Help: Getting started the right way

BloodPoolKid

New member
Greetings,
I have spent the past 2 weeks or so reading every possible thread I could on getting started.

At the moment I am trying to plan a work-out schedule and the necessary supplements I need to consume in order to reach my goal.

Current State: I am about 5'10 and 179lbs, slim build but not skinny. I have worked out on and off for the past two years but never really achieving my desired results due to a lack of dedication and not knowing what to do exactly. Never really establishing a good routine and nutrition.

I had luck increasing the size of my biceps, but every other muscle I failed to increase in strength and size.

Goal: I would like to gain slight mass putting me in the range of a solid 185-190 lbs. I would like to bring definition to my physique. I don't necessary want to be "built" but certainly lean and muscular (unless those two are synonymous).

I am ready and committed to doing this the right way and now need some assistance in addition to the info I have gather from the forums and various.

/* STACK */
Here is what stack I have in place currently:
- WHEY Protein for both pre and post workouts and first thing in the A.M.
- No Xplode pre workout to provide the boost I need during workouts
- Amplified Creatine tablets for post work out (take 5g with post workout shake)

After reading the forums and articles I have made a few purchases and will start a different stack soon as they come in, here is what I will have:
- WHEY Protein for both pre and post workouts
- NBS CellMass
- ON 2:1:1 Recovery for bedtime consumption

I also take Multivitamins, 1 capsule of fish-oil daily (900mg), Green tea complex daily

I am looking for further suggestions/recommendations and what I should replace/add if anything.

/* ROUTINE */
I have yet to develop a routine, but have been doing various exercises found on the internet but I would like to develop some sort of plan.

As it stands now I work 10 hour shifts 4 days a week from 8pm-6am and plan to work out in the A.M. following my shift on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

I am looking for workout plan suggestions, such as type of exercises, sets and reps.

/* NUTRITION */
Here is where I get lost, what should I consume... I don't have the lifestyle that enables me to sit down and have a full course meal but I will do my best to adhere to a nutrition guide. Things I am not sure of is... how many calories, carbs and grams of protein should I consume in one day to help promote the changes/improves I strive for and then allow me to maintain my goals.


Any suggestions or guidance is appreciated. I want to improve my quality of life and look/better. My condition also plays a big part in my career so for me it is necessary to start a new way of living. Thanks. :fing02:
 
At your height and weight you have a decent build. You have a very realistic goal. Nutrition is the most important aspect. Make sure you get 250-300 grams of protein per day. If you use 2 scoops of whey, 1 cup of milk, and dilute with some water for your protein shake, that is about 50 grams of protein. Drink 2 of those a day for about 100 grams of protein, and get the rest from tuna / other fish, chicken, lean red meat. If you aren't already, stay away from soda and hydrogenated oils. Make sure you are well hydrated at ALL times to ensure good nutrient / waste exchange at the cellular level.

As far as training goes, I would suggest building a routine around the 4 major compound lifts - Military Press (shoulders), Deadlift (back), Squats (legs), and Bench Press (Chest)

For example:

Monday - Chest / Legs
-4-5 sets of squats
-4-5 sets of leg presses
-4-5 sets stiff legged deadlifts or seated hamstring curls
-4-5 sets calf raises
-4-5 sets incline bench press
-4-5 sets flat dumbell press
-3-4 sets of fly's or cable crossovers

Wednesday - Back / Triceps
-4-5 sets of deadlifts
-4-5 sets of pull downs
-4-5 sets of seated rows
-4 sets of shoulder shrugs
-4 sets of skull crushers
-4 sets of dips
-4 sets reverse grip triceps extensions

Friday - Shoulders / Biceps
-4-5 sets of seated military press - barbell
-4-5 sets of lateral raises - cable or dumbell
-4-5 sets of seated dumbell military press
-4 sets preacher curls
-4 seats dumbell curls - seated on an incline bench
-3 sets of cable curls

I think you would get great results. You will need to experiment on what lifts for each day work for you, and change up your routine now an then with different exercises. All your lifts should supplement the compound lifts. You will get gassed until you build up some endurance. Concentrate on using a weight that allows you to develop good form and then increase the weight.

