Questions

[ricknash]

Hello,
I have several questions hopefullly some of you fitness gurus will be able to answer.
First off;
I am a 19 year old male, very slender, mesomorh body, at about 5'9, 140. I am in excellent cardiovascular shape, and strength im decent but could be better (bench 200, squat 300-350).
I am very active. I am an electrician, so i am hands on all day, and for my excersize, i work out daily, doing lots of running on the Elliptical, and playing squash, and then i do some free weights. Other than that, i play ice hockey Mondays and Wednesdays, and ball hockey saturdays.
My meals (mon-fri) consist of: breakfast-frosted flakes or something similar, and juice; lunch-2 sandwiches, banana, granola bar, 2 juice boxes, and some raisin bread, while dinner-pasta, steak etc. - my snacks are usual fruit salad, granola bars etc. Usually, one day on the weak end i let it go and have a pizza and chipos or somethin lol. In general i really dont eat that much.

What i want to get out of my workouts are to get gradually bigger and stronger, but the main thing is to be continually cut. Like its not hard for me to keep a super lower BF% because thats just my body type and i am extremely active, but i want to ripped, while continually growing muscularly. Also, i need to be pretty good shape, because in 2 more years, after i get my elecitrical Ticket, i want to be a Firefighter.

In the morning, i take a multivitamin, with 2 pills of alaskan salmon oil and 2 vit. C
s. Before my 5oclock work out i take 2 more fish oils and 2 more C's. I also have these pills called L-Arginine, which i am very curious about (there my brothers, who lives out of town).

What i ask of those knowledgeable, are ANYYY criticism, tips, advice, anything to offer on my training, diet, goals etc. and info on supplements etc. whether it be vitamins and the similar, or energry/diet pills like RIPPED etc.
ANYTHING, thanks people!

PS. i also take creatine and protein in my protein shakes which i take once a day after my workout (isolate protein). will these have an effect on me with any sideeffects i dont desire (will it help me get cut better etc. etc.) sorry, i am just a very big rookie when it comes to supplements.

 

[MaxRep]

From your description of yourself and height/weight... you sound much more like an ectomorph than a mesomorph.

As far as what you're eating... I see a whole lot of carbs and not a lot of high protein foods. Although it looks like you get some protein during dinner, protein should be consumed roughly every 2.5-3 hours if you want to build muscle.

L-arginine is just a single amino acid and within your program is a total waste of money. Even if it were free, it's a waste of your time to take it... it won't do anything for you.

You talk about wanting to "get cut better"... well you first have to have something to cut. It's hard to carve a pebble.

Since your main thing, as you say, is to stay continually lean... you're doing fine. However, the bottom line is if you want to get bigger, you have to eat more and train right. Not throw in some free weights as an after thought when you're done with all your cardio.

Good luck,
MaxRep

 

[ricknash]

From your description of yourself and height/weight... you sound much more like an ectomorph than a mesomorph.

As far as what you're eating... I see a whole lot of carbs and not a lot of high protein foods. Although it looks like you get some protein during dinner, protein should be consumed roughly every 2.5-3 hours if you want to build muscle.

L-arginine is just a single amino acid and within your program is a total waste of money. Even if it were free, it's a waste of your time to take it... it won't do anything for you.

You talk about wanting to "get cut better"... well you first have to have something to cut. It's hard to carve a pebble.

Since your main thing, as you say, is to stay continually lean... you're doing fine. However, the bottom line is if you want to get bigger, you have to eat more and train right. Not throw in some free weights as an after thought when you're done with all your cardio.

Good luck,
MaxRep

thanks man, i appreciate you taking the time to give a sincere, honest reply.

i am a mesomorph, believe me. I have to work hard to maintain myh body. i used to be fat and severly out of shape. And i know my wieght sounds really low, but it is deceptive. I am skinny all over, but my chest isnt cut. all my fat on my body is in my chest. i dont like it at all.
but yeah, i know i need to eat more, but what, and when?

also, i dont just chuck in some free weights into my routine. 5 days a week i do a 1-2 hour free weight routine, and beleive me i do good, solid, proper work outs, and work out my WHOLE body. Its just lately ive been tryin to get reallly really cut, and improve me already good cardio, so every second day i run teh elliptical for 30minutes, burnign 400calories, and even on the off days i bike for 10min, 100cals.

 

[ricknash]

also, thank you for informing me that the LArginine will be ineffective, but.. what else would u recomend? the reason i take teh fish oils, besides the fact that there good for u, is that i HATE fish and never eat it, except for the odd can of smoked oysters. other than the seafood deficiancy, i have a pretty well rounded diet.
so what supplements would u recomend, for what i desire; is one protein shake a day good enough; and is the creatine effective in what im striving for or no?

thanks again for your time

 

[ricknash]

...please.
anyone?

