Need me some training suggestions ladies

[ShadowFury]

OK, I'm doing basketball right now, and loving all the cardio, but I haven't been working much upper body.
I workout at home when I do upper body, doing stuff like the plank, crunches, pushups, curls, lat pulldowns, butterflies, and a couple other things with my machine/dumbbells.
Because I don't have a bar and a few other important things, I can't do things like deads, squats, heavier benching, etc... Most of the essentials(IMO).

I would LIKE to start going to the gym for lifting 2-3 days a week(Doing only upper body, because I can't afford to have my legs destroyed for bball, although I'd like to do squats) I am able to go to the gym on the Naval base by me, but I have never been able to do what I said above, so my form I am sure would be screwed up. I'm not sure if I would need to pay for a PT there, or if I could just get someone to help me, but if I needed to pay for a PT, chances are I wouldn't be able to buy many/any supps.
Right now, I have Poseidon, 100% Gold Standard Whey, Leviathan Reloaded, Ragnarok, and Napalm

So, should I pursue the gym idea, or just stick with my bball practice/ home stuff(That I haven't been having much dedication to because I'm getting discouraged not being able to do the essentials(again, IMO). I would be dedicated to getting to the gym however.

I'm also on a CKD, 146-147lbs, about 11-12 BF%. I'm cutting right now, and would like to get down to 9-10 BF%, and once I do start bulking, I want to clean bulk, and not have to bulk - cut - bulk - cut - bulk - cut, you get the idea

I have a bad nak for making walls of text, but thanks to anyone that helps me out I can post up my diet if needed.

[RenegadeRows]

I think you should look into the gym IMO. Do you have a training partner? I train at home, but have a very motivational personality along with a dedicated friend/partner that I train with. I have also built up my home gym to basic free weights.

Going to the gym would eliminate the need for a partner and also the need for more equipment. You will naturally train harder if you have a bunch of military dudes looking at you haha. You can also get a spot and advice if you need to. No need for a personal trainer. Just watch and learn from the other members there.

Deadlifts, squats ... while they are not directly related to a 'defined upper body' you definitely need them to get that. Remember you can't define what you don't have. Your goal should be to put on mass. Clean bulk is nice in theory but it's hard to do. Once you put on a considerable amount of muscle you can then focus on adding quality lean mass little by little.

Also, since your doing basketball, the idea related to bulking that you swell up and have little mobility is not realistic. You need to provide good clean calories for your body to grow. And it's not that easy to put on weight, trust me! I tried to bulk for many months, did no cardio, and barely put weight. It's harder than you think.

Here is what I would do if I were you:

1.) Make sure to get to the gym 2 times per week. You can focus on heavy compound movements such as squats and deadlifts while you there. Spend your other days at home, working with the equipment you have. But you NEED to do those movements. I didn't make any substantial gains until I started doing deads and squats.

2.) Make sure you get enough quality calories. Find the sweet spot. If you start putting on fat, then ease off on the calories. I don't know much about keto/CKD whatever, but carbs are important in my diet. I eat like a normal person, only twice as much and half the bad calories (I do still indulge though )

3.) Stick with the supplements you have (or add in some Controlled Labs ).

4.) Search out Rippetoe's starting strength. It's a very effective routine/book to have in your aresenal. I've been lifting for about 5 years and still refer back to it. The secrets in bodybuilding ARE the basics.

Any direct questions, feel free to PM me.

Good luck and hard training,
RR

[RenegadeRows]

Also since you are abotu 150lbs right now there is NO NEED to cut. Bulk up to say 165, and then cut it down naturally by keeping your routine the same but moderating your diet.

Cutting at such a low weight, IE 147lbs, will eat muscle mass also.

I also know people who weigh around 150lbs, but look much bigger because they have low bodyfat and high muscular percentage. This is because they bulked to about 170lbs and then naturally cut by adding in cardio and watching what they ate.

