Teen girl wanting muscle mass!

nzjamaican

Hi everyone
This may sound strange coming from an 18 year old girl, but I've decided to work towards getting 'ripped'.
My main areas that i would like to tone are my abs, biceps and back, and I would like to gain BULK in shoulders bum and quads.
I am also trying to lose 5 kilos to be at my optimum weight (60kg to 55kg, Im really short!)
I do not carry ANY weight below the knees, a little on the thighs arms and bum which I have no problem with really, but i carry it aaalll on my hips and stomach.
Im new to building muscle and if you have any ideas - work outs reg. weights, protein powders, anything like that, that would be fantastic. Please feel free to have a look at my food diary but please ignore the last 3 days, they have been shocking!
Thanks again!
nzjamaican x

chrishgt4

I would say first of all - buy the New Rules of Lifting for Women. They have some great information in there about workouts etc. I've read it and bought it for my gf because I think it really is good.

You can't spot reduce fat so you will need to consistently eat well and train hard and the fat will come off from where your body decides.

In order to gain muscle you will need to eat more than you burn. This will inevitably lead to some fat gain, but the idea is to keep that to a minimum. As a beginner though, you will see some gain in muscle size even if you are eating at a slight deficit as it is something totally new to your muscles. Also they will be taking in water and glycogen. Because of this you may see that you gain a small amount of weight but you shouldn't be discouraged as this is totally normal.

I would suggest that you 'cut' (lose fat by eating at a deficit) first to get to a body fat %age that you are happy with, then you can start on the bulk cycle followed by another cut to shed the (hopefully low amount of) body fat that you will have gained.

small_ninja

Well, most of the stuff you read on here will tell you that you can't "build muscle" and lose fat at the same time. You can, however, increase strength and retain the muscle you already have whilst cutting fat.

An easy way to do this is to:

1. Ensure you're getting enough protein (1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass up to 1 gram of protein per pound of total body mass - you can calculate your LBM by calculating your body fat percentage with various online calculators). You can use protein shakes to get there, or just your regular meats, dairy, beans, nuts and eggs.

2. Strength train properly, and by properly, I mean increase your reps/weights regularly (3 sets of 10 is a good start, determine the appropriate weight by going for one that makes that last rep almost impossible). Aim for consistent workouts, so pick a few basic strength workouts (squats, lunges, bicep curls, dead lifts, shoulder presses, tricep dips, lat pull downs etc etc) and focus on building their intensity, rather than chopping and changing all the time. A good thing to do is to set up a list of the exercises you want to do, draw up a table including the weights used + reps done, and fill this in after each workout to track progress.

3. Ensure you're getting enough calories - calculate your TDEE and multiply it by 0.80 = a ballpark figure of the number of calories you should eat to lose weight

4. High Intensity Interval Training when doing cardio is supposedly also a good way to retain muscle whilst losing fat (e.g. sprint for 1 minute, jog for 1 minute and repeat)

nzjamaican

thanks so much! i have just printed both your pieces of advice to use in future training sessions i found one list of weights on a 4 day schedule with a 1 day break in between 2 days of weights, does this sound good?
Day 1
Exercise Sets-Repetitions
Bench Press 3 6-8
Incline Chest press 3 6-8
Shoulder Press 3 6-8
Lateral Raise 3 6-8
Triceps Extensions 3 8-12

Day 2
Exercise Sets- Repetitions
Leg Press 3 6-8
Leg Curls 3 6-8
Leg Extensions 3 6-8
Seated Calf Raises 3 6-8

Day 3
Exercise Sets-Repetitions
Lat Pull-down 3 6-8
Seated Row 3 6-8
Bent Over Row 3 6-8
Upright Rows 3 6-8
Bicep Curls 3 8-12
Day 4
Exercise Sets-Repetitions
Squats 3 6-8
Dead Lifts3 6-8
Standing Calf Raises 3 6-8
Abdominal Crunch 3 10-15
let me know if you see any problems with this or if it sounds good to you

Hendrix7

if you want to look like a fitness model then you should train like one, lift weight 3/4 times per week.

Read the womens interviews in the female section of simplyshredded, each interview has the girls workout and diet.

http://www.simplyshredded.com/16909.html

The routine you posted is ok, although there isn't much going on in day 2? I would add another compound such as still leg deadlifts, sumo deadlift, rear foot elevated split squat or something like that.

