Building muscle diet and workout advice please

greenygraham

Hi. I'm 38 and I'm on a high protein low carb paleo style plan at the moment, trying to strip back the fat, and get a lean body before I start building some bigger muscle. Does anyone have any tips on particular foods, and times to eat them to get the best results. Reading a lot about eating cassien protein before going to bed. I'm not in the gym hours on.end, but I train weights Monday Tuesday. Do MMA Tuesday night and Thursday night, and have a set of dumbbells at home. Are there any particular arm and chest excercises people find get particularly good results. Thanks in.advance

greenygraham

Looking for diet and workout advice for after the paleo. I'm seeing good results half way through, just planning ahead for phase 2

JB035

I'd figure out your calorie intake with the Paleo if you are going to continue it, that way you will know how your body responds to your current calorie levels. Are you loosing (cal deficit), gaining (cal surplus), or staying the same (cal maint)? You need to learn your body and how it responds.

You're going to hear this and read this many times in here; you need to start a progressive load program and stick to it. I personally have never had success building any quality muscle in a calorie deficit much less only lifting 2 days a week. If you're looking to build muscle you need to cut down to a low body fat % before you start phase 2.

Ive done the casein thing.... it will only help if the rest of your diet is on point.

Workouts: Squat, Deadlift, Cleans and Bench, and a solid arm day. The more you put your muscles under a heavy load the more they will grow.

Lastly, there is no magic pill or protien to get you there. It's lots of hard work and time in the gym under loads that you don't want to be under some days. Eat, Lift, Sleep, repeat.

Gallowmere1984

JB035 wrote: »

I'd figure out your calorie intake with the Paleo if you are going to continue it, that way you will know how your body responds to your current calorie levels. Are you loosing (cal deficit), gaining (cal surplus), or staying the same (cal maint)? You need to learn your body and how it responds.

You're going to hear this and read this many times in here; you need to start a progressive load program and stick to it. I personally have never had success building any quality muscle in a calorie deficit much less only lifting 2 days a week. If you're looking to build muscle you need to cut down to a low body fat % before you start phase 2.

Ive done the casein thing.... it will only help if the rest of your diet is on point.

Workouts: Squat, Deadlift, Cleans and Bench, and a solid arm day. The more you put your muscles under a heavy load the more they will grow.

Lastly, there is no magic pill or protien to get you there. It's lots of hard work and time in the gym under loads that you don't want to be under some days. Eat, Lift, Sleep, repeat.

This; just all of this. That last paragraph is by far the most important part to hammer into your head, as early as possible.

greenygraham

Thanks guys. At the moment I'm on a deficit, I'm trying to strip back the fat, hopefully around or below 20% if I can. I was 24.7 at the start. Ive gone down from 13 st 3lbs to 12st 7lbs in four weeks with 2-weeks to do. Obviously my diet will have to alter again somewhat when I look to gain muscle, I'm just very conscious of putting back on fat and not muscle, so I want to do it right. I'm not looking at being huge, just a bit bigger and more toned

TavistockToad

which lifting programme are you using?

ndj1979

greenygraham wrote: »

Thanks guys. At the moment I'm on a deficit, I'm trying to strip back the fat, hopefully around or below 20% if I can. I was 24.7 at the start. Ive gone down from 13 st 3lbs to 12st 7lbs in four weeks with 2-weeks to do. Obviously my diet will have to alter again somewhat when I look to gain muscle, I'm just very conscious of putting back on fat and not muscle, so I want to do it right. I'm not looking at being huge, just a bit bigger and more toned

if you are worried about fat gains then I would suggest not running a bulk, or find a way to change your attitude about said fat gains.

You may be better of recomping once you get to sub 15% body fat...

middlehaitch

Just dropping this in to the mix.
If you aren't on a structured programme have a read through the ones listed here.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

Cheers, h.

psuLemon

filbo132 wrote: »

First of all, I reccomend not cutting your carbs if your doing weightlifting, carbs gives you the necessary energy for your workouts...but if you still want to do keto style diet, it's your choice. I am just telling you by experience, I usually feel like *kitten* at the gym when I don't have high carbs. What makes you lose weight is being in a caloric deficit, not keto or Intermittent fasting or any other fancy diet out there. Just letting you know.

As for exercices, it's important you do compound exercices (Bench Press, Deadlifts, Squats, etc....). There are many videos on youtube that show workout for beginners and many of them also teach proper form. After 6-8 months, you can then start trying to do this workout for free http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/the-muscle-building-workout-routine/ . You also have other free workout programs on bodybuilding.com and see if you prefer those. If you are looking for advices on the internet, Mike Matthews and the website aworkoutroutine.com give out excellent advices in my opinion.

I'd agree. Carbs are very beneficial to muscle growth and recovery. They are anticatabolic so they prevent muscle breakdown. They also support glycogen which has been shown to be very beneficial in explosive workout environments.