cottage cheese or go on a hakings diet where all you eat is portein the only thing is you get bad breath i went from 10 stone 2 weighing 11 in just 2 to 3 weeks and felt good. good luck and if you need any more advise on working out i will do you a training programme

[5AMBO]

cheers mate, thanks for the help. I got some protein im using at the mo but i think its what i should be eating that i needed help with and how long and often i should be training for and what i should be doing.

[s1-hi11]

say if your working on your bicep do different ways such as hammer curl,and ect but neaver work on 1 body part for more than 45 minutes as you will make you muscles hurt and also get small bicep it won't grown any bigger and dont do your bicep every day do it 1 day then leave it a day or 2 the best thing to do is start on your tricep because thats 75% of your arm and grows 3 times bigger thas what make your bicep look big, look at jay culter and ronnie coleman you can tell mate

[Fredward]

As mentioned above train different body parts on different days, ie.

Back and bicep
Legs and lower back
Chest and tricep
Shoulder and abs/obliques

That would be my preference for a 4 day split, you could make it three days if you wanted to condense it a bit, which might be good just starting out.

Don't train more than 1 hour if you can, your body will enter a catabolic state, where it will have used up it's available fuel and will start eating muscluar tissues for energy. You should feel munted after an hour anyway - if not then you aren't going hard enough.

It's a good idea to maybe do cardio on the 'rest' days, and then weight train other days, not forgetting to have some time off of the gym completely. But seeing as you are not really in it to lose weight, running for 30-45 mins seems quite counter productive. Perhaps do rowing/cross-training/swimming instead all are low impact ways to keep 'fit' and tone muscle. As far as weight lifting goes, your technique is everything. Keep at it and don't be afraid to ask for help or a spot. Here are some great vids to get your started. http://uk.youtube.com/results?search...l&search_type=
I tghought I knew it all but these vids took me back to basics and really helped me. I watched each one several times and practiced at home without using weights just to get my techniques right.

Don't rely on your protein supps too much, get into the habit of eating lots of lean meats and fish, cottage cheese etc as stated above. You should ideally be looking at a daily intake of 120 and 140g of protein (not proteinous foods) per day. Most protein shakes contain about 25g of protein, so even with two ever day you still need to find about another 100g of protein. There would be about 40g of protein in a regular tin of tuna.

So my key things to remember would be:

Correct technique
Go hard at the gym but rest hard too!
Eat right and eat fooking lots of it!

[5AMBO]

That was great help mate, thanks. I will stick to your advice. It has highlighted a few areas where I am already going wrong so thank you for your help. At least I can make sure I am not making stupid mistakes from the begining. I guess the first thing that concerns me or seems daunting is the eating loads. lol. I just dont want to end up eating too much and not working hard enough for it to do what I want it to do. I also dont want to get ginormous. I dont want to be as muscular as the guys on the front of fitness mags or anything like that.

I guess my next question would be, once I get to my goal size and shape, how do i maintain it rather than get bigger.

[Ash-VTR]

worry about getting there first mate. just keep training

[5AMBO]

Yeah, the getting there is not going to be easy. Im struggling already. Just cant get the right frame of mind. I feel like i get to a point where i just push as hard as i can but my arms just wont move

[bullit]

well we all know personal trainers know shit, as take the above posts for example.

freds got you pretty much sorted. but before you go mad trying to eat everything in site just get used to your new workouts. ive wrote one out somewhere, ill try find it.

[Stickyjam]

and remember not to be disappointed if you havent gain X amount in X weeks... it takes time if your doing the right things stick at it and youll see results, making sure your eating right and working out right is important though.

[5AMBO]

I never really realised I was going to have to eat lots more to get the body i wanted. I guess I hadnt looked at it like that. So, as you have pointed out, i shouldnt just be eating everything....... what things should i especially avoid?? I.e eating chocolate and crisps etc...? Or is fat just fat?

