Tips please!?

Hi fella's just clicked onto this part of the site and its seems pretty cool.
I'm 17 and try to go to the gym around 4-6 times a week, as I attend school I usually have some down time after so I can go to the gym refreshed. On weekends the gym is optional to me depending on motivation or if I'm busy having driving lessons etc. I have quite a good diet, don't smoke and very seldom drink. On a normal day I have 3 square meals a day with breakfast being cereal and a glass of milk or water, lunch is ham sandwiches in seeded bread with a bag of crisps and a piece of fruit and for dinner usually is a omelette with ham and occasionally sausages, I try to avoid snacking inbetween meals if possible. At the gym usually I spend 10 - 15 mins doing cardio and the rest of my session is usually dedicated to weight training for the rest of the hour and so. I'm not sure whether to trust supplements such as protein shakes etc so I usually stick with plenty of water.
I appreciate that Rome wasn't built in a day, but I have been going to the gym for a while now but only starting seriously in late November early December, I have noticed a difference for sure but I was just wondering how to progress even further. Any tips and advice would be warmly appreciated, cheers guys

Hi Kenty

It depends what you're after, really. Are you looking to bulk up, or just gain definition?

Let me know as that'll shape the way you need to eat and train.

Thanks

Hey Fella

Well I'm quite a big build already, around 6ft. I think I just feel definition needs to be added.

cheers

In that case then, you want to be looking at doing splits I'd say, so say you go 4 times per week I'd do:

Chest/triceps
Shoulders
Back/biceps
Legs

Throw in a little bit of abs after each session, if you want.

Keep your reps high, don't just go for the heaviest weight you can do. So say 3 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise (I usually do about 5 exercises per body part). Sometimes I'll drop in a 4th set, too, which is a drop set so the 1st 3 sets will be slowly building up in weight, then the 4th I'll drop it back down to a light weight and go for 20 reps or until I burnout.

As for diet, you need lean meats then, go for protein shakes (try myprotein.com/co.uk) which you can have 2 to 3 times per day, abnd try to cut down on any unnecessary carbs.

I know this may seem dumb but what do you mean by splits pal and what kind of activities do you recommend?

Thanks for the advice, I tend to go for 3 sets of 8 repetitions at my peak but your information makes more sense and builds up in a more suitable way.

Cheers mate

By splits I mean training separate muscle groups in each session. So rather than do a whole body workout, you would concentrate on say your chest and triceps in one session, then concentrate on shoulders in a separate one, if that makes sense.

So for chest I'd suggest something like: 3 x 10 flat bench press, 3 x 10 incline chest press with dumbells, 3 x 10 flyes (can be either flat or incline), 3 x 10 dips (I throw these in as they're great for both chest and triceps, which I usually work both in the same session), and then 3 x 10 cable crossovers with the weight increasing each time, and then a 4th set where I really burnout and do say 30 reps on a lower weight.

That should work well enough for definition, as there are plenty of reps involved without going too heavy.

Hopefully that is a decent enough example of the amount of exercises and reps that are good for each body part if you're looking to gain definition.

What are you training for.

If it is purely definition on the muscles you already have then you wanna be doing cardio. Low body fat gets you ripped, not weights.

Cut out the crisps and eat more often. Protein shakes are a must post workout and to ensure you maintain your muscles buy some BCAA's if doing cardio to get the beach (vanity) look you are after.

cheers for the advice Fury, will incorporate that into my workouts cheers again.

Johnson, I'm quite a big build kind of guy so think your right in the aspect I need more cardio as currently I only do around 10 minutes. Also planning to purchase a skipping rope from the local sports shop so that will be quite useful. I do run outside doing around 3 - 5k hopefully when the spring comes around I can go for bigger runs.

About Protein shakes, I'm abit concerned. The one you have named is that Legit and are their any more you can recommend? cheers

The myprotein site is legit, yeah, I'd look at a whey protein and see how you get on with that. Nothing dodgy about it, you simply have a scoop with 300ml of milk or water and down it after a workout/in the morning or as you see fit.

Skipping is a good idea. Very good for not just cardio but your core as a whole.

Generally the more you pay the better the quality of the product.

I have always found Optimum Nutrition to be good. Horses for courses though.

Okay, thanks for the advice guys. Will be around more often