Tweaking Workout Schedule & General Advice Needed

[Viper]

My Specifications

Age: 19
Height: Approximately 5 feet 9 inches
Weight: Approximately 154 pounds
Build: Frontal View, Posterior View, and Calf

My Goal

Maverick stated it best in his A brand new Maverick topic: "I don't wanna look like Arnold, more like Bruce Lee or Brad Pitt in Fight Club."

History

In my late middle school years, I pursued soccer heavily. At one point I was on three teams at one time. During this period of time, I worked hard to build my lower body with calf raises and squats. I worked my lower body solely and never touched my upper body. I maintained my lower body physique through out high school and continued to neglect my upper body. I'm currently a Sophomore in college...

I began aggressively 'working out' on May 17, 2005 and have been doing some form of workout weekly. I say 'some form' because I have revised/tweaked my workout routine as I discover errors in my routine. For instance, I was working out and running (~20 minutes) daily until I read the topic stating that I may be reducing my gains by running after my workouts.

Current Workout Schedule

Monday: Workout
Tuesday: Cardio
Wednesday: Workout
Thursday: Cardio
Friday: Workout
Saturday: Cardio
Sunday: Rest

My workout consists of primarily upper body fitness machines. I pretty much do every machine until exhaustion.

My cardio consists of running approximately 2 miles outside.

Current Nutrition

Wakeup Meal (6:40AM): Oatmeal and some water.
After Class Meal (9:45AM): Energy Bar (Cardio) or Soy Protein with Milk (Workout).
Lunch (11:00 AM): Varies since I go to dining hall.
After Class Meal (3:45PM): Soy Protein with Milk (Workout) or Fruit (Cardio)
Dinner (Sometime in the evening.): Depends on what I have available in the room.

Objective of Topic

I am simply looking for advice from you all on what I should be doing at this time to achieve my goal. After reviewing my entire scenario, it seems like my weak point at this moment is my nutrition, but advice on any points of my situation is greatly appreciated.

Any constructive criticism is welcome.

Thank you in advance.

[Lady C]

It is kind of hard to tell much from your listing, but it doesn't look like you are eating enough. Are you vegetarian? If not then why soy protein? More info is needed to actually critique it. Eat more veggies and less processed (bars) foods. Here are some tips.
Workout Timing and Diet Tactics
Workout day vs nonWorkout day

Don't make the same mistake twice by neglecting the lower body. Work the whole body every week. More detail is needed to critique your routine but here is some good material.
3-Day Split
Intensity & Progression
Variable intensity through lift ROM

[threenorns]

if you avoid lower-body work, particularly squats and deadlifts (a MUST in any workout routine), your upper body will eventually sputter and stall.

the massively heavier weights you can handle through those two exercises prime your nervous system to handle heavier weights on your upper body.

also, your muscles don't work in isolation but as part of a unified whole. if you want a strong chest, you need a strong upper back. if you have a strong upper back, you need a strong lower back. if you want a strong lower back, you need strong abs and glutes... see what i'm saying?

[maverick]

We need to bulk you up a bit, and that diet will not do! I'd like to reiterate Lady C's inquiry, are you a vegetarian? If not, you need to get some protein in at every meal and ditch that soy protein for whey. Soy will increase estrogen levels in your body, the yin to your testosterone's yang. In the case of getting big though, you want a lot more yang! Find out your BMR and what your maintenance calorie intake is with your level of activity. From there we can be a lot more helpful in building you a diet to make the most of your workouts. I believe my gains to this point can be attributed at least 75% to my nutrition.

Good job separating cardio and weights, I would if my schedule allowed for it. And yes, do not do cardio after weight training, your muscle's glycogen stores are depleted as it is, cardio will be muscle suicide. Much like not eating breakfast before any type of workout.

You need to build off of your sterngth, in this case your legs. Like the ladies said, Do not neglect them because they are better than your other muscles, use that to your advantage. Squats are the king of exercises for too many reasons to list, and you are already ahead of the game with respect to your own body so you MUST be doing them. Your strong legs will help compensate and build your upper body with other heavy compound exercises like deadlifts. I would highly suggest something like Max-OT for helping you add significant strength and mass at the same time.

Mkae sure to set yourself realistic short and long term goals (less realistic for the long term). These will keep you motivated for the long haul. Post up your proposed workouts and your BMR and maybe we can help a bit more. Glad my post could be of some inspiration

[Viper]

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has replied to my post. I sincerely appreciate all the help that I have recieved thus far.

Protein

Originally Posted by Lady C

Are you vegetarian? If not then why soy protein? More info is needed to actually critique it. Eat more veggies and less processed (bars) foods.

