Need some help/suggestions about my workout

[Zkeya]

Hello!

Before I start, I'll give you some background info:
I'm 19 years old male, around 1.85m tall and 69 kgs ( I think 13-14% body fat). I don't really want to lose or gain weight, unless it's needed, but I'd like to build some more muscle. I used to play basketball and tennis, but had to give up due to studying and a sprained ankle (almost broken), so for about 2 years I wasn't really working out.
I have a membership at the university gym, but last year I wasn't able (*cough* dedicated enough *cough*) to workout a lot.
The gym is really equipped, altought I don't think there are any personal trainers.

For about 1.5 month, I've been working out at home with some dumbbells (3kg ones, which are really light :/), mainly chest, arms and abs (my legs are in a good condition, so no need to focus on them). The gym is now open again and I plan on starting to work out there, in addition to continue working out at home. The plan is to go to the gym 3-4 times a week, working out at home the remaining days (unless it's needed to not work out 1-2 times/week).

I'll probably be running 2-2.5kms to warm up (treadmill), doing some weights (not sure if it's the correct term) for 40-60 minutes and then running a bit more.
Also, I'll probably start playing basketball again with some friends, but that may be completely casual.
Since I'd be working out at home too, I'd like to do some yoga, but I don't really know what to do :/

I want to pick up another sport:

I don't like football and swimming.
Tennis would be nice, but since I haven't played for a long time and none of my friends knows how to play, I wouldn't really workout.
I'm thinking of long jump/ short-distance running or hurdles. I've tried them a bit in the past and if I can fit them in my schedule it would be awesome!

The main problem is that I can't really control my diet.
I eat breakfast most of the times between 7-8 and dinner between 21-22. I also try to eat a fruit or two during late afternoon.
I'm almost everyday at the university from 9-15/16 and even though there is a restaurant at the campus, the dishes tend to be full of fat. Sometimes I eat a sandwich (white bread, feta cheese, olives, tomato) for lunch, or skip lunch completeley (which is bad). (the gym is also at the campus and my home is 45-50 minutes away since I'm not driving yet)

Some more things you may need to know:

I drink a lot of coffee (3-4 espresso's/day but without any sugar).
I don't like fish, except tuna and salmon.
I like chicken and turkey, but grilled, not roasted.
I drink some alcohol about once a week (not much, around 1-2 glasses, mixed with cola).
I don't drink soft drinks (except the cola mentioned above).
I avoid oily stuff (like mayonnaise, fries etc) and candies.
I walk a lot (almost an hour everyday, but that may change soon, since I'll be getting my drivers license).
I'd like my abs to be visible.
I don't really want to use a protein shake, unless it's 100% needed

So, to end this post: I want some suggestions about what to eat to avoid the diet problem mentioned above, which sport I should pick up, etc so I can build some more muscles!

I'll gladly provide more info, so feel free to ask!
Thanks!

TL;DR: Looking for suggestions to build some more muscles. Need info about working out at the gym, yoga and a new sport. I can't really control when and what I'll eat for lunch. (1.85m, 69kgs, male)

[Cleisthanes]

Well for starters I am from America so my experience might differ slightly from things available to you. If you want to gain muscle and have abs at the same time focus on which things you want to improve.

If you want more defined abs look up some exercises for your abs and do 1000 repitions (give or take based on your current fitness) and run alot. Cardio causes you to lose the fat around these muscles so that your muscles become more defined.

Also look into to adding more whey protein and carbs into your diet but ONLY if you have the motivation to then work that off. There are a ton of different supplements that are good or bad so make sure to ask around your gym what people use.

As far as your diet eating healthy can sometimes be hard especially as a college student. This might mean having to buy food at the grocery store and bring your own lunch to eat between classes. If you are going to be active a diet consisting of proteins and good carbs are your best bet. My college room mate was a body builder and he would eat at least 12 peanut butter sandwich's which are a perfect source of protein and carbs thats rather inexpensive.

Its of course good to still eat your vegetables and fruit. If you eat salads make sure to stay away from dressings that are high in fat such as ranch or caeser and try to use more vinegarette's.

