A little long... but need some tips!

nikban · Post by **nikban** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 9:23 pm

Hi guys... first timer here... this is a lengthy post... sorry everyone!

I'm 21, app. 130 lbs., about 20% body fat. I want to cut the body fat down to 16% or less and get a decent looking stomach (who doesn't!)... I'm not concerned about weight, just the look of body and health...

Right now I run/walk interval 3 times a week for 40 min (MWF)... twice a week I do abs (once on a lower body day and once on a cardio day(TuesFri)... once a week upper body(Tues), once a week lower body(Thurs)..

[b] abs routine includes (excuse lack of proper terms)-- all 15-20 reps and 2 sets...[/b]-planks (regular, side, and back planks) - 1 min each
-stability ball leg erectors (when i put arms on the ball and rool out into plank position-- then the same, inverted, with the legs on the ball pulling them in from a plank position)
-stability ball crunches with 10 lb. weight, straight and to either side (I hyper extend)
-crunches on a bench.. knees to chest, striaght and to either side
-Not sure what this is called but i kneel on the ground, and use cable pull down weights, pull down, then hyper extend-- straight and to either side
-basic floor crunches & bicycle

[b] leg routine includes- again reps of 12-16, 2 sets:[/b]
-steps with 20 lb weights..
-walking lunges with 15-20lb weights (20 each leg, 2 sets)
-ball squats, knees together and knees apart with 20 lb weights
-leg raised- 40 lbs
-inverted leg raises (cant think of proper term)- 40 lbs

[b]upper body, same reps and sets as legs[/b]
-bicep curls, hammer and normal- 15 lbs
-pushing, on the bench, 4 different horizontal levels- 15 lbs
-upright rows- 15 lbs
-chest flies - 10 lbs
-reverse flies- 5 lbs
-shoulder push- 20 lbs
-upper traps-- i stand straight, bring weights together and lift elbows- 5 lbs
-do lat pull downs, wide and narrow grip - 50 lbs
-tricep pull downs- 30 lbs
-tricep dips- body weight
-kick backs- 5 lbs

Now despite little work out plan... I've still not managed to get out of work out plateau. I seem to be stuck at 130 lbs, give or take a few lbs... 20% body fat... I can't seem to get abs if life depended on it... I need HELP!...

diet is not great, but not horrible. The days I do weights, I drink whey protein mixed with water... every morning I have oatmeal (plain, no brown sugar etc)... lunches usually consist of salads with tuna/ turkey... usually in a whole wheat wrap... I don't do the snack thing between meals- never know what to eat that's healthy!.. I get cravings like mad... dinners are usually carb filled- with either rice, bread, or pasta... it's hard bc bf does NOT need to lose weight, and is not concerned with his diet, and I like to cook so I like to try new things... usually our dinners are some sort of bread, steamed veggies or salad, and chicken/ beef/ etc... the normal

i'm not a big snacker, although I do break and have chocolate sometimes...

any tips as to how to target areas and what I need to change... I specifically want to target thighs and abs....

any helps, tips, anything would be helpful!! sorry for the length, thanks for bearing with me..

zerosktrkd · Post by **zerosktrkd** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 10:13 pm

hello and welcome.

change up ur routine, full body workouts are better have an apple 10 min. before ur breakfast if u have to eat the same as ur bf just eat in smallet portions or just have more of the good stuff and less of the bad on ur plate than his, for ex. if ur having salad and some pasta eat more salad less pasta more meals smaller portions drink only water if u have a craving for somethin just grab a granola bar or a fruit. im not an expert but gf did that and it worked out for her.

nikban · Post by **nikban** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 10:21 pm

can you give me an example of what you mean by full body workouts?

also- if anyone knows this... is whey protein doing worse for me? I sometimes feel like it's something used to put on weight, although I've been told otherwise... any tips?

zerosktrkd · Post by **zerosktrkd** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 11:17 pm

i recomend u get ur protein from other sources such as chiken and raw egg whites what kind of protein are u taking?

as for full body work outs, dont just focus on one area or muscle when u work out for example upper body one day lower the other dont trust the scale to much because u might be losing a pound of fat but gaining a pound of muscle a month from now u can weight the same but look alot better.

nikban · Post by **nikban** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:58 am

I do eat chicken, beef, egg whites...

but on heavy weights days I drink the whey protein with water... it's whey protein isolate...

