Thanks for all the help
Thing is, I'm a complete noob to all of this so I'm basically going into it eyes closed - So any help is appreciated.
Regarding the weights, I've been using machines for this and not the free weights, does this make a difference? Been working solely on arms and chest.
I've been choosing a weight that's just about comfortable with what I can handle and then doing reps until I can't anymore - I don't know if this is the right method.
Regarding cardio, I've been doing 20 minute sessions on the bike, starting with low resistance and ending off with a higher resistance in the last 5 minutes of the session - After which I run on the treadmill until I start feeling my heart beating in my head at which point I'm pretty much done for.
My goal is to get the mag down and to build a bit of muscle on top (arms, shoulders and chest). I don't know what the most effective course of action is for this goal so any advice is appreciated.
Thanks
You absolutely MUST track the calories you consume as accurately as you can and keep your water intake consistent throughout the week as in don't have days where you drink only one or two glasses...
Get the free app MyFitnessPal on android or iphone and so, scan the barcodes of food, weigh the food, log it.
The app does all the rest for you and shows how many calories you have left for the day. You don't even need to know what a calorie is, just that you have x amount left
if the app doesn't have that food, manually just check the label where it says x kilojoules per 100g and calculate how much you're eating by weighing it.
For something like mince meat just search for lean beef mince meat and pick a generic one.
It has a slight learning curve to the app and feels like a little schlep in the beginning but tracking the calories is literally the key.
"If you're not assessing, you're guessing"
Here's the easy part... weigh yourself each week at the same time, try to do it like on a monday morning.
-If you see your weight increasing, your calorie intake might be higher than what you are burning.
In the BEGINNING don't worry about this TOO much, rather watch the centimeters.
Because of the exercise, you will start storing more water in the muscles and even build some muscle and your weight might increase. This is why consistent water intake is crucial that you don't lose water weight and the scale fools you, making you think you lost fat tissue.
-If it is decreasing keep doing what you're doing. Eat that amount of calories and exercise the same.
-If it stands still at any point, either cut 100kcal from your diet (start with cutting some carbs), or do about 10 minutes extra cardio each day... Increasing activity is the ideal option.
Log your weight and determine a trend... Does it drop, plateau, etc. and you just adjust your calories/activity from there. BOOM! Weight loss
One tip from Dr. Spencer Nodalsky...
Half the starches, double the veggies...
Green veggies have low calories but get you full. They have much lower calories per 100g than most starches. So just take half the rice, and take double the veggies. Lower calories but more food
Follow almost any basic program and it will be good enough for quite a while but do just like 2/3 sets of heavy compound exercises (6-8 reps or lower) in the program. It will help to retain the muscle mass you have and it will look like you're getting results quicker because body fat percentage is just that, a percentage. If you lose muscle mass while losing fat, that muscle to fat ratio also decreases at a slower rate.
Skip the machines. Build up form with free weights with light weights and it recruits more muscles with the same exercise compared to a machine.
Stick to proven programs. Don't try to make up a program. For a beginner, you absolutely can not go wrong with ICF 5x5...
Solid proven program.
Just google ICF 5x5 and the first result will give you the program. And answer any questions you probably might have. In the FAQ you'll see the cutting version of the program is just 3 sets of 5 reps for main lifts, and 2 sets instead of 3 for accessory work.
It's a three days a week program and you can do very light cardio on the off days.
Skip the bro splits, they're not very efficient IMO. Full body three times a week works WONDERS for beginners. It builds a great foundation for you to later progress to intermediate programs and no matter what, don't think three times a week is not enough!
you will get results!
You don't need a billion sets for a single body part to progress...
Was on that program for a while after i was on the "bro split" for my first 6 months and i made so much more progress.
Just don't skip body parts and then you sit with imbalanced muscles causing all kinds of pains or bad posture. Such as not balancing out chest muscles and biceps with back and rear delts, later looking like thoracic kyphosis... Hunchback... Or looking like a gorilla with the chest muscles and biceps pulling the shoulders forward.
My 2c
didn't notice how long it was until i posted it haha
