Building Muscle

Eat at maintenance. Your trainer should have given you a routine to follow.

What are your stats? Why 160 grams of protein?

As for what lifts you want to do, this is just me personally, but I focus on the big three: bench press, deadlifts, squats. However, as a beginner you might want to start on some of the machines. Nine out of ten times there's a nice diagram on them that shows the muscle groups targeted and how to correctly use the equipment. For each gym session I like to focus on a different area of my body. One day it might be leg day (leg press machine, extensions, curls, hammies, calf raises--just for example, which can all be done on a machine), chest day, arms, or back. Also, I try to do my core everyday as well as 10-15 mins of cardio depending on how intense the lifting was.

However, "broscience" is what I'm giving you. That's simply advice from somebody who's maybe done it awhile and had results, but have no real credentials to be giving advice! Ha ha!

I would ditch the trainer before I ditched eating rice.
Did he tell you why you shouldn't eat rice and potatoes? Do you have a medical condition?

Did you check this trainers credentials?

Babs2Baby wrote: »

malibu927 wrote: »

Eat at maintenance. Your trainer should have given you a routine to follow.

What are your stats? Why 160 grams of protein?

I'm 160lbs so 1 gram per pound. And he didn't give me a routine, he just took my measurements and put me on the elliptical.

So you're not going to gain much muscle, if any, if you're wanting to lose weight.

I take back my comment about maintenance. Do the 1500 calories and find a program from here that will work best for your goals. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you. The protein may be a little much...usually the recommendation is .8-1 gram per pound of lean mass.

Babs2Baby wrote: »

Hi there gang. I just joined a gym and got a personal trainer but I could only afford him for once a week. I was wondering if you guys had any tips on how to build muscle and lose fat at the same time.
My trainer has me eating 1500 calories a day, 160g minimum of protein and cutting out rice, potatoes, white bread, and pasta. He also wants me to drink a gallon of water a day.

I want to build muscle and be toned but I need help getting started. I'm intimidated by all the muscular women and men who are in the weight section at the gym What are some beginner work outs for weight lifting? And any help with food choices will be great.

Lol, this is such a typical PT answer. Basic cookie cutter advice.

Building muscle and losing fat is possible, but it's a LONG PROCESS. If you have a lot of fat to lose, you're better off just shooting for that first. If you lack muscle overall, then that's what you focus on, but realize that gaining muscle will also include gaining some fat. It's inevetable. So first figure out what you desire more and work towards that first.



A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

If you're a newbie then it's possible you could lose fat and gain some muscle at the same time. I focus on compound lifts and do PPL (push, pull legs) routine -- google it for more info. As for food, I keep it real simple. some oats in the morning with egg whites mixed in and a little vanilla protein powder for flavor, hit the gym hard focusing on my weight first, then i do 15 minutes of hiit and head home for some egg whites and turkey bacon. How to set up your plates is simple too.. 4-5 oz protein of choice, 3-6 oz of starch (POTATOES for life), and a cup of green vegetable. That's a balanced plate imo. I just dont have the oats on a rest day, instead just protein. Your trainer seriously sucks though, don't waste your time or money with him.

Okay, so your first goal is going to be to lose weight at a rate of about 0.5 or 1 pound per week. (The rate of loss is driven by how much you have to lose. 30-40 pounds really isn't that much, so you can go for 1 pound per week first, then you'll likely have to drop down to 0.5 as you go). Plug your stats into MFP and see how many total calories you get.

You can use the standard macro split that MFP gives you, but if you want to make some changes, you can start here:

- 160g of protein is overkill. 0.8g per pound of body weight is a good target range, so you're probably safe anywhere from 104g to 124g.
- Set your fat at about 0.45g per pound of body weight.
- Fill the rest with carbs.

See how you feel, and tweak your macros as you go. Everyone is a little different, so just see how you personally respond. Macro splits are ballpark anyway; total calories are the most important.

While you're losing the weight, your secondary goal is going to be to keep the muscle you have, and also maybe add a little bit more. You can definitely get stronger, and it's very much in your best interest to start doing resistance training as early as possible while you're losing. As the fat comes off, you'll start to see your muscles for sure.

For exercise, there are a ton of beginner lifting programs that you can follow, like Stronglifts 5x5, Strong Curves, or Starting Strength. (This thread lists a lot of different programs: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1). It doesn't really matter which beginner program you start with; just pick something that sounds like fun and try it!

Regarding feeling intimidated at the gym, don't. Every single person there had a first day at the gym; that's a universal experience for all of us. Bring a plan for what you're going to do, and some headphones if you want. Good luck!