Help for a new member!

[squall2072]

Hi, new to the scene. Kinda. Just wanted some help, basically i'm 18 weigh in at 137 pounds and i think about 14-16% bf. I want to see my abs again ( i can still see them just about) don't really want to lose them, but i also want to gain significant strength, i'm benching 100 at the moment but i always feel my tri's are letting me down because these seem to fail before my chest hurts..

The thing is though with all the information on the topic of slimming down and bulking up it feels like i'm drowning! New methods seem to be constantly flowing through the market. I really just want someone to tell me what to do to gain some muscle, but get much stronger. What exercises should i do if i'm doing lifting 3 times a week? and how many sets?

Food intake...what should i avoid totally for slimming stages and how much should i take in considering i'm only 18 and not fully developed yet?

What weight should i aim for...and the only suppliment i would ever concider taking is creatine, would this help or not?

Aslo what gains should i realistically be looking at over what sort of time period, this seems to be a common flaw of people not seeing the gains and giving up, i want to push towards a realistic goal, should it be set every 3 months or shorter or both short and long term?

the final goal is to become bigger and stronger and lose the partial belly. From what i've read you lot seem to have the experience needed to give the right information to a lost soul like me!

Well if u can help it would be great! Thanks

 

[BOOEY]

Ah, where to start ... well, Creatine is a great supplement. I would start taking that right away. As far as training goes you'll want to focus on the main lifts (bench, squats, deads, pullups, military press, bb curls, close grip bench) and put together a routine. 3-days a week? May want to split it up into Chest/Bis , Legs/Shoulders , Back/Tris. There's a lot of possibilities with a 3 day split. That's just one. If you want to get bigger and stronger you're going to have to eat and rest. Those two things are more important than anything else. If you eat like a 137 pounder, you'll stay a 137-pounder. Don't be afraid to put on some weight, you can always cut later on. I don't know how fast your metabolism is or if you're new to training but it is possible to gain muscle without fat, it's just more difficult and takes longer. Your questions are broad so if you have any specifics post them up.

 

[squall2072]

Thanks any help is well recieved!

well i want to make sure i know now how to cut so i can do it when i want to. i do 3 sessions of cardio a week at the moment and i do tend to get a fair amount of sleep ( sometimes maybe too much!)

i just don't know what i should eat, whether i should eat just more of anything, i know i need mre protein but how much carbs etc? metabolism is above average i'd say, i used to eat loads while i was younger maybe now its catching up with me? i don't mind how long it takes as long as i get there in the end...my only worry is that if i lose the abs from total view i'll start to cut or do less. i want to be able to train whilst maintaining them so my motivation remains high, otherwise i'd fear that is was just fat i was putting on and not muscle.

Main muscle groups i'd like to improve are mainly upper body...legs are well condictioned from football whilst younger and swimming, running and rowing now.

 

[squall2072]

upper body faves are flat bench, lat pulldowns, shoulder press...biceps are hard to work for me but tri's are much nicer, maybe because of bench press etc... i'm looking to get well defined, more like bruce lee than Arnold. Cheers

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

I'd stick with basic exercises like squat, bench, deadlift, row, press, curl, dips, chins, calf raise, shrugs, direct hamstring and ab work.

You could do upper body monday, lower wednesday and upper again on friday, then lower on the next monday, upper on the next wednesday etc.

If you want to see the best gains in your upper body then you have to train your legs!

OR you could do all pressing type exercises for upper body on monday, and all pulling on wednesday and legs on friday.

I'd probably recommend 2-3 sets per exercise for 6-10 reps.

 

[squall2072]

cheers, gym 2mo so i'll give it a try, thanks for the reply.