Gym advice for a newbie

DarraghR

Hi there. I recently started going to the gym. I have been using WHEY protein from myprotein.ie but I heard that I should be using something else to increase mass? Maybe a gainer? My WHEY protein is nearly finished so would like to order more soon or if anyone can suggest something better.

I have started using the bench press to increase my chest strength and size as the machines were not doing much for me.

I have always been confused by cardio. Should I be doing cardio in 1 day instead of doing 15 minutes at the end of my hour session or quite recently I have stopped doing it completely.

My diet consists of fruit and cereal in the morning. Dinner consists of beef, chicken usually done in a sauce with brown rice. Mince in tomato sauce with whole grain spagetti. Stir fry.

I snack in between meals with cashew nuts, other nuts and rice cakes.
Usually have a cheeky take away once a week.

I would drink beer the odd time but trying to replace it with wine as it would be nice to have less stomach fat.

Any tips or advice would be great. I would like to draw the line at protein when it comes to supplements but maybe someone could suggest something natural to increase bulk. And I know eating larger portions is an option

Jimmy Iovine

There are others more qualified than myself on here but all the protein in the world won't make you bigger if you're not doing the correct work.

I started powerlifting recently and I've made some steady progress. Eat enough good food and do the right exercises and you'll get stronger and bigger.

I don't think cardio would help but it might not hinder. Depends what you're doing though.

What are you doing in the gym now?

DarraghR

When it comes to dinner I am mad for jarred sauces like Lloyd Groomsmen as they are quick and easy. Housemates have advised me to get fresh veg and make my own sauce.

A lot of people have suggested free weights and squats. I have only started using the bench press.

Previously my routine consisted of. Pull down for bi's and tri's. Chest press, chest incline. Shoulder press. Ab crunch machine. Butterfly machine. Leverage high row.

Saipanne

DarraghR wrote: »

When it comes to dinner I am mad for jarred sauces like Lloyd Groomsmen as they are quick and easy. Housemates have advised me to get fresh veg and make my own sauce.

A lot of people have suggested free weights and squats. I have only started using the bench press.

Previously my routine consisted of. Pull down for bi's and tri's. Chest press, chest incline. Shoulder press. Ab crunch machine. Butterfly machine. Leverage high row.

Jarred sauces are full of salt and sugar. It's only slightly more effort to cook from scratch.

DarraghR

Ok think I will look up some recipes

Jimmy Iovine

DarraghR wrote: »

When it comes to dinner I am mad for jarred sauces like Lloyd Groomsmen as they are quick and easy. Housemates have advised me to get fresh veg and make my own sauce.

Ditch the sauces. Start cooking your own. It will taste so much nicer as well. Those jars are very expensive as well from what I can remember.

DarraghR wrote: »

A lot of people have suggested free weights and squats. I have only started using the bench press.

Who suggested squats? Have you someone to show you in the gym?

DarraghR wrote: »

Previously my routine consisted of. Pull down for bi's and tri's. Chest press, chest incline. Shoulder press. Ab crunch machine. Butterfly machine. Leverage high row.

Is that it for the week or do you do more?

Saipanne

DarraghR wrote: »

Ok think I will look up some recipes

I'll give you an easy pasta sauce.

Ingredients:
One clove of garlic chopped
One tin of chopped tomatoes (unprocessed)
Some chopped (or dry) basil


Gently fry garlic in olive oil until light brown. Add tomatoes. Add basil. Leave to simmer for five mins. Eat. The whole process is ten minutes.

Feel free to add any veg or meat in.

DarraghR

The jars are dirt cheap usually 1.50 or 2 euro but I will start doing my own.

The squats suggestion came from a house mate, lad in work and a few websites I visited.

Think I am forgetting some but yeah pretty much. I change up the weight, sets and reps so my body does not get used to the same routine.

Jimmy Iovine

DarraghR wrote: »

Think I am forgetting some but yeah pretty much. I change up the weight, sets and reps so my body does not get used to the same routine.

Well the main thing I can see is that you seem to be forgetting the lower body completely?

Prezatch

Saipanne wrote: »

Jarred sauces are full of salt and sugar. It's only slightly more effort to cook from scratch.

Ah give over, this is nonsense. If you look at the nutritional information for a quality sauce like Lloyd Grossman there is absolutely nothing wrong with it and its handy as hell and very tasty.

