How much is too much?

Ripper · 21 Sep 2008 at 19:11

Having been a pay-as-you-go member of the gym for the last 4 years I decided the other day to go full whack and pay for the top membership so I can come and go as I please.

Problem is i've recently come out of a long term relationship and I get bored extremely quickly at home, leading me to want to go to the gym constantly. I went this morning and had a pretty intense session on my arms and abs and now I really want to go again tonight but I don't want to over-do it. Bad idea do you think? There's also the option of going swimming instead which wouldn't do me much harm would it? Would it harm the work I did this morning in any way?

Basically I want to know how much is too much? This week i'll most likely go everyday except Wednesday as I'm playing squash. I'm noticing the changes to my body quite rapidly after two months of going regularly (around 3 times a week). In the past i'd focused more on squash and maybe went to the gym once a week, due to this and the fact I don't eat much food my weight never budges and i've been around 9st 10lb for a while. My goals aren't to get big so to speak, more to be athletic and defined, I suppose you could say like a footballers physique or something like that. I think I already have a reasonably good physique but it could be a lot better, i'm probably a bit too skinny at the moment. Any tips? I've read the stickys but they seem to be focused towards people wanting to get "big" and eating crap loads.

I already use whey protein after every workout and sometimes at other times if I don't feel i've had enough protein during the day.

Ripper · 21 Sep 2008 at 19:18

5ft10 i think

I do a lot of exercise, squash 3 times a week + cardio at the gym. Also go running every now and then. This plus the fact I don't eat much means I don't seem to change weight.

Ripper · 22 Sep 2008 at 16:18

Cheers. I really don't have the appetite to eat 5/6 meals a day though thats the problem. Guess i'll have to suck it up

Ripper · 23 Sep 2008 at 21:06

Ok well I'm never going to be able to prepare the proper healthy food I need to eat regularly, I just don't have the time or the taste for most of it. But I am trying to eat more food in general, today for example:

8.30am - Bowl of Cheerio's
11.15am - Bacon bap
1.15pm - Cheese and ham sandwhich on brown bread, bag of crisps
5pm - Protein shake
7pm - Protein shake straight after workout
8.30 - Two small fillet steak sandwhiches on white crusty bread

Obviously its not the right food but I guess its better than 3 meals a day? I'll be having a shake in the morning from now on along with my cereal.

Ripper · 23 Sep 2008 at 21:49

How much oats would you use with 25g of whey? We have quaker oats in the cupboard but I can''t imagine them going down easily by just using the shaker, and our blender is crap

Ripper · 24 Sep 2008 at 12:47

As an update, this is how I am at the moment basically (ignore the crap over the lens on my belly button):

Basically a skinny git but i'm starting to get some definition around my pecs and abs compared to a month or so ago. Hopefully it'll continue, just worried about putting on fat if I start eating loads

Ripper · 24 Sep 2008 at 12:55

As I said sometimes I play an unhealthy amount of squash and generally do a lot of cardio. If I'm being completely honest I'm actually only 9st 7lb (picture taken last night btw) at the moment as I havn't been eating well since splitting up with my girlfriend, but my weight for the past 2 years has been pretty much stuck around the 9st 10lb mark.

Ripper · 24 Sep 2008 at 14:07

Ok, I figured I wasn't eating enough before the gym but thats just due to my timetable basically and the fact that I want to get home and go straight back out to the gym. What sort of food would you recommend to eat before the gym then?

Oats with a shake? Or something more substantial?

Ripper · 24 Sep 2008 at 15:24

Obviously I'm not happy at the moment no, but getting a bit more serious about training is a great way to take my mind off things and make me feel more confident I think. It's better than sitting around feeling sorry for myself anyway.

Ripper · 24 Sep 2008 at 16:50

Aye my legs are quite skinny to be fair, something I need to work on definitely.

Ripper · 6 Oct 2008 at 21:38

Ok well after talking to someone who's quite into his training i've decided to change my routine a bit.

Mondays - Chest/Biceps
Wednesday - Back/triceps
Friday - Shoulders/traps
Sunday - Legs

With abs during every session.

However, would it harm me if I was to do another session on my chest/biceps on Thursday? And maybe shoulders/traps on Tuesdays as well? The muscles i'd be working would all get at least 2/3 days rest every time between workouts. Would this be overdoing it?

Along all this i'm obviously working on my diet and I'm eating a lot more.

Ripper · 9 Oct 2008 at 20:57

I've cut back on squash in an attempt to stop burning so many calories, but I've started doing a spinning class on Thursdays in an effort to get my leg muscles in gear, only downside is that I probably burn over 1000 calories doing so. Tried to eat more today to account for it.

Honestly been eating loads for the past few weeks but i'm not putting on weight. I'm definitely getting more defined and muscular (REALLY happy with my progress) but the weight isn't going on! I don't know why i'm complaining but its just weird. Maybe I **** too much?

Averaging about two a day