 

[ricknash]

please?

 

[smaretick]

L-arginine is just a single amino acid and within your program is a total waste of money. Even if it were free, it's a waste of your time to take it... it won't do anything for you.

MaxRep

I don't agree completely that supplementing with L-arginine is a waste of money...L-arginine when combined in the body with oxygen produces nitric oxide which is a vasodilator (opens up the blood vessels in your muscles allowing for more blood & nutrients to get into the muscles resulting also in a better pump). Alot of the current 'NO' products contain forms of arginine to stimulate the production of nitric oxide in the body. In addition, more 'mainstream' products like nitroglycerin (for heart attack patients) and ED drugs (like viagra) contain forms of arginine for the vasodilator effect.

 

[dennis]

also, thank you for informing me that the LArginine will be ineffective, but.. what else would u recomend? the reason i take teh fish oils, besides the fact that there good for u, is that i HATE fish and never eat it, except for the odd can of smoked oysters. other than the seafood deficiancy, i have a pretty well rounded diet.
so what supplements would u recomend, for what i desire; is one protein shake a day good enough; and is the creatine effective in what im striving for or no?

thanks again for your time

Rick..you need to understand that you cannot cut and bulk at the same time.If your long term goal is to be 20 pounds heavier and cut then you have to gain maybe 30 pounds and then cut.You are not consuming near enough protien to grow new muscle.i would like to see you try to eat minimum of 150 -200 grams of protien each day.You may need 3 protien drinks per day to achieve this.Cut back on your carbs and sugars too.You are also over training..too much cardio stuff and hockey and too much time in the gym..trust me on this.You cannot grow muscle at the rate you are going.Lift 4 days per week for no more than 1 hour 10 minutes each time..cut your cardio stuff way back too.As far as suplements go most are a waste of $..use creatine/protien,multi vitamins..and the fish oils or omegas for now..start your day off with a better breakfast than cereal too.

 

[Grizzly]

thanks man, i appreciate you taking the time to give a sincere, honest reply.

i am a mesomorph, believe me. I have to work hard to maintain myh body. i used to be fat and severly out of shape.

You might know your body, but you don't know your body types. A predisposition towards fat storage is found in the endomorphic body type, not the mesomorphic body type, which is the lean, heavily muscled type.

 

[ricknash]

well, im going to go out on a limb, and say it isnt as rigid and firm in that every human being falls into 3 set cateogries of body types. I am fairly lean, but do put on fat easily. but on the other side, do put on muscle very easily aswell. most ectomorphs i no are very lean, and can eat all the fat the way, and not gain fat, but on the flip side, cant put on muscle/wieght no matter how hard the try.
i am blessed with a great body type, but the only spot i have a tough time getting definition, and reducing fat, is my chest. its wierd

 

[Grizzly]

No, there isn't only three types. The three main types can be crossed. For instance, you're claiming to be an endo-mesomorph, though your stats clearly reflect that you surely do not put on muscle easily....unless you've only been lifting for 3 days or something.

 

[pupeye]

Well he is doing a lot of cardio and burning a lot of calories. So that will make it hard to put muscle on, no matter what bodytype you are. I would cut out any gym cardio and just let the hockey be your source of cardio. Also like dennis said, lift 4 days for just about an hour. AND squat all the way down, no half squats.

 

[ricknash]

No, there isn't only three types. The three main types can be crossed. For instance, you're claiming to be an endo-mesomorph, though your stats clearly reflect that you surely do not put on muscle easily....unless you've only been lifting for 3 days or something.

no, i worked out almost everyday when i was 16-18(about a year ago i stopped lifting all together because i started working full time, and about 2 months ago i just got back inot, severly weaker).
trust me, i can put on muscle very easily. its just i am so active, and i simply stopped caring bout getting huge.

so dennis, your telling me, if i work out, say 4 times a week, doing 5x5s etc, but also maintaining my active lifestyle+cardio, i wont gain any weight, but moreover, strength and size?
i am not tryin to get huge hear, or even bigger fast, i just want to maintain a nice amount of muscle, with a minimal amount of fat, plain and simple.
thanks for the time guys,i appreciate the help

 

[prodigy06]

Do less cardio, eat more protien, lift more weight. Be a man stop worring about putting on some fat. Gotta build something to work with.

$0.02

 

[ricknash]

Do less cardio, eat more protien, lift more weight. Be a man stop worring about putting on some fat. Gotta build something to work with.

$0.02

thanks for that