Not only do you have to start somewhere, you have to keep going, and never stop

^Enjoy your beginners XP.... tremendous gains :okay:

First and foremost, contrary to what most people probably assume, I am actually quite the pinner. I am 5'8", and 135lbs.

With that out of the way.. After a long break, I've been going back to the gym during the past month, but feel lost.

My goal is to gain some muscle, but at the same time, I want to get rid of my belly.

During the past year, I was pretty much eating without much concern. I just wanted to gain weight, and being ignorant just assumed that I should eat everything in site. This in the end has resulted in me with a bit of a belly. Yes, skinny with a belly. I'm very self-conscious about it.

Now the thing is that I want to get rid of the belly, so I've been doing cardio like running and jump rope. But at the same time, if I want to gain weight, it's not really helping my cause, right?

So I guess, what do you guys recommend I should do? I really hate my belly, but I don't really want to lose too much weight.

EDIT: Forgot to state my long term goal. I guess it would have to be lean and defined, not big but not too skinny.

You should do something like what I am doing. I got myself into a similar situation after 4 months of binging on crap after a bout of depression. Since starting 4 weeks ago, I have melted inches of fat away off my belly, and have been gaining weight ever since.

Look through some of my posts. Intermittent Fasting (specifically Leangains plan) + 3 full body workouts a week (moderate weight FAST explosive reps) + 3 HIIT sessions after each workout.

Weights are always 1 push, 1 pull, and a variation of a squat or deadlift, and some ab work. For instance, dips, chins, squats, reverse crunches. Start with 10 mins of HIIT, add 1 min each week. HIIT intervals are 45 seconds low, 15 seconds sprint. For me, that gets my heart rate moving from 160 to 175 for each interval on the bike.

Thanks a lot. I will take a look later.

This talk about bent Olympic bars got me Googling, and I found this article: http://www.ivankobarbell.com/press/h...bar_part_i.pdf

This letter sent to the writer made me cringe a bit:

You can definitely do both at the same time with something like intermittent fasting with a calorie surplus, basic compound lifts (Squat, DL, bench), and some HIIT thrown in.

I would focus on bulking up now with a calorie surplus and minimal cardio, then come Feb/March-ish start cutting but still lift so you will maintain muscle but have less belly come summer 2012.

I started very similarly from you, I was low-140 at 5'8" but skinny-fat about a year and a half ago. I started bulking about two springs ago, and got up to 160 at my max (around last Nov/Dec) but with a belly bulge, almost no abs, and was puffy due to water retention with Creatine.

In March I started cutting by doing IF, an EC stack and still lifting; got down to 148 with around 10%-12% BF. Got off the EC stack and bulked back up a bit by doing IF and got back up to 150 for the summer while still at ~12% BF.

It's far from the size that most guys in this thread have/are working toward, but compared to the average person it's definitely "athletic" looking... I've even been called 'ripped' before LOL.

Hey Guys,

Ive been doing HIITS with weight lifting for about 3months now and have seen some awesome fat burn. Im at the end of my hiit program now and have started a new lifting program that's mainly for strength gain and muscle gain.

Reading on multiple articles i see that i shouldn't be mixing HIIT's with strength gain programs as HIITS have a high chance of diminishing my strength//muscle gains.

Question is, what do you guys think i should do? Im about 5'6-5'7, i was at 240pounds last may. As of today i've hit 184. (keep in mind i am on a low carb diet and the only source of carbs im getting are from vegetables). What do you think would be more beneficiary for me as i still wanna lose more weight but i also wanna gain strength. Im thinking i might drop the HIIT'S but do my regular strength training program while adding in a plyometric program that consist of



What do you guys think? any feedback would be great and thanks in advance.

Showed up at my new jobsite for the next 6+ months.
As much food as I can eat for free. The gym is also nicer then my gym at home :(

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Does anyone else here take creatine with green tea? I've been trying it and I get a super upset stomach ... anything to remedy this? Usually have it after breakfast which is eggs + toast + protein shake :okay:

fuck running out of carbs half way thru a workout feels shittyyyyyyYYY

Focus on your diet and lifting heavy weights.

Ditch the cardio. If you really want to do cardio, go for a one hour walk. Yes a walk, not a run.

Intermittent fasting diet for fat loss, muscle gain and health: July 2009

^ why walk?

Fat burn. Low intensity steady state training (LISS).

Interesting!

Alright another noob question:

I know it totally defeats the purpose of their full body program but I want to take the concept of Rippetoe SS/ SL 5x5 of progressive loading of low reps and use it in a split format, Legs/Chest/Back - M/W/F.
Monday for example, I'd focus on squats, wed: bench, friday: dead lift + rows. I'd do 3x5 of these core lifts and do 3-4 more isolation exercises ie. calf raises, skull crushers, bb curls. What should the set/reps be for these "accessory" exercises?

Goal: Strength and as a side effect, mass gain :)

green tea with creatine is perfect

Super heavy day 2 today - Front Squats, Inclince DB Press, and Barbell Rows at 90% RM. I will probably try the smith machine for the rows :megusta:

Then comes 2nd pigout day! Not sure what I want to eat yet, now that my ribs craving is over. I don't have any other cravings... just so used to eating grilled meat + veggies all the time now :lol

Maybe just grab a 'sizzling grill' set somewhere - pork chop, chicken steak, steak, sausage, and bacon all in one dish :sweetjesus:

so I joined a gym... so damn crowded at 8pm :okay:

Yeah I just dropped by my gym to use the bathroom at 8pm and HOLY FUCK what a fucken gong show. When I go there is never more than 12 people, always the same faces too, and no goons at all.
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Also holy shit, I forgot how hungry you get after a heavy day. I probably ate 3000 calories in the 4 hours after my workout

Now I am full and satiated, and can go to sleep and recover for tomorrow :megusta:

Looks like SC is going to have new squat racks + bounce plates?

By the side wall of the closed off area there was a bar loaded up with what looked like bounce plates. Maybe they'll have an olympic lifting section? Or a cross fit section? I'm pretty excited :D

Bumper plates?