I am not a vegetarian. I have been using Soy Protein, EAS' AdvantEdge Soy Protein 20g to be exact, because that it is what was available at my local Wal-Mart.

Originally Posted by maverick

not, you need to get some protein in at every meal and ditch that soy protein for whey. Soy will increase estrogen levels in your body, the yin to your testosterone's yang. In the case of getting big though, you want a lot more yang!

I will convert to Whey Protein as soon as possible. Is there any particular product that you would recommend?

Lunch Meals

With all the concerns of me not eating enough, I thought I would be more specific on these two meals.

My lunch always consists of a bowl of salad (lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and some Ranch dressing). What varies in the meal is what I drink, the actual core food, and my dessert. I commonly drink water, but I sometimes have a glass of soda. The core food changes all the time. My dessert is normally some fruit, but I occasionally have a pie with or with out vanilla ice cream. I commonly take a multivitamin with my lunch as well.

For instance, my lunch today consisted of:

- Chicken Sandwich with 2 slices of tomatos, a couple of pickle slices, and some BBQ sauce.
- A slice of cheese pizza.
- A bowl of salad.
- A bowl of fruit (pineapple, mango, and cantaloupe).
- A glass of water.

Workout Routine

When I go workout tonight, I will make sure to right down exactly what I'm doing so you all can get a better understanding of what my actual workout consists of.

[maverick]

I personally use the GNC brand whey protein and really like it.

As you may expect, we are all going to tell you to get rid of that pizza. A better choice of dressing might be good too, fat free or lowfat ranch at the very least. And your desert better be fruit. Pie and ice cream on a regular basis are defintely going to limit your progress.

[Viper]

Originally Posted by maverick

I personally use the GNC brand whey protein and really like it.

As you may expect, we are all going to tell you to get rid of that pizza. A better choice of dressing might be good too, fat free or lowfat ranch at the very least. And your desert better be fruit. Pie and ice cream on a regular basis are defintely going to limit your progress.

I knew I would get in trouble for eating that slice of cheese pizza. I'll make sure to remove it from future meals. :

Besides the slice of cheese pizza, does the meal I had today sound like a reasonable lunch?

What I'm going to do is always have this for my lunch:

- ________________
- A bowl of salad.
- A bowl of fruit (pineapple, mango, and cantaloupe).
- A glass of water.

What do you all recommend for me to have in the ________________?

[threenorns]

well, at least the cheeze pizza is better than rotten ronnie's or fish'n'chips - give him that much credit, lol.

as for the fill-in-the-blank, i'd go with eggs (western omelette, ie), meat (chicken, beef, fish, etc), tuna, salmon or other grilled or poached fish.

[Viper]

Originally Posted by threenorns

as for the fill-in-the-blank, i'd go with eggs (western omelette, ie), meat (chicken, beef, fish, etc), tuna, salmon or other grilled or poached fish.

That is what I had in mind, so I'll make sure to stick to foods like above.

Concerning the whey protein, I found this online: GNC Pro Performance Instantized 100% Whey Protein Powder, Vanilla

Is this what I should be looking at to purchase?

[threenorns]

go with optimum nutrition - i've heard a *lot* of ppl complain about cramping and gas with GNC.

[Shamrock]

I find GNC is veeeeeery overpriced. Plus I like supporting the little guys, I buy from SND (Sports Nutrition Depot) around here. Discounts out the wazoo and if you're a larger regular they give you free stuff! Got a free shaker last time.

I would reccomend a Whey Isolate myself, plain jane protein. Protein is 4 calories per gram, this has 27 grams of protein per scoop with one serving at 117 calories. You do the math. I incorporate it into everything; coffee, soup, oatmeal.

Again this is going to be refuted by a few but from the bottom of my heart, get off of those machines. As an ecotmorph you're at an advantage in these first couple of weeks as you'll be able to "watch your growth". The rest of us coming from the other end of the spectrum (weight loss) have our results for the most part masked by a layer of BF. What I'm getting at is, utilizing free weights you'll not only develop the core strength you'll need to crank out those power lifting compound exercises, but the stabilizing muscles involved with movements will grow as well.

A 6 day split is something a lot of us desire, make sure this jives with your schedule. You don't want to start resenting your gym time because you think its taking away from school, work, social life, etc.

Diet wise you could probably use a little tweaking. Read up on meal timing, with specific regard to pre and post workout meals. The 3x hours after a workout are the most important of the day.

[maverick]

I agree that GNC is overpriced, but you can work the marketing angles and make out like a bandit if you time your purchases. I just got 12 lbs. of whey for $48 from them by using my gold card and buying during a 20% promotion. Plus, there's no shipping charge then.