Calories when new to lifting?
holly273
Posts: 84 Member
Hi everyone, I'd really like some advice on what I should be eating, to go about starting a lifting program.
At the moment, I'm 5'7 and about 135 lbs, so in terms of weight, I'm only looking to drop 5-10 lbs max, if anything at all.
But, I'm not happy with how I look so I'd really like to gain muscle without gaining any weight (so losing fat).
I've heard it's hard to lose fat WHILE gaining muscle? Does that mean I have to do one and then the other? If so, does that mean I should be eating at a deficit now, until I weigh what I'd like to weigh, and then switching to maintenance calories to lift and build strength? Or start lifting heavy while on a deficit?
Also, could anyone give me a sample workout plan, or at least advice on the best way to gain lean muscle as an 18 year old girl? One more question, should I still do a lot of cardio? Or will that do nothing but mean that I'll need to eat more calories to balance for the right net?
Thanks a lot for any help - I've made a lot of unhealthy, bad decisions in the past, and I'd really like some guidance now so as to know I'm doing the right thing for my body.
At the moment, I'm 5'7 and about 135 lbs, so in terms of weight, I'm only looking to drop 5-10 lbs max, if anything at all.
But, I'm not happy with how I look so I'd really like to gain muscle without gaining any weight (so losing fat).
I've heard it's hard to lose fat WHILE gaining muscle? Does that mean I have to do one and then the other? If so, does that mean I should be eating at a deficit now, until I weigh what I'd like to weigh, and then switching to maintenance calories to lift and build strength? Or start lifting heavy while on a deficit?
Also, could anyone give me a sample workout plan, or at least advice on the best way to gain lean muscle as an 18 year old girl? One more question, should I still do a lot of cardio? Or will that do nothing but mean that I'll need to eat more calories to balance for the right net?
Thanks a lot for any help - I've made a lot of unhealthy, bad decisions in the past, and I'd really like some guidance now so as to know I'm doing the right thing for my body.
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Replies
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Get the book New Rules of Lifting for Women. You might check out Jamie Easin's LiveFit program as well. If you are completely new to lifting, you can make some gains while eating at a deficit, although it evens out after awhile. So, if your body fat is higher than you'd like, I'd get to lifting heavy and eat at a small deficit. Do some cardio, HIIT is good. Do this for 6 months or so and see where her at. If you're happy with your losses, then start a bulk. Move to maintenance for a few weeks, keep lifting, cut back the cardio a bit, then gradually increase calories until you're eating 10-20% over maintenance. You will gain a bit of fat, but slowly increasing calories will hopefully help to minimize this. After another 6 months, see where you're at, then consider another cut if you don't like where your body fat is at. You'll cut the fat, and be able to see your new muscle. You can the maintain or do another bulk/cut cycle.0
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Get the book New Rules of Lifting for Women. You might check out Jamie Easin's LiveFit program as well. If you are completely new to lifting, you can make some gains while eating at a deficit, although it evens out after awhile. So, if your body fat is higher than you'd like, I'd get to lifting heavy and eat at a small deficit. Do some cardio, HIIT is good. Do this for 6 months or so and see where her at. If you're happy with your losses, then start a bulk. Move to maintenance for a few weeks, keep lifting, cut back the cardio a bit, then gradually increase calories until you're eating 10-20% over maintenance. You will gain a bit of fat, but slowly increasing calories will hopefully help to minimize this. After another 6 months, see where you're at, then consider another cut if you don't like where your body fat is at. You'll cut the fat, and be able to see your new muscle. You can the maintain or do another bulk/cut cycle.
I'm not entirely new - I've done Body Pump for a few months, and did lift free weights for a few months last year, before stopping because I went home for Christmas and had no access to weights. I'm back at it after about 4 months off.
So you'd suggest a 6 month cut? What sort of deficit? I'm not entirely sure how much actual weight I want to lose, because I have no idea what I'd look like at this same weight but more muscle. Would you suggest cutting down further than I'd like to, in preparation for a bulk?0 -
Just marking his because I'm new to lifting too so curious as to what others have to say.0
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bump?0
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Actually, when you are weight training, you do both. You build lean muscle and burn fat. Weight training is an anaerobic exercise, which means it draws energy almost completely from fat cells. And as you build lean muscle, you will be burning more calories in non-active state than without the added muscle.I've heard it's hard to lose fat WHILE gaining muscle? Does that mean I have to do one and then the other?
