Advice for newbie

[tsut]

Hi –

I am trying to lower my BF percentage. Currently I am around 20%. I am 5’3” and weigh 105 lbs. I did a BMR calculator online and it says that my BMR is 1240. I currently eat around 1500 clean calories per day. Is 1500 too low? I exercise 5-6 days per week. I lift weights 3 times/week and do cardio 3 times/week. I tend to store BF in the abdominal area and I am an ectomorph. What would be the best strength training routine? I don’t mind gaining muscle (just can’t seem too because of genetics.) I currently do circuit training w/weights using free weights. Should I concentrate on lifting heavy w/less reps? Or should I stick to a circuit style strength workout? Everyone seems very resourceful on this board so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[tsut]

Thanks for the warm welcome spatterson!

A typical day for my diet is:

Meal 1 – ½ cup oatmeal & ½ banana
Meal 2 – myoplex low car bar
Meal 3 – Myoplex shake and pear
Meal 4 – serving size of nuts (usually cashews)
Meal 5 – varies but usually chicken breast and rice (try to make sure it is a protein and carb)
Meal 6 – 2 slices whole wheat bread w/peanut butter (I sometimes cheat and have to 2 waffles - I know this is bad!)

I usually train in the evening right after my 5th meal of the day (around 5 p.m.)

For cardio I try to vary it each day. I try to do high intensity intervals for 60 minutes once a week, a step aerobics class for 60 minutes with HR at about 85%, and a kickboxing class for 60 minutes with HR at about 70%.

I do all body parts every time I do my circuit. My ideal workout would be lifting weights 3 times a week, but I’m willing to go more if necessary. I used to lift very heavy w/rep range of 6-8 with my workout partner. We now have different schedules so I’ve lost my spotter. I know this isn’t an excuse, but I really miss having her there. She kept me motivated. Is it okay to always lift as heavy as possible all the time? Do your muscles get to used to that training? I know when I lifted heavy all the time my muscles were sore for days. This circuit training doesn’t cause ½ of the muscles soreness I experience with lifting heavy. I like to feel the soreness.

Is it okay to do more cardio or should I keep it to 3 days w/a cleaner diet? I really want to put on some muscle but would like to burn off some of my flab too.

I know I probably should make some diet modifications. What training split do you recommend? What can I do with my diet to see better muscles gains/fat loss?

Thanks again!

 

[Daisy_Girl]

While I'm not the diet guru spatterson is...

Your Meal 6 is coming after your workout right? And it is your last meal of the day? I would pick a much cleaner last meal if I were you. It is okay to cheat - but I would do it early in the day. And a smaller portion if you are having it every day. Cheating can keep you sane, some people don't need to cheat, others (like me) will go crazy without cheating! But if you are going to have a cheat meal/snack often (less than once a week), I would make it smaller and less calorie dense. Maybe just one piece of bread and 1/2 tbsp of Nat PB?

IMO, your after workout meal should be the chicken/rice or a meal replacement shake. Also, it seems like a long time between feedings for your last meal of the day and the first meal of the next day. Especially if you want to keep your metabolism humming along all the time (no big lags) and if you want to build muscle. I always have a shake (20-30g prot, 115-173 cals) before bed.

I am a bigger advocate of cardio than others - just because I know FOR ME I need more days to keep my BF down. I lean towards telling people to add in more days when they are trying to lose BF.

And I would go back to lifting heavy again - instead of circuits. I lift heavy alone - I don't like working out with others, I have never found anyone with my same goals and training patterns. Instead of doing forced reps (impossible alone!) I do drop sets. Circuit training isn't bad, but IMO you won't get as much muscle as training on a split. But that doesn't mean you can never do it - sometimes it is nice to do something different. Spatterson has a good beginning split, I'm sure she'll post it (again ).

Good luck and welcome!

 

[tsut]

Thanks Daisy_Girl & Spatterson!

Okay I will start lifting heavy again. Oh I can’t wait to feel the muscle soreness again!

Daisy_Girl – when you mention drop sets do you mean once you’re close to failure do you decrease the weight and do a few more reps? I used to work out with my sis – who is definitely hardcore in the gym. It’s hard to find someone that will workout like that. Most women think I’m nuts. What do you do for cardio? Cardio machines drive me insane.

Spatteson – the workout split looks great. Should I do 3-4 exercises per body part? 3-4 sets each? Should I use a lot of barbell work to build mass?

I had a feeling my diet was lacking! What I posted was an improvement on my diet. hee hee I’m not a big meat eater so is it okay to replace a protein with protein powder? Or is it better to have the chicken, sirloin, tuna, etc . . . What protein powder do you recommend? I have a 3-gallon tub of EAS whey protein at home. Is that what I could use? Are there protein powders that you think are better? On carb rotation – what do you consider low? I’ve read that <125 grams of carb? Is that about right?

