Newbie, please help me out with my training!

[Wannabe]

I'm 18 and have been training about 18 months, of which about 12 have been serious. I'm roughly 6"1 weigh 81KG's and have 9% body fat. What I'd really like is if you guys (and girls) could share with me what you have found to be good mass building exercises, especially for arms as I really want BIG arms

My training programme at the moment looks like this;

Monday; Arms

3x 10 reps with dumbells
3x 10 reps concentration curls

Tuesday; Light CV and Abs

An hour on the bike not letting my heart rate go above 131bpm so I can burn excess fat

Abs, incline sit ups on a bench to failure with a 10KG disc on my chest then failure with no weight. Then hanging knee raises to failure followed by obliques.

Wednesday; Legs

5x 10 reps squats
1x drop set on leg extension machine
3x 10 reps stiff leg dead lifts
5x 10 reps calf raises

Thursday; Light CV and abs- as above

Friday; Chest and back

Chest
3x 10 reps with dumbells- have changed from the bar for about a month for a change
3x 10 reps incline with dumbells

Back
3x 10 reps bent over rows with dumbells
3x10 reps seat pulley row machine

I know this is a bit of a big read but i would REALLY appreciate your guys opinions about how I'm going wrong and how I could improve it! If you could give me a good arm workout I will be very grateful indeed!

Thanks

[rado]

1st of all welcome to PM. Your goal should be that you want an "All around" good build, not just arms. If you want to bulk up, keep everything within 3-4 sets and a 10-8-6-4 rep count routine, if you want some power, keep it at 3 sets with 8-6-4. I would not do the cardio after your done working out, by this you would be getting rid of more fat, you're lean already.

Keep the calories around 3250 your 1st few weeks and see if you add some weight, if not increase the calories every week by 250-500 until you start to grow. Remember that diet, sleep and training play a big role. What I mean is that if you don't have all those 3 components in check, you're not going to grow.

Being that you're still young, stay away from AS ok? Food should be your #1 thing on your mind, besides big arms I don't think your workout is that good for growing. Or it could be your diet.

Try to keep every body part on one day only. What I mean is that don't do chest and back together. Keep arms by itself, chest, legs(quads, calf, hams), back and shoulders. This way you can concentrate on those muscles and not overtrain yourself.

[Wannabe]

Cool, thanks for the help mate I'll definitely try the 10-8-6-4 routine! How many exercises would you recommend for each body part, small muscles and big muscles? Also hoe much rest should I take between sets?

I know you're probably going to give me a mental slap for being so cheeky for asking this but could you give me a rough idea of what things I should be eating to make up the 3250 callories each day? I already take a whey protein drink 3 times a day, when I get up, after a work-out and a few hours before bed and usually get through about 3 tins of tuna a day.

How many hours of sleep would be best each night?

I've read a lot of good information on here about AS and I'm not doubting or poo pooing what you say about telling me not to do them but if I did just a two month cycle would it show me some good results? The reason I ask is because at the moment I'm really considering going down that road in the search for the PERFECT physique!

Thanks

[Kris-B]

At 18 years of age i wouldn`t be going down the AS route yet ! get your diet and training in order first, and another thing dont be to impatient you dont get bigger over night it takes time so just keep going and you`ll get there

[rado]

Cool, thanks for the help mate I'll definitely try the 10-8-6-4 routine! How many exercises would you recommend for each body part, small muscles and big muscles? Also hoe much rest should I take between sets?

I know you're probably going to give me a mental slap for being so cheeky for asking this but could you give me a rough idea of what things I should be eating to make up the 3250 callories each day? I already take a whey protein drink 3 times a day, when I get up, after a work-out and a few hours before bed and usually get through about 3 tins of tuna a day.

How many hours of sleep would be best each night?

I've read a lot of good information on here about AS and I'm not doubting or poo pooing what you say about telling me not to do them but if I did just a two month cycle would it show me some good results? The reason I ask is because at the moment I'm really considering going down that road in the search for the PERFECT physique!

Thanks

Well eat chicken, fish(tuna), beef, pork(my fav) for solid protein sources. Take a multi-vitamin that has vit-c, B12, B6, folic acid, iron, fiber, etc...You get what I'm saying. Stay away from AS use right now, you're still young and by using AS you're only going to damage yourself instead of helping it. No one has the perfect physique, don't let that be your #1 goal.


