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kinda new at this don't kill meeee
Okay /fit/ situation time:

I'm 19, male, bout 6'2 and 195. I'm not terrible looking, but I'd like to build a tiny bit of muscle in order to slim out a little bit, I feel like I'm a bit too tubby and I don't like it. Mainly I have issues with my chest, I'd like it to be flatter, lol.

I was going to the gym every other day to do an hour of cardio on the treadmill since I figured cardio is the key to burning off fat. The machine calculated 600-750 calories a session, I dunno if that's true or not so idk

All was fine and dandy until one of my friends said that I shouldn't worry about cardio and if I did weights than that little bit of muscle would make everything look better ultimately more metabolism friendly...so I got some dumbbells and have been doing exercises, mainly for arms (they need work too) four exercises in total, three sets of fifteen reps (did I get those terms right?) each plus three sets of pushups, also 15 reps.

Question is, should I continue doing the dumbbells AND the cardio, or would the dumbbells eventually give some results? ( I know to eventually increase rep # and weight for progress) and also, with push ups would that be enough to see even a Iittle bit of a change or would you recommend additional exercises? I'm not looking to be buff or anything.
>> Anonymous
work on does mussles fat boi
>> Anonymous
Do both, and keep the rep range at 5-10 with more difficult weights
>> Anonymous
the more muscle, the more metabolism.

arms are relatively small, thigs are not, thus do SQUATZ.
>> kinda new at this don't kill meeee
Like general squats or is that some other particular program?
>> Anonymous
> I know to eventually increase rep # and weight for progress
No, just increase weight. You're doing to many reps already, and not using enough weight. And don't do it "eventually", do it steadily by small amounts. You will hit a point where you stall or even regress, but until then you should be upping the weight as you go.
>> kinda new at this don't kill meeee
I forgot to say that I also do 3 sets of crunches, 15 reps each. I could probably do more there though.

I really don't want to be buff or anything, if anything I like the slim/lean look.
>> kinda new at this don't kill meeee
So are you saying I should cut 5 reps from what I'm doing and instead add some additional weight?
>> Anonymous
>>438893
If you don't want to get big you could cut more like ten reps and add lots more weight. And work your legs too, you don't want chicken legs.
>> kinda new at this don't kill meeee
Any good leg/thigh exercises than I could throw in to do with dumbells or bodyweight?

Geez it's gonna be a whole lot more complicated and involved than I thought. How long should a session with weights (for all exercises) take?
>> Anonymous
>>438917
You can do pistols with body weight and then with dumbbells.

A full workout could be about a half-hour. No sense in stretching it beyond that. You don't need to work every part of your body every day, so you can alternate upper body/lower body emphasis. No worries about cramming every exercise you know into a few tens of minutes.
>> Anonymous
>>438948

Go big or go home coach always said. Being tired in the MIDDLE of your workout is supposed to help, less oxygen or something.

You'd be better off looking for help on someplace besides 4chan
>> Anonymous
>>438976eating your body weight in protein
This is what /fit/izens actually believe.
>> Anonymous
>>438983
If your goal is to gain muscle, why would you not eat a 1:1 ratio of protein
>> kinda new at this don't kill meeee
I meant complicated as in organizing my schedule and keeping track of exercises, it gets confusing when there are a lot.

Does that mean if I alternate that you end up doing some form of weight lifting everyday?
>> Anonymous
>>438993
I'm not even going to try eating 140 lbs. of protein per day.
>> Anonymous
>>438999Does that mean if I alternate that you end up doing some form of weight lifting everyday?

Not for long you don't. You'd likely be fine for a little while like that (and if you are, go for it), but assuming you're getting results, you're going to reach a point where you need rest days as well. Rest days are where you just sit back and let the hard work you did on the other days pay off. Feel those muscles growing?
>> kinda new at this don't kill meeee
Alright. I did a first really concentrated exercise routine on Wed. and I certainly felt it on Thursday and still today, so rest days are okay I guess...but if I target different areas it shouldn't be too bad for a little while as you said.


In response to the person asking about goals, I really don't know what my goal is....like, I was weak and skinny for a good part of my life and then I got fat. I'd like to get rid of that fat, but it would leave me ultra thin probably...so a little muscle would probably benefit me. All I really know is that I don't like the way I look and I want to look better. If that means skinner or buffer I really don't know which would be a better look for me and my body type.
>> Anonymous
>>439004
That's where the whole "diet" thing comes in to play, your not eating 80 grams at once, your dividing it into 5-6 meals a day
>> Anonymous
>>439025
You're arguing as if>>438976didn't say to eat your BODY WEIGHT in protein. Unless you weigh 80 grams (in which case eat a sammich, do some squatz), that's a lot of protein.
>> kinda new at this don't kill meeee
I wasn't the one that said no to eating that much protein.......
>> Anonymous
Man you guys are retarded.
Anyway, for OP, this is what I suggest you do:

HIIT and weightilfting followed by cardio, get a calory deficit so you lose weight, when you start getting to the point where you feel you're becoming too skinny, cut the HIIT, cut the cardio after weightlifting, just do the weights and eat healthy but much more, to build muscles.

You can't build muscle and burn fat at the same time, which is why everyone is confused. Burn some fat first, then build some muscle.
>> kinda new at this don't kill meeee
Thank you. I'll probably need a gym buddy or trainer to help with that HIIT stuff if I can get that incorperated.

I'm kinda in a stupid predicament having been a weak skinny kid that gained weight =/
>> Anonymous
>>439129

HIIT is pretty simple and a gym buddy or a trainer is more needed for the actual weightlifting imo.
I'm not sure where you live, but in some parts of the world HIIT is getting harder about now because of the temperatures dropping. I went down to the track the other day and it was all iced over, luckily though I could run on the grass field.

What you do for HIIT is basically just measure up like 100 meters or so. Sprint like a motherfucker to the other side, rest for 20 seconds (although try jogging/walking while resting) run back, rince and repeat for as much as long as you can. Some people will argue what intervals you should and should not do, but it really doesn't matter so much as long as you get your heartrate up high when you're sprinting and that you're parched as fuck before you're done. Remember to warm up for some 5 minutes before and cool down for some 5 minutes after. And strech, lest ye get cramps.

An HIIT workout usually only takes 15-20 minutes really, but it'll still get you cursing and going: "FUUUUUCK I DONT WANNA RUN NO MORE" but it's also good training to keep pushing your limits.
Do HIIT the days you don't do weights/cardio, as your body pretty much need 48 hours to resusitate after a decent weight-training session anyway, the offdays are good chances at HIIT. If you're really hardcore, you can do some normal cardio the same days you do HIIT aswell, like, get up early in the morning, run for like 30 minutes, then do HIIT later that day, but be careful not to do too much cardio.

Also, remember to vary your cardio. Some days go jogging, some days bicycling, using an epiliptical or whatever. If you per say run too much your body gets mindnumbingly efficient at running at minimum energy and that's not really what we want it to do. Swimming can also be done, but be careful that swimming makes you hungry as fuck, so prepare some filling albeit low calory food.