Cheers for all the advise so far to everyone. Im starting to piece together what I need to do and not do.

[Crunkers]

Well think of it like this, you need food to fuel growth for your body, if you eat alot you're gonna put on weight and get muscle growth (as long as your training), but you must eat sensibly, that why the diet is your most important factor in this, if your diet is bollocks then don't both mate. Training is easy, getting the diet right is hard, but yeh try and keep off chocolate, crisps etc where you can, not completely but try. Have around 200grams of protein a day to aid your muscle growth along with carbs to give you the bulk necessary for growth.

In terms of training I think its good to find a training partner as you can push yourself a lot harder with someone watching you, maybe get to know a couple of blokes at your gym and after sometime ask if you can train with them. You need to go out yourself and look for info as well to get your own views on your goals and what you need to do as thats the best way to learn.

[Crunkers]

Originally Posted by s1-hi11

say if your working on your bicep do different ways such as hammer curl,and ect but neaver work on 1 body part for more than 45 minutes as you will make you muscles hurt and also get small bicep it won't grown any bigger and dont do your bicep every day do it 1 day then leave it a day or 2 the best thing to do is start on your tricep because thats 75% of your arm and grows 3 times bigger thas what make your bicep look big, look at jay culter and ronnie coleman you can tell mate

65% mate

[Fredward]

Originally Posted by 5AMBO

Yeah, the getting there is not going to be easy. Im struggling already. Just cant get the right frame of mind. I feel like i get to a point where i just push as hard as i can but my arms just wont move

Don't panic mate, if you are struggling that much then either your technique is wrong - or the weights are just too heavy. You should be able to do an exercise with no weight and still feel a pump through the muscles targeted. So feel the pump, feel it in the right muscle then increase the weights. I can't stress enough that you must have a mental and physical connection with the body part you want to exercise. If you are bench pressing and your triceps are dieing, then the technique is wrong.

Getting a training partner would be a really good idea for you, they can help you correct your form, and see what your doing from every angle. Also having someone watch you can be just the push you need.

Don't worry too much about eating great piles of food all day every day, just eat as you need for now, your body will start to tell you if you need more, I know mine does, constantly! (I'm greedy) Stay away from any food high in sugar or saturated fats (chocolate and crisps as you stated above), get used to reading the info on packets of food, it's all there laid out for you! Oh, and definitely don't worry about becoming too big, it wont just happen over night! You will know when you're big enough, and I bet once you get into it you will just want to be bigger and bigger!

[5AMBO]

thanks for all the advice guys. I appreciate you taking the time to reply and giving your experience.

I have joined a gym where a friend of mine goes who has been going for a few years now and got quite big and he has been off due to being ill but should be back soon so I hope to train with him.
I think your right though, it will help to get that push from other people. Sometimes the fact that the person opposite me in the gym is still going, just makes me want to keep going too.lol.

I will lay off the chocolate, crisps etc then. I dont eat that much of that sort of stuff anyway to be honest so shouldn't be too hard not to eat it at all.

I have been taking on board the things that you have all been saying and at the moment I am concentrating on trying to eat the right foods, get as much protein intake as i can throughout the day, getting into the right frame of mind with the music playing in the background and making sure I am working on different parts of my body and not all on arms each day.

Should I be eating the same on a day that I am not training, to a day that I am??

At present I am training for an hour on tues, fri and sunday at the gym and doing 30mins with dumbells in the evenings on the nights im not at the gym. Not all evenings but one or two.
Do I need to be going to the gym 4-5 days to make a difference???

[titchster]

Just a few things i've picked up in my couple of weeks starting to try and gain weight/bulk up, and I know some of the more experienced guys will correct me if im wrong, but:

Aim for about 3000 calories a day, and do 3 sets of between 8-12 reps where you're reaching failure on the 3rd set. And get a shake in after your workout to help rebuild your muscles.

I think that's right, its what I've kinda self taught from the menshealth forums, and what im using atm.