Also, is the full body workouts more effective than the isolation? And should I be doing abs more than twice a week? Is cardio enough?

haha.. lots of questions... anyone? (thanks for your help so far!)

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:24 pm

- cut intervals dowen to 20mins max and do them harder (the hard bits, keep the easy bits the same)
- planks are meant to be held for time...how are you doing reps??
- i think you mean roll outs for the second ones, keep these
- take out crunch ones (3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th ones) and sticj k to the top exercises
- increase stes to 3 and drop reps to 12 per set max
- you seem to be doing nore ab work going by those names (leg raises etc) which you've already listed so add free wt squats instead of ball squats and a stiff legged deadlift
- again change to 3 x 12 for upper
- change to this - db row, bench, wide lat pulldown, shoulder press, rear delt shoulder raise and if you have to, reverse curls and diamond push ups but only do 2 x 12 for last 2
- crunches don't build abd which is why i've taken them out, a clean diet does
- 6 small meals is better than 3 big one's...don't snack though, have actual meals...i'm up to 9 small meals at the moment
- you get cravings because your not feeding yourself enough...most people need to eat more, not more shit, more veggies and protein so look at that first
- rice, bread and pasta can be ahd but only straight after workouts...otherwise it's fruit, veggies and salad
- talk to him and tell him what you want to do, if he's not completely selfish he should accomodate you
- if you do all of the above right than a little chocolate here and there won't do anything
- you lose wt from all over not from specfic spots

nikban · Post by **nikban** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:52 pm

sorry... formatting got messed up... planks are at a minute each...

thanks for the tips swanso5... really helpful...

also- what is a stiff legged deadlift?

the leg raises were poorly described.. i meant that machine were you sit down and you raise your feet up (straight your legs)... and the other one I was talking about was the reverse of that, where you lay down and bend your knees till your feet hit your bum... oh and i do the rear delts as well, as a superset on the machine... what is better for shoulders, supersets of the standard reps and sets?

also, would stomach vacuums work for me? I have heard you need to be at a certain bf% etc. for these to be useful...

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:39 pm

i think u mean leg press and seated leg curls...free wts are a million times more effective than machines so the sooner you can use these the better...you don't really need a lot of shoulder work as it's involved in almost every other upper movement so some rear delt type work is all you really need...20% bf for a chick is excellent so i wouldn't really be mindful of cutting this back too much, 1 - 2% is all you'll need if that...just a few diet and training changes as above should do the trick

nikban · Post by **nikban** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:13 pm

I want to cut down to 16%... is this realistic? and what's a good timeline for this...

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:01 pm

elite aren't much less than 14% so you should give yourself 8 - 12 weeks to do it so it stays off...go by how you look not by numbers

nikban · Post by **nikban** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 8:05 am

How much cardio and what type should I be doing. # times per week, and minutes per session would be really appreciated! I currently do 40 min on the treadmill (walking uphill/ running) 3 days a week (on the non-weight days) but it's becoming boring and almost a chore. Can I change up the amount of times. If I were to, perhaps, do 4 days a week but for 20 minutes, is this nearly as effective?

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 4:28 pm

mon - wts
tue - intervals x 10mins...30secs easy / 30secs hard
wed - wts
thu - intervals x 16mins...1min easy / 1min hard
fri - wts
sat - sprints 5 x 50m as fasta s you can...increase 1 set each week untill at 10

if too much than take out tue otr thu session

nikban · Post by **nikban** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 5:17 pm

sat - sprints 5 x 50m as fasta s you can...increase 1 set each week untill at 10

So if I understand correctively, 5 50 meter sprints?

swanso5 · Post by **swanso5** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 1:55 am

nikban · Post by **nikban** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:40 am

sooo.. will I get more weight loss if I do longer sprints.. or do 20 minutes instead of 10, etc? Or is that just useless?

Also... is it okay to do abs workout on a cardio day once and on a legs day a second time (usually with a 3 day break)... and to do upper body workout with back workout?

Right now, I am doing cardio 3 times a week, and weights twice... should I add that extra day or is this okay??