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5'8", was an inch shorter than. Yea, that's still underweight. I'd like to build a bit of muscle mass, easy not to have much at my size, not sure the best way to start.
5'8", was an inch shorter than. Yea, that's still underweight. I'd like to build a bit of muscle mass, easy not to have much at my size, not sure the best way to start.
Do you do weight training at all? You seem like you hike and bike a lot. You should eat more. A lot more.
Out of curiosity looking back through some old seasonal threads from before I joined here, including my favorite summer of 2011. That summer thread had a total of 12 pages...this year we're currently at 25 pages in May. Lol.
Out of curiosity looking back through some old seasonal threads from before I joined here, including my favorite summer of 2011. That summer thread had a total of 12 pages...this year we're currently at 25 pages in May. Lol.
Yeah. This forum is definitely a lot more lively now than it was back then.
Muscle mass makes a huge difference in how you look for a given bodyweight, to the point that weight itself is almost irrelevant.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nei
5'8", was an inch shorter than. Yea, that's still underweight. I'd like to build a bit of muscle mass, easy not to have much at my size, not sure the best way to start.
TL;DR of the most important principles I've learned about training, for anyone interested:
1. Do compound exercices (i.e. that target whole groups of muscles), preferably using a barbell. Look up bench press, overhead press, pull ups, chin ups, chest dips (assisted at first for the last 3), squat and deadlift (if you have absolutely no lower back issues unlike me). As a beginner you should absolutely not waste your time on isolation exercices (that target only one muscle). LEARN PROPER FORM if you want to avoid any injuries.
2. Understand that you can either lose fat (via a caloric deficit) or build muscle (via a caloric surplus), though you can do both at the same time as a beginner with a light caloric deficit, but this is better suited to "skinnyfat" people. If you're plain scrawny and want to build muscle, it is faster and more efficient to eat a daily caloric surplus of about 250. Calculate your TDEE (google it), and add 250. If you gain a little extra fat along the way, don't worry about it, you can burn it off very easily by keeping your exact same workout routine but this time with a caloric deficit of about 500. With enough protein, you can burn about 1 kg of pure fat per week.
3. Eat about 1 gram of protein per lbs of bodyweight. The rest of what you eat does not matter much if you're within your target calorie range. Ideally you should distribute it about evenly between fats (they're not evil, some of them are actually very healthy) and carbs (ideally avoid sugar and go for complex carbs, such as whole grains, etc.).
4. Complex carbs are an excellent source of energy if eaten 1-3 hours prior to a workout. Highly recommended. When you're done training, eat about 30g of protein within 1 hour, and some carbs as well. If you are to eat sugars at some point during the day, do it just after your workout, that's when it'll be put to best use.
5. Train 3-4 times a week, allow each muscle group to recover at least 48 hours before training it again.
6. For any exercise, start with a weight you're comfortable doing 6-8 repetitions with, and do 3-5 sets. Next time you do the same exercise, increase the weight you're lifting by the smallest possible increment. If you can't do 6-8 reps, re-use the same weight the next time, and so on until your numbers go up. If you can do more than 10-12 reps easily without looking like a tomato and sounding like a bear and a steam engine, the weight is too light for you. The 6-8 rep range is ideal because it trains both your strength and muscle mass.
7. Drink a lot of water, and more than that.
8. Get sufficient sleep.
9. Have realistic expectations. It's a long, painful (though rewarding) and gradual process.
10. Most of your results will be achieved through consistency and discipline, i.e. showing up and lifting the damn weights, not obsessing over small details of nutrition and training, which a surprising number of people do.
Muscle mass makes a huge difference in how you look for a given bodyweight, to the point that weight itself is almost irrelevant.
TL;DR of the most important principles I've learned about training, for anyone interested:
1. Do compound exercices (i.e. that target whole groups of muscles), preferably using a barbell. Look up bench press, overhead press, pull ups, chin ups, chest dips (assisted at first for the last 3), squat and deadlift (if you have absolutely no lower back issues unlike me). As a beginner you should absolutely not waste your time on isolation exercices (that target only one muscle). LEARN PROPER FORM if you want to avoid any injuries.
2. Understand that you can either lose fat (via a caloric deficit) or build muscle (via a caloric surplus), though you can do both at the same time as a beginner with a light caloric deficit, but this is better suited to "skinnyfat" people. If you're plain scrawny and want to build muscle, it is faster and more efficient to eat a daily caloric surplus of about 250. Calculate your TDEE (google it), and add 250. If you gain a little extra fat along the way, don't worry about it, you can burn it off very easily by keeping your exact same workout routine but this time with a caloric deficit of about 500. With enough protein, you can burn about 1 kg of pure fat per week.
3. Eat about 1 gram of protein per lbs of bodyweight. The rest of what you eat does not matter much if you're within your target calorie range. Ideally you should distribute it about evenly between fats (they're not evil, some of them are actually very healthy) and carbs (ideally avoid sugar and go for complex carbs, such as whole grains, etc.).
