The New Body, 12 Months In. Help Needed from Here

[HunkaChunk]

Hi All,

I just thought that I would introduce myself and ask for some advice. I have been lifting weights for about 6 months now. I lift three days a week (Tues, Thurs and Sun) for about an hour each time. Two of those days are in a gym, and one at home. I am currently doing workout that targets the upper body only, the only lower body work I do is Squats. The reason for this is that I play competitive basketball twice a week, and I do a fast-paced hill walk at least once a week which gives my legs a very nice work out. I do these cardio exercises on my non-lifting days, and I have a rest day on Saturday.

My current routine is:

Warmup
Flat Bench Press 3 x 10
Sqauts 3 x 10
Wide Grip Lat Pull Down 3 x 10
Shoulder Press 3 x 10
Swiss Ball Dumbell Press 3 x 10
Swiss Ball Weighted Crunch 3 x 10
Tricep Pull Down 3 x 10
Tricep Pull Over 3 x 10
Preacher Curls 3 x 10
Cooldown

I have been doin this routine or similar for about 2 months now and have noticed some gains. I am one of those people who are trying to lose fat and gain muscle. In December of last year I weighed 112kg which was way too much on a 185cm frame. Through dieting and cardio I got that down to 98kg in six months and over the last six months I have reduced that to 88kg. As I have become more educated about health and fitness I am focusing more on measurements than the scales. My goals are to lose the bit of abdominal fat I am carrying and to increase the definition in my arms and chest. Visible abs would be nice but are not essential. Oh and being able to slam dunk in basketball would be really nice!

My diet consits of mainly high protein meals, with limited carbs and moderate fat. I do take creatine before workouts and a post-workout protein shake. I also try and get in at least one extra
shake on workout days and one per day on non-workout days. My two diet weak areas are alcohol and chocolate. I have switched to diet cola with my Wild Turkey (gobble, gobble) and only drink 1-2 days a week, probably about 4 drinks on each of those nights. Chocolate I often crave but I have found that a little bit will often kill the cravings. There is a sweet in Australia called Freckles which is basically a small chocolate (the size of a coin) covered in Hundreds and Thousands (little coloured balls?) and four of those will often do me.


So in summary:
- any tips on losing that last abdominal fat would be appreciated
- any tips on modifying my workout to improve gains, while keeping within the one hour three times per week timeframe would be great

PS- Only recently found this site and I am mighty impressed with most of the discussions that I have read here. Lots of freindly people who take the time to help others.

Anyways, G'Day from Australia.

 

[Tank316]

do you train at home or in a gym? and maybe post your diet in more detail please? and welcome to IM.

 

[Scotty the Body]

Hi there, welcome to IM.

If loosing the last little bit of fat are your main goals for now, diet is what you need to look at, you should start a thread in the nutrition section, like tank said, list your daily meals and we can help you fine tune it.

As for your routine, its a HIT style, I'm not a fan of it but it does work for many. If you see your progress start to slow, you may consider switching to a 3 day split where your working each body part once a week.

Good luck.

 

[olusco]

It seems the way you train is alright but there is something wrong with your nutrients. it is either you cut the chocolate or beer or something you eat that is wrong. Probably you need a fat burner to aid your fat out, then your abs is going to show without no question. I went through the abs problem. I got it done by using synephrine and lots of carnitine a day. Sometimes it drives me insane when my abs look like pearl before adding supplement. lastly, post your nutrient facts then we can analyze more. A lot of people are in denying about the food they eat. You can not kill two birds with one stone. You want it and you need control about junk food. My motto is " There is nothing come easy, ersistence and discpline and I will get what I want"
Good luck

 

[HunkaChunk]

Thanks for the reply's.

I train in a gym twice a week, and once a week at home with a weight bench and some dumbells. I have read a little about three day splits and they sound interesting, and would add variety to the routine I am going with now.

Here is a sample diet on a usual day, being brutally honest!!

6:30 am
Cup of Tea with low Fat milk and 1 sugar
One bowl of Uncle Toby's Sport Plus Cereal with low fat milk
(Sports Plus is a cereal made from wheat, oats, sultana's and a whole bunch of other stuff)
7:00 am
Cup of coffee (instant) with milk and 1 sugar
9:00 am
Cup of Coffee (instant with milk and 1 sugar
10 am
3 slices of low fat Turkey or Chicken
1 Cup of frozen vegetables
1 low fat Youghart
11am
Cup of Coffee
12:30pm
Wholemeal roll with (Turkey or Chicken) and salad, cheese and sauce
2:00pm
Cup of coffee with 4 Freckles (little chocolates, coin sized)
4:00 pm
Handful of unsalted peanuts
5:30 pm
Mealtime, usually a lean meat with vegetables
8:00pm
Cup of tea with 4 freckles

I drink about 3 litres of water during the day and night every day.

Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday I follow this diet strictly. On Monday's I have a beer with dinner. Tuesday's I usually eat out (trying to follow the high protein, low carbs and moderate fat philosophy) and have 2 beers. On Fridays I have about 4-5 drinks with friends, Wild Turkey and Diet Coke) and usually pizza for dinner. Saturday's I am very close to the above diet but sometimes a few more carbs are squeezed in, and probably about 2-3 drinks at night.

On training days, I squzee in at least two protein shakes, one immediately after lifting and the other before bedtime. On the days after lifting I try and get one shake in.
A shake consists of protein, small scoop of low fat ice cream, a cup of low fat milk, some strawberries and a half a bannana.

I have tried some thermogenics and they worked ok, I have not used them for awhile though. It might be worth re-introducing them, depending on the diet advice I receive.

 

[olusco]

Thanks for being truthful to yourself. when I saw all your food intake. If I were you anything with sugar should be avoided. The beer too is another problem you need to discard for a while until your abs shows. Because the beer is another fat storage. Cut the beer to 2,diet coke and pizza and more cardiovascular like 45 mins. with intensity like three times a week. The coffee is alright as far you do not take any fat burner with it, because they are cousins. When I started low carbs more protein and less fat like flaxseed oil,olive or unsaturated oil etc,. It was hard later I am used to it.
stay focus
Stay focus and be positive
olusco

 

[HunkaChunk]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I will move my nutrition questions to the appropriate forum.

However, I am devising a split workout that I will post later.

The biggest problem with diet is the social isolation of saying "no white bread for me thanks", or "I realise the house is on fire, but it's more important for me to consume my protein shake first, you ARE supposed to have them DIRECTLY after training".



Cheers

 

[Preacher]

I realise the house is on fire, but it's more important for me to consume my protein shake first, you ARE supposed to have them DIRECTLY after training

Oh man, that's funny because it's true !!

I've been outside our office building holding a manual shaker during a fire drill!
Needless to say it wasn't appreciated

(and pretty dumb too, nobody would have taken it, not there anyway ..)

Bunch of @@@&@@@ .. I could have run to the top floor five times before any of those got to the parking lot.