Newbie routine and diet help

Hi there,




                   I'm completely new to this site but have been reading through the forums for months to get inspiration and think it's wonderful! So Hi first of all :D.


None of my friends are into fitness and our gym doesn't really have a personal trainer/nutritionist. I want to get the most from my workouts and diet so was wondering if anyone could give me any advice? I've posted my diet and workout - it's a bit of an essay. Any help would be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance :) xx


I am 5ft8, 10 stone


My aim is to gain muscle and tone primarily on bum, tops of legs and love handles (glutes, gluteus medius, tensor fascia lata ;)) - basically the parts that like to wabble when I run up the stairs ;) I'd love to try out deadlifts but I'm not sure that this is possible in my gym - lots of men, one bar etc etc.. 

At home I have a medicine ball, 4x 2kg weights, elastic bands and ab cruncher, I'm not sure which exercises are best for home and which should be left to the gym?  Looking at my routine, perhaps I should be doing exercises which target my bottom and sides more as theyre the area's needing most help! I'm just not sure if I should be splitting my routine up more/ doing stuff at home etc etc.... 










Wake 7am - pancake* with half banana (not too sure what to have at this time?)


breakfast 8.45am - 30g porridge oats, made with splash of skim milk & water, 1 scoop whey, 2 egg whites, half banana, sprinkle of almonds. (Cod Liver oil, evening primrose oil capsules)


11.00am - 2 rice cakes with 120g of cottage cheese, protein pancake*


lunch 1.20pm - 30g quinoa, 1/2 tin of tuna or chicken breast, salad. orange or apple (Flaxseed oil capsule)


3.30pm - alpro soya yoghart (200ml) with granola* (15g) OR pancake and cottage cheese, chopped carrot..


5.10pm - banana, (sometimes a strong coffee)


6.00work out


7.30pm - 1 scoop whey protein in 150ml water, (Glucosamine sulphate 600mg tablet)


dinner 8.20pm - chicken/turkey/tuna, (occasionally 3egg whites), veg. yoghart 100ml  and granola.


10pm - 1 scoop whey protein with light fromaige frais youghart (150ml)


I'll also have about 6 glasses of water throughout the day, 2 cups of green tea. I also eat protein in forms of legumes, soy beans etc. 


*Pancakes - I make about 8, (using 8 egg whites, 1 yolk, 30g oats, dash of cinamon and 4 scoops chocolate whey protein)
*Granola - I make from 1kg of oats, 1 tin of apples, cinnamon and a teaspoon of maple syrup.






workout: 4/5 days a week. - (Every 2nd week I can do a Friday)


cardio-
treadmill - 27 min 5k run or 20 slower on steep incline 
stepper - 5/10 mins



MONDAY - 20 min bottom in morning, gym: cardio-30 mins, lower body-40 mins


hip abduction 55kg, adduction 45kg - x1 set of 12, x2 sets of 10
leg curl 40kg x 1 set of 12, x2 sets of 10
leg extension 42kg x 3 sets of 10
leg press 60/70 kg x 1 set of 14, 2 sets of 12
lunges holding 5kg each hand x 3 sets of 14 



TUESDAY -  20 min abs in morning, gym: cardio-30 mins, upper body - 40 mins


shoulder press 15kg x 3 sets of 10 (machine pushing up)
chest press 25kg x 1 set of 14, x2 sets of 10 (machine pushing out)
lat pull down 35 kg x 3 sets of 10
tricep press 22kg x 3 sets of 12
Unsure the name of this machine - you sit with the pad against your abs and pull 2 bars which cross over. I think its for your shoulders and back? - x3 sets of 12


free weight 5kg (should I increase bn using for months?), bicep curls then push up above shoulder.




WEDNESDAY - rest, 1hr light netball training


THURSDAY - 20 min bottom in morning, gym: cardio-30 mins, all over body - 1hr 


FRIDAY - gym: cardio-30 mins, all over body - 1hr , If I do a Friday I'll mix up my week so I'm not training upper and lower too close together.


SATURDAY -  rest


SUNDAY - gym: cardio-40 mins, abs - 1 hr



Until recently I would use the ab toner on the mat - doing x4 sets of 30 on my back and x2 sets of 30 on my each of my sides. Someone has since broken this and I've had to actually do some 'proper' sit ups. Today, it has hurt to laugh. This is a good thing tho. So for the past week I've been breaking myself in to:


x3 sets of 30 on the medicine ball 
x 3 sets of 10 leg raises in ab chair
x4 sets of 14 holding 10kg weight, stretching out my sides, also using the cable crossover machine for this but not sure it was hitting the right bit?!






