Have Never Worked out Before, looking for adice.

[Party_Stopper]

Well I stopped playing sports and decided to hit the gym on my free time in between classes. Ive been going for about 5 days a week, about an hour and a half of pretty intense workouts, in the past month and seen some results, not substancial but then again I dont know how fast the results should show.
My ultimate goal is to be cut before Christmas, and to have some muscle on top of that. In the past month I've probobly lost about 7 pounds mostly fat. I am just getting skinnier, but when I flex my abs/ there is definately muscle developing. My first question is: Is this normal to loose a lot of fat before gaining muscle, does the muscle burn the fat? I usually only have time to eat 2 meals a day , it that enough or should I start eating more healthy food. What would be better, high reps, low weight, or low reps, high weight for my goal? I weight 150 pounds on a bad day, and am 5"-10'.

And is it worth it to buy protien powder and all the muscle gaining pills and stuff, or can I still get good results within 2 months doing what im doing?
I'm just using the basic multigym equiptment, I dont bench press or really use the weights for arm curls, is that what I should be doing for better bicep reults?

Any suggestions on equiptment or just a "your doing fine for a starter" is fine, as long as I'm on the right track.

Thx for reading.

[wern]

Is this normal to loose a lot of fat before gaining muscle,
no. Fat loss and muscle gain aren't dependant on each other. A person might gain muscle first before losing fat.

does the muscle burn the fat?
More muscle mass increases the metabolism which helps burn fat

I usually only have time to eat 2 meals a day , it that enough or should I start eating more healthy food.
Eat at least 5 meals a day. There's no excuse, if you want to lose fat. Just carry around a small container of chocolate flavoured whey protein isolate powder (WPI powder), and an empty sports drink bottle. Ever 2-3 hours put 1-2 spoonfulls of powder into the sports bottle, add water, shake, and drink. Thats a meal.

What would be better, high reps, low weight, or low reps, high weight for my goal? I weight 150 pounds on a bad day, and am 5"-10'.
Regardless of height, for muscle development you should go for lower reps. I would start with 12-14 reps. If you have been training for 1-2 months, switch to high weights at 8-12 reps. If you have been lifting for 5-6 months switch to 5-6 reps of higher weights.
Muscle mass doesn't occur at the same time as fat loss. Higher reps doesn't get you more defined. To lose fat you need to diet well and perform cardio exercises. To gain muscle you need to diet well (diet for muscle gains) and do weights/resistance training.


It's definately worth buying whey protein isolate powder, because it is a healthy supplement to any healthy balanced diet. It is not just something that body builders use. Do some research on it.

I'm just using the basic multigym equiptment, I dont bench press or really use the weights for arm curls, is that what I should be doing for better bicep reults?

You should do pushups, pull-ups, back rows, weighted squats, hindu pushups etc

[metallicarocks05]

To that, I'll add dips. Holy hell, did them for the first time in my workout today, 8 the first set, 7 the second and my whole upper body felt pumped!

[Party_Stopper]

Thanks for the responses guys, I am looking into buying the 100% whey protein powder, they sell a 1kg container for around 30$ so mine as well check it out. Are there any brands I should be looking for, or much much I should spend on the product. Or are they all basically the same.
Did the workouts that were suggested too I've seen people do them will add them to my routine. Got 1 and a half months to get ripped!

[wern]

Party_Stopper: Make sure you get WPI - Whey protein isolate.
Whey protein concentrate is very common but is an inferior product. It is very difficult to mix it with water or milk (it becomes junky instead of just dissolving), and it is less highly absorbed by the body than WPI, so if you don't utlise as much protein from 30g of protein concentrate powder than you would from 30g of protein isolate powder.

metallica, dips are pretty awesome. I hardly ever do them though because I don't have the right set up at home, but i did some last week at an outdoor playground/gym and they rocked my socks.

[The Big Banana]

I feel like I should stick up for Whey Protein Concentrate, though before I do I will mention the most important difference is that WPC may give you the farts. This could range from very mild to rather explosive and uncomfortable (usually related to lactose tolerance level or an allergy to certain lactoglobulins that are reduced in WPI).

