Time To Exercise!

I recommend that you get a gym membership and start a 5x5 program. Really doesn't matter which one, as there are numerous and they're all pretty similar. If you wan't I can PM you the one I've personally found to be most effective.

As for diet...eat more. ;-)

In all seriousness, essentially don't eat junk (avoid sugary and salty crappy snacks, soda, etc.), eat enough to maintain a caloric surplus, and try to increase your protein intake. Obviously eat lots of vegetables and fruit. As for how much protein you need...Most people recommend at least 1 gram per lb of bodyweight. That should be fairly easy to do with your current bodyweight. Technically, I believe the most recent scientific studies have show that 1.4 grams is the optimal amount. (Rolls eyes.) It truthfully really doesn't matter a ton, especially if you're just starting. In particular, for you, since you're going to be starting testosterone soon anyway, it's not going to make a huge impact. If you want you can buy protein bars to eat for snacks, and protein powder to make shakes, which you should take after your workout. It will help, but it's not necessary. Equally you could also supplement with creatine, if you wanted. Essentially just try to increase your protein intake and maintain a caloric surplus.

 

Little comment from me: Bicep curls are useless. Bench press trains the whole arm and a bit of your shoulders. I had far better results from bench press than bicep curls plus other arm excercises. I also found that if you do one exercise, 1-2 set, 10 reps with
the weight you can almost not make it 10 times works best. This how I do it. Probably try it, saves a lot of time

 

Okay, I really, really recommend that you get a gym membership, and follow either a 5x5 program, or some sort of bodybuilding program, depending on your goals. (5x5 focuses more on strength, while a bodybuilding program focuses more on building muscle.)

There's several problems with your workout routine.

The first is that you're doing the same thing every day with almost no variation. You can't do that. Muscles need time to recover. You'll want to wait at least 48 hours before training the same muscle group again.

The second is that you have no rest days. Rest is important. If you don't rest enough you will overtrain, feel like shit, and it will be detrimental to your health.

The third is that your routine neglects training lots of muscles. Namely your entire back, but also the lateral head of your deltoids and your legs. (Walking will not build leg muscle.) Training your back (lats, rear deltoids, rhomboids, traps, erector spinae, etc.) is especially important for someone who sits at the computer a lot. Because you're hunched over so much, those muscles don't get used and atrophy. This problem is then exacerbated by only training the muscles on the front of your body. The muscle imbalances get worse, and it will likely result in injury. (Usually a shoulder injury, but other injuries are possible.)


I can give you a workout routine to do, but I will need to know the following:

1.) What equipment do you have access to? Will you be working out at home or can you get a gym membership to a place that has free weights?

2.) What do you want more right now: to get stronger or to build muscle? You will do both regardless of what program I give you, but you can train for one over the other. Unless someone has quite a significant muscular imbalance, I usually recommend a strength program to start out with.

---------- Post added 12th Jul 2016 at 04:21 AM ----------

Well, curls are only useless if they're the only thing you do. As long as you also do other exercises, and train your body in a balanced manner, they're a great exercise.

 

I would strongly suggest getting a personal trainer. They can tell you how to exercise and help you figure out your diet. Honestly, 196 grams of protein a day sounds insane. I don't think that's right. And your carbs...bread isn't the best choice. You'll need complex carbohydrates like brown rice and sweet potatoes. Things like that. If you meet with an expert you'll learn so much, and they'll help keep you motivated. Good luck!

 

Wow, didn't even see that part when I read your post.

Yeah, like Lindsey23 said, 196 grams of protein a day is absolutely ridiculous and totally unnecessary. On workout days, I try to shoot for one gram per lb of bodyweight, but honestly I'd be surprised if I actually reach that more than about 25% of the time. Also, while bread is okay to eat in small amounts, don't make it your primary source of carbs.

I'm a little more skeptical of personal trainers than many people, simply because I've seen a LOT of personal trainers who've had their clients doing really stupid shit. But if you can find a good one, and you have the money, it's not a bad idea.


Regarding your access to weights....

You're going to have to be a little more specific. Do you have a gym membership? (And a real membership, not some crappy planet fitness type place.)

If not, do you have access to a 45 lb Olympic barbell with variously sized plates to put on it? If so, do you also have the ability to squat (will require a squat rack) and bench press (preferably one with an adjustable seat, or a separate bench entirely for incline)?

In short, I need to know exactly what you have available to you.

Again, ideally you could simply get a gym membership and have access to all the equipment you need, but I'll understand if you don't have a good one in your area or if you can't afford it.


I find it extremely unlikely that your back is more developed, especially if you don't really do much in the way of physical activity. Your shoulders probably round forward quite a bit and you don't even know it. But hey, I could be wrong.


Moving on...

You say that you're "lifting" 8 lb dumbbells. How are you lifting it? Are you doing curls? Kickbacks? Lateral Raises? And for how many reps? If you're doing more than 20 reps in a set with any given weight, the weight is too light. Heck, 95% of the time you really shouldn't go above 15 reps. (Extremely high rep training does have its place, but it definitely shouldn't be the staple.)

Traditionally, people will say that training in the 1-5 rep range is best for strength, and that training in the 8-12 rep range is best for muscle hypertrophy (growth.)

While that's a good general rule to go by, there's a lot more too it than that.

Strength is actually largely function of the nervous system, and training in the 1-5 rep range helps your nervous system learn to recruit your muscle fibers to exert more force. However, training in the 1-5 rep range also results in muscle hypertrophy, primarily myofibrillar hypertrophy. Myofibrillar hypertrophy essentially means that the myofibrils (the rod like units of the muscle cell) increase in size. This is also associated with an increase in strength, as well as an increase in the overall size of the muscle.

Training in the 8-12 rep range (or higher) on the other hand, while still stimulating myofibrillar hypertrophy (albeit, to a lesser extent) also stimulates proportionally more of the second type of muscle hypertrophy: sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. Essentially your muscles swell with more sarcoplasm, which is associated with a proportionally larger increase in overall muscle size (when compared to myofibrillar hypertrophy), increased glycogen storage, and resist fatigue.

Contrary to popular belief, you cannot train one without training the other, however you can prioritize your training one way or the other. It is also worth noting that an increase in myofibrillar hypertrophy also increases the potential for sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. In English that means that the stronger you are, the more potential you have to get bigger muscles. But if you ONLY lift heavy weight in the 1-5 rep range, you won't get as big as you would if you were on a periodized bodybuilding program that also incorporated high reps in addition to low rep training.

Make sense?

I should also add that everyone's body is different, and that different muscle groups and certain people overall respond best to different types of training. This just depends on the type of muscle fibers you primarily have. Some people respond better overall to high reps, high timer under tension, and lower weight. Others respond better with really heavy weight and low reps. Most people have different areas of the body that respond differently.


For a beginner, you're going to see a fair amount of hypertrophy in a short period of time no matter what you do (by virtue of the SAID principle), which is why I usually recommend a strength based program to start. It can also be a bit much to start out on a bodybuilding hypertrophy program. (Keep in mind you can still go heavy doing that too.) Because your body isn't used the the stress of lifting, combined with the greater frequency, volume, and variety of exercises, it can be pretty hard on your joints, and you will have extreme muscle soreness to start out with. Sure, you'll see a tiny bit more muscle mass, but it won't be a huge difference than if you start out on a strength program, and you also probably won't be as strong (at least overall and on your main compoud lifts).