All natural ingredients, less than a gram of salt per 100g and less than 5g of sugar per 100g - the majority of which is natural sugar from the tomatoes. (A typical can of chopped tomatoes will contain around 3g of sugar per 100g)

http://www.loydgrossmansauces.co.uk/products/italian/tomato-basil/

OP, be very wary of the packets of herbs like chicken chasseur or mushroom sauce etc. as these DO contain lots of salt and nasty things.

I've found the Lloyd grossman ones specifically ok

Saipanne

JoeyD wrote: »

Ah give over, this is nonsense. If you look at the nutritional information for a quality sauce like Lloyd Grossman there is absolutely nothing wrong with it and its handy as hell and very tasty.

All natural ingredients, less than a gram of salt per 100g and less than 5g of sugar per 100g - the majority of which is natural sugar from the tomatoes. (A typical can of chopped tomatoes will contain around 3g of sugar per 100g)

http://www.loydgrossmansauces.co.uk/products/italian/tomato-basil/

OP, be very wary of the packets of herbs like chicken chasseur or mushroom sauce etc. as these DO contain lots of salt and nasty things.

No need to get emotional.

Lloyd Grossman = 4.8g sugar
Tesco can chopped tomatoes = 2.8g sugar

(4.8 - 2.8)/2.8 = 71% more sugar. And 730% more salt. Do that calculation yourself.


Bloody maths...


Like I said, it takes only slightly more time to get better food into you.

intheclouds

Saipanne wrote: »

No need to get emotional.

Lloyd Grossman = 4.8g sugar
Tesco can chopped tomatoes = 2.8g sugar

(4.8 - 2.8)/2.8 = 71% more sugar. And 730% more salt. Do that calculation yourself.


Bloody maths...


Like I said, it takes only slightly more time to get better food into you.

But considering the daily allowance of sugar is 30g then it really makes very little difference. Theres no point comparing the two products to each other, you need to compare them to the daily allowance.

Saipanne

intheclouds wrote: »

But considering the daily allowance of sugar is 30g then it really makes very little difference. Theres no point comparing the two products to each other, you need to compare them to the daily allowance.

In this guy's case, it'll do no harm if he gets into a little bit of cooking. Much easier to control your diet than relying on processed food.

kikosii

There are others more qualified than myself on here but all the protein in the world won't make you bigger if you're not doing the correct work.

- true

DarraghR there s no magic in protein whey if you don't have the right diet.
Biggest mistake is to think about Whey prior a good diet and training consistency.

To be able to advise, you need to provide few details ie: yr height, weight, your age, your current diet, what you actually eat (we dont want to know how healthy good or bad you eat, we want to know what you eat on a daily basis), your health condition (smoker and so on).

don't fall into calculation, you are motived to some point but think about the long term. Calculation will come after few years where calculating your diet is important along with healthy food and where timing is important in your daily routine at the gym.
Drastic change doesnt help... consistency is the key.

Hanley

Saipanne wrote: »

No need to get emotional.

Lloyd Grossman = 4.8g sugar
Tesco can chopped tomatoes = 2.8g sugar

(4.8 - 2.8)/2.8 = 71% more sugar. And 730% more salt. Do that calculation yourself.


Bloody maths...


Like I said, it takes only slightly more time to get better food into you.

2g of sugar isn't even worth counting.

Stop strawmanning the discussion to try and prove your point.

DarraghR

kikosii wrote: »

There are others more qualified than myself on here but all the protein in the world won't make you bigger if you're not doing the correct work.

- true

DarraghR there s no magic in protein whey if you don't have the right diet.
Biggest mistake is to think about Whey prior a good diet and training consistency.

To be able to advise, you need to provide few details ie: yr height, weight, your age, your current diet, what you actually eat (we dont want to know how healthy good or bad you eat, we want to know what you eat on a daily basis), your health condition (smoker and so on).

don't fall into calculation, you are motived to some point but think about the long term. Calculation will come after few years where calculating your diet is important along with healthy food and where timing is important in your daily routine at the gym.
Drastic change doesnt help... consistency is the key.

Thanks for all the replies guys really appreciate it. I have invested in the gym, healthy food and a supplement so the last thing I want to do is go about things the wrong way.

I do understand that a protein supplement is not a quick answer to bulking or achieving my goals quicker and that it is simply to increase my daily protein count.

My daily food intake is usually the following:

Breakfast: Smoothie which can consist of bananas, frozen berries, watermelon, kiwi and always natural fat free yogurt. The volume is always 1 pint.
One cup of coffee with one a large tea spoon and a sprinkle of sugar.
2 weetabix with low fat hot milk and a sprinkle of sugar.

