Help with re-prioritizing for strength

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bazfitness
bazfitness Posts: 275 Member
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I'm thinking of doing a big push this month to get stronger. My main focus these first few months on here has been to burn fat, gaining muscle has been a goal also but the secondary goal. I've been fairly successful with the first goal, less so with the secondary goal. I think this month might be a good month to really try to build some muscle and then have a review when done. I've upped my protein macros to 25% - have my weight set to maintenance (well about 35 calories under).

Exercise wise - I've been doing Karate twice a week. Doing calisthenics at home for both strength and flexibility.

I'm thinking of trying out a gym about 20 minutes from me to start weight training a few times a week.

Anyway guess I'm basically asking if my plan sounds reasonable? And any advice from people who were in similar position or from anybody experienced with strength building.

Replies

  • Dhemeyer
    Dhemeyer Posts: 157 Member
    Here's a few tips that have proven helpful for me and several others that I work out with:
    bump your protein up just a bit, follow a 30% protein, 50% carb, and 20% fat ratio.
    Keep your cardio conditioning low. No more than 1-2 cardio workouts a week, so either stick with the Karate or the calisthenics, but not both
    You need to lift heavy weights. If you can pick up a weight and do more than 8 reps in one set then you need to lift a heavier weight.

    You might do just a bit of searching on line for some suggested lifting routines. Try to mix it up, for example: lift back and arms one day, then back in legs another, then just arms another day, etc. I use P90X... it takes the guess work out of the whole thing :)

    I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions or comments :)
  • bazfitness
    bazfitness Posts: 275 Member
    Here's a few tips that have proven helpful for me and several others that I work out with:
    bump your protein up just a bit, follow a 30% protein, 50% carb, and 20% fat ratio.
    Keep your cardio conditioning low. No more than 1-2 cardio workouts a week, so either stick with the Karate or the calisthenics, but not both
    You need to lift heavy weights. If you can pick up a weight and do more than 8 reps in one set then you need to lift a heavier weight.

    You might do just a bit of searching on line for some suggested lifting routines. Try to mix it up, for example: lift back and arms one day, then back in legs another, then just arms another day, etc. I use P90X... it takes the guess work out of the whole thing :)

    I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions or comments :)

    Thanks a lot for your help. Much appreciated. It's going to take some adjustment for me to eat 30% protein. My wife does most of the cooking, nothing male chauvinistic about that by the way, I don't have a problem in doing cooking, just the pattern we seemed to have adopted, also she's a very good cook :smile: But she doesn't cook much meat, despite some prodding on my part that I need it as part of my new regime. Looks like I'm going to have to start doing the cooking, it's the only way I can get that amount of protein without consuming copious amounts of whey powder. Ah well no harm to break out of old routines. Not a bad cook myself anyway imho :wink:

    the calisthenics I've been doing has actually been focused on strength and flexibility rather than cardio but perhaps I can get more out of doing some heavy lifting.

    I might give P90x a go also. Everyone on here seems to be a big fan.
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