Just getting back into it...

[MPGEM05]

Hello, Everyone...

I'm 28. 185. 5'7". I have recently just got back into working out after a 1-year break. (Feel free to rag on me for that....seriously! LOL)

My chest is flabby and I have love handles. Other than that... not too much body fat whatsoever.

My goals are:

-make my chest look good
-lose the remaining gut/love handles
-lose 10-15 lbs.
-put on lean mass (I need size in my arms, back, legs, shoulders)
-gain my strength back
I WANT TO BE BIG! But I can't afford to make my chest flabbier!

My diet/plan is pretty on the ball, I believe:

Breakfast:
Kashi cereal, with NO-FAT Milk OR Plain Oatmeal
Protein Shake

MORNING CARDIO- 40 mins running on Treadmill or Bike

Morning Snack:
Fruit (banana or apple or orange)

Lunch:
2 chicken breasts
4 eggs
Spinach salad with peppers or tomatoes
brown rice

Afternoon Meal:
Turkey on Wheat sandwich with American cheese- no mayo- little mustard
Plain Yogurt

WORKOUT FOLLOWED BY 44G Protein Shake.

Dinner:
2 Chicken Breasts or 2 cans of Tunafish
Brown rice
2 eggs


I drink just over 1 gallon of water a day.

I weight train every other day. Cardio 3-4 times a week. I take 1 day off completey per week. Also, I dedicate 1 day to only Deadlifts and Squats.


How does my diet look? Do I need more calories? Do I need more carbs?

Here is what my Workout looks like:

Chest:
Dumbell flat
Dumbell incline
Dumbell flies
Cable Crossovers
Dips

Triceps:
Pull Downs
Laying barbell extensions
Kickbacks
Dumbell Tricep overhead press

Shoulders:
Military dumbell press
Upright Row
Front Dumbell raise
Lateral raise

Back:
Lat pulldowns
Wide-Grip pullups
Seated Cable Row
Shrugs
Bent Over rows

Legs:
Squats
Deadlifts
Running

Biceps:
Barbell Curl
Dumbell Durl
Concentration Curl
Hamer Curl


I usually do 3 to 4 sets of as heavy as I can go for 10 reps. I also try to up the weight on each set, where possible, but I don't have that much strength yet, so.. my #'s are very low right now.


I am willing to cycle. Any suggestions on what I can do? Please feel free to critique my plan... as I really would like some feedback on what I should do!

Thank you all so much!

 

[JustJacked]

Do you cardio in the morning before you eat. This will make your body use fat as energy.

You routine seems off. Too much volume in the wrong places. You only do sqauts for legs? Change that. Deadlifts and sqauts are best done on seperate days. For small muscles like bi's and tri's you should do no more than 3 excercises of 3 sets. Large muscles 12-16 sets of 3-4 excercises.

If you have any other ? just ask. Keep training. Hope you get HUGE! ,JJ

 

[pintoca]

Save the gear for later. No need for it in the initial phases.

Other than that, I agree on the advice given so far. Try and post the calories and macros all that food amounts to... I'm a numbers person and see things more clearly that way.

Pintoca

 

[MPGEM05]

StellarTiggy...

I apologize. I actually do not eat whole eggs @ all. Only egg whites. I should have specified.

Thank you for the suggestion about the wheat bread. I will look into bran and sweet potato!

Also, why not eat the egg whites with the chicken breasts? I'm assuming this is probably just overkill with the protein?

Your question about whether I want to cut or bulk is a good one. Ultimately, I want to bulk up and add some mass. However, I am concerned about this effecting my chest... so I'm very careful with my diet.


Thanks again for taking time to respond to my lenghty post! Any additional feedback would be much appreciated.


Just Jacked...

Thanks for the DL/Squat suggestions. I will definitely change that up.




Pintoca...

I often see people refer to "macros" in these forums. Although, I think I know what you're talking about.. I want to be sure. Can you please elaborate?


Thanks, Everyone!

 

[MPGEM05]

One more question:

Seems like I need more carbs in my diet. What should I be eating and when? Should I be eating the carbs before my weight training? If so, how long before and what types of foods? I don't want my muscles to look FLAT!

 

[JustJacked]

Stellartiggy knows what shes talkin bout'. The only thing I would do diferent is not eat any carbs before training at least 2 hours. This will trick your body into using fat stores as energy. But you have to make sure you eat a big carb and protein meal after training.

 

[MPGEM05]

Excellent advice!!!

 

[pintoca]

Macros:

simply put, how much in % are you eating from Proteing, Carbs and Fat.

to calculate this you need to know:

1 gr Prot: 4 cals
1 gr Carb: 4 cals
1 gr Fat: 9 cals

so you know how many cals you eat in a day, now break that in how many cals come from prot, carb and fat and then translate into %s.

Usually, you will see people writing something like "I am doing a diet which is 50/20/30", in this case, normally they refer to 50% prot, 20% carb, 30% fat... once we know your cal intake, we know exactly how many grams of each "Macro Nutrient" you are eating.

Pintoca

 

[MPGEM05]

Thanks, Pintoca. Let me get some figures down and I will post.