Beginner requires help with diet/muscles/workout

Brumboy

Brumboy

Brumboy

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11 Jan 2011
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Hey everyone,

I'm Ross and I'm 21 years old. I'm about 5'6 and weigh rougly 140 lbs. I've always been quite skinny and had an atheletic build. But I've always had a small frame and a really small amount of muscle/low fat. Which was good for when I was younger as I used to do cross country running and tennis.

But as I got older I stayed the same size and felt very insecure about my muscle mass and general body weight. I never wore t-shirts when I was out because I was so embarassed of my arms and I always wore a few layers to make me look a little bigger.

Up until recently I've had the sudden urge to do something about it. I started doing free weights about 5 months ago, doing 45 minute sessions at a steady pace around 3 times a week and eating a lot of food. I did 2 excersises (6 reps, 3 sets for each excersise) for my triceps, 2 for my biceps and around 200 sit ups 3 times a week.

But around christmas I had to have my appendix taken out so I was out of action for almost 2 months. Now I've started back up again.

I've started taking this all in one protein shake called "Reflex one stop". And training 3 times a week doing the same workout for 45 minutes then drinking a serving of this protein shake (only when I've worked out so about 3 times a week).

My diet varies day to day, but consists of eating around 1500 calories of a mixture of chicken/tuna/eggs/lentils/rice/pasta, it might not be a lot of calories but I do eat very healthily and drink a lot of water. But I don't want to just feast and eat thousands of calories as I've put on a bit of belly fat and fat around my face which I really hate, so I've tried to keep a good amount of calories while eating protein packed foods.

Breakfast - 4 eggs, can of beans, 2 slices of wholemeal bread
Lunch - Can of tuna with salad
Workout for 45 minutes
Protein shake (40g protein)
Dinner - 200g of chicken with rice, sometimes lentils too

For my workout I normally do:

6 x 6 bicep curls - 13kg dumbbells
6 x 6 tricep curls - 10kg dumbbells
6 x 3 Overhead Triceps Dumbbell Extension - 8kg dumbells
6 x 3 Bent Over Triceps Extension - 12kg dumbells

I have noticed an increase in muscle mass and strength (I started doing 10kg dumbells when I first started now I can do 13kg pretty easily).

Anyway I just wanted some tips and advice since there's a lot of experienced people here and hopefully a few people who have been in my position.

Am I eating the right foods?
Am I doing the right exercises and working out often enough?
Is there a better protein powder for me?
Is there anything else I can do to improve my diet/workout plan?

I want to add around an inch to my biceps and an inch to my triceps and gain lean muscle.

Also it might be a bit of a vague question but how long would it take to achieve my goals?

Thanks for reading and sorry about the long post I just wanted to give you as much information as I can to give you a better idea about my situation.
 
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Have a read of the sticky there's a lot of good information in there for when you're starting out.
You look to be eating the right sort of stuff but could possibly do with eating slightly more of it and adding in some healthy fats such as extra virgin olive oil and fatty fish.
Ignore the protein powder for the time being it's nice to have but your base diet is the important thing.
Are you working out at a gym? You ideally want to get the big compounds into your routine for some proper growth so squatting, benching and deadlifting your routine at the moment is poor and working in some big compounds will have a much more positive effect on your lean mass growth.
As I said have a read of the sticky as most of this is covered in there and then come back with any questions you still have.
 
My main suggestion would be exercise other muscles. Your body will limit your arms (fairly small muscles) size to 'match' your build in general. It will not let you get out of its idea of proportion. Doing the bigger muscles in your legs also makes your body release more growth hormones than just doing your arms will. So increasing your legs should also help make your arms bigger.
 
why do people always say ignore protein powder its easy to take a shake a day and it all helps, espcially for busy people to fit inbetween the gap between 2 meals, its not like having a protein shake will make you wrap on having a good diet, if anything it will get you into a routine.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

So my diet is ok even though I don't consume a whole lot of calories?

I've tried to keep a very protein and vitamin rich diet without eating junk food and unhealthy meals. I've got into the habit of counting my calories and protein and the foods I've been eating (eggs/tuna/chicken/lentils) have low calories but a good amount of protein.

I'll try and increase my diet it a little by maybe eating nuts as a snack or maybe an extra portion of my evening dinner a hour or so later.

I only actually have my protein shake (350ml of water & 75g of protein powder which gives 37g of protein) 3 times a week, do you recommend I take it everyday even when I'm not working out?

I don't have access to a gym right now so how would I go about doing leg exercises at home? I only have dumbbells (15kg set), but I might buy a barbell 50kg set if i really need too.
 
u can still work ya legs by squating using dumbells at home! and also i take it u have some stairs for calves raises too! check GordyR sticky at the top of the page gives top notch info for beginners!
 
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You said you don't have gym access at the moment, are you going to anytime soon? Having a superviser to check your technique, and the equipment of a gym is an invaluable investment.

Whether you'll be able to get to a gym will have a big impact on what you can do tbh.
 
I'll keep it brief:

Ready GordyR's sticky.
Eat more
There are other muscles in your body you should be training. Biceps & triceps should be the least of your worries.
Be patient
Train hard.
 
Rossuk89 said:
Thanks for the replies guys.

So my diet is ok even though I don't consume a whole lot of calories?
Click to expand...
You're diet isn't terrible.

If you're putting on fat, reduce carbs a little and consider doing some high intensity interval training (google it). If you're eating 1500 cals I doubt you're actually putting on much fat, but your food choices might be preserving it. Incidentally, eating a low calorie diet can cause you to preserve fat. Eat more protein.
 
GordyR's sticky won't help him much if he's using a pair of 15kg dumbells, and is considering a 50kg barbell. He either needs a gym, better equipment, or to do oblique exercises. Fair do's to him for training for 5months with that diet/routine though, his gains must be minimal compared to someone who uses the routine in the sticky.
 
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The list of foods in GordyR's guide are all good, infact everything in there is good. But there's about 15 different exercises in there, which can be a lot to remember if you're used to doing a small number like you are. Since you're working at home I'm guessing you don't have someone who is qualified to check that you've got correct technique. Honestly, join a gym if you can.
 
Skillmister said:
Surely this cant be right? I'm sure most have nearly 1g of protein per gram of powder.
Click to expand...
In the supplements thread, he said that he had previously bought this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000T94D32/ref=oss_product
Which looks something like 37g of protein per 75g serving.

Edit: Just read his post again, and those are the numbers that he gave too. He was told to buy whey from myprotein.co.uk
Checking in the supplement thread, he said that he had bought new powder from myprotein, maybe he's using his old powder until it runs out.
 
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