The advantages of WPC (And I should note I am not a chemist and there is a lot of unfortunate "bro-science" out there that may have caught me) are higher levels of:

- Growth factors
- Phospholipids
- Bioactive lipids
- Antibodies
- Antimicrobials

If you do decide to go with a WPI, you should check the label to confirm it is micronised, rather than Ionised. Micronised WPI will also have higher levels of the above but without as much overall fat and 0 carbs. It's the overall profile of whey that makes it the nutritional food that it is, not simply the protein.

[metallicarocks05]

metallica, dips are pretty awesome. I hardly ever do them though because I don't have the right set up at home, but i did some last week at an outdoor playground/gym and they rocked my socks.

Yeah, I just scooted the washing machine and dryer closer together in the garage and used them:mrgreen

[wern]

1. I feel like I should stick up for Whey Protein Concentrate, though before I do I will mention the most important difference is that WPC may give you the farts. This could range from very mild to rather explosive and uncomfortable (usually related to lactose tolerance level or an allergy to certain lactoglobulins that are reduced in WPI).

2. The advantages of WPC (And I should note I am not a chemist and there is a lot of unfortunate "bro-science" out there that may have caught me) are higher levels of:

- Growth factors
- Phospholipids
- Bioactive lipids
- Antibodies
- Antimicrobials

3. If you do decide to go with a WPI, you should check the label to confirm it is micronised, rather than Ionised. Micronised WPI will also have higher levels of the above but without as much overall fat and 0 carbs. It's the overall profile of whey that makes it the nutritional food that it is, not simply the protein.


1. Aparently whey isolate has a lower lactose level than whey concentrate. Regardless of the difference in fart levels, lower lactose intake in your diet is supposed to help lose weight (probably due to the food being more digestible), and is better for your health, since humans aren't built to properly digest lactose.

2. That may be true, but take into consideration that about half as much protein is actually absorbed from the body from conentrate than from isolate. And if you take multi-vitamins every day (which you should), as well as a balanced diet including healthy fruits and veggies, you are probably getting most of these benefits anyway. As for the "growth factors", there's no evidence that they positively affect the consumer.

3. I've never heard of micronised WPI. Do you have any links?

Metalica: Unfortunately I can't do that :mad:

[Party_Stopper]

Thanks for the help, went with Wern and bought the Pure Whey Isolate, its made by North Coast Naturals, its a bit pricey($33 CAD for 680g) but it tastes great and suppose to be a good brand.
With the workouts ive tried all the things suggested and researching on how to develop my triceps (which is basically non existant ) hopefully the protein will help. Btw the dips and crazy, very tough though, can only do 10.

[Party_Stopper]

Got a question, I've been taking the Whey Protein about 2 scoops a day. I've been getting effects that relate to people who are lactose intolerant, with mostly a bit enlarged lower abdomin.
Will I still be getting all the nutritional values of the Whey produt?
Or is it better off getting a non-lactose whey protein powder.
And is the non-lactose whey protein powder still just as effective?

Thx

[The Big Banana]

Wern, probably the main reason you havent heard of it is because I didnt describe them as well as I should have. I should have said micro filtered and ion exchange whey, though I believe the terms I used are still technically acceptable. Here (http://www.flexonline.com.au/36.html) is a good article on whey including why ion exchange whey is a bad choice.

Party_Stopper, If the whey you're using is genuinely a WPI, it should contain about 0.1g of lactose per 20g serve. This shouldn't be significant. As an example 100ml of no fat milk (the lower the fat, the higher the lactose generally) could contain as much as 7g of lactose. WPC might be as much as 2g of lactose per serve but even then thats not particularly significant compared to milk.

If you find you have problems with lactose intolerance when drinking milk, perhaps you might not have quite as high a quality WPI as you were lead to believe. However its more likely that you having a reaction to something else in the whey.

Try another brand after you finish this tub (hopefully you didn't buy 10 tubs). If you have the same problem, perhaps try another type of protein. Egg Albumin has a good profile. Good luck.

[Party_Stopper]

Alright then I assumed it was the lactose, but infact it probobly is something different. I am not loctose intolerant to milk or any other dairy products. I will try another brand after I finish thi, thx