everything but the kitchen sink......

[helli3yte]

Hello all,

This is my first time on this forum and frankly i dont know where to start. So i will start at the begining. I have been working out now for a full 8 months. I'm 6ft1, between 164-165 although it will probably be under 164 this friday when i weigh myself. Anyways, ive started at 200 lbs and i havent worked out in 10 years at that point so i would consider this a drastic change for good , god bless. What im trying to get at is , i went and received a membership at bally's and i hired a personal trainer, which lasted about 6 months before i said enough is enough. You would not believe what that cost me. I work out 6 days a week religously in the evenings only, except on sundays when im at the gym before lunch working my legs. So what im looking for is some great advice as to what i should be doing and if im doing things right, etc... I would also love to get a great diet plan because i think im putting in all this work and moving very slow. I could be wrong though. Here is my workout routine and what i eat on a daily basis. Please help.

By the way im trying to build lean muscle, make arms bigger, abs, chest. yadda yadda.

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Mon, Wed, Fridays. Cardio only, stairmaster 30 minutes. calories lost 600-620 depends.

Tues. Bi's Tri's

Thursday. Chesty's, Back is somewhere in there when i do the machines.

Sundays: Legs
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Food.

Monday , Wed, Fridays

breakfast: cup/bowl of bran flakes + 1%milk
9am. Apple or any 1 piece of fruit

12-2pm. i put that time range since i might lunch a little later than 12. 6-8oz i think thats what it is of Salmon with another piece of fruit (if i bring in my own lunch) . If i go out to eat, i go to the sushi place and only get the salmon teriyaki which comes with a small salad with ginger dressing and a bowl of miso soup. The salmon teriyaki lookes like 6-8oz of salmon with a nice portion of green beans. no rice, but sometimes , which is not very often.

3 or 4pm. another piece of fruit.

6pm- piece of salmon 6-8oz salmon and piece of fruit.

7-9 depending what time i go to gym. but yeah i do the cardio , stairmaster 30 minutes, then leave.

later than that depends on how i feel i might down a couple shots of brandy. Hey im an adult damnit

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p.s. all weightlifiting lasts around 45min-1hr

Tuesdays, Thursdays, Sundays.

Same exact thing as all other days except these days when i weighlift at around 8pm or 9pm, then i come home and i add a proteing shake rated at 60g of protein and a peanut butter and sugar free jelly sandwich.
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any suggestions would be great. i would rather have someon stear me on the right track than continue for anothere 4 or however many months and wonder what i could have accomplished if i had the know how.

Thanks alot

[helli3yte]

p.s.

all weghtlifiting is done in 5x6

[santosa]

If you want to build muscle, cardio is NOT the main exercise you want to do. Cardio is very good if you want to cut fat. If you want to bulk, you need to eat enough and you need to do muscle building workout in addition to enough rests for your muscle to heal and grow.

For your workout, you can choose one of the routines here. Try not to invent a new routine unless you don't have the equipments like me. But if you have to create a new one, there are plenty of veterans here that are willing to help criticize your routine in this forum.

For your food, you want to find out how much calories you need first. Use the tool here. Then add 500 calories to the #. Your source of calories should be 30% protein, 50% carb, and 20% fat (good fat). This link has many good articles about diet and nutrition.

Once you get your diet sorted out, you want to add supplements. At first, just focus on protein supplements and multivitamin. Later on, you can add creatine.

[helli3yte]

no creatine for me. i do want to cut fat so i can finally have abs showing throuugh. what weiight do i need to be at to get them visible. i just weighed myself yesterday. im almost 163?

[santosa]

For abs to show without flexing, you need to have a low BF%. Exercise alone isn't enough. My guess is probably around 11% because when I started, I was at 12% and it wasn't showing unless I flexed. Now it does a little bit... My guess is because I've done some abs work and my BF has gone down a little.

Here are my abs exercises:
1. Plank 3x1 min
2. Twisting hanging knee raise 3x10 (no weight)
3. Decline crunch 3x10 (holding 10 lbs plate on my chest)

[helli3yte]

can you also supply that link for the guy that checks your body fat percentage.

[santosa]

Here it is: Want to know your body fat %