I would suggest that you do weight training and cardio on separate days. And with weight training, you typically want to consume a bit more protein, since it will help build/repair muscle during your lifting sessions.
Personally, I don't think you should cut at this time. Take what your daily caloric intake is and keep it the same (or reduce it by 50 calories) and re-allocate 5% of your calories to protein and decrease your carbs by 5%. Just start there because when someone is new to weight training, in many cases, they will burn fat and build muscle on their current caloric intake. If you find after two months, that you're not seeing a difference, then consider cutting a bit further and looking at changing your macronutrient percentages (protein, carbs, fat) a little bit more.
Also, when you do weight training, your weight scale ceases to be a reliable indicator of sorts. So take measurements/pictures now, and then compare after a couple of months. You should notice a difference.
Good luck!0 -
This question also applies to me. Posting to watch the feedback.0
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Actually, when you are weight training, you do both. You build lean muscle and burn fat. Weight training is an anaerobic exercise, which means it draws energy almost completely from fat cells. And as you build lean muscle, you will be burning more calories in non-active state than without the added muscle.I've heard it's hard to lose fat WHILE gaining muscle? Does that mean I have to do one and then the other?
I would suggest that you do weight training and cardio on separate days. And with weight training, you typically want to consume a bit more protein, since it will help build/repair muscle during your lifting sessions.
Personally, I don't think you should cut at this time. Take what your daily caloric intake is and keep it the same (or reduce it by 50 calories) and re-allocate 5% of your calories to protein and decrease your carbs by 5%. Just start there because when someone is new to weight training, in many cases, they will burn fat and build muscle on their current caloric intake. If you find after two months, that you're not seeing a difference, then consider cutting a bit further and looking at changing your macronutrient percentages (protein, carbs, fat) a little bit more.
Also, when you do weight training, your weight scale ceases to be a reliable indicator of sorts. So take measurements/pictures now, and then compare after a couple of months. You should notice a difference.
Good luck!
Sorry to jump in but I have a question and thought maybe you could help. I'm about halfway to my goal weight but want to start incorporating lifting into my routine. I am eating 1200 a day and eating back all my exercise cals. I exercise everyday (some days are just 15 mins on the treadmill walking) so should I increase cals to begin lifting? I have been at this 3 months and have 3 months left until we are taking a trip to Mexico. Was hoping to wear a swimsuit without embarrassment. Any advice would be appreciated!0 -
untrained individuals can build muscle while at maintenance Calories, you are very lean so it might be tough. You will gain strength, if youre not gaining strength youre doing it wrong.
everyone recommends SS for beginners
3 days a week
workout A
squat 5(sets)x5(reps)
bench 5x5
deadlift 5x2
Workout B
squat 5x5
OHP 5x5
pendlay row(5x5)
Do workout A on monday, workout B on wednesday, workout A on friday Workout B on monday, etc
This might not be the exact program but its pretty similar, obviously you can tweak it to add curls, pullups, dips or whatever you like.0 -
you can make some gains while eating at a deficit, although it evens out after awhile. So, if your body fat is higher than you'd like, I'd get to lifting heavy and eat at a small deficit.untrained individuals can build muscle while at maintenance Calories, you are very lean so it might be tough. You will gain strength, if youre not gaining strength youre doing it wrong.Personally, I don't think you should cut at this time. Take what your daily caloric intake is and keep it the same (or reduce it by 50 calories) and re-allocate 5% of your calories to protein and decrease your carbs by 5%. Just start there because when someone is new to weight training, in many cases, they will burn fat and build muscle on their current caloric intake.
so, I'm getting some slightly contrasting information about if I should be on a deficit or not; but if I do up my calories to maintenance, will that make the muscle-building happen faster than being on a deficit, even with the exact same amount of lifting? If so, doesn't that mean that then my body composition will change faster on no deficit than on one? Not sure if that makes any sense or not haha, but if it does, then I guess I'll be looking at maintenance calories instead of the 250 deficit? Or am I missing a point somewhere haha. Sorry about my ignorance on these matters! I just want to make sure I'm doing it "right".