4. Complex carbs are an excellent source of energy if eaten 1-3 hours prior to a workout. Highly recommended. When you're done training, eat about 30g of protein within 1 hour, and some carbs as well. If you are to eat sugars at some point during the day, do it just after your workout, that's when it'll be put to best use.
5. Train 3-4 times a week, allow each muscle group to recover at least 48 hours before training it again.
6. For any exercise, start with a weight you're comfortable doing 6-8 repetitions with, and do 3-5 sets. Next time you do the same exercise, increase the weight you're lifting by the smallest possible increment. If you can't do 6-8 reps, re-use the same weight the next time, and so on until your numbers go up. If you can do more than 10-12 reps easily without looking like a tomato and sounding like a bear and a steam engine, the weight is too light for you. The 6-8 rep range is ideal because it trains both your strength and muscle mass.
7. Drink a lot of water, and more than that.
8. Get sufficient sleep.
9. Have realistic expectations. It's a long, painful (though rewarding) and gradual process.
10. Most of your results will be achieved through consistency and discipline, i.e. showing up and lifting the damn weights, not obsessing over small details of nutrition and training, which a surprising number of people do.
Hope this helps.
So many people obsess over just exercise when trying to lose weight, I have always found that the kitchen is where you make the most gains.
I have always tried to find an accurate TDEE for myself but they all give different readings.. I am 6ft1, weight about 190 pounds and have a bit of muscle mass on me - but a bit of fat that I also wish to lose.. most sites say my BMR is about 1900 calories, and I have a pretty lazy lifestyle at the moment until I start my job, except I do go to the gym 6 times a week (muscle workouts 3 times, cardio 4-6times/week)
I basically just go by the principle that 2500 calories is what my body needs to maintain my weight.. I normally eat that amount at the moment, and then go to the gym and do some cardio and some muscle work in order to maintain what I have at the moment.. so I end up with about 1800-1900 net calories/day
I have always tried to find an accurate TDEE for myself but they all give different readings.. I am 6ft1, weight about 190 pounds and have a bit of muscle mass on me - but a bit of fat that I also wish to lose.. most sites say my BMR is about 1900 calories, and I have a pretty lazy lifestyle at the moment until I start my job, except I do go to the gym 6 times a week (muscle workouts 3 times, cardio 4-6times/week)
I basically just go by the principle that 2500 calories is what my body needs to maintain my weight.. I normally eat that amount at the moment, and then go to the gym and do some cardio and some muscle work in order to maintain what I have at the moment.. so I end up with about 1800-1900 net calories/day
^^^ it's most likely WAY more than 2500. I'm 5'10", about 170 lbs, and train 3-4x/week (so I should have a lower metabolism than you on all counts), and I still burn about 2500 a day. This one yields 2435 for me, 2866 for you (assuming you're 25); and this one 2880 and 3400+ respectively, though the latter seems a bit aggressive to me (I usually go with the former).
Quote:
So many people obsess over just exercise when trying to lose weight, I have always found that the kitchen is where you make the most gains.
Well, cardio and dieting work well for losing weight, but the main issue is that part of it will be muscle. Weight training speeds up your metabolism and protects your muscle mass (or even increases it slightly) when you're on a deficit, hence it's way more efficient in order to look good, even if the rate of loss weight appears to be the same - you're burning way more fat.
^^^ it's most likely WAY more than 2500. I'm 5'10", about 170 lbs, and train 3-4x/week (so I should have a lower metabolism than you on all counts), and I still burn about 2500 a day. [URL="http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/"]This one[/URL] yields 2435 for me, 2866 for you (assuming you're 25); and [URL="http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/"]this one[/URL] 2880 and 3400+ respectively, though the latter seems a bit aggressive to me (I usually go with the former).
Well, cardio and dieting work well for losing weight, but the main issue is that part of it will be muscle. Weight training speeds up your metabolism and protects your muscle mass (or even increases it slightly) when you're on a deficit, hence it's way more efficient in order to look good, even if the rate of loss weight appears to be the same - you're burning way more fat.
Interesting! Yeah I agree about the second part - I meant to say I was referring to weight loss when talking about the kitchen being more important. I definitely agree that weight training whilst on a defecit is very important.. when I was younger I didn't do that and lose a lot of muscle mass and strength which was not good.
Looking at the calculator you used, it confuses me a bit.. I got the 2500 from calculating my BMR of about 1950 calories, then adding the calories burnt exercising and weight training, which I calculate to be around 500/day. Is the increased figure from increased metabolism?
Considering I only weigh 161lbs my metabolism is ridiculous. I've been "counting calories" gaining weight for some time and I will LOSE weight if I eat below 3500kcal per day. No funny numbers, I even weigh out all my food to work out calories. I am only 11% body fat though, that might have something to do with it. Currently eat about 3700-3800kcal a day and weight gain about 2lbs a month.
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