As far as sports go soccer(might be football in your country) is great because it requires a vast amount of stamina and endurance.


Always push your self further and further than the day before. I personally alternate running and working out my core every other day with increased intervals.

You will notice your body will start to plateau at a certain point which is your time to push further. Any other questions feel free to ask.

[Deleted]

If you want more defined abs look up some exercises for your abs and do 1000 repitions

That won't build much (If any) abdominal muscle if you're working in the 1000's rep range.
Abs are a muscle just like any other, you wouldn't do 1000 bench presses to get a bigger chest would you?
Muscles respond best to heavy-ish weight in the 8-12 rep range if you're looking to build muscle.
Ultimately visible abs are all about bodyfat, you need to become leaner if you want to see your abs, however this may go against your goal of wanting to pack on muscle a bit.

Cardio causes you to lose the fat around these muscles so that your muscles become more defined.

To lose fat you need to burn more energy than you consume, cardio will help you reach a calorie deficit, however running won't burn fat if your diet is bad (Eating too much).

The diet thing is a bit of a bummer, if you can't really choose what you eat.

[Zkeya]

Ultimately visible abs are all about bodyfat, you need to become leaner if you want to see your abs, however this may go against your goal of wanting to pack on muscle a bit.

Well I don't really want to lose or gain a lot of weight, so shouldn't be too bad

The diet thing is a bit of a bummer, if you can't really choose what you eat.

Well I was thinking of keeping myself from getting hungry with some healthy snacks and combine my lunch with my after-workout meal. Probably not the best thing to do, but I don't really have many choices :/

[Shik Valentine]

You could do a recomp(eating at maintenance) & lift heavy since you want to stay @ the same weight, but that will take longer than a cutting/bulking cycle. But seeing that you just started up again after a fairly long break, you could experience "noob gains"(able to build muscle & burn fat[anecdotal evidence for the most part]). Don't worry about eating at specific times, eat when it's convenient for you, will not make a difference. Protein shakes aren't necessary, they should only be used if you don't get enough from your diet or just don't have the time to eat.

Edit: looked at your stats. If you're really 6'1 ~150, I would honestly bulk. You're already fairly lean & 14% bf.

[Deleted]

Hello!


For about 1.5 month, I've been working out at home with some dumbbells (3kg ones, which are really light :/), mainly chest, arms and abs (my legs are in a good condition, so no need to focus on them).

.

Dont neglect legs in training.

[Projali]

Hello!

my legs are in a good condition, so no need to focus on them

Hahahahahahaha....ha. Your legs are accustomed to doing what you do every day already. Train them. Also, don't listen to the guy telling you to do 1000 reps of ab work. That's not what gets you washboard abs. The most effective exercise to get a 6-pack is a plate-pushaway (proper dieting). I wouldn't concern yourself with the leaning up portion right now because you need some mass on you to make lean look good instead of sickly. I've got an inch and 25lbs on you and it's still not a great look when I drop that last ~3% BF for a 6-pack.

Pretty good beginner's start: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843
You could also do Starting Strength. That's what I did to get started with body building and it brought my lifts up quite a bit.

TL;DR: Looking for suggestions to build some more muscles. Need info about working out at the gym, yoga and a new sport. I can't really control when and what I'll eat for lunch. (1.85m, 69kgs, male)

You CAN control when and what you eat for lunch if you pre-plan your meals. Buy some tupperware, an insulated bag and some ice packs, cook 2-3 days of meals in advance and voila.

You WILL NOT make effective gains if you aren't methodical about your approaches. 6pm will roll around and you'll be at the gym or getting home and realize how little you've eaten and how little time left in the day you have. It's a healthy lifestyle and you have to treat it as such. There's no shortcuts, 100% accountability on the individual.

Check out the link in Shikomei's sig on macronutrients. Your diet is severely lacking in a proper macro distribution and even quantity, for that matter.

[Zkeya]

Hahahahahahaha....ha. Your legs are accustomed to doing what you do every day already. Train them. Also, don't listen to the guy telling you to do 1000 reps of ab work. That's not what gets you washboard abs. The most effective exercise to get a 6-pack is a plate-pushaway (proper dieting). I wouldn't concern yourself with the leaning up portion right now because you need some mass on you to make lean look good instead of sickly. I've got an inch and 25lbs on you and it's still not a great look when I drop that last ~3% BF for a 6-pack.

