Building muscle vs toning muscle - Page 6

I've went over this before, but it's about 45% protein/35% carb/20% fat at this point. There are a lot more carbs in it than you think. I have been trying to make it more like 40/40/20, of late, though.

Ok, thanks. I wish I could be as strict with my diet. Having a soon-to-be-nutritionist as a girlfreind helps, but its still damn hard. Good work if you can consistently keep that up.

Thanks for all the info in this thread. I have flirted with weights over the years (longest stint was about 5 weeks, lost motivation, seemed futile against my genetics, etc), now looking to finally take it seriously, enjoy it, and be patient regarding results.

I was once diagnosed with Body dismorphic disorder, which is to be delusionally obsessed (negatively) with your appearance. I never believed that, for the simple fact that i am too tall, narrow, and skinny. However, the result has been many periods of depression, not being able to face people, etc. Currently I have been out of work two years, for fear of being seen, and being fed up with yo-yoing in and out of jobs/relationships etc (a total pussy basically )

Anyway, I am 29, 6 ft 3 or 4, and currently 209 pounds. The last two years of inactivity have actually added weight that I thought was impossible (I was around 150 to 160 pounds for a decade before, I have a high metabolism, ectomorph, same build as my dad basically), but it hasn't spread at all from a bit of extra gut, upper thigh, and chest mass. My shoulders are very narrow, my neck is long and very thin, as are my arms and legs. My calves are basically non existent, insanely thin wrists/arms, lower legs, ankles.

My initial questions are regarding those extremities...with a beginning routine, would it be advisable to do more 'fiddly'(for lack of terminology knowledge) exercises to try and target those extremities as well as the basic compound routines, or just focus on the basic compound exercises for a while?. I would like a bit bigger chest and upper arms, to look broader across the shoulders, and more muscular (solid) upper legs, but my real issue is with my extremities.

I don't want to be 'huge' and muscle bound (not that there's anything wrong with that), but to try and be more solid especially in the arms and legs (neck), where no amount of eating is adding size.

Also, I only have a weight bench, dumbells and barbell (and enough starting weights) at this stage, so I may be limited to what exercises I can do.

I was looking at a few beginner routines, and Ab exercises are prominent ( http://www.freedomfly.net/workouts/workout1.htm ) That's one example I was looking at, but I haven't seen Ab exercises mentioned much on this thread. (excuse me if I missed it...which raises another question) Can someone suggest a website that explains and/or shows how to do do things like dips, curls, fly's, neck exercises, squats etc, without machines or pulleys?

I think I have a basic picture of how to start off, big thanks to this thread, but choosing the exact exercises (and actually knowing what they are, how to do them the best, eg, when last I was doing squats with the barbell behind my neck, I couldn't balance to do it smoothly, or calf raises awkwardly against a wall, etc) is a bit overwhelming...any help appreciated, sorry for my vagueness.

Bodybuilding.com is a good resource to learn how to do exercises, but there are other ones that will show you with video. Use google, and I'm sure you can find more. There were also some other ones suggested in other threads on weights here.

In any case, I would still do compound exercises rather than isolations, and the reason that people don't discuss ab workouts a lot is because they're not as useful as ppl think, building abs is more about nutrition rather than the exercise routine. I think a routine similar to the one that I prescribed for jaustin would work just fine. As far as dips go, they might not be possible to do with the equipment you have, but you can probably set up some chairs to do them, if thats the case.

I agree with most of that. Focus more on compound lifts than any isolation exercises. Doing compound lifts helps your body produce more testosterone and thus increase muscle mass. Also, when you're just starting out, your body is less efficient at converting protein to muscle mass, so you'll want to initially increase your protein consumption (I just read this a few weeks ago in a sports nutrition textbook), but increasing overall calorie consumption is more important to focus on. If you really are unsure of where to start, go to the library and read a few books on working out principles, and how your body builds muscle. I've recommended the Book of Muscle by Ian King numerous times, but there are others out there that are probably just as good. I think you'll get a lot more out a professionally designed routine with explanations on eating well, and how to do all of the lifts than what you'll find on an internet forum, especially at this stage.

hi guys, i'm currently 20 years of age. i've always been an overweight kid growing up, but i have lost about 70 pounds over the last couple years. at one point, i was 145 pounds and i'm 6' 1", which at this time, i had a very skinny frame and almost no muscle. i also had unwanted, excess fat - such as moobs, loose and flabby gut, thighs that looked like sausages, etc (sorry for the rather poor descriptions). thus i decided to begin working out and being more strict with my diet, and this was about 3 - 4 months ago. i have definitely been seeing improvement in muscle growth, BUT i still seem to be unable to get rid of the excess fat i have on my body. i know that, in order to grow muscle, i need to increase my caloric intake, but that only seemed to add to the excess fat and the awkward, unwanted curves on my body. how should i go about this? just put up with the fat gain until i reach the point where i'm satisfied with the amount of muscle i have gained? or can i actually not increase my caloric intake since i do have a decent amount of excess, stored fat? i apologize if my questions are rather stupid but i'm kind of clueless when it comes to this.

Increase your caloric intake and lift weights. You may increase your BF%, but you can cut later after you've built up lean muscle, which will also become a sink for calories in any case and increase your metabolism.

To the OP and other beginners.

Go here for a very good beginner/intermediate site:

http://forums.jpfitness.com/

You'll find clear consistent advice from reasonable trainers like Cosgrove/Schuler/Remedios and a fair-minded support group.

Good luck.

lefty

abbazaba, I don't read long paragraphs, but if you want to add weight w/o adding a lot of BF%, eat about 500 more than your body burns. I use FitDay.com to track calories. Have fun.

One thing to remember when "building vs toning" is forced reps.

don't still to just one rep scheme meaning a set of 10. Once you've done your
10 reps, or 7 reps or whatever have a spotter help you get several more reps to take your muscles to the next level. This is way you change from having a average or averagely skinny body to a Beach Beautiful body.

Check ouy this free site for great tips on how to really train,eat, recover.

Let me know if you have anymore questions after reading.

www.getbigfree.com

fitandbig

by the way - i went from 6'1" and 130 at age 18, with a 31 inch waist, give or take with the waist, to about 180 and 34-35 waist at age 24 (right now, i'm 31, 6'1" and 205, although bigger in the legs and trying to even up my upper body) doing the kind of stuff drizzt recommended.

the key was big compound movements (my focus was squats, barbell rows, and bench presses, plus i did deadlifts and military presses), and eating a lot (university meal plan was my calorie friend). and probably more beer than i really needed.

it also helped that i quitted long distance swimming when I was 18, which was probably burning too many calories. on the other hand, i did play a ton of full court pickup basketball after quitting swimming. so i never really gave up cardio exercises.