Thanks for the advice! 0 -
its pretty hard to do both due to the fact in order to lose fat, you have to be in a caloric deficit and gaining muscle requires a caloric surplus, find your maintenance calories and add like 200 to that, most of your macro nutrient intake being protein, lift heavy and do about 3 cardio sessions a week0
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its pretty hard to do both due to the fact in order to lose fat, you have to be in a caloric deficit and gaining muscle requires a caloric surplus, find your maintenance calories and add like 200 to that, most of your macro nutrient intake being protein, lift heavy and do about 3 cardio sessions a week
but won't that make me gain weight? that's not what I want at all...or is it necessary to do it this way, and worry about cutting the fat after?0 -
you will gain weight, but you will put on the muscle.. its hard to gain muscle at maintanence, you can try but your only going to get so much, if any. just eat more protein and add in a little bit more of efa's to your diet and dont be afraid of gaining a little bit of weight, putting on muscle requires that0
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Hey there,
the first 1 - 2 years you are able to burn fat and get muscle a bit easier as after that time
The truth is you will get (if you are serious and do 3 x times full body workout for the first 4 - 6 weeks and after that maybee a 2 split training) about 150 - 200 gramms of muscle per month. So you don´t need to be anxious. This 200 gramm muscles will burn more calories and the anabolic reaction of your body will speed up your metabolism. That is very good for you. So yes you will gain weight, but it is good for you
About eating while weighttraining. I would switch the macro nutrients a little bit, like 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat.
The problem you think about is this -> After this 2 years where you gaining more muscles as after that time the body looks like this: You need a surplus in calories to get your muscles to grow. For dieting you need a minus. So thats the problem. But the first 2 years I would use a calorie calculator and calculate every 1.5 - 2 kg. Maybee this one -> http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
Cheers.
Django0 -
Hey there,
the first 1 - 2 years you are able to burn fat and get muscle a bit easier as after that time
The truth is you will get (if you are serious and do 3 x times full body workout for the first 4 - 6 weeks and after that maybee a 2 split training) about 150 - 200 gramms of muscle per month. So you don´t need to be anxious. This 200 gramm muscles will burn more calories and the anabolic reaction of your body will speed up your metabolism. That is very good for you. So yes you will gain weight, but it is good for you
About eating while weighttraining. I would switch the macro nutrients a little bit, like 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat.
The problem you think about is this -> After this 2 years where you gaining more muscles as after that time the body looks like this: You need a surplus in calories to get your muscles to grow. For dieting you need a minus. So thats the problem. But the first 2 years I would use a calorie calculator and calculate every 1.5 - 2 kg. Maybee this one -> http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
Cheers.
Django
thanks for this! just one more question, because you seem to been the fountain of wisdom for this
when you say full body workout, what would that consist of? Like, exactly what should I do each time - which moves, how many sets/reps of each...and roughly what starting weight (i know you won't be able to give an exact number but a vague idea of where I should start at, being a 5'7, 135lb 18 year old girl just starting to lift properly)?
Also, would it be better to do cardio before or after this? I pay per entry to the gym so I'd like to do both on the same day to save money...student life
, so what's more beneficial? 0 -
at your body fat percentage it will be unlikely you will gain muscle on a deficit, most scientific literature on people gaining muscle on a deficit are in at least in the over weight BMI range if not obese.
Iam not saying it is impossible because i really dont know but i would suggest starting at maintenance.
just my opinion0 -
I am normal weight for my height (would like to lose 10 vanity pounds) and have been doing Stonglifts for 3 weeks (starting week 4 today) and I have not really lost pounds but am already seeing changes in my body composition. So I am trying not to focus on the # on the scale and just look at how much more toned and fit my body looks. I lift 3x a week and am training for a half marathon so I run 3x a week.0
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thanks for this! just one more question, because you seem to been the fountain of wisdom for this
when you say full body workout, what would that consist of? Like, exactly what should I do each time - which moves, how many sets/reps of each...and roughly what starting weight (i know you won't be able to give an exact number but a vague idea of where I should start at, being a 5'7, 135lb 18 year old girl just starting to lift properly)?
Also, would it be better to do cardio before or after this? I pay per entry to the gym so I'd like to do both on the same day to save money...student life, so what's more beneficial?
Hey there,
naaaaa.. there are so much ideas and folks out there who look awesome and do a fantastic job. There are several ways to success in the gym. I can only tell you what I did wrong in my first year of bodybuilding. Also I don´t want to say that my way is the only one. I don´t want to offend others.
