Questions about excercises and nutrition

F

fullontilt

New Member
So I just got back from my first session at the gym trying to figure out my 15-rep maxes. A bit of background: I'm 20, 6 1/2 ft, and 158 lbs. I've been going to the gym on and off (but mostly off) for about a year. I tried out Stronglifts 5x5 a while back but was just too lazy and not dedicated enough. Recently I've been doing p90x at home, and while I think I'm getting decent results, I have neither the time nor the proper equipment to pursue it seriously. So that brings me to HST. I'm really not sure about which exercises I should be doing, as well as what I should be eating (and drinking). I'm somewhat apprehensive about gaining weight, mostly because I don't want it to end up in the wrong places, meaning my waist, my ass, and my face (which I know is ridiculous, but right now I feel like my face is already too chunky). Anyways, these are the exercises I did at the gym today, along with my 15-rep maxes:

Squat - WU, 80 lbs
Bench Press - WU, 70 lbs
Leg Curls - 60 lbs
Should Press - 50 lbs
Seated Rows - 90 lbs
Calf Raises - 70 lbs
Back Extension - the trainer at the gym suggested I add this one because apparently I have a weak lower back. He told me to start out without adding weights
Abs

The trainer also suggested I add in leg extensions and bis and tris exercises, but I'm a little skeptical because he didn't really seem to know what he was doing. Thoughts so far? What should I keep and what should I change?

On the nutritional side of things, I've always eaten pretty healthily, but for this program I'd like to follow a strict diet tailored to my needs. Unfortunately, I only have a general idea of what to do. I've been taking protein shakes after workouts (at least, when I don't work out right before dinner), but haven't been following a specific diet. I've also heard about drinking a shake before working out, should I do this? Any and all advice would be much appreciated.
 
That trainer sounds like an idiot. Just ignore him. Most trainers have no idea about the real world and there are tons of them who have no idea what the word "science" has to do with bodybuilding. Stick with the routine you've got, it looks good.

Diet: Don't worry about it so much or you will overthink it. Diet is basic. The right diet for you is the one you can stick with. If you make it too strict, you may have difficulty sticking with it. Up the protein for sure, a shake a half hour prior to your workout is a good idea but don't make the shake too large or you may throw up after squats. What you need to worry about with diet is getting in a lot of calories. At your weight, you need at least 2800 calories a day to start with, and I would urge you to try for 250 - 300 grams of protein a day. Remember, you will need more calories to grow as you get heavier.
 
Another thing: What is going to be critical here is that you actually stick with the program and don't keep changing things or quitting. It sounds like you have had a hard time sticking with things in the past. Don't do p90X, it's retarded. I have the entire program and I wouldn't recommend it unless you were bored and wanted different cardio to do, or if you were going to ignore the retarded parts of it and cherrypick the things that might actually work.

Anyway, the problem you have to watch out for is not sticking with the plan. You might think your face is chunky but you are a beanpole. Just accept it. I'm the same height as you roughly, and I used to be your size, so I know where you are coming from. I've also trained more than a couple in the exact same boat as you. At your size, you see every gram of fat you gain. Ignore that. If you want to make a dramatic change in your body then you need to stop looking at it for a few months. Just ignore it. Learn to count calories, eat what I told you to eat, stick to your workout plan like it is a religion, and then in a few months you can look in the mirror again. That is what is going to make or break your success. You can't succeed if you don't stick to the diet and the workout plan.
 
The p90x is a good plan for flexibility and reducing body fat, but if you want to gain weight in the right places you need to train with weights.

I notice that deads are missing from your program. If you have a weak lower back, do deadlifts. If you want to gain weight in all the proper places, do deadlifts. If you want to get the most bang for your buck out of your time in the gym, do deadlifts. A word of advice: skip the back extensions and do deadlifts instead.
 
Because otherwise he would immediately die.

Or else he would waste more of those calories on fats, carbs, etc, which means a higher chance of gaining bodyfat and for someone his size, any fat gain is going to be noticeable. Typically people his size freak out when they see fat gain and get discouraged or abandon their diet and then stagnate instead of actually making progress. I find that forcing them to try and get 1.5 to 2 times bodyweight in grams of protein each day (which usually they don't get quite that much but they try a lot harder than if I didn't tell them to do it) helps them keep the fat gains to a minimum and keeps them motivated to continue gaining.
 
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