Should I take a protein shake?

[Mobert]

well ok..hehe.. Now I'm confused. 2 people saying drop the carb drink.. 2 saying keep it. humm.. umm whats a guy to do!

The one thing every has agreed on is the post workout protein drink hehe

So I guess I'll be doing that. To drop the carb drink or not is what I'm still confused about.

 

[THE BOUNCER]

I would be more worried about your training routine than your post workout drink.

 

[MS]

Sorry to say this Mobert, but from many points of view your training AND diet suck. Although your plan is better than NO plan, there are many more effective ways to lose fat while gaining/maintaining muscle. Perhaps you can take a bit of time and read through some of the last few weeks posts looking for some ideas about diet and training for fat loss. Formulate a new plan and bounce it off of us. I agree with Bouncer that the least of you worries should be to have the carbs post workout or not. BTW, when do you workout (what time of day)? Barring that, drop the post workout carbs for now.

 

[sysopt]

Believe me dude! You need both carbs and protein after workouts. Work every muscle group once or twice a week.

 

[MS]

I agree that replenishing depleted glycogen stores is optimal for muscle growth. However if you look at his workout description and schedule I think it appears that Mobert is doing more of a 'circuit' type or light weight workout. It just doesn't seem likely that he's doing balls to the wall intense 8 reps to failure pushups and leglifts 4-5 times per week! His diet is high in refined foods (especially refined flour=high GI) and likely at least one of these flour-rich meals will come after his workouts anyway. He walks once a week for cardio and wants to lose fat. Unless he changes his training and diet routine I can't see any justification for adding more refined/high GI foods to his diet. But I bet he could use some more protein............

 

[devil245]

make up a program for yourself and stick to it. i lift 5 days a week and depending on the day it falls on, work one muscle once or twice a week. do cardio 4-5 days a week and eat clean. high protein, moderate carbs and some fat but the good fat. dump the ultra fuel and get a good protein powder. i like pro complex by optimum nutrition. 55g protein, 4g carbs and only 2g fat. tastes great and at one a day and 4.4lbs will last you a month. shop online to save money. check out www.netrition.com for the supps.

 

[Love Bone]

carbing...

Definitely carbs after a workout but not that many. I usually have a Powerbar Protein Plus after my workout which has 37 grams of simple carbs in addition to 24 grams of protein and it has many aminos and glutimine. I keep my shakes to strictly protein. 37 grams of simple carbs are enough for me. Everybody responds differently. There are some great ideas here to try if you don't get the results you need try something else but give it time to see if it works. Also, you are overworking your muscles with four workouts of each muscle group per week. Once a week works great for me but you have to go to failure if you do that. I still would not recommend more than twice per week. And yes try to mix in some large muscle group routines.

 

[thebabydoc]

No flaming here but...

diet, exercise routine are horrible. You do seem to have excellent desire as shown by the number of days you work out, and desire and stick-to-it ness is 99% of the battle.

You're like I was about 5 months ago, only I was at 5'10" 194 and had many years of weightlifting under my belt- (not to mention a few too many 'cheezburgers'!) Plus the age was catching up. Now at 176, larger up top, smaller in the waist (2" less) and I'm toying with the idea of stepping up to the next level.
[I'm assuming that it is not your goal to "bulk up," rather that you are trying to loose weight (FAT, not muscle) and get a little more muscle.]

Diet:
1) Check out "Enter the Zone" by Barry Sears, PhD. It'll give you a logical approach to 'dieting' and how and why we lose weight, gain muscle, lose fat. It also strongly addresses insulin issues.

2) Calculate your diet based on lean muscle mass and protein requirements and balance the rest around that. You should not be eating more than 125-140gm of protein daily at your weight and activity level. You definitely should not be taking in more than 2000 calories.

3) Divide the protein into 3 meals, 2 snacks (snacks are 1/3 - 1/4 of a meal and are 2-3 hours after lunch and at bedtime, 2-3 hours after dinner).

4) Add 9 grams of carbs (see threads on 'good' carbs) and 1.5-2 gm of fat for each 7 grams of protein you consume.

This is the Zone, as simply put as can be possible. With this, you will loose weight, more importantly SIZE, while preserving muscle whether you work out seriously or not. Just walking for 45-60 minutes 3x weekly will do it. Be patient; the first few days are difficult but then you'll find you're never really hungry and have ridiculous energy to spare! Plus you can do little 'cheat' weekends if you like after a month or so.

Exercise:

1) You CANNOT work the same body part every day. If you can, then you're not working it hard enough. Muscles must be worked to exhaustion, then rested for them to damage, then repair themselves and subsequently hypertrophy (grow). Focus on muscle groups. There are many, many schools of thoughts on this and I am no expert.
Basically though, for example, work your biceps with 3 or more exercises on the same day. Keep going up in weight until your last sets are 4-6 reps, doing 3-5 sets of each exercise. Go from dumbell curl to straight bar to preacher or pulleys. Use accessory muscles (e.g. close grip pullups with hands facing you). Same with triceps, chest, shoulders and back, legs (if you want, I hate legs), etc... you MUST give them 48-72 hours to rest. And yes, they will hurt like hell for the first 1-2 weeks because you have been doing didly poo-poo up until now. Get a partner, trainer to push you and spot you and don't be afraid to try heavier weight, you don't know what you can't do until you drop it!

When you start to get to a respectable weight (175 or so) you'll decide whether you want to really bulk up or cut down and change your diet and exercise routine accordingly (more protein, etc...)

You can use the shakes but make sure you include them in your daily protein/carb/calorie count. You shouldn't need them at the point you are now.

Good luck, dude

 

[Tha One CrumCake]

Yes.

 

[Tha One CrumCake]

2) Calculate your diet based on lean muscle mass and protein requirements and balance the rest around that. You should not be eating more than 125-140gm of protein daily at your weight and activity level. You definitely should not be taking in more than 2000 calories.

He's trying to give you good advice, but 140grams of protein won't get you anywhere, unless you're a hedgehog.

You want to gain muscle and lose fat?

Try the CKD if fat loss is your MAIN objective.

If muscle mass and fat loss are equally important to you, try:

1.75 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight
1 gram of carbs per lb of bodyweight
.5 grams of unsaturated fat per lb of bodyweight

KEEP read this board and learn, because so far it looks like you don't really know that much about training or nutrition. That's okay though bro, a lot of people don't know shit, specially when just beggining. I'm glad you found this board. Also do a lot of research on the net, and read a lot.

i'm too lazy to type shit out right now, but if u want help email me.
Actually don't email me, cuz i'm too lazy to respond, email MR. X instead... lol

TAKE CARE DUDE
peace