Determinednoob

Check the link below. Buy the book mentioned there and read it. Run the Allpro's Beginner routine listed there. Eat at maintenance until you stall on progress or you have lost as much fat as you want. Eat calorie surplus just high enough to get small fat gain until you are as fat as you can stand. Eat small deficit until you are lean again. Repeat until desired muscle size is reached.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/686963-large-collection-of-info-for-beginners

Actually there is a newer link for the Allpro routine than in the link above http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=147447933

chrishgt4

thanks so much! i have just printed both your pieces of advice to use in future training sessions i found one list of weights on a 4 day schedule with a 1 day break in between 2 days of weights, does this sound good?
Day 1
Exercise Sets-Repetitions
Bench Press 3 6-8
Incline Chest press 3 6-8
Shoulder Press 3 6-8
Lateral Raise 3 6-8
Triceps Extensions 3 8-12

Day 2
Exercise Sets- Repetitions
Leg Press 3 6-8
Leg Curls 3 6-8
Leg Extensions 3 6-8
Seated Calf Raises 3 6-8

Day 3
Exercise Sets-Repetitions
Lat Pull-down 3 6-8
Seated Row 3 6-8
Bent Over Row 3 6-8
Upright Rows 3 6-8
Bicep Curls 3 8-12
Day 4
Exercise Sets-Repetitions
Squats 3 6-8
Dead Lifts3 6-8
Standing Calf Raises 3 6-8
Abdominal Crunch 3 10-15
let me know if you see any problems with this or if it sounds good to you

That routine looks pretty good to me - I work on a 3 day/week schedule quite similar to that, but compounding days 2 and 4 and leaving a couple out to make it fit into an hour.

Just make sure your form is good. Not just for prevention of injury, but also to get maximum benefit.

Also make sure you track your progress. You should be aiming to constantly increase either weight, reps or sets.

Determinednoob

thanks so much! i have just printed both your pieces of advice to use in future training sessions i found one list of weights on a 4 day schedule with a 1 day break in between 2 days of weights, does this sound good?
Day 1
Exercise Sets-Repetitions
Bench Press 3 6-8
Incline Chest press 3 6-8
Shoulder Press 3 6-8
Lateral Raise 3 6-8
Triceps Extensions 3 8-12

Day 2
Exercise Sets- Repetitions
Leg Press 3 6-8
Leg Curls 3 6-8
Leg Extensions 3 6-8
Seated Calf Raises 3 6-8

Day 3
Exercise Sets-Repetitions
Lat Pull-down 3 6-8
Seated Row 3 6-8
Bent Over Row 3 6-8
Upright Rows 3 6-8
Bicep Curls 3 8-12
Day 4
Exercise Sets-Repetitions
Squats 3 6-8
Dead Lifts3 6-8
Standing Calf Raises 3 6-8
Abdominal Crunch 3 10-15
let me know if you see any problems with this or if it sounds good to you

This is a body part split which is for advanced lifters. Beginners should be on 3 day per week full body routines like the ones in the links I provided.

chrishgt4

thanks so much! i have just printed both your pieces of advice to use in future training sessions i found one list of weights on a 4 day schedule with a 1 day break in between 2 days of weights, does this sound good?
Day 1
Exercise Sets-Repetitions
Bench Press 3 6-8
Incline Chest press 3 6-8
Shoulder Press 3 6-8
Lateral Raise 3 6-8
Triceps Extensions 3 8-12

Day 2
Exercise Sets- Repetitions
Leg Press 3 6-8
Leg Curls 3 6-8
Leg Extensions 3 6-8
Seated Calf Raises 3 6-8

Day 3
Exercise Sets-Repetitions
Lat Pull-down 3 6-8
Seated Row 3 6-8
Bent Over Row 3 6-8
Upright Rows 3 6-8
Bicep Curls 3 8-12
Day 4
Exercise Sets-Repetitions
Squats 3 6-8
Dead Lifts3 6-8
Standing Calf Raises 3 6-8
Abdominal Crunch 3 10-15
let me know if you see any problems with this or if it sounds good to you

This is a body part split which is for advanced lifters. Beginners should be on 3 day per week full body routines like the ones in the links I provided.

I agree a full body is probably advisable, but I wouldn't say it's the only way to go.

Ideally you'd probably hit a full body twice a week for a few weeks then step it up to 3x/week. Then as you get comfortable you may find it more suitable to break it down into split routines.

I would say 4 days per week is perhaps too much for a beginner but it's all about doing what you're comfortable with.

Remember, doing more doesn't necessarily mean better results. Rest days are important.