Lunch: Brown bread or a whole grain wrap. Mostly ham as meet but sometimes turkey or chicken. Filling consists of coleslaw, tomatoes, cheese, lettuce, egg mayo, onions, pickles, sweetcorn and always low fat mayo and butter.
I would also have some nuts like cashews.

Between lunch and dinner i usually snack on peanuts mostly cashew, rice cakes and corn cakes.

Dinner: As mentioned before most of my dinners a beef or chicken with a jarred sauce. This would be accompanied with brown rice usually.
I also eat a lot of sweet potatoe mashed on done in chips in the oven.
Steak, chicken stir fry, frozen fish like cod, homemade beef burger with lean mince, spaghetti Bolognese with wholegrain pasta and carbonara.

I do smoke about 3 cigarettes a day and 1 joint every 2nd night with no filter.
I weight 12.5 stone, aged 31 and height 6.2

Coming back to my food again. I usually cook 3 or 4 meals in one go as I live with a few housemates so it saves me time and hassle. This also helps with eating straight after the gym. By reheating my meals am I loosing some of the nutrients or beneficial indigents?

I have two scoops of WHEY myprotein.ie mixed with water after the gym which I attend 3 - 4 times a week for an hour.



Above is a picture of a few random jars of sauce in my press. The far right one is a can of organic tomatoes I bought yesterday to start making my own sauce as suggested.

Prezatch

DarraghR wrote: »

Between lunch and dinner i usually snack on peanuts mostly cashew, rice cakes and corn cakes.

Bin the rice cakes, and probably the corn cakes too although I don't know what they are. Maybe try some Kelkin oatcakes instead with low fat cottage cheese spread on top for example. This will give you a good protein and complex carb hit.

Rice cakes are a very poor quality carbohydrate:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/zaino14.htm

Blacktie.

JoeyD wrote: »

Bin the rice cakes, and probably the corn cakes too although I don't know what they are. Maybe try some Kelkin oatcakes instead with low fat cottage cheese spread on top for example. This will give you a good protein and complex carb hit.

Rice cakes are a very poor quality carbohydrate:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/zaino14.htm

If you're referring to the high glycemic index of the food then you can completely ignore the article. The glycemic load is a much better/realistic measure and rice cakes are much lower on this scale.

endacl

Your workout looks a bit limited. Plenty of push and very little pull. You need to balance everything.

No point in keeping the tank topped up if you only drive to the end of the road and back.

DarraghR

endacl wrote: »

Your workout looks a bit limited. Plenty of push and very little pull. You need to balance everything.

No point in keeping the tank topped up if you only drive to the end of the road and back.

When you say pull do you mean I should be using machines with pulling mechanisms?

I previously used a BSN supplement and got pretty good results from it.

Prezatch

DarraghR wrote: »

When you say pull do you mean I should be using machines with pulling mechanisms?

I previously used a BSN supplement and got pretty good results from it.

Exercises can be divided into those which require you to 'push' the weight and those which require you to 'pull' the weight...
https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/push-pull-workout

Caliden

One bit of advice I will give you is to get yourself a kitchen scales, weigh your food and record everything in an app like myFitnessPal.

It may seem excessive but you'll never build muscle if you're not eating enough and it wasn't until I started weighing everything that I realised I wasn't eating near enough to gain any size.

After a month or 2 of weighing food you should be able gauge it by eye what's 50/100/200g of rice/chicken/oats/etc. if you keep your diet consistent.

DarraghR

Thats great information I never knew cheers guys will make sure to have more of a balance.

So when you started weighing your food was it way below what you should have been eating?

Back to the supplement choice. Should I stick with WHEY from myprotein.ie. A lad in work doesnt even bother with a protein supplement and just drinks a **** load of milk.

Alf Veedersane

DarraghR wrote: »

Thats great information I never knew cheers guys will make sure to have more of a balance.

So when you started weighing your food was it way below what you should have been eating?

Back to the supplement choice. Should I stick with WHEY from myprotein.ie. A lad in work doesnt even bother with a protein supplement and just drinks a **** load of milk.

Most people find that when they weight what they consider to be a standard portion for them weighs a lot more than they expected.

You don't necessarily need whey. A litre of super milk would have 450 kcals and 33g protein. Whole milk would be 640 kcals with 35g protein.

A tin of tuna (185g net weight) has 30g protein. A scoop of whey has 20g protein or thereabouts.

As for the mass gainer stuff, it's just a mix pf a lot of carbs and protein to give you something like 400-600 kcals in one go. It's not magic. You could make your own with oats and whey powder for a fraction of the cost.