Hi all, I'm feeling a bit rubbish - I've been working out a fair bit recently and trying to control my eating, particularly snacking. I've got a normal, healthy diet and pretty much only snack on fruit these days. However, I've yet to see any real improvement. I started working out in my room at home about 6 weeks ago, and heading to the gym a lot for the past fortnight or so. My gym routine (with a 2 mile walk there and back with hills) - cycle for 10-15 minutes (used to be 2 miles in 10 mins, now 5.5k in 15) then weights to work on each muscle group - legs, arms, shoulders etc Home routine (twice daily, once if I've been to the gym) - 50 situps holding my legs vertically, 40 situps touching elbow to opposite leg, 30 pressups, 30 tricep dips Basically I've only seen an improvement in the actual workout - easier to lift weights, easier cardio etc., but nothing in terms of how I look. Can anyone recommend how I can adapt my workout routine to make it more efficient to get more defined (not necessarily larger) muscles? Thanks.
I play racquetball. That probably doesn't exactly answer your question, but I would try to get involved in another activity along with weight lifting and muscle toning. Something that allows you to move about naturally while still building strength and speed.
There's likely a layer of fat covering up the muscles that are definitely developing. And it's tough to lose it. While your diet might be healthy, could it be that it's still too much? In the program I have done, there is very little fruit even - because fruit is high in sugar and energy. Also - no carbs for a month! That's where the fat burn takes place. It also sounds like you're working out a lot! Maybe too much. Again, the program I have done (P90X) has you do resistance training one day (i.e. weigh lifting, sit ups, etc) and cardio the next day. And even when resistance training, certain muscle groups are worked out only once a week - but intensely. I'm going solely based on what I've done in this program. I'm not an expert by any stretch. But I've lost 45lbs since last summer, and I'm starting to see some definition. My stomach is taking shape - which is pretty cool. I've never had abs before that you could see - and they're starting to peak through!
Don't eliminate carbs! Just moderate your intake in general. Carbs give you the energy you need to get through the day and as soon as you start eating carbs after a period of not eating them, the weight will just pile back on. It just puts your body in this wave of ups and downs and is not very healthy. A healthy body is much more attractive and good than one that is strained!
Thanks for the advice. I've been reading around a fair bit today and I'm thinking of ways in which to boost the old metabolism. Most sources seem to suggest that a high protein diet containing amino acids can boost it - is it recommended to start on the protein shakes etc? With regards carbs, the only real intake I have is white bread (prefer it over the brown), although I'd be willing to sacrifice it for the benefit of my stomach.
1. Don't go near protein shakes. The looks you're going for are a lifestyle choice, not a 'workout and achieve' type situation; and milkshakes aren't something you can do for the rest of your life. 2. How much white bread? It really is a bad form of carbs! 3. 6 weeks is crap all time, 6 weeks would be the earliest I would expect to see any results for you, also your cardio work is very minimal. When I first started working out I would do 50 minutes on bike, then treadmill, then rowing, then 40 mins on cross trainer and then 30 mins on a stepper. Im aware that you most likely don't have that amount of time, but you definitely need to sacrifice some time from weights and do higher intensity cardio. Can you do butterfly stroke swimming? If so, do 30 mins of that with a little stopping as possible.
It's still early. When doing weight work, you will see strength gains and muscle tone develop pretty quickly. Definition and mass take months to develop. Muscle grows slowly but the nice thing is that once it develops, it's with you for a long time. You might look on the net for a nutrition/calorie calculator to make sure that you're getting adequate calories and protein in your diet. Both are needed to develop muscle from working out.
How much white bread - 2 slices to make a sandwich at lunch - nothing major. I'll up the cardio a bit I guess. I've got enough time on my hands to add a bit of extra cardio to the routine, so will probably add rowing a couple of km to the routine. Annoyingly I've never been much of a swimmer - I can but not butterfly.
but... but I like my protein shakes! a casin protein shake before I go to bed on the nights I work out to provide a slow and steady release of protein while my body recovers from a weight workout so it does not go catabolic and run out of nutrition to rebuild with sure beats downing a heaping bowl of cottage cheese before sleep.
Thanks for the advice - it's given me some stuff to think about and incorporate. With regards to calorie intake - I average around 1750-2000 calories per day, and am fairly active - in order to get to uni or the gym it is a 2 mile walk up/downhill each day and I'm working out a lot, so probably managing to burn more than that.
Ah- you might want to do a calorie count and nutrition profile, then. The caloric requirements for people in your age group are normally much higher- more in the 2500-3500kcal range for average height-weight body types. One of the great challenges in putting on mass is to consume calories needed to build and maintain muscle without putting on fat. It's why many atheletes eat smaller, more frequent meals.
This was my thinking with the protein shakes. Presumably keeping my calorie count down with the amount of exercise I do should speed up fat burn but still have enough protein to build the muscle. I went again earlier and changed my routine slightly - 15 minutes cycle, 10 minute row, 10 minute cycle, some resistance work on my chest. Coupled with the walk there and back I think I'll be burning enough in this session.
you need to add some cardio to your workout, get that heart rate up about 20 minutes if you're not used to it then add 10 minutes each week or 2.
From what you've said it sounds like you're working out every muscle group multiple times each day. Your muscles need time to rest/repair. You would do a lot better thoroughly working each muscle group on a separate day, doing each about twice per week. Also you said you have been noticing that lifting was getting easier. Increase the weight, or you won't see further gains or increased mass. And to get more out of your lifting, you could try doing it before your cardio.
