Newbie checking in

[Timbo]

Hi everyone,

Real newbie here trying to do what everyone else is doing and put on some lean mass. Not sure if this is the right place for all this but here I go...

I've been at the gym for 4 weeks in row now (don't laugh, the longest continuous strech I've ever done :pfft: ) and I have been doing a body for life style program as my GF is doing it and it was easy to support her this way with the food aspect. I have been doing the diet side for about 10 weeks and replaced my football training with the gym as I can't fit them both in during the season.

Going off the scales (yeah yeah, but as far as I can tell they are good ones, $400 worth) I am 76kg(1.94cm) and 6.6% fat. I have put on 2.2 kg of lean mass in the four weeks since I started at the gym.

I'm really just wanting to get some advice on the exercises I'm doing at the gym as I'm not really sure I am doing it the best way I can. I've read a lot over the last couple of weeks but there are sooo many theories and arguments vs counter claims etc. It would be good to get some info from the people on the coal face so to speak.

I have three days a week at the gym and then do other training that is cardio based, 7 a side football and indoor netball on the other nights.

My gym program is split upper and lower and looks like this...

All exercises follow same sets/reps with 12,10,8,6 increasing weight then a drop to the 8rep weight for the last set of 12 and then a super set of another exercise with no rest. Am I on the right track here?

Upper

Flat bench 12,10,8,6,12 12(superset with decline fly)

Shoulder press - As above with side raises

Pull ups - As above with cable row

Tri pull downs - As above with lying overhead tri extensions

Barbel curl - As above with hammer curl

Lower

Leg press - Leg extensions

Seated ham curl - lying single ham curls

Calf raise - seated calf raise

Abs

Please feel free to comment as I am a newbie and have got a long way to go as I would like to put on around 10kg before feb/march. If you have any advice on supplements and diet throw them in there too

Thank you in advance and sorry for the long post

Tim

[Draft]

Long Posts = more information = good!

People will need to know what you are eating to tell you whether you will be able to put on weight with your program, but at your height, weight and level of exercise I'd say around 3,000 cals would be your maitenence level.

Best way to put and weight is to train hard - compund exercises (bench, squats and deadlifts are the big ones) and eat regularly to keep you body in an anabolic state.

Whichever way you go about it 10kg is a lot to put on over the next 4 or so months if you are going to keep it to leaan body mass...

[rose]

Hi everyone

Hi Tim and welcome. Re BFL, are you following the actual program (by the book etc) or an interpretation of it? You're pretty darn leeean for 6'3". Tell us what you eat. Re supplements, only the best will do... Food 8)

R

[Timbo]

Haha thanks Nicko... long posts it is

To give you a run down on the food, I eat every 2-3 hours over the day or so and a normal day looks like this.

3 egg whites and two whole eggs on two pieces of unbuttered toast

Protein shake with a piece of fruit

Large tin of tuna and handfull of pasta

100g yogurt, 200g cottage cheese and scoop of protein powder

Grilled chicken breast, kumara and veges

Post workout shake - 200ml water, 100m milk, a weetbix, a banana and a scoop of protein.

Sometimes I cheat here and there and throw an up and go and a piece of fruit in for convenience. But essentially I've eaten the same thing for 10 or so weeks... I still enjoy it haha Oh and I've been on creatine for 3 weeks now also, loaded for 3 days and now maintaining at two 5g servings a day.

Thanks Rose, nup I'm 1.94cm and pretty lean apparently I'll get some photos up at some stage as a 'before' in the photo section.

Thats my diet so have gone the cheap route in terms of myoplex etc but it's relatively close I think...

[monkeymuscle]

I followed the BFL workouts a while ago and I think it's an ok introduction to the world of weight lifting, although it seems more focused on weight loss than muscle gain. If you're trying to gain muscle with your build, I'd avoid the cardio work that it outlines.

I can't remember, but do they suggest you perform squats? They will do you more good than just leg presses or leg extensions but can be tricky for tall folk with long limbs.

Regarding that, check out this new article at T-Nation. It gives some solid advice for tall fellas trying to get bigger.

And, at your height and weight you shouldn't be throwing out those egg yolks.

They're good for you:

The cholesterol in eggs does not significantly impact your blood levels of cholesterol in any way. No study- ever- has shown that egg eaters die at a different rate or have higher rates of heart disease than non-egg eaters.

There is absolutely no reason to eat "egg white omlettes". Egg yolks are also a potent source of lutein and xeazanthin, two important antioxidants that are critical for eye health, and they also contain an important compound called choline which helps your body make acetyl-choline, one of the important neurotransmitters for thinking, memory and brain health.

In my book, that makes eggs "brain food"!

edit: I just looked at your diet again and, if you find it tricky to gain weight, you should really add some more fat to your diet. Peanut butter goes great in shakes... and don't bother with EAS branded protein, you can find cheaper/better products that will work just as well.

[Timbo]

Thanks MM

I tend to do the cardio via other things and only really do the prescribed cardio maybe once a week as it is but will bear that in mind.

I don't think squats really came up, I am a newbie so technique across the board isn't great, might have to get the PT along for a couple of sessions.

Thanks for the links will look into them now... In regards eggs... SWEET! I always feel bad throwing away the yolks haha and will add penut butter on toast in once a day maybe?

Oh and yeah Punch had some great specials on PVL WheyMaxx that I took advantage of... go the free shaker Yeah it's the simple things haha

Thanks again

[HumanPerformance]

Hi Timbo, welcome aboard.

Where abouts are you training? In Auckland?

[Timbo]

Yup based in Auckland. In the city at Health and Sports Newton.

[Timbo]

Haven't updated for a while, been super busy. So here it is..

89Kg's and 9.3%BF.

So total gain of 13kg so far and 2.7%BF. According to the scales about 10kg increase in lean mass to 75kg.

Aiming to get to 95kg then cut back to 6% BF again with my playing weight being about 90kg.

I'm pretty happy considering I have to balance the cardio requirements of soccer/training 4 times a week with gaining mass and hitting the gym 2-3 times a week. Taken longer than I wanted but loving it

Made a huge difference to my ability to compete for the ball (I'm a goalkeeper) while getting knocked around as you can see

Will try to get some body pics up this week and compare with ones when I started.