Working out & Nutrition advice.

V

viridian

Disciple
I remember the last time this topic was brought up and there were lots of inputs from health conscious and well informed TE members (Monsieur pixelpusher's i remember distinctly). Looking forward to hearing some more of your inputs. I've been going to a gym regularly for the past few days and I'm really enjoying it (I don't think that's suppose to happen but the trainer is being nice to me). My appetite has suddenly gone up and I find myself eating 4 to 5 times a day (up from twice a day). I tend to eat simple food as I have a sensitive tummy and luckily that ends up being quite healthy, IMHO (subs, fruit salad, loads of milk, dal+chapati+greens). I've never been involved in ANY major physical sport since probably the 7th grade so as one can imagine, I'm not the epitome of good health. I'm about 5'9 and weigh somewhere around 70kgs, so I'm a skinny dude with fat in the wrong places (the trademark IT gut with love handle upgrades).

Here are my questions to you
1. I go to the gym for about and hour and fifteen minutes. Out of this time, I invest 30 minutes in cardio (treadmill running at about 7km/hr for 15 and the cycling machine at the varying intensities for 15). The rest of the time I'm doing those funny pipe holding/swinging exercises (more like stretches) and 12x2 sets of very light dumbells (2 kgs) for biceps, triceps etc. Haven't done much with the machines, just free weights. My muscles give way pretty easily and this is disheartening at times. What would you recommend I do additionally to build more upper body strength?

2. Should I go with a protein supplement to add to my food? I don't eat meat as much as I'd like and hence I feel that I'm missing out on proteins.

3. What is with this creatine hulllaballo? From what I've read it seems to be a safe way to add lean muscle mass. Although I'm apprehensive as I would rather consult a doc before swallowing anything that comes in capsule/tablet form. Does anyone have prior experience with this?

Thanks in advance.
 
1) First, define what you want to do at the gym. Keep fit? Lose weight? Bulk up? A combination of the three?

2) Personal example - used to be 93 kilos,40" waist, did intense cardio, am now down to 73 and 32-33". Have started circuit training now, weights thrice a week. Do opposing body parts, i.e. back biceps together, chest,shoulder,triceps together, and legs.

3) Keep track of the weights, reps and no. of sets you do. Aim at increasing by 10-15% every three weeks or so.

4) Nutritional supplements are crap. If you're vegetarian (I am), stick to bowls of dal, channa and sprouts. Enough protein for muscle building. Eggs are good for protein too, as is lean chicken breast.
 
Take egg whites, very good source of proteins. Have lots of green vegetables. If you want to take protein supplements, do it after 3 or 4 months. Once you got rid of the fats , you can bulk up.

You can take a 1No. of multivitamin tablet everyday , but check with your doctor which one to take.

@TechHead, thats nice to hear what you are doing, am also on the same boat. Just have some more fat in the waist region, once another 2" down , i'll start to concentrate on weight training :clap:
 
Saiyan said:
am also on the same boat. Just have some more fat in the waist region, once another 2" down , i'll start to concentrate on weight training :clap:
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...and building up 6pack abs. :eek:hyeah:

If Aamir Khan could do it for Gajini, nothing's impossible Saiyan. :p
 
sarang said:
ohh our dear TH used to be a "Quint(al)essential" patel. ;)

just kidding.

@viridian: stay away from any quickfix.
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But I still have a paunch:( . Broad body frame as well, broad hips, narrow shoulders. Stupid Gujju genes :( :mad:
 
TechHead said:
But I still have a paunch:( . Broad body frame as well, broad hips, narrow shoulders. Stupid Gujju genes :( :mad:
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don't blame the gujju genes. I love gujjus, they look kida cute.

Its in da techie genes, a glance in my bay and u'll find the perfect demographic for a gym/slimming green tea/ waist belt advertisement. :p (That includes me as well).
 
Oh, and don't forget to weight train for effective weight loss as well.. the more muscle you have, the higher your BMR, the faster you losr fat.
 
Thanks a lot for the great advice guide. Will stay away from the supplements for now. I don't have to lose much weight, being stronger is a must though. Don't want too much bulk either, just a generally toned body.

@Bluffmaster: Thanks, can't access it at work though, will go home and give it a look.
 
4) Nutritional supplements are crap. If you're vegetarian (I am), stick to bowls of dal, channa and sprouts. Enough protein for muscle building
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Wrong. For building mass you need at least 2.5 times your body weight in kilos of protein in grams. So if you weight 50 kilos, you'd need around 125gms protein which dal chana can never provide (unless of course you plan on grazing right next to a cow at some farm).

Lean meat can to some extent but even then, the quantity you'd need to eat to get that much protein is HUGE.l

Creatine supplements do no add lean mass. They just increase the amount of water your muscles carry. A small degree of water retention means faster synthesis of ATP and increased absorption of proteins.

The "bulk" you gain after taking a creatine monohydrate supplement will go away since the majority of the swelling is just water. Of course, the muscle gains that you will make (less fatigue, more protein absorption) due to creatine usage will be permanent.
Just remember to drink 2l of water..
 
@l33t_5n1p3r_max: Would this imply that one would become slightly roundish after taking creatin or the added bulk shows up in key areas (chest, biceps, glutes) ? Is the added energy dramatic enough to justify taking creatin supplements?
 
