really new and really stupid

[scamp]

Hi guys, first let me apologize if my threads in the wrong place.

I could use a bit of advice. Hopefully I get all of the information anyone might need to help into this post.

The things I would like to know :

What should my diet be like?
How much cardio time should I put in each week?
How often should i be lifting - and what's a good way to lift?
(for that last question, i mean per muscle how many reps should i do each time i work that muscle? example : for my biceps, i would do 12 reps, then 10, then 8, then 6, then 12, then 12. Then switch the muscle your working out and repeat the rep cycle - is there a better way?)
What (if any) supplements should I look into?

I've been trying to read a few books and see what to be doing, but i'm just confused a bit.

Right now, I'm at 140 lbs, and standing at 5'11. I'm 21 years old, and I recently changed my diet and activeness. I started lifting a small amount 3 times a week about 4 months ago, and at the same time started running 3 times a week for 20-25 min. After not seeing any dramatic results from the lifting, I lost motivation, although i continued with my cardio. But I'm ready to give it another shot. I'd be willing to try any supplements to help me out here, if there are any for people in my situation.

My diet has remained consistent the past 4 months though.
I aim for 20-25g carbs, and 30-40g protein in 3/5 meals a day.
and i aim for 15-20g carbs and 20-30g protein in 2/5 meals a day (snacks). I would also keep fat content in mind, and try to eat less than 10g of fat in each meal.

My goals aren't anything intense. Just to have a nice healthy body. I'd like to hit 160 and maintain a very low body fat percentage. I'm aware that cardio will NOT change my body the way i want to change it. I'm just hesitant to try lifting again and not getting the results I want.

Thank you for reading this god awful long post, and any help will be greatly appreciated. let me know if i managed to leave anything vital out.

 

[raginfcktard]

looks like you are on the right path...but an ecto non-the less. first you are not eating enough...period! good game plan, not enough food, carbs especially. i would adjust your diet to 3000-3500 cals consisting of 50% carbs 30% protein and 20% fat. you need fat, if you are that worried about fat supplement with MCT oil. adjust the as needed as you progress but that is a good starting line!

as far as training i would swith to 4 or 5 days a week (at least a 2 on 1 off scheme) i train one group per day doing arms as supersets the last day of the week since they are prefatigued as secondaries all week long

i personally do not do cardio, i train at a fast pace to keep my heart up at a cardiovasicular level while lifting, when i go back to bulking i will probably add 2-3 20min sessions a week to burn some unwanted cals. cause i cheat ALOT to meet my calorie needs and don't want to store the extra fat if i can aviod it. most people will not tell you to quit cardio, i did cause i lose 2lbs just for looking at a treadmill!

 

[Xodus]

Hi guys, first let me apologize if my threads in the wrong place.

I could use a bit of advice. Hopefully I get all of the information anyone might need to help into this post.

The things I would like to know :

What should my diet be like?
How much cardio time should I put in each week?
How often should i be lifting - and what's a good way to lift?
(for that last question, i mean per muscle how many reps should i do each time i work that muscle? example : for my biceps, i would do 12 reps, then 10, then 8, then 6, then 12, then 12. Then switch the muscle your working out and repeat the rep cycle - is there a better way?)
What (if any) supplements should I look into?

I've been trying to read a few books and see what to be doing, but i'm just confused a bit.

Right now, I'm at 140 lbs, and standing at 5'11. I'm 21 years old, and I recently changed my diet and activeness. I started lifting a small amount 3 times a week about 4 months ago, and at the same time started running 3 times a week for 20-25 min. After not seeing any dramatic results from the lifting, I lost motivation, although i continued with my cardio. But I'm ready to give it another shot. I'd be willing to try any supplements to help me out here, if there are any for people in my situation.

My diet has remained consistent the past 4 months though.
I aim for 20-25g carbs, and 30-40g protein in 3/5 meals a day.
and i aim for 15-20g carbs and 20-30g protein in 2/5 meals a day (snacks). I would also keep fat content in mind, and try to eat less than 10g of fat in each meal.