1. I thought quantity comes before quality !
2. I thought I must lift till it hurts (mostly after training) !
3. I thought I must go 4 - 6 times full body every week for 1 1/2 - 2 hours per day
4. I must hit all muscles hard with 2 or more isolation workouts (f.e. Biceps, Triceps etc etc)
5. I must change as fast as I want my trainings plan and don´t stick with it for a few weeks
6. I must do less reps more weight to gain muscles
About 1
I did the first 2 months full body workouts with multi joints and isolation exercises. So I mean f.e. I did Benchpress and after that I isolated my Triceps and my Shoulder again for 2 exercises. And that 3 times a week. I thought I must do as many exercises I can catch up with. That was wrong for me. Quality comes before quantity. I will show you later a full body workout I do at the moment.
About 2
Muscle sorenes is okay, DOMS is okay (means delayed onset muscle sorenes, for us humans it means:The day after you train you get a big muscle soreness). But aching in tendons etc etc... is NOT good.
About 3
Head up: 45 - 60 minutes pure exercises every 2 days and weekend off is absolutely fine for muscle gains. If you chitchat about another hour in the gym it is okay. About that 1 hour -> Some studies are saying after that time your body will switch to catabolism (means your body want energy and will get also your body protein as energy).
About 4
A big thing for me (a real eye opener, as I read some bodybuilding books f.e. A. Schwarzenegger, Chris Aceto, Tom Venuto etc etc). Isolation exercises shouldn´t be done so much as I did that. The first year I did so much isolation exercises and less multi-joint-exercises. You should go for multi-joint exercises (f.e. Benchpress, Push-Ups, Pull/Chin-Ups, Deadlifts, Squats, Leg press)
About 5
I wanted to know every fu***** single exercise of the world and didn´t stick with a plan!!! Thats a difficult one. When you are fresh in BB and all the guys and girls looking so good and bulky or handsome you wanna try out other exercises. BUT.... Stick with a plan for a while (I do about 20 weeks for a plan with different variations. Show you after that).
About 6
As a freshmen I want to go heavy on the weight. But thats also SH**** Your tendons and muscle should be prepared for heavy weights... Maybee you can do heavy weight but it could be end in a desaster. I did one time a 160 kg leg press (1 week ago I did 100 kg) and I ruined my thorax because the weight fall off me. Hahaha...
An example fullbody workoutplan for you: 3 times a week for about 4 - 6 weeks could be
Warm-Up: 10 minutes elliptical or bicycle (as you wish). Get your pulse rate about 65 - 85% of your max pulse rate. Also you can google about HIIT (high intensity intervall training) if you want a bit more stress. But please not in the warm up ...
Weightlifting:
To start with you should know what you want: Machines or free lifting. For the first 4 - 6 weeks you can f.e. go for the machines (and yes I know free weights are better) But to learn it you can go for machines to learn the range of the exercise.
Go for high repetition low weights in the first 4 - 6 weeks. And hit every body part thrice a week for 4 - 6 weeks.
You should get the weight which you can do 3 x 20 repetition with good form (and you should sweat a bit). If you can manage that you go the next time a bit higher in weight (f.e. in the machines about 2.5 kg more). If it is too heavy get a bit less and do 3 x 20 reps. If you can do it but it is very difficult you shouldn´t change the weights next time. Recheck next time how you managed it and adjust (You should print your plan out and write the weights, so you know next time what you did last time.
Example plan to start with (in my humble opinion)
Benchpress 3 x 20 x your choice in lbs/kg 8-)
Lat Pulldown or pull-up 3 x 20 x your choice (or bodyweight)
Deadlift (search for the machine) 3 x 20 x your choice
Squats or leg press 3 x 20 x your choice
Crunches 3 x 20 x bodyweight
Post workout: Everything okay what you want. It shouldn´t last longer than 30 - 45 minutes
And YES you must eat good BETWEEN the sessions. Muscles are build at home and only a bit in the gym 8-)
You can tell me which body part you wanna favour so we can get a 2. exercise for that body part 8-)
I hope I could help a bit. Feel free to add me. (Anyone who want me as a friend in MFP btw. I am online minimum 10 minutes per day, mostly longer.
Cheers and greetings from dark Germany
Django0
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