Eat 1 cup of Oatmeal or Brown Rice 75-90 minutes before your workout rather than a protein shake. This will give you the energy to get through your workout. Take Protein shake right after you lift and then eat a meal about an 30-60 minutes later. Take your 2nd protein shake upon waking or prior to bed.

As far as supplements I think you are fine with what you have. I would increase the fish oil to 4-6 caps a day though. You might get a BCAA product like Xtend to drink during your workout. This will help with recovery, and you can add your own bulk products to it like Creatine, Taurine, Citrulline Malate, Beta Alanine, etc.

Check out the training and exercise science forum - there are great threads in there and you will learn about new lifting techniques and what not. If you have questions about a specific exercise or lift, search the forum and then ask if you have a specific question. You can actually go on you tube and there are a lot of good and not so good video's that demonstrate proper lifting techniques that are hard to describe in words. It is a very under-rated part of this forum, as opposed to the very overrated steroid forum.

Good luck to you, hope this helps.
 
i have a few suggestions for mass gainer exercises, but more importantly, i have to mention something real quick.


- ON 2:1:1 Recovery for bedtime consumption

this is a product for pre or post workout consumption. 35g of carbs pre bedtime will lower your growth hormone levels, which will make staying lean rather difficult. if you want something for bed, go with casein protein.

as far as compound exercises (more mass oriented), here's a few
back - deadlifts
back - pullups
biceps - chin ups
biceps - heavy cheat curls (not a beginners exercise)
tricep - close grip bench
tricep - dips keeping your body straight
chest - bench/incline bench
chest - dips keeping your body and head forward, legs back and crossed
legs - squats
legs - leg press
shoulders - upright rows
shoulders - military press

that's my list, and i would incorporate them with any mass routine. Lacradocious makes a good point - squats/deads/bench are by far the most important exercises to build serious size.

anyways, good luck with you, and your progress.
 
i would go
MONDAY (chest/shoulder/tris)

flat bench 3 sets
incline DB2 sets
Dips 1 set

DB shoulder press 2 sets
side laterals 1 set

Lying tricep extension 2 sets
pulldowns 2 sets


WEDNESDAY (LEGS)

squats 3 sets
lunge 1 set
straight leg deadlift 2 sets

seated calf raise 2 sets
standing calf raise 2 sets

shrugs: 2 sets

FRIDAY (back, bis, forearms)

pullups 3 sets
vbar pulldown 1 set
bent over row 2 sets
seated row 1 set

DEADLIFT: 2 sets

straight bar curl 2 sets
hammer curl 2 sets

standing forearm curls 3 sets



i have to disagree with lacradocious
a chest and leg day is insane. you have too concentrate on bench, deadlifts, and squats. those are the three days. bench with its muscle groups, squat with its, and deadlift with its muscle groups. You should NOT be able to squat after your bench workout if you have done is to maximum overload
 
Thank you all for your responses, I will follow through with your suggestions and see where is leads me.

I was under the impression that 2:1:1 recovery had casein protein in it which lead me to purchase it. No worries, I will browse around again and find a more suitable product.

Thank you all again.
 
BloodPoolKid said:
Thank you all for your responses, I will follow through with your suggestions and see where is leads me.

I was under the impression that 2:1:1 recovery had casein protein in it which lead me to purchase it. No worries, I will browse around again and find a more suitable product.

Thank you all again.
Click to expand...

pre bed you want casein only - no other protein, very low carbs :)
 
i would do myself a favour if i was you and throw away the noXplode and amplified creatine. complete unresearched garbage (sorry). get nice cheap micronized creatine monohydrate and cycle three days on at 20g a day and three days off over and over and over.