Personally, I am at about 150lbs right now. I added a picture of myself at 150lbs/5'8".
ImageShack - Hosting :: copyof200809123lw8.gif This was after I had bulked up to 175lbs and then naturally and progressively cut it down (not a hard cut, just added in cardio/boxing/martial arts, watched what I ate but kept doing my basic lifts.)

[ShadowFury]

Ok. I don't have a training partner or anything, so I may just grab the nearest guy and ask him about form, lol.
I'm going to go on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Do I need to start bulking right now? Or can I just keep doing my cutting till I have a lower BF and then bulk? Even if I end up looking small, I'll be fine, because I know I'll end up bulking and then start the endless cycle of cut/bulk. But if I should start bulking right now, I'll go ahead and start that once my fat burning supps run out(Couple weeks).

What's everyone think about bulking while on CKD vs. a normal 40/40/20 or so?

[ShadowFury]

Well, that answers most of my questions, thanks

I'm going to bulk on the CKD I think, mainly because I don't feel like spending a week or two coming off the CKD and getting used to carbs again.

Guess that gives me about a week or 2 to get all my numbers right for once I start the bulkage

EDIT: Looked up his suggested routine, and I'm going to do the Tuesday/Thrusday/Saturday split. It will be easy to up my fat by just adding more PB and crap, but my protein is gonna be a bit harder. What is the best protein to get that's has less than, say, 8g non-fiber carbs, and cheap, lol. Money is an issue, so I need to find the best deals, while staying within my diets criteria. Although, I may switch to a TKD if there are no good protein shakes that are low carb.

EDIT...2: Looked more into our Anytime Fitness, and it's about $30 a month, which I could do. I'm going to go check it out tomorrow morning, or maybe tonight after work. My only thing would be that I would have no spotter while going at 8-9 at night, or early in the mornings :/ I have someone that I'm going to check with to see if he would like to go(he currently is turning his garage into a workout area, and invited me to come on over) So hopefully he will. Looking forward to this now

[RenegadeRows]

It won't really start an endless cycle of bulking and cutting. Once you build some muscle (bulk up), you can cut it down and then maintain a low BF% while gaining muscle slowly (clean bulking.)

First goal: gain muscle
Second goal: lose fat
Third goal: keep low fat and build muscle

You'll just achieve your goals quicker that way, rather than slowly gaining muscle and trying to keep your BF% low.

[ShadowFury]

Alright, that makes more sense.

Edited my post, now I'll be looking into Anytime Fitness, so I can o later and not have to rush over there. I'll be doing a 7-day free pass thing to check it out, so we will see. As for supps, I am only going to be using a shake afterwords, should I add anything else in to help with building muscle? I am just going to save the Napalm I have right now for after I get done with this. But will run the Leviathan out still.

[Rugger]

NBA players lift weights, and work out their legs too

[ShadowFury]

This is true

I'll be working them out as well, just don't want coach harping on me if I can't gun it because my legs are dead ^_^

On a side note, I haven't played my 360 for frikkin 2 months, I'm going to sell that for about 250-300 and grab me some more supps Any suggestions for shakes/something to help me build the muscle faster?
I was a couch potato that played vid games and watched TV, supps = help me with fitness, 360 = helped me get fat by sitting around.

[Rugger]

beta alanine, bcaa, x-factor, drive, igf-2, combat powder, prime, stoked, all good options.

[ShadowFury]

I meant more for a stack, or should I just stick to 2-3 of those?

[ShadowFury]

OK, I decided on Anabolic Pump and Prime. And I'll be eating more complex carbs, but no simple sugars. So, basically only oats/wheat bread around my workout, so if I workout between lunch and dinner, both will have a wheat sandwich, or oats, etc... because AP needs only complex carbs, from what I've read.

I'll be doing 2 bottles of each, and we shall see what happens

Dang I can't wait to start this.

EDIT: Prime is on 5 days, off 2, so I would just take it Tues-Sat. I can't do Mon-Fri because I will be lifting on Sat, so I'd rather miss it on a day of bball than a lifting day. Also, I'll be lifting after my bball on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so what I am supposed to take 30 mins before my workout, I can just take after bball right? Because I'm guessing it won't last through 2 hours of bball, then about another hour till I can get to the gym.