Pretty good beginner's start: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843
You could also do Starting Strength. That's what I did to get started with body building and it brought my lifts up quite a bit.

I'm training my legs, but I focus more on my chest/arms. I'll definitely do more when I start going to the gym (probably by Monday).
I'll try to find more about the meals on the campus' restaurant.

I've read the thread about nutrition, I'll try to follow it as much as I can. Seems that I'll probably need 2666 (-.-) calories (~110g protein, 330g carbs), unless I did a mistake on the calculations.

Some more help about sports would be appreciated!

[Shik Valentine]

Post your stats & anything else the Calculator asks for. I'll double check for you later tonight if you'd like.

[solari]

you're 19... eat like there's no tomorrow and don't worry about a 6-pack because you're not a model. train your abs and lower back muscles once a week and focus on strength training, get back at us when you're squatting 400lb i'll give you some tips on how to get your abs popping.

[Zkeya]

Post your stats & anything else the Calculator asks for. I'll double check for you later tonight if you'd like.

(number in my previous post are off, I hadn't checked my body fat for a while and I used total body mass, instead of lean body mass in on calculation).
I used this calculator to count my body fat. Result was 12.9% body fat, 20.2kg/m^2 BMI and 60.1kg = 132.2lbs lean body mass.

I've chosen the Katch-McArdle formula from your link and the result was ~1638.14. Since I'll be training 3-5 (maybe even more) times a week, I multiplied with 1.5 (2452.71 calories) and with 1.6 (2621.02 calories). I'll probably go with something between the two numbers.

About macronutrient needs:

I've used the bodybuilding values, since the post suggests them and found that I need ~60-90g, using the average values (I don't think I should use the very lean ones).
I also need 69-138g fat (using the lean/average values).
Using the lowest number for calories, protein and fat, carbs should be ~398g.
Using the higher number: ~255g.

Not really sure which one is the best option though, I guess it should be somewhere in the middle.

you're 19... eat like there's no tomorrow and don't worry about a 6-pack because you're not a model. train your abs and lower back muscles once a week and focus on strength training, get back at us when you're squatting 400lb i'll give you some tips on how to get your abs popping.

Wouldn't that "help" me get some more weight, which I don't really want? (I'd like to stay between 69-75kgs)

[Toralin]

I have only skimmed through all the posts so if I am re-writing something, sorry.

- Eating every 2-3 hours = increases metabolism, which means you will gain more muscle and lose more fat than if you just ate 3 big meals a day or something.

- Train each "area(s)" of the body once per week. For an example, monday = biceps/chest, tuesday= legs (please don't ignore legs..), wed = back, friday = shoulder/triceps.

- It is best to do cardio on your off-days, but if you have to do it on days where you do muscle training then do it AFTER you lift weights. You will have used up all your carb stores lifting weights, so when you run you will burn fat easier. Try and run for 20-40mins if you can. Also apparently cardio produces an anti-muscle building protein, but I'm not 100% on that...

- Lift the heaviest weights you can, but still be able to do rep ranges of 8-12 x 3/4 sets.

- I promise if you do this you will gain lean muscle + lower bodyfat and look f'in awesome.

EDIT: Just read you might be interested in short-distance sprinting, definitely do that if you can! Repetitive sprinting is amazing.

[Deleted]

Eating every 2-3 hours = increases metabolism, which means you will gain more muscle and lose more fat than if you just ate 3 big meals a day or something.

Eating every 2 hours won't speed up your metabolism by a noticeable difference or help you build muscle.
It might however help you get a constant, steady amount of protein and/or may be more convenient for you.

Also apparently cardio produces an anti-muscle building protein

What?
Links to source?

[Shik Valentine]

(number in my previous post are off, I hadn't checked my body fat for a while and I used total body mass, instead of lean body mass in on calculation).
I used this calculator to count my body fat. Result was 12.9% body fat, 20.2kg/m^2 BMI and 60.1kg = 132.2lbs lean body mass.