Do NOT skimp on your protein on off days.
you can make awesome gains on the program i listed.
more rest = more gains

here is my Pre and Post workout

PRE WORKOUT: 2 scoops whey, 40 g dextrose

POST WORKOUT: 2 scoops whey, 40g dextrose
POST WORKOUT (45 min later): 2 scoops whey, 33g dextrose
POST WORKOUT (1 hour later): 1 scoop whey, big bowl natural popcorn, natural potatoe chips (almost no fat)--> about 40g of carbs
POST WORKOUT (1 hour later): 125g chicken, 125g buffalo, 1 cup beans, 1 cup 1% milk, 20g almonds

now i am 6'5, 245, 7% BF so you may not need this amount of nutrients. i would still do the dextrose but would skip the 3rd post workout and eat less on the fourth one.

the time before and three hours after your workout you want simple carbs for an insulin spike. On ALL the other times anf days off you want LOW glycemic index carbs. No flour/sprouted grain bread, oatmeal, oat bran, milk, beans, etc



is it possible for you to workout the night before your shift? say 6pm?

it would be better to workout before, i have done the ten hour thing and it is hard to be intense after that much work

i think GNC, Muscletech, BSN are garbage. Maybe some of their products are OK but why would anyone want to pay so much for their stuff. i love companies like optimum nutrition, RPN, usplabs, nutraplanet
 
After giving it some thought, fritzer, and your suggestion might work out better for me as far as my workout schedule. It would allow me to adhere to a post workout schedule more so than if I did my workouts in morning. I would have that 10 hours ahead of me to insure I get all the proper nutrition and supplements intake.

I realize now, after reading all your posts, that I should have made this post prior to me purchasing supplements. I just read countless reviews and said "this sounds good" and then bought it. I will be making many of returns over the next week.

One other question, something I did not mention is that I have a slight gut, would any of the exercises routines suggested assist with eliminating the bulk down there and help improve the appearance? sorry for my ignorance as this is the first time I have took a serious approach to maintaining good health and a better body.
 
well i could talk all day about this stuff :)

but in reality everything i do the last 4 years has been Max-OT from Invalid Link Removed

sign up for their max-ot program (its free) and just read, it goes over everything. they have a nutritional calculator. your macronutrients will prob be around
350g protein
250g carb
45g fat

i'm ballparking... 250g carbs sounds like a lot but a 500mL juice has got over 70 carbs... almost a third of your day! if your drinking juice you are going to be hungry! haha

check out the site it will give you awesome info, don't buy their products though (they are awesome but $$$$$) go to GNC and pick up a big bag of optimum 100% whey, a 10lber will last you a while. get some cheap dextrose powder. and if you want creatine monohydrate

you may want to throw in some cardio on an off day if you are board
 
BloodPoolKid said:
After giving it some thought, fritzer, and your suggestion might work out better for me as far as my workout schedule. It would allow me to adhere to a post workout schedule more so than if I did my workouts in morning. I would have that 10 hours ahead of me to insure I get all the proper nutrition and supplements intake.

I realize now, after reading all your posts, that I should have made this post prior to me purchasing supplements. I just read countless reviews and said "this sounds good" and then bought it. I will be making many of returns over the next week.

One other question, something I did not mention is that I have a slight gut, would any of the exercises routines suggested assist with eliminating the bulk down there and help improve the appearance? sorry for my ignorance as this is the first time I have took a serious approach to maintaining good health and a better body.
Click to expand...

Don't worry, most of us, looking back have purchased the over hyped products. They are decent products, but they are way over-hyped and even more over priced. The best pre-workout, during workout drink I have had is the concoction I make myself mixing a scoop of Xtend with bulk nutraplanet Taurine, Beta Alanine, and Citrulline Malate.

As your diet gets better and your training progresses, your gut will go down eventually. Squats, Leg Presses, and Deadlifts actually work my core very well. I have been trying to get into a habit of kicking out 3 sets of 25 crunches after my leg routine, but I am usually spent afterward. And I, like most people, don't like crunches very much.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top