I know I am anxious, but approximately how much BF% can you lose per month? I know it’s a slow process, but I just wanted a guideline so I won’t get disappointed.

Spatterson – thanks for the cutting diet and workout. I printed it out. I can’t wait to get started and eat some real food.


Thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[magdelana]

Hi tsut! Nice to have you with us.

I use also EAS protein. It is a fine quality whey.

For your last meal of the day i might say that you should eat a rather large amount of protein and low carbs and fat. Also think about eating the protein last at this meal to make your body assimilate it most slowly. Remember that you will be 7-9 hours without food at that time of your day and you want to keep a postive nitrogen balance while sleeping.

As with you i store my bodyfat more in the abdomenal area so this is the very last place to take it off. I am 16% bf now and i still have a bit of a curve below the navel.
What is your bf goal? How low do you try to go with it?

For your diet i think perhaps you should increase the amount of protein you eat each day and change the types of protein as well. No more nuts, as they have rather a lot of fat. do you like egg whites? They are a better protein quality and very low calories. Also certainly i think Meal 1 should have 25-30 grams of protein. Your muscles need that protein after so many hours of not eating.

Remember that as you add noticable amounts of muscle to your body it will make it look like you are leaner even if you have actually still the same bf level. So if you add a bit of muscle during this then you may not need to lose very much bf to have then you look you want.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Like the other ladies said - real food is always better than engineered. BUT, I couldn't meet my protein quota without protein powder. I tend to rotate real food with protein shakes. Like for meal 1 real food, then meal 2 shake, meal 3 real food, etc. But I try not to have more than 3 shakes a day, so there is usually 2 real food meals in a row - usually middle of the day. And right before bed I always have a shake.

Yep - drop sets are hitting failure (or almost) and then picking up a *slightly* lower weight IMMEDIATELY. Toughest part of that is getting everything set uo and guarding the weights so nobody takes them.... Also helps me when I am increasing strength - I'll do a set with a weight I can only do 2-4 reps with and then drop down to a lighter weight and finish out my reps. Helps me get over strength plateaus. Other advanced techniques you can do alone are supersetting and 1 1/2s.

Cardio - machines are annoying (and boring) but are a necessary evil for me. Summers here are well over 100 and HOT. I usually alternate between 4 machines - treadmill, Precor, Lifefitness Crosstrainer and the Stepmill (the giant revolving stairs). Sometimes I run on the indoor track or take a boxing class. I usually do 40-45 minutes 6x/wk. I recommend making a very good workout CD - one you won't get sick of easily! Helps SO much!

 

[tsut]

Thanks

Hi Magdelana – My ideal BF would be 15% - I would be very happy with that. I’ve been able to lose some BF already with the routine I was doing, but I had a feeling I wasn’t going about it the right way.

I will make sure I have some more protein. I knew my diet needed some serious help. I will have to depend on the whey shakes a lot since I’m not a big meat eater. Thanks for the advice. I will definitely make sure I have some good protein in the morning and before bedtime. I barely have an appetite when I up my protein - guess that could be a good thing since I like to eat junk

Spatterson – thanks for the website. Uh oh I see they take American Express – I may be in trouble

Daisy-Girl – thanks for the tips on drop sets. What are 1 1/2s?

Thanks everyone for your replies. This is a kick a$$ site!

 

[Daisy_Girl]

1 1/2s - each rep is technically one and a half reps.

Example, for a leg extension. Start at the bottom like normal, extend all the way to the top. Lower the weight halfway down, then extend back up to the top. Lower down to starting point slowly. Can you picture that?

Works well for flexion and extension exercises - can easily do for most bicep, tricep, quad, and ham exercises.

Let me know if this makes sense....

 

[kronk]

TSUT Welome to a great community. THe woman and men at this board will support you and your goals and always try to help.

It appears that you have already recieved some wonderful advice from Spatts and others.

Listen to Spatts she knows her stuff and is a very well respected members of this community.

Wasnt sure I missed this somewhere but wanted to add this note..as Spatts said, make sure you are taking a fast absorbing protien, post workout. However, also include some carbs with it, personally I would suggest pure dextrose mixed with a Why Protien Isolate. With your stats, you only need to go around 35 grams of carbs, you could go much higher.

Your muscles are in need of glycogen at the end of a workout and the sugar needs to be replaced ASAP. by adding the dextrose to your protien, and even throwing in 200-300mg of ALA, you will ensure a faster recovery, less soreness and staying in an anti- catibolic state.

Take care, and as I said, look to MODS like Spatts and other season vets, and always do research! No matter what someone says, make sure to look it up and learn about it yourself.

Have a great one and welcome to Elite!

 

[Susp's_Babe]

Welcome Tsut.

I am about at the same point as you are - as far as body type - and have been trying to decide what I want to focus on between trying to gain muslce or decrease body fat.
Spatterson, along with many of the other gals here, has a lot of good advice that has helped me out so far!

Good luck!