What your goal should be is to stay in shape(looking good of course) and put on some good quality weight. 8-9 hours of sleep should be a must, no less. I train anywhere from 3-4 sets a bodypart, mostly 4 sets.

Post some pictures for us so that we can see where you're at now, this way you can track your progress as well. Make sure that your meals are not always from the shakes, get some solid substance in you.

Here's a diet that I use for bulking:

Meal 1: 7 Eggs(whites), 1 cup of oatmeal with 12oz milk and a scoop of optimum whey protein (mixed in oats cooked in milk) and 1 tablespoon Natural P.B.

Meal 2: Post workout 2 scoops whey protein, with 4 servings of gatorade powder and 1 large banana.

Meal 3: an hour later 2 can tuna mixed with 400 calories of brown rice, diced green and red peppers and mustard. 8oz milk

Meal 4: 10oz lean red meat, 8oz potato, salad with various veggies.

Meal 5: 1 cup of cottage cheese, 3/4 cup oats, 8oz milk

Meal 6: 2 large chicken breast, 6oz potato and a salad with various veggies

Meal 7: 1 cup cottage cheese, 1 large apple and 1 tablespoon P.B.

The milk I use is T.G Lee fat free.

[liftsiron]

Welcome to the board. Listen to what Rado has outlined and you should be set.

[DblDmnGd38]

Welcome to PremierMuscle

[Wannabe]

Hey guys! Thanks for the welcomes

Rado does seem to know his stuff! Boy is that a lot to eat in one day, I'm sure I can manage it though Usually for a day I eat:

Morning; a bowl of 3 shredded wheat with semi-skilled milk and a protein shake.

Before work out; a bowl of pasta and a tin of tuna (about an hour to two hours before)

Straight after work out; protein shake

Hour later; tuna sandwhich with brown bread

Dinner; tinned curry or chili con carni with white rice

Before bed; protein shake and a tin of tuna

Whats that like? Is the protein shake and tuna too much before I go to bed? Yeah I'll get some pics up ASAP, as long as you promise not to laugh too much , lol!

[rado]

Hey guys! Thanks for the welcomes

Rado does seem to know his stuff! Boy is that a lot to eat in one day, I'm sure I can manage it though Usually for a day I eat:

Morning; a bowl of 3 shredded wheat with semi-skilled milk and a protein shake.

Before work out; a bowl of pasta and a tin of tuna (about an hour to two hours before)

Straight after work out; protein shake

Hour later; tuna sandwhich with brown bread

Dinner; tinned curry or chili con carni with white rice

Before bed; protein shake and a tin of tuna

Whats that like? Is the protein shake and tuna too much before I go to bed? Yeah I'll get some pics up ASAP, as long as you promise not to laugh too much , lol!

Watch the carb intake, it's good for loading phases, but too much will turn into fat. What you need to do is start off slow and work your way up, this way your stomach will gradually adjusts itself to more calories.

I think you should put some beef or pork into diet. Watch out for bread too, just becuase it says "Wheat", "low carb", "Whole grain", does not mean it's all good. Keep the sodium intake lower, all that tuna will give you a high sodium count, that will only make you hold water and get cramps.

[Wannabe]

I didn't know that about the sodium. Per serving my protein shake has 110mg of sodium, with the tuna is this too much sodium? Can sodium harm you in any way?

[rado]

Sodium makes you hold water, cramps, dehydration, etc...So yes it's bad for you, in a certain way. Just watch the sodium from the tuna, try eating some tilapia or grouper, grilled of course.

[Wannabe]

Sodium makes you hold water, cramps, dehydration, etc...So yes it's bad for you, in a certain way. Just watch the sodium from the tuna, try eating some tilapia or grouper, grilled of course.

When doing cardio or weight training in general I do tend to get dehydrated quickly and sweat a fair bit too. Could this be the tuna ? Or rather the sodium?

[rado]

When doing cardio or weight training in general I do tend to get dehydrated quickly and sweat a fair bit too. Could this be the tuna ? Or rather the sodium?

You get dehydrated quiclky becuase you're sweating. Sweating is good, gets rid of the toxins in your body.

[Wannabe]

Oh cool! Just another quickie, how much rest would you recommend between sets?

[rado]

I take 2 minutes in between sets. By doing it this way you're allowing your body to recover a bit more for the next set, this is also used for strength training which is what I like best. If you take a shorter time of rest, you wont be as strong.