My goals aren't anything intense. Just to have a nice healthy body. I'd like to hit 160 and maintain a very low body fat percentage. I'm aware that cardio will NOT change my body the way i want to change it. I'm just hesitant to try lifting again and not getting the results I want.

Thank you for reading this god awful long post, and any help will be greatly appreciated. let me know if i managed to leave anything vital out.

What kind of lifting were you doing? Please don't say curls and tricep kickbacks.

Get on a program like 'Westside for Skinny Bastards' or maybe even the beginners 'Mad Cow 5x5'.

Eat enough while doing some heavy compound lifts and you will make some dramatic newb gains in a few months.

 

[scamp]

Thanks for the help thus far guys. I'm going to check out those links there, and also going to re-evaluate my diet

And the lifting i was doing a lot of dumbbell stuff with my upper body because i lift in my own house.
I'm at work now and can't recall all of the types of lifts i was doing, but there was a list of 6 muscle groups and a few work outs i could do for each group. It seemed pretty basic, the muscle groups were triceps, biceps, shoulders, abs, back and chest. And most of the lifts only asked for dumbbells.

The way the book i had told me to do it was to do 12 reps of light weight first, then to move onto 10 reps with more weight, then 8 reps with more weight, then 6 with more weight, then move back to the original weight and do 12 reps 2 times with that, then move onto your next muscle and repeat.
I was slowly increasing my weight each week.
keeping in mind i'm pretty pathetic - this is the amount i was lifting typically (for any work out with the dumbbells anyway)
This is per dumbbell :
15 lbs.(12 reps)
20 lbs.(10 reps)
25 lbs.(8 reps)
30 lbs.(6 reps)
15 lbs.(12 reps)
15 lbs.(12 reps again)

Like i said, I don't really know anything about shaping bodies, building muscle or anything in the field really. I'm more than happy to learn but i just don't know anything yet.

Also - if anyone could give any advice on any pills or anything that might help. I don't want to get suckered into spending 80 dollars on a junk bottle of sugar pills. Or if you guys think i would risk hurting my results by messing with anything like that?

 

[Xodus]

Thanks for the help thus far guys. I'm going to check out those links there, and also going to re-evaluate my diet

And the lifting i was doing a lot of dumbbell stuff with my upper body because i lift in my own house.
I'm at work now and can't recall all of the types of lifts i was doing, but there was a list of 6 muscle groups and a few work outs i could do for each group. It seemed pretty basic, the muscle groups were triceps, biceps, shoulders, abs, back and chest. And most of the lifts only asked for dumbbells.

The way the book i had told me to do it was to do 12 reps of light weight first, then to move onto 10 reps with more weight, then 8 reps with more weight, then 6 with more weight, then move back to the original weight and do 12 reps 2 times with that, then move onto your next muscle and repeat.
I was slowly increasing my weight each week.
keeping in mind i'm pretty pathetic - this is the amount i was lifting typically (for any work out with the dumbbells anyway)
This is per dumbbell :
15 lbs.(12 reps)
20 lbs.(10 reps)
25 lbs.(8 reps)
30 lbs.(6 reps)
15 lbs.(12 reps)
15 lbs.(12 reps again)

Like i said, I don't really know anything about shaping bodies, building muscle or anything in the field really. I'm more than happy to learn but i just don't know anything yet.

Also - if anyone could give any advice on any pills or anything that might help. I don't want to get suckered into spending 80 dollars on a junk bottle of sugar pills. Or if you guys think i would risk hurting my results by messing with anything like that?

Stay away from supplements right now. They are to 'supplement' your diet, which you don't have dialed in yet.

Spend the money on food and a gym membership.



As far as the pyramid sets go, that works, but it really depends on what 'heavy' is. Were those 6 reps hard @ 30lbs? Obviously lateral raises vs. deadlifts are going to be different.

Stick with larger lifts, bench, row, deads, squats. You can do them with DB's, or even do them single leg to get more mileage out of them. Eventually though, you are going to need to go heavier and use a barbell.

Here is another program: Anti-Bodybuilding Hypertrophy


Here is a site with exercises if you are not familiar with some of them:

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html