need a little help for an amateur!

[CamMan223]

Hey there, new to the forum, looking for some advice on cutting out about 10-15 pounds of fat and gaining some lean muscle. I just graduated high school, I played football freshman year and I believe I was in pretty good shape but then i started needing money. I got a job at a fast food restaurant with some buddies and lost my free-time and strong desire to workout. My goal now is to just trim away those last few pounds of fat and then size up to achieve that nice lean and toned look.
So, now it's time to get back into shape for life. I'm starting a job a bank in about a month and i'd like to get to a good slim but muscular size for my first professional job. I've been reading alot of articles and hitting the gym at the same time but I always find contradicting articles then while i'm at the gym, I always second guess myself mid-workout and lose focus because i'm unsure of what is detrimental or productive to my goals. Please tell me what I have overlooked in my workout plan: I will lift weights with high-rep with a goal of about 20 reps for each excercise, Day 1 is arms, Day 2 is legs, Day 3 is body with about 8-10 minutes of HIIT immediately after. The other days is where I really don't have a plan, should Day 4 be all cardio or should Day 4 be rest then start over again on Day 1? Also i've read 40% of my caloric intake should come from protein, 40% are to come from fat while only 20% carbs, is this a good goal to stick with?
Sorry about all the misguided questions but by the time this thread dies, i'd like to have a plan set in stone to follow until i get to my ideal size and i can switch to my bulking cycle again.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to lend a hand

 

[grinnell27]

Number 1 rule of weight gain/loss is always going to be your Diet. Make sure you have this right and you will start seeing results, the ratio you gave of 40/40/20 is a good start. So it will depend on your weight on how many grams you eat of each. You state your weight at 148lb at 5'9.

So an example of your 40/40/20 at your weight of only 148lb would be this: 170p/170c/40f
Thats your maintenance calories, to lose wight it would look like: 150p/150c/35f.

As your a beginner id personally go with the maintence calories option and see how you get on, as a newbie you will normally make good progress for a while.

Also id Drop the 20rep scheme... Go for between 8-12 slightly heavier, this is the normal rep range for muscle growth, which is what you want.
Also id probably design a routine looking like this:

Mon- Chest
Tue- Back
Wed- Legs
Thur- Shoulders
Fri- Arms

Would also personally throw in 10-20mins of HIIT 2-3x a week.

 

[Billy R]

My first thought is a general concept- Realize that dogged, consistent effort will take you far. The key is to make exercise become a habit. Get on a lifting schedule and stick to it. While the exercises you do will change, the fact that you're exercising should not. Besides injuries, there are no excuses for not lifting.......My second thought(Which Grinnell already mentioned)Is to lift heavier weights. I am not a big fan of the "Toning" approach to weightlifting. Build muscle, and you will look toned. In general, If I can do 15 reps of a particular exercise, I feel like I need to put more weight on the bar.

Hey there, new to the forum, looking for some advice on cutting out about 10-15 pounds of fat and gaining some lean muscle. I just graduated high school, I played football freshman year and I believe I was in pretty good shape but then i started needing money. I got a job at a fast food restaurant with some buddies and lost my free-time and strong desire to workout. My goal now is to just trim away those last few pounds of fat and then size up to achieve that nice lean and toned look.
So, now it's time to get back into shape for life. I'm starting a job a bank in about a month and i'd like to get to a good slim but muscular size for my first professional job. I've been reading alot of articles and hitting the gym at the same time but I always find contradicting articles then while i'm at the gym, I always second guess myself mid-workout and lose focus because i'm unsure of what is detrimental or productive to my goals. Please tell me what I have overlooked in my workout plan: I will lift weights with high-rep with a goal of about 20 reps for each excercise, Day 1 is arms, Day 2 is legs, Day 3 is body with about 8-10 minutes of HIIT immediately after. The other days is where I really don't have a plan, should Day 4 be all cardio or should Day 4 be rest then start over again on Day 1? Also i've read 40% of my caloric intake should come from protein, 40% are to come from fat while only 20% carbs, is this a good goal to stick with?
Sorry about all the misguided questions but by the time this thread dies, i'd like to have a plan set in stone to follow until i get to my ideal size and i can switch to my bulking cycle again.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to lend a hand

 

[CamMan223]

Number 1 rule of weight gain/loss is always going to be your Diet. Make sure you have this right and you will start seeing results, the ratio you gave of 40/40/20 is a good start. So it will depend on your weight on how many grams you eat of each. You state your weight at 148lb at 5'9.

