Help my workout - back to 101

[BrandonSS]

Hey guys, this may be my first post... so I'm hoping this is the correct place to post this, if not, I apologize in advance and will gladly repost this where it is appropriate.

Lets start with ME.

I'm 27 years old, 6'0 and currently 182lbs. My BF is way higher than I want, last checked was around 15% (IIRC) and I've found with aging.. its hard and harder to melt off.

I've been working out for the past 2 years pretty consistently. So I will go back to when I just started.

I was 24 years old and weighed roughly 155lbs. Body fat was around the same, perhaps slightly lower. I ran track in college and was a baseball player. So in college I focussed on light lifting and cardio and training. So I was very lean, down around the 8% mark since my 6 pack was always visable. Now, not so much.

I started lifting with my current partner when I was 24. He followed and trained with AST Sport Science people for a few years and had absolutely amazing results. He went from 6'0 260lbs and 20%+ BF to a lean 5% 195lbs. I followed the same routine and have continued it since then with only a few breaks.

I slacked HARD on cardio but I have gained noticeable size over the last few years. My strength has increased but again is nowhere near where it should be in my opinion. When I started lifting my bench was a WEAK 145-155lbs. Last year I had a shoulder injury in baseball and stopped my bench at 175lbs. And my weight was around 170-175lbs.

I took a break to heal and picked up a side bar tending job so I had NO time to get to the gym with my office job and fun bar tending job... I started to eat crappy and my weight shot up to 196lbs and lost all definition I aquired.

December 08. Started hitting the gym again after a full recovery in my rotator. Weight was 196lbs - bench (for gauging strength a little) was 155.

Typically do 8 sets of 4-6 reps per body part.

Example Chest Day
4 warm up sets. 3 increasing 1 acclimation 5-10lbs below my set
Flat Bench - 3 sets 4-6reps
Incline Db press - 3 sets 4-6 reps
Flat Bench - 2 sets of 4-6 reps
Abs generally on the same day as Chest

Most days are the same format. Bi's Tris, Back, Legs, etc

Anyway, March 09 - currently at 182lbs - bench is up to 215 (was 225 until I started daily and 2 a day cardio to cut some of this damn fat for the beach)

Basically... I'm eating CLEAN. And I have been for the longest time.

I try to consume 3000 calories and at least 250+ protein. Carbs are kept to a minimum but I dont avoid them all together.

Daily since December has looked like this:

Oatmeal and a VP2 protein shake for breakfast (some days I'll have eggs)
2 hours later a 100% whey protein shake (usually just a GNC brand 100% whey for slow absorbing filler)
1 hour later lunch - usually some greens and a chicken breast or 2 in a wrap
2 hours later - whey protien
2 hours later workout time:
30 min Pre workout - AST Anabolic Rush, Glutamine, and VP2 hydrolyzed protein.
immediate Post Workout - Glutamine and Vp2
30 minutes post workout, small meal - potato or white rice and lean meat
1hour later same small meal
Before bed - 3-5mg GABA and a serving of Whey

So basically I want to switch it up... incorporate some new supplements and replace what is inferior to other products that you all swear by. I'm even up for a PH or booster, but I've been reading this board for the last month and my head is SPINNING from all the talk, the sticky posts, the FAQs and mixed opinions.

I'm no where near as knowledgable as most of you, which is why im posting this. I want insight and I want help. I've seen the AST Sports Science supplements and method work, but for some reason, I'm not getting ANYWHERE now.

I'd like to gain size and burn fat... period. I lost a very noticeable amount of strength when I started hitting the cardio hard... even when supplementing VP2 around my cardio sessions and then some...

Be easy on me! But I'm here to absorb some knowledge! And sorry for the length of the post, I just thought I'd try to cover all grounds that could be asked.

Thanks in advance

 

[mw525]

you need to not rely so much on your shake and get some more protein from food sources. you need to eat about 4 meals a day and two meal replacement shakes but defeneitly do not use whey protein alone as a meal replacement and expect to put on size.. you also need to replace some of your carbs like the wraps or white rice with some complex carbs. try eating your meals three hours apart and let them consist of 40 grams of lean protein and if you want to bulk up do about 40 grams complex carbs per meal

 

[BrandonSS]

you need to not rely so much on your shake and get some more protein from food sources. you need to eat about 4 meals a day and two meal replacement shakes but defeneitly do not use whey protein alone as a meal replacement and expect to put on size.. you also need to replace some of your carbs like the wraps or white rice with some complex carbs. try eating your meals three hours apart and let them consist of 40 grams of lean protein and if you want to bulk up do about 40 grams complex carbs per meal

I have 4 meals a day and generally 4 chicken breasts a day or a mix of chicken and lean beef. I try to use a high gi carb like white rice or potatoes and a bulk of protein right around my workout. Its hard for me to get more lean protein between 7am and 6pm. I commute 40 minutes with rush hour to and from work. So during the day I try to eat a majority of low gi carbs like greens or brown rice with my protein lunch (almost every day its grilled chicken breast either alone, or as a sandwich or wrap. With my breakfast, lunch, and 2 meals structured around my workout, I thought the addition of supplementing whey protein shakes between would be beneficial?

Why would I want a high gi carb away from my workout?

 

[ljustman]

I have 4 meals a day and generally 4 chicken breasts a day or a mix of chicken and lean beef. I try to use a high gi carb like white rice or potatoes and a bulk of protein right around my workout. Its hard for me to get more lean protein between 7am and 6pm. I commute 40 minutes with rush hour to and from work. So during the day I try to eat a majority of low gi carbs like greens or brown rice with my protein lunch (almost every day its grilled chicken breast either alone, or as a sandwich or wrap. With my breakfast, lunch, and 2 meals structured around my workout, I thought the addition of supplementing whey protein shakes between would be beneficial?

Why would I want a high gi carb away from my workout?

First, I'd like to say that it sounds like you have a great base of knowldege so far. I find it most beneficial to take just two shakes a day, one post workout and one prior to bed. I've moved them around a lot and it seems like that timing works best. For post workout you may want to consider adding some creatine. For pre-workout I like BSN NO Xplode and have heard a lot of good things about Jacked3D.

As far as shedding the fat, you may not be getting enough calories for how hard you are working, but that's just one possibility. It's a very common mistake to think that the fewer calories the better, one that effected me for awhile. You also have to remember not to cut out the fat in your diet completely. Make sure it's healthy (flax seed oil, nuts, peanut butter, lowfat dairy, etc.). I also found that changing up my workouts alot helped too. As far as PHs go I did my first in depth cycle (LG stack) about a year or so ago and got great strength and size while shedding some fat. Here's a link for the details...

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