Thread: New and NEED some help/advice PLEASE!

Before resorting to steroids lets hear about your diet and your training program. Chances are there is a problem there. Aside from that, there are several supplements that are legal that can improve your gains...creatine, glutamine, protein powders, 1-TEST, 4-AD, 1-AD, etc.

My diet varies. Usually I will 3 times a day because it is easiest with my schedule. Breakfast usually is cereal with milk, for lunch I generally eat grilled chicken sandwiches, and dinner varies.. I will eat anything from fish to breakfast (like bacon, eggs, and the like). I really dont have a good idea of what is "good" to eat for building muscle other than protein, so I try to get as much of it as possible. Any tips? If it helps any, I am about 5'10" and weigh in at about 170. I have read a lot here about genetics playing a big role in building muscle. To that I have to add that I know I am capable. I used to be a serious skateboarder, and unfortunately because of my past hobby, my legs bulked up without the rest of my body. I am trying to add some up top to even things out.

Check the diet forum, you can either search or just keep looking back in time at threads...

Basically you want to shoot for 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight MINIMUM, that would be a good starting point. From there, I stagnated somewhat quickly and needed to eventually go to 1.5 or so, and have been as high as 2.2g per pound.

Folks on steroids will easily hit 2-3g per pound depending, your not eating nearly enough naturally right now, on gear you will be eating 6-8 times a day and more food than you will currently think possible. Otherwise you will be like those who can't get the diet down, and end up making poor gains and not even keeping them post cycle. Thankfully those people are somewhat few from what I can tell, but eating is 90% of the game if not more, although of course you need to do "everything" pretty close to right to make gains, especially naturally.

What is your protein intake per day now? You really need to know this. If its a vegetable or grain, dont count it (vegans can because they know how to utilize them, we hope anyway).

Sounds like I really need to start tracking what I consume on a daily basis. Hey if diet can make that large of a difference I am all for it. As far as #'s go, I am not really sure because I dont count them, but I will start. BTW, you say not to count veggie or grain proteins, but how about protein supplements? If those are good substitutes (ie shakes or whatever) that would make it easier for me to meet a good protein amount daily. Also, honestly, I am very afraid of eating too much and putting on the "wrong" kind of weight. I never worried about how much I ate before because I worked in a job that involved a lot of physical activity. For the past 3 years now I have been working a desk job and it has really played hell on my body.

One more question, and this may belong under another topic, but I will ask anyways,... Can getting too much cardio hurt gains? I will lift just about every other day, but I spend at least an hour total on the treadmill every day (30min in the morning and another 30 after work).

You were already offered some great advice from Mudge. 3 meals per day will not cut it. You need at least 5-6 shooting for 1.5 g of protein per lb of bodyweight each day. Carbs about the same. Split your cals up evenly amongst the meals. Yes, protein powders count toward protein intake.

And 1 hour of cardio per day is too much when trying to add muscle. Cut that amount in half and get your calories up. You will see much better gains!

Thanks to all of you for the avdice you have given me! I really appreciate it! You have helped greatly! So 3 meals a day wont cut it regardless of their size? I will give anything a shot if it will provide some results, and I wont mind cutting back time from the treadmill.