help on new routine, losing fat

**pheonixsingh** · 4th June 2007

hi

ive been going to the gym for the past year now, i have been doing weights and my routine at the moment is a 3 day split

mon chest/tris
Weds shoulders/legs
Fri Back/biceps

i had a 3 day split beause of school, but im going to be finishing my exams soon so i would maybe think about going on a 5 day routine, but the main thing i want to concentrate on now is losing fat, but still keeping muscle, hopefully strike some sort of balance!

whats confusing me is all of this calorie intake etc, im 18 and 5" 7 and i wiegh 80kg, but i dont really know how to work out how many calories i should be consuming!

also as regards to cardio workouts etc, i hav been thinking about going running in the morning just when i wake up at around 6:30-7 for half n hour then have breakfast, ive been told thats the best for fat burning. how would i fit cardio around training? if anyone has any good routines they know of? and also what sort of cardio exercises could i do? ive been reading alot about high intensity training etc but dont really get it.

now also the diet, to be honest i think i have a good diet but i do have quite alot of fast food here and there if im going out.
but if anyone has any suggestions for a good diet, a rough sort of plan maybe? and how to count calories etc or rough guides or something as to how many different types of food contain.

at the moment just gathering info etc so i can be ready to start when my exams finish at the end of june. so any input would be great thanks

**super mike** · 4th June 2007

Best cardio to do to lose fat is low intensity high frequency like a long fast walk. Doing cardio upon waking is supposed to be very good but a source of protein, no carbs first would be best i think.

post up your current typical daily diet for us to have a look.

Personally i think a 5 day split is too much and does not allow enough time for rest, but you could up it to a 4 day split if you please, but it would be much better if you can use the weekends, if not i say stick with the 3 day weights.

**pheonixsingh** · 4th June 2007

well
when i wake at about 7 i have a fruit smoothie with protein

at about 10:40 i have another protein shake and some fruit

at about 1 i usually have a can of tuna with salad or pasta, or chicken

at about 4 i have another shake just before i train

then in the evening at about 7-8 i have meal, but it isnt a set thing, whatever my mum makes really lol.

i was thinking of training for 4 days then one day cardio? and ive been told by many people that 4/5day splits are much better than 3 day splits which is the main reason for thinking about changing my routine and the fact that ive had it for a while and need a change anyway.

**ffrr** · 4th June 2007

you say you're 80kg 5' 7" is that lean mass/muscle or a fat? Are you quite stocky as you've been traing for a year?

do you do any other physical activities other than the gym? what do you do during the day?

your resting metabolic rate (rmr) should be 80kgX15.3+679 =1903 calories, that's the calories you need daily, regardless.

then depending on your activities during the day multiply your rmr by... 1.4 if you do absolutely nothing, 1.7 if you are faily active, or 2.0 if you have a physically demanding job.

then work out how many calories you need for weight training and cardio, daily energy expendiutre (DEE). Weight training burns around 7 - 10 calories per minute and cardio burns around 8 - 12 calories per minute depending on intensity. So if you do 1 hour weights 3 times a week and 30 mins running then that's (180 X 7) + (30 X 8 ) = 1260+240 = 1500 divided by 7 (days for one week) = 214 calories per day to cover your exercise needs

so for example if going by what figures you gave

rmr = 1903 X (for example) 1.7 = 3235 + your (dee) of 214 = 3449 calories per week to fully maintain your bodies needs.

At this point you should choose to either reduce your weight (or rather reduce body fat), keep it the same (maintenence), or gain weight (build muscle).

to loose weight reduce your intake by no less that 15% so multiply 3449 by 0.85 = 2931 calories per day, stick to that amount and don't go under it.

maintenence don't do anything just make sure you eat 3449 per day.

to gain weight multiply by 1.2, 3449 X 1.2 = 4138 calories per day

Then you need to work out carbs, protein, and fat percentages, this is kind of a grey area* depending on your goals, so again I'll use an example

Start with carbs, you should aim for between 40% and 60% daily. so.. for example

if you wanted to loose a bit of fat and put on lean mass and tone up...

2931 X 0.6 = 1758 or 60% calories from carbs daily
80kg X 1.6 = 128grams or 17.5% of protien daily
fat is simply what's left in the equation 100% - 60 - 17 = 23% fat per day or (2931 X 23% / 9) = 74 grams.

aim for these totals daily and you'll see results fairly quickly when combined with good exercise!

I would have thought your weight will sort itself out once you cut all the junk you mention out of your diet and follow the guidelines above. It will take time as you are probably aware. But gradual weight loss if far better than rapid loss. Just stick with it!

* with regard to carbohydrate some people utilise them better than others hence the 20% difference, if you choose a low carb diet of around 40% make sure that the rest of the percentage goes towards protein, although your body needs no more than 2 grams per kg in body weight max, any more than that is not used so you will not benefit in any way by overdosing on protien.

I'm 5' 8", 75kg, train 3 days alternated with running for 25 mins every other day, sundays off. I currently eat around 4000 calories a day, and to be honest I think I may have to eat more!

here's what I currently do, it's an intemmediate set of routines designed to increase muscle mass and strength.

mondays chest (3 exercises, 3X12), upper back (3 exercises 2 sets 3X12, last exercise 2X12), and abs top (2 exercises, 3X15)
wednesdays shoulders (3 exercises,) biceps (2 exercises 2X12), triceps (2 exerices 2X12), abs middle (2 exercises 2X15)
friday legs (4 exercises first 2 sets 3X12 last two sets 2X12), calves (1 exercise 3X15), abs lower (2 exercises 3X15), lower back (1 exercise 3X15)

I chose my exercises from a list supplied to me but you could use your own from your experience/knowledge or online exercise databases like exrx.net, the abs exercises I chose from here.

my recent views on cardio from personal experience, running early am tire me out quickly and I struggled to run efficiently, I also found it hard to eat a full breakfast afterwards for upto an hour, whereas when I ran in the after noon on a full stomach as well as being well hydrated I ran pretty much effortlessly, at a better pace, and I also feel better for it compared to running in the morning. Body fat percentages, for me, dropped more if I ran in the afternoon. Everyone is different though!

**pheonixsingh** · 4th June 2007

its mostly lean mass mate i dont really have much fat just around my stomach area really, just want to get rid of it, but then again i dont know my body fat % so i cant say for definate but thats another thing, how would i go about finding that out?

with regards to activity i just go to the gym 3 times a week thats about it really im still at school so no rigorous activity during the day.

thanks for all the info mate its really cleared up alot of stuff for me, its just going to be a pain looking at all the nutritional values of food etc in so much depth, but i reckon if i stick to it hopefully ill get used to it.

with exercises im fairly knowledgable and know quite a few exercises but thanks also for the links, never hurts to know more so i can swap around regularly with my routine.

also any suggestions on meals etc? thats probably going to be the hardest part for me to stick to a strict diet etc
i was thinking of putting oats etc in my morning shake but all the people i know who do that, do it for bulking up:
http://www.bulkpowders.co.uk/product...daa7d13c78b112

**ffrr** · 5th June 2007

I use a calorie counter, it's saves allot of time and takes the worry out of choosing what I have to eat... I normally plan out my meals a few days in advance.

The hardest part like you say is putting all the data together initially, but once that's out of the way it's very very easy... I have been using calorie king now for several weeks and it's helped me a hell of allot!

I posted an nxb for it but if you can't find it pm me.