Lose Fat Gain Muscle....No Clue?

rickyo2000
rickyo2000 Posts: 1 Member
edited September 26 in Introduce Yourself
Hello my fitness peeps! This is my 2nd day joining myfitnesspal and i don't even have a clue of how to diet? Also my workout schedule is something like this Mon, Wed, Friday i'm doing arms, chest, shoulders varying it up between triceps, biceps, back and chest on the different days. Tue, Thurs and possibly Sat or Sundays i'm doing legs and on all days trying to do a little bit of abs and always 1hr of cardio or atleast 30minutes of cardio. Does this sound like a good work out regimen?

Replies

  • SassyStef
    SassyStef Posts: 413
    welcome!! I will say when I first joined I had no idea either........I do and 3 and 3.....3 days of weights and light cardio like 20 min and 3 days of cardio like running 3 miles plus.
    MFP will track your calories and basically tell you how to eat when you log you exercise and that is the simple part. Every thing else is up to you.
    I also use freetrainers.com to help me make a fitness plan (I dont like any thing else on that site tho), shows me what exercises to use and what days. I am not good a breaking up my muscles for a complete work out since I love running but I dont want a runner body lol I want muscle lol

    I hope this helps!! Good luck!!
  • RyonsLions2
    RyonsLions2 Posts: 350 Member
    The more muscle you gain, the more you will burn fat. You can have anything you want to eat, just log it all and also, pre planning your days helps tremendously, so you can have all the stuff you want, but only log the amounts of each item that fits into your calorie range for the day. Hope that helps. OH and lots of protein and fiber to keep you full and to help you lose the weight.
  • mrb2217
    mrb2217 Posts: 7
    If you want a good diet foundation I recommend getting the book The Abs Diet or reading up on it on the internet. It sounds like a fad diet but it really isn't. It is a nutritious diet that allows you to eat both carbohydrates and protein. You eat 6 times a day and really are never hungry. It is all about clean eating. If you read the book it also gives you numerous exercises and a work out schedule and routine to follow. I use my own but I think workout routines are all personal preference.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    You won't gain much, if any muscle while trying to burn fat. You need an excess of calories in order to give your body what it needs to function properly and build new muscle tissue. It's difficult to do at that point, just about impossible to do while eating at a calorie deficit. At this point you have to decide what your main goal is: losing fat or gaining muscle. Pick one and go with it. Just know that if you choose to lose fat first and build muscle later you'll end up gaining some fat at that point simply because you'll be eating so much.

    Since you're only looking to lose 10 pounds I'd focus on building muscle now and worry about burning the fat later. There are tons of websites out there to help you figure out a good weight training routine, musclehack.com is one my husband as used with good results. Until he broke his rib snowboarding he was gaining about 1 pound per week, but it wasn't easy. He was eating 3000-4000 calories per day, which he said made eating like a job. He had about 3 protein shakes a day and spent almost 2 hours every day at the gym lifting.
  • 1. Keep the intensity up when you lift. Its easy if you keep the your rep speed high, keep time between sets lower and keep time between exercises low as well. That will build muscle and get the calories burning.
    Also use a lot of multi joint lifts. (dead lifts, squats, snatches, standing over head press, etc.)
    2. I would cut down on the cardio on days you lift. Kind of difficult to go hard on the weights then do an hour of cardio like you want. If you can do an hour of cardio after lifting that then that means you can go a lot harder on the weights. Maybe dedicate two whole days to H.I.I.T.(High intensity interval training) cardio training instead.
    3. Make sure you get a rest day. You'll be sore so you'll need it
    4. Keep protein intake very high.
    5. Drink lots of water (it will help keep you full) and track your calories.
    6. And read everything you can on fitness. There are so many diets and training theories that you almost have to play around to see which one you like and works for your body and personality.
    7 Pay attention to your body. If your tired and sore everyday you might need more calories, protein, or an extra rest day regardless what the "chart" says.
    Good luck.
  • Sounds like too much at once! You can't keep up that kind of regimen. You should vary the cardio days and weight lifting. You don't want to gain weight do you? Cardio is one of the best ways to take off extra weight and get leaner. Keeping up the weight lifting is good so that you won't loose muscle.
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