[Rugger]

I'd skip the anabolic pump. It doesn't seem to work for a lot of people and it is difficult to use properly, especially if you're in school.

I would buy:
1 kilo BCAA
1 kilo B/A
X-factor
Drive

That would be a great stack and you would most definitely see results.

[ShadowFury]

OK, after reading more, it seemed like the same for Prime, it was either awesome or just kinda bleh, seemed kinda expensive for a hit or miss supp Ah well, may try that later.

Would Drive + RPM + Xfactor be OK? Or should I definately stick in the BCAAs and B/A? I can do those 3 for 100, which would be perfect. Are the BCAAs and B/A going to make a worthwhile dif or am I OK with those 3?

EDIT: I mean is Drive/RPM/BCAAs alright to do, or is the x factor and B/As going to make a huge dif?

[RenegadeRows]

OK, after reading more, it seemed like the same for Prime, it was either awesome or just kinda bleh, seemed kinda expensive for a hit or miss supp Ah well, may try that later.

Would Drive + RPM + Xfactor be OK? Or should I definately stick in the BCAAs and B/A? I can do those 3 for 100, which would be perfect. Are the BCAAs and B/A going to make a worthwhile dif or am I OK with those 3?

EDIT: I mean is Drive/RPM/BCAAs alright to do, or is the x factor and B/As going to make a huge dif?

IMO you don't need drive at your age. But the RPM+BCAAs+Beta Alanine should be fine. I would save the XFactor until later down the road when you need an extra boost.

[ShadowFury]

IMO you don't need drive at your age. But the RPM+BCAAs+Beta Alanine should be fine. I would save the XFactor until later down the road when you need an extra boost.

Alright, thanks, that should be around the same price then, and should have me set for 2 months

I am going to try to get near 175 or so, maybe 170, then do the natural cut. Hoping to be in the shape I want by the time I start college next year

I'm going to be doing a low-carb, instead of CKD now. I'm going to put complex carbs for breakfast, and then 20 or so carbs for lunch, then dinner will be fat/protein. That sound OK?

[Rugger]

I still think bcaa/ba/drive/xfactor

[ShadowFury]

Well, only reason I'm going with RPM is that I've heard a lot of awesome stuff about it, I'm going to start with the BCAAs/BA/RPM, and if that's not giving me what I want in a week, then I may add the drive, but I think I'm going to love the RPM

[ShadowFury]

Alright people, won't be able to buy my new supps for a lil while, so I'm just going to begin my bulking without them at first.

I'm going to the gym tomorrow, and if I don't have a spotter, I'll be doing machines. I would still like to do free weights, but without a spotter it makes it harder, so I can't do as heavy. Well, I'm going to find what I will be doing for my sets/reps on machines, what % of that should my free weights be without a spotter? Or should I just stay away from them period without a spotter?

I know the stabilizer muscles are a big bonus to doing free weights, so I'd like to utilize that

[ShadowFury]

Sorry for the trip post people, but I just thought I'd update yall:

I found my max's for everything, and what I'll be doing them at for my 3x5, but I still have some questions.(Using Mark Rippetoe's routine)

Am I able to just do both workouts in 1 day and still do it every other day(1 bonus rest day on weekends). It seems kinda short to just do A and B, even with the warmups, unless I should do a 2 min rest instead of 1, but it seems like I'm just sitting there, bored, ready to go again, lol.

I'm also having to do machines, so that really sucks, but I have no spotter. I know I can grab someone, but I'm the new scrub, and, well, I haven't done most of these exercises, so it's easing me into all of it. I want to go to free weights after a couple months of machines, and I know my weight I can do will drop quite a bit, but my ego can take a hit.

I'll be working out at about 7-8 at night, and I get done with bball at 5, so is 2 hours enough? And I'd be taking BCAAs after bball and prolly a protein shake.

And just something I need to say...eating 2600 cals on this CKD is freaking INSANE. So hard to do without carbs