Unsure how to approach my first fitness journey

iamtejan

I'm going to start a fitness journey next month. In preparing for this journey I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. It's seems like a lot to keep up with macros, workouts, eating the right foods, schedule/organizing. This is my first fitness journey so I'm sure it's my nerves. My goal is to gain weight and muscle. I created a workout plan that consist of full body weight lifting workouts . I have not incorporated cardio but I'm gearing myself for two 5k's this year. I'm also a bicyclist and will be doing a bike race at the end of next month. Can I still do cardio and maintain any weight that I gain.
Should consult with a nutritionist to make sure I'm eating the right foods to gain weight and the necessary protein powder should I consume?

kimny72

Just to be clear, you want to gain weight and muscle while training for two 5Ks and a bike race?

Is gaining weight/muscle your primary goal?

You don't need someone to tell you what foods to eat. Put your correct stats into your MFP setup, tell it you want to gain weight, and you'll get a calorie goal. Hit that calorie goal and follow a progressive strength training program. Get at least 0.8g of protein and 0.3g of fat per lb of lean mass. You only need protein powder if you struggle to hit your protein goal via food.

If anything, I would suggest consulting a trainer to figure out how to balance your multiple fitness goals without over-extending or injuring yourself. :drinker:

iamtejan

Sorry for the confusion yea I mentioned the the 5k's because I wasn't sure if to much cardio would cause weight loss. Yes gaining weight/muscle is my primary goal. I'm a vegan so I assumed it will be easier to hit my protein goal with using protein powder. Thanks for the feedback I really appreciate it!

Scottgriesser

If your main goal is to gain weight/muscle I'd suggest going higher than the .8g/lb of lbm. That should be the minimum you are shooting for. Check out some youtubers like Scott Herman, Jeff Nippard, or Athlean-X and form your own opinion on what that number should be. They go up to 1.5g/lb of lbm, but these are fitness/body builder types so something like 1-1.2g/lb of lbm is probably good.

For the weight portion, that is simple enough. Eat. Find your bmr and have a caloric intake higher than that (most usually do a 250-500 above, but that depends on your current size and whether just getting huge or getting buff is your goal)

You can definitely do cardio and gain weight. Again just goes back to CICO. Eat back all of the calories you burned off during your cardio and poof. Still get the benefits in stamina without the (for you) drawback of caloric burn.

kimny72

iamtejan wrote: »

Sorry for the confusion yea I mentioned the the 5k's because I wasn't sure if to much cardio would cause weight loss. Yes gaining weight/muscle is my primary goal. I'm a vegan so I assumed it will be easier to hit my protein goal with using protein powder. Thanks for the feedback I really appreciate it!

Sure! You just need to make sure you eat back your exercise calories so you stay in a surplus. The main possible drawbacks (in my amateur understanding) would be either fatigue from too much cardio limiting your strength progression, or having a problem eating enough calories to remain in a surplus while burning the extra calories doing cardio. But these are issues you will catch and be able to deal with if you log consistently.

edickson76

Cardio can interfere with hypertrophy, depending on the intensity and duration of the cardio. It will not cancel out but results will be less than optimal. No rule requires optimality so do what you prefer.

As you are vegan, a consultation with a nutritionist or dietician may be helpful. Most plant sources have incomplete protein profiles, but you can create a complete profile by combining different sources in a meal. If you want to look for it I suspect such information is available for free on the internet. There is also a guide in the stickies post at the top of this forum that discusses the nutritional aspects of bulking.

Lastly I am always skeptical of beginners who have designed their own programs. It could be great but more likely is not. Another sticky post is the compendium of workout routines. I’d recommend picking a beginner program and proceeding from there.