Experienced Gym Members, please enlighten me!

[TheSlipgateStudios]

Hi. Since January I am on a weightloss journey, from 92kg I went to 75kg in a span of a few months. I am 29 years old male, 173cm tall and my goal is to lose more fat until June 1st this year. On June 1st I will go to the gym to build serious muscle mass. I need some suggestions of what to eat, how much to eat, how many times a day I need to eat. My plan at first is to go 3 days a week and then increase after like 3-6 months. As for the exercises themselves, I will do until I get sore and tired. 

Day 1 being chest and abdomen, Day 2 both arms and Day 3 leg day. So what other suggestions or tips can you give me? Thanks in advance!

[dasho]

Why wait to lose fat to start building muscle?

 

For the rest of it, don't overthink it. To lose weight, eat less. To gain muscle, eat more but ensure that you have enough protein to support the new muscle (this is not as much as people like to think it is). For your workout, there are tons of plans out there, but as long as whatever you follow is some variation of Push/Pull/Squat you'll be fine. Just going and 'working out until you are sore' is a sure path to burning out. Have some kind of rep and weight structure in place, with planned progression.

[DNSKILL5]

To lose fat you need to eat less calories and to build muscle you need to have enough calories. A lot of people assume you can’t do both at the same time but the key is to keep yourself at a decent caloric deficit with a diet that is high in protein.

 

Also, a lot of people worry too much about the finer details when the truth is everyone’s body is different.
 

Just eat less, lift more but don’t overtrain, get good sleep, and ensure what you are eating is rich in protein. Chicken breast, egg whites, and most green vegetables are a great source of protein. Eat your calories. Drinking them isn’t as filling and unless you have a serious issue gaining weight protein shakes are just going to make you gain more fat to burn off. For example: drinking a glass of orange juice has the calories of 16 whole oranges. Chances are, you would not be able to stomach 16 oranges, more like 3-4 at the most, and you’d feel full, but the orange juice would not make you full despite having way more calories. As for why I recommend egg whites instead of whole eggs: egg yolk has more calories and fat, the egg white is more rich in protein with far less calories. 
 

My body has an easy time building muscle and burning fat. I don’t have to really worry about what I’m eating if I’m eating clean and healthy. It’s when I eat junk or excessively that I would start to build up a surplus in fat. Other people have trouble putting on mass (both muscle and fat) and they will need more calories than someone like me. Like I said, everyone is a bit different so most advice is generally guidelines and you have to adapt it to what works for you. 

 

Just remember: you want to lose FAT, not weight. People focus too much on the scale. It is fat loss you’re after, not “weight loss”. Muscle weighs more than fat so if you’re trying to build muscle and lose fat but are focusing on the number on the scale you’re setting yourself up for mental disaster. 
 

As for weightlifting exercises. You need to find a routine that you can realistically stick with and do it for max muscle mass gain. Do not aimlessly do certain exercises. Follow a beginner’s routine and at least stick with it for 3-6 months and see if you notice any results before trying something more extreme. 3 days a week is a good start, you could split it up so that each muscle group gets a good amount of rest between workouts. 

Edited May 12, 2023 by CAM-7EA

[smeghammer]

It's a long-term thing.

 

There is no quick fix, 6 month shortcut. I've been using a gym or my home multigym for getting on for 35 years on and off. It's about finding something sustainable that you can stick with, without having to force it. I have always had a minor issue with too much covering, as it were, and I struggled to find a programme that works - it also will likely change as you get older.

 

ANYWAY... The thing that finally worked for me was a combination of simple walking, with the gradual addition of carrying wrist weights and a weighted vest. I walk about 4 miles about 5 times a week, and I have worked up to carrying 5Kg on each wrist, and a weighted vest of 15Kg.

 

Now, the wrist weights are certainly not heavy from a weighlifting PoV, BUT, if you do many reps, you get both upper body muscle build, and aerobic exercise, so fat loss too.

 

So, combined with the walking, I do the following sets - as I walk:

 

50 x 3 bicep curls each side

50 x 3 reverse bicep curls each side (focuses on back of forearm) 

20 x 3 lateral raises (straight arm, lift from hip to 90 deg to the side, deltoids)

20 x 3 front raises (straight arm, lift from hip to 90 deg to the front, anterior deltoids)

20 x 3 front 'punch' . Several variations. Palms up, start elbows bent, start hand at hip. Slowly extent forward until straight arm, pause, return. Make sure palm stays facing up. Biceps and ant. delts., with a bit of traps. Or, do a slow hook punch from the hip. Palm facing inwards, twist slowly to end up with palms down. ant delts again, bit more tricep as well as bicep.

50 x 3 shrugs. Arms straight down, keep straight, shrug slowly. My cadence is every 3rd step.

20 x 3 tricep extensions. 3 variations:

     a. elbow pointing to side, bent, so forearm is pointing down, palms facing in. Straighten arm (do not rotate forearm), pause, return. 20 one side, then the other.

     b. start the same as a., but elbow pointing back, bent, palms UP (sort of like a karate stance). Straighten elbow, so arm points straight back, rotate forearm so palm ends up facing UP. Repeat 20 x each side.

     c. start as b., but palm facing IN (imagine holding a walking stick). Straighten elbow, so arm points straight back, DO NOT rotate forearm

 - these triceps variations target slightly different bits of your triceps:a. is the main central mass and outer edge; b. is main body + inner side; c. is more inner side. Try it, you will feel the difference.

 

This takes about an hour and including the walking is a pretty good workout. I vary the order to mix it up a bit. The key is do them slowly and keeping good form. The cadence of footsteps also helps with the curls etc.

 

I started doing the above when COVID hit - not with the full weights, I worked up to that quite slowly, over probably 18 months. I also changed my diet quite drastically - I cut out almost all starchy carbs (bread, pasta, pizza etc.) and started eating much more salad stuff as snacks rather than crappy food. 

 

The hardest thing is most certainly the discipline. It's very easy to think 'fuck it' so beware of that. I probably lost about 15Kg, and mostly it has stayed off. I measure by belt notch...