TechHead said:
But I still have a paunch:( . Broad body frame as well, broad hips, narrow shoulders. Stupid Gujju genes :( :mad:
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I still have paunch too :p (something which was there for past 20 yrs :p). Can you tell me what all exercise you are doing to reduce that ? (pm me if you think we are going OT )
 
1. Since you are just starting out at the gym, mixing cardio and weight training on the same days is acceptable. After a couple of weeks, however, you may want to alternate them. i.e. 3 days of cardio (interval training) alternating with 3 days of weights (each day concentrating on opposing parts like what Techhead mentioned) and 1 day of rest per week. Your current diet is great, and dont worry about not eating 'enough' meat. Dhal will do the trick.

2. As mentioned, add protein into the mix, specifically post and\or pre workout. leetsniper made a significant point in saying that any food doesnt provide sufficient protein. But the fact that you dont want to bulk up means that you may be a little lax in this regard. But it will definitely help in the upper body strength you desire.

3. No clue about creatin. Sorry :)
 
Saiyan said:
I still have paunch too :p (something which was there for past 20 yrs :p). Can you tell me what all exercise you are doing to reduce that ? (pm me if you think we are going OT )
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Lots of cardio man, lots of cardio. I do about 35-40 minutes of weights, followed by 30 minutes on the treadmill and 20 on the crosstrainer. Play tennis 4 times a week as well, used to be a State-level player, once upon a long-ago time.

I'm leaning out overall, which is a good thing. GIven up butter and ghee at home as well.
 
^I have started doing cardio followed by weight training since last week.

Even i do around 30~40 mins of weight followed by 1 hr+ cardio (35 mins treadmill , 35 mins crosstrainer and 15 mins cycling). I burn around 950+ calories per day in cardio training alone. I go to gym for only 5 days a week. Have so far lost 15.7kg in 17 weeks. Paunch and the fat in the thigh region to cut out still, lets see :D

This is my routine diet.

Honey in a lukewarm water with a 1/2 lemon as soon as i wake up

Breakfast :

35gms oats with 200ml of milk

2 Nos. of egg white

1 Nos. of apple

Lunch :

5 Nos. of Rotis w/ vegetable kurma /Chicken breast w/o skin / etc..

A small portion of spinach and carrot and other vegetables whose name i have no idea of.

2 Nos. egg whites

A Multivitamin Tablet as advised by the doctor

Evening Snack before Gym workout :

1 Nos. of egg white, dates

30 grams of whey in water

Post workout

60 grams of whey in water

Dinner :

3 Nos. of Roti / 1Nos. of ragi dosa

Half Portion of Papaya/ 2 Nos. of apple

2 Teaspoon honey little before going to bed.

Updated as on 19-01-2009 :p
 
About my regime
6'0, 82Kg
Aim to bulkup till 94KG, then, cut to 88Kgs

My WO plan is 2 days split

*Mix these every alt. week (max do 3 ex per body part, not more than that)
*Do not WO > 1Hr
*Warm up 10mins cardio
*5min stretch
*weight train not more than 4days in a week
*Do more compund ex rather than isolation

Day1 - LEGS

Squat, Lunges, Ham curl, free squats, step lunges, stiff legged Deadlift

Day2 - SHOULDER+Traps

BB press,DB press, military press,Clean+Press,lateral raise, BentOver lateral raise

Day3 - off/cardio

Day4 - Lower n Upper Back+Biceps
Deadlift,lat pull down,DB row,bentOver BB row, good mornings
Bi EzBar/BB Curl, BB Hammer curl,whatever

Day5 - Off
I take the day off cause I go heavy on Deadlifts.

Day6 - Chest
Bench Press, Incline/Decline (rotate), DB flye, DB Pull over,dips,cable crossover(sometimes)

Day7 - Off
---

I eat a lot of 'quality' intake on off days to repair my body.

Usual WHEY,SOY milk,sprouts,10egg whites/day. high carbs intake during bulking.

---

Only thing is that I do not get rest due to work, that is why my BB goals are all over the place :(

I will be only doing maintenance from now onwards due to my screwy shifts at work :(
 
Saiyan said:
^I have started doing cardio followed by weight training since last week.

Even i do around 30~40 mins of weight followed by 1 hr+ cardio (35 mins treadmill , 35 mins crosstrainer and 15 mins cycling). I burn around 950+ calories per day in cardio training alone. I go to gym for only 5 days a week. Have so far lost 15.7kg in 17 weeks. Paunch and the fat in the thigh region to cut out still, lets see :D

This is my routine diet.

Breakfast :
35gms oats with 200ml of milk
1 Nos. of egg white
1 Nos. of apple

Lunch :
4 Nos. of Rotis w/ vegetable kurma /Chicken breast w/o skin / etc..
A small portion of spinach and carrot and other vegetables whose name i have no idea of.
2 Nos. egg whites
A Multivitamin Tablet as advised by the doctor

Evening Snack before Gym workout :
1 Nos. of egg white
Orange Juice (made from 3 Nos. of orange)

Dinner :
2 Nos. of Roti / 1Nos. of ragi dosa
Half Portion of Papaya/ 2 Nos. of apple
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That's awesome! Don't you think you're cutting out too many carbs though? Starchy carbs are actually quite good for you, and are required.
Amazing work on the weight loss.

What's your current height and weight? I'm at 5'10" and 73kg. Weight fluctuates between 73 and 77, which is ok for my height. NEed to get rid of the bloody paunch though.
 
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