(Abs in the morning are : x3 sets of 30  on the med ball and some 'lateral torso flexions' holding 8kg (maybe I should do these in the gym and use my ab cruchy machine thing at home?)


Bottom is lunges x 3 sets of 12 holding 4kg weights each hand, x3 sets of 10 kneeling kick backs that cross at end, kneeling lie on side leg lift with res bands at ankles, medicine ball bum lift x 2 sets of 10.)

hiya, where in scotland are you? Im in kirkintilloch, glasgow

Welcome to MT

Everything looks fine in general to me but will have a closer look tomorrow when a little more time and less knackered

Hey, thanks for the replies!  I'm from Edinburgh but live up North now. xx

where up north are you?

Im not far from Inverness :)

oh really, im from inverness

where is not far from inverness lol

do u go to dw fitness ?

dw fitness?


so.......any advice on training/diet etc? 

Thanks!

Sorry, I said I'd get back to you
 
Diet looks pretty reasonable.
 
Not sure whether you're doing cardio before weights or after but always make sure you do it after. Try and work in the rep range of 8-12
 

MONDAY
hip abduction 55kg, adduction 45kg - x1 set of 12, x2 sets of 10
leg curl 40kg x 1 set of 12, x2 sets of 10
leg extension 42kg x 3 sets of 10
leg press 60/70 kg x 1 set of 14, 2 sets of 12
lunges holding 5kg each hand x 3 sets of 14  

 
Personally I'd skip the ad and ab work and bring in some squats and perhaps drop leg press too in favour of squats too. You'll not burn fat off the thighs by doing ad and ab work which many women seem to thing (not implying you do ). I'm sure you're also capable of using more than 5kg for lunges!!
 

TUESDAY
shoulder press 15kg x 3 sets of 10 (machine pushing up)
chest press 25kg x 1 set of 14, x2 sets of 10 (machine pushing out)
lat pull down 35 kg x 3 sets of 10
tricep press 22kg x 3 sets of 12
Unsure the name of this machine - you sit with the pad against your abs and pull 2 bars which cross over. I think its for your shoulders and back? - x3 sets of 12

 
Try using free weights rather than machines. This seems rather a lot and a little haphazard to be honest. How about just doing chest and biceps on Tuesday (can't see any bicep work included here), and doing back on Thursday then shoulders and triceps on Friday? That way you'll be able to do exercise per body part but less actual work each session.
 
On your other days you can do extra cardio.
 
Don't worry about the ab roller....not needed IMO!! Leg raises, rope crunches are much better.

Great! Thanks for taking the time to reply! 

I'll happily miss out the ad and ab work - more than 5 for lunges, your probably right but should I just be doing normal lunges or ones off a platform/walking lunges?! (I normally do some bicep curls with the weights in between lunges)

I looked up rope crunches - I've never seen these done before! Also - I've started doing some cable exercises for my sides using the pulley and and bum using the ankle attachment- I'm sure I'll get a fair few onlookers when Im testing out these rope crunches!...

Can I ask why you do cardio after weight training? I have always done this before to get it out the way.


Cheers for the help! :)

xx

Cardio after weights is more effective for fat burning. If you utilise most of your glycogen stores during cardio your weight sessions will not be as effective. Better to deplete them with the weights then your body needs to start looking at the fat stores to provide energy for cardio......very simplistically put!!

What type of lunges are a personal preference. I prefer static lunges with a heavy barbell but walking lunges are good if your knees can cope. You could also so them with the rear leg on a step /bench or the front leg on step/bench.

Personally I wouldn't work the sides unless you need to for other sports. This can thicken the waist. The plank is another good one I forgot to mention for the abs too.

Every day's a school day! Very good to know - I'll now save my sweat fest for after weights.


Thanks for the tips! :)

I was reading on another post that its best to do a 10 min cardio warm up, weights, then say another 20 mins cardio ?

Any idea's on how much/ what sort of cardio?

I admit to not doing a cardio based warm up but tend to warm up with a lighter set on whatever I'm training.

Cardio type is a personal preference. I prefer a stepper or a good powerwalk outside. You could mix up the tempo by doing steady state somedays and HIT others. Just try and do something that you enjoy.