So an example of your 40/40/20 at your weight of only 148lb would be this: 170p/170c/40f
Thats your maintenance calories, to lose wight it would look like: 150p/150c/35f.

As your a beginner id personally go with the maintence calories option and see how you get on, as a newbie you will normally make good progress for a while.

Also id Drop the 20rep scheme... Go for between 8-12 slightly heavier, this is the normal rep range for muscle growth, which is what you want.
Also id probably design a routine looking like this:

Mon- Chest
Tue- Back
Wed- Legs
Thur- Shoulders
Fri- Arms

Would also personally throw in 10-20mins of HIIT 2-3x a week.

Okay so you're saying 40% of calories should be carbs? I had thought only 20% of caloric intake should come from carbs. At least that's what i had read in an article on Bodybuilding.com on how to focus on HIIT. But the same article never mentioned weight lifting so that may be where its coming from.
In this 5-day plan, the other 2 days are they for rest only or should i still be at the gym maybe conditioning or endurance cardio or something of that sort?

 

[grinnell27]

Okay so you're saying 40% of calories should be carbs? I had thought only 20% of caloric intake should come from carbs. At least that's what i had read in an article on Bodybuilding.com on how to focus on HIIT. But the same article never mentioned weight lifting so that may be where its coming from.
In this 5-day plan, the other 2 days are they for rest only or should i still be at the gym maybe conditioning or endurance cardio or something of that sort?

Correct, 40% carbs, 40% protein 20% fat is a great starting point. 20% of carbs is very low, low carb diets work but personally I dont like them. Im not as full and strongnot to mention being very lethargic all the time, Id only do it for the last few weeks before a show then do a refeed.
I currently cut on 250g carbs and lose weight fine and stay strong.

Yes personally I would take 2days off lifting, but feel free to add maybe one day doing 20-25min cardio session of LISS.

 

[CamMan223]

Alright, I know 40g of fat is not hard to find, carbs can be easily supplemented with fruits right? Or should they come more from complex carbs? But 175g of protein may be kind of hard with my current diet. I've been thinking about switching it up to eggs in the morning for breakfast with some juice that has a vegetable and fruit mix, either one made of my own or V8 Fusion, and maybe a piece of dry toast. I thought about rotating my lunch and dinner occasionally but for lunch, grilled chicken mixed in with a bit quinoa but I'm still looking for sides, for dinner, a lot of the times I'm at work for this so I usually pack it, a turkey sandwich on whole wheat, with Swiss cheese also I have a couple ideas of sides but I'd like to hear some of yours first? Or does my diet sound like **** and I'm going the wrong way?

 

[Jiigzz]

You need more fats than 40g. Ratios are terrible to work off. You work off g/lb as this will factor in your own needs.

Also once a week splits arnt ideal IMO because people can recover much faster than they allow

Days like:

Chest/shoulder/tris
Legs/back/core
Shoulders/chest/bis
Back/legs/core

Work wonders. Or some varient thereof

 

[newguyinhere2]

Okay and what about supplements? I know they help a lot when trying to bulk but what about cutting phases? All I ale right now is the occasional whey protein shake but i know they should be immediately after a workout, once a day. What about creatine?

 

[grinnell27]

Take creatine 5g every day, dont bother cycling on/off. I take mine postworkout with my shake. You could add a fat burner in if you like and see how you get on? I personally never really use them, only because some are expensive for a mainly caffeine based product.