Diet & Routine advice needed

Important!! The following is a text only archive!
For full features; Go to Diet & Routine advice needed

posted by Gsquid

A big HI to everyone out there. first off, i used to lift weights in high school but haven't been going to the gym regularly for many years now. i used to be mesomorphic, played lots of sports, gained muscle mass easily. i freaked myself out recently though. i've been quite inactive the last few years and have even started to grow a spare tyre!! i used to drink a hell of a lot just a few short years ago and i never had a gut, but now i've even cut back my drinking and i'm having love handles for the first time in my life!!! this simply can't be allowed to go on. i guess my metabolism has slowed a lot and i'm tending towards endomorphic or somewhere in-between these days. so what i need help from you guys in is with planning out a routine and most importantly fixing my diet. i think that's the area that needs the biggest change. i'm about 5'9" and 160lbs. here's what i would eat in a typical week..

wake up around noon-2pm, have frosted flakes
about 3pm, lunch is mainly rice /w some veges and/or pork. sometimes a burger or leftover pasta or beef stew
about 7pm, dinner spaghetti /w meatballs, beef stew, tofu/beans, chicken franks /w baked beans n potatos
i snack a lot during the day, oreos, doritos, peanuts, chocolates, whatever i can get my hands on
then i stay up till about 3-5am and am usually very hungry but don't eat

i know i'm eating a lot of crap and i know i'm always hungry coz i'm not eating enough (of the right stuff) but because i'm inactive i try to eat less. so anyway, i got moving today. all i have at home are 2 6.6lbs dumbells so i did what i could with them. some bicep curls, triceps, flys. because of the light weight i do 2-3 sets each time to failure. put in some push-ups and crunches (to failure) and went for a 5km run. prob overkill for the first day back on the horse but it felt good. anyway, beside a new diet i'd like to know what else i can do in my home to build lean muscle mass and reduce body fat % without having to go to the gym (eg. calisthenics)? do i need to get heavier dumbells? what i do now with the light ones is a set of fast reps to fatigue the muscle, rest, then start really slow and controlled reps to failure for 2 more sets. how far will this approach take me? my goal is not to bulk up, just add a bit more muscle and definition.

sorry for the long post, just wanted to give you guys enough info to come up with some recommendations. appreciate any advice, thanks!

posted by Fez

Hey dude, welcome to the board. A lot of cool people arround here with good advice to give. I'll give ya my opinions on your post:

First off, cut all the crap out of your diet - oreos, doritos, anything with sugar - that stuff will hurt you just as bad as beer. Eat 5 small meals a day instead of 3 big ones. Drinks TONS of water (cant stress that enough) and start doing some cardio. The best cardio is free ;) just go out and jog!
Keep track of your progress, it will help with achieving your goals.

Also, how old are you? maybe your metabolism is starting to slowdown because of the age.

Cheers

posted by gondzur

He's 25 goin on 26 (in a couple weeks)

posted by Gsquid

thanks gondzur, yep i'll be 26 in 10 days.

hi Fez, thanks for the reply. at this point, how much cardio is too much? since i'm not back to the gym fully yet and i haven't hit the supermarket for the right foods yet, for the next couple of weeks i won't be gaining any amount of muscle mass and i've already lost so much due to a poor diet and sitting on my butt all day. is a 5km run everyday too much for now? should i keep it down to 2-3 times a week until i get my muscle-fat ratio up a bit more first?

posted by shortz

There is alot you can do to get started at home until you figure out what to do.

Pushups
Pushups with legs elevated for upper chest
Crunches
Chins (find something sturdy to pull from)
Dips
Walking lunges
Calf raises- one at a time on stairs

Find heavy things around the house. There are some places that sell DB sets with the weights and they are pretty cheap too. You may want to look into that so you can do shoulder presses and some heavier curling. If you don't have enough weight, remember that many things can be done one hand at a time, so you can stack more weight on to one DB.

posted by shortz

Oh yeah...for cardio, you can un a shorter distance for 5 days a week and it may be better. Just run for a mile. For actual fat burning, you may want to opt for a low intensity exercise like a fast paced walk for a couple miles.

posted by Gsquid

hi shortz, thanks for the tips. just curious why you suggest a fast walk is better for fat-burning than running? isn't the goal to keep the heart rate up? wouldn't running increase the heart rate more than walking would? also, what else would be good for the back that you could do from home besides chins?

posted by serious newbie

To burn fat by doing cardio you need to get your heart rate up for about 45 minutes at a minimum. At that point your body will keep going for a couple hours at an increased metabolism. So you need to pick a lighter level of activity that you can maintain for longer stretches to burn fat. The fat burning level most people pick is between 120-140 BPM. If you get to that point walking then that works, jog if you need to. Do what you need to do and improve.

If you want to improve your cardiovascular condition then you go for shorter more intense workouts, or even intervals. It is hard to maintain 150-170+ heart rates for long so you have to go in bursts, but that is for later when you get into better shape.

* Add Your Comment - Ask a question *
Share the knowledge!

+
+
+
+
+
+ ...

+
+
------
+
+
+
------
+
+
+
+