I've chosen the Katch-McArdle formula from your link and the result was ~1638.14. Since I'll be training 3-5 (maybe even more) times a week, I multiplied with 1.5 (2452.71 calories) and with 1.6 (2621.02 calories). I'll probably go with something between the two numbers.

About macronutrient needs:

I've used the bodybuilding values, since the post suggests them and found that I need ~60-90g, using the average values (I don't think I should use the very lean ones).
I also need 69-138g fat (using the lean/average values).
Using the lowest number for calories, protein and fat, carbs should be ~398g.
Using the higher number: ~255g.

Not really sure which one is the best option though, I guess it should be somewhere in the middle.



Wouldn't that "help" me get some more weight, which I don't really want? (I'd like to stay between 69-75kgs)

I use Katch-McArdle as well, seeing that it's the most accurate(from experience). I put in your stats, & came out to roughly the same as your numbers: 2497, just round up to 2500(no need to worry about a few calories). It makes sense that it's rather low, since you don't have a whole lot of lbm to begin with.

As for macros:
I like to do 1-1.5grams of protein x LBM = 132-200 grams of protein
.4-.45grams of fat x total bodyweight = 60-68 grams of fat(you can experiment with this, some people like to go higher. Better mood, satiety, libido maintains, etc.)

Hit your minimums, & you could fill the rest with carbs or a combination of the 3.

Give the 2500 calories a couple weeks: & if you lost weight, bump it up 100-200 or so. If you gained, lower them. Just be sure to weigh yourself at the same time of the day(upon waking after going to the bathroom, or w/e works for you).

[solari]

so you don't want to lose or gain weight, or add muscle, or look better, or lift heavy weights. i have no idea what your goals are, probably just another kid that sort of wants to look better and maybe get a six pack or, more likely, fail to achieve anything because you have no set goals. every time you walk into a gym without goals or set standards you won't achieve anything, there's no way around it.

[Shik Valentine]

so you don't want to lose or gain weight, or add muscle, or look better, or lift heavy weights. i have no idea what your goals are, probably just another kid that sort of wants to look better and maybe get a six pack or, more likely, fail to achieve anything because you have no set goals. every time you walk into a gym without goals or set standards you won't achieve anything, there's no way around it.

In the OP, he said he'd like to build muscle without increasing/decreasing cal intake. Which is possible, given the time he's taken off from the gym. Recomposition: Eat @ maintenance & lift heavy, might take longer, but like I said, he can pull it off.

[Zkeya]

I use Katch-McArdle as well, seeing that it's the most accurate(from experience). I put in your stats, & came out to roughly the same as your numbers: 2497, just round up to 2500(no need to worry about a few calories). It makes sense that it's rather low, since you don't have a whole lot of lbm to begin with.

As for macros:
I like to do 1-1.5grams of protein x LBM = 132-200 grams of protein
.4-.45grams of fat x total bodyweight = 60-68 grams of fat(you can experiment with this, some people like to go higher. Better mood, satiety, libido maintains, etc.)

Hit your minimums, & you could fill the rest with carbs or a combination of the 3.

Give the 2500 calories a couple weeks: & if you lost weight, bump it up 100-200 or so. If you gained, lower them. Just be sure to weigh yourself at the same time of the day(upon waking after going to the bathroom, or w/e works for you).

I must have done the same fail when calculating proteins (used kgs, when the formula asked for pounds).

so you don't want to lose or gain weight, or add muscle, or look better, or lift heavy weights. i have no idea what your goals are, probably just another kid that sort of wants to look better and maybe get a six pack or, more likely, fail to achieve anything because you have no set goals. every time you walk into a gym without goals or set standards you won't achieve anything, there's no way around it.

I've stated at least twice that I don't want to gain weight. A small gain (like 5kgs) would be acceptable, but I don't want to go above 75kgs.
Even though I stopped working out for a lot of time, I know that you have to be dedicated and have goals you want to achieve in order to see differences.
I want my muscles to be visible, without them being huge or something. And I believe I can achieve "visible", without gaining any weight.