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Originally Posted by shashank.nk Kindly excuse this rather noobish question,but i'd love to hear what the experienced guys here think.
Why Proteins ?
I've been working out for 2 months now and I eat about 6 egg whites a day with about 200 gms of chicken for protein to bulk up. My stamina and ability to lift weights has gradually increased but the results aren't exactly great i.e I could only lift the barbell when doing a bench press with NO weights at start, now I can do about 10 reps with 2.5 kgs before I tire out,anything higher is only with the trainer's assistance. Biceps i'm much better but max is 7.5 kgs.
I've been avoiding supplements as much as I can, but looking at all my buddies' gains through supplements i'm thinking if I should take it. I have a few questions regarding supplements: - Should I take Whey Protein or Whey Isolate ? Also which brand is recommended ? I searched the thread and ON Gold Standard wasn't highly spoken off, Myofusion seems more popular.
- Should I also take Creatine or Whey alone will suffice ?
- Once I start, how many months will I have to take it for ? Is it till I build muscle or I'll have to continue taking it post that for however long I want big muscles. This is important since after a year or 2, I want to go back to martail arts. Thanks to my lean body I get injured 3 out of 5 days with martial arts!!
- How long will a 5lb tub last considering they're pretty expensive at 5k or so a tub
- Should I just increase the egg count and chicken ? Boiled eggs,tandoori chicken are quite difficult to eat after a certain point of time as I get bored with the taste :(
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I don't know much about supplements as I have never used them nor have I bothered to find out more about them. Think that ON supplement became famous after that recent John Abraham-Chitrangada Singh movie. Seen many people queue up for that.
From your post, I see that your purpose of hitting the gym is to have core strength more than merely a sculpted body.
I fully endorse Samurai's views on calisthenics. Why else do all army exercise guide books around the world use the simple: push up, pull up, chin up and sit up regimen, apart from running? Cos army people need core strength, not mere pumped up muscles.
Since you have a lean build, try this first.
Run on the treadmill for say about 40 minutes. Start at 8 Kph. (yeah I know it's slow but don't worry). Increase the speed by .5 kph increments every week. So by the end of 2 months, you should be doing about 12 Kph to 13 Kph speeds. Breathe deep while you're at it.
Once you manage about 7-8 Kms of running per day, you'll find that your belly fat will begin burning. In the 7-8 Kms of running, I suggest that you run at 12-13 Kph for 30 minutes, and then slow down in 0.5 Kph or 1 Kph decrements per minute until you hit the 40-45 minute mark. Never stop suddenly. Also try to run on your toes and not on your heels (good for your knees). Keep up your protein intake while at it (eggs, not chicken).
After your running each day, do about 10-15 minutes of cycling. 6-8 resistance should be great. Also stay hydrated while doing cardio since you'll be losing a lot of sweat while running and cycling.
Now, the running and cycling will take care of your stamina and will keep your heart healthy. Let's move to core strength.
For core strength, you've already been doing push ups. Good start.
Now, you need to hit the king of all upper body exercises: pull ups. This will give you fantastic strength in your upper body and back.
I suggest a routine that works for me.
After running and cycling, you hit the pull up circuit. Try doing one pull up at a time. If you find it difficult, try doing negatives. Plz use youtube for more info. In say 2-3 months, you should be able to do 10 pull ups per rep and five reps. So, that's about 50 pull ups per work out. That'll take serious strength (atleast for me). You'll be surprised that your body is actually capable of delivering this through practice.
After pull ups, you can do chin ups. This will give your biceps and forearms strength but it is easier than pulls ups. Aim for 10 pulls up per rep, and 5 reps.
Then you can move on to push ups. After all the pull ups and chin ups, push ups will be a piece of cake. You can hammer out about 6 reps of 15 push ups each. That's about 90 push ups a session.
You can also include free squats (use a pole or something for balance to get the technique right. Again, youtube will help.) After free squats, you can also use parallel bars for hip raises, etc.
Begin varying the position of each exercise each day but doing all the exercises won't hurt at all.
This work out is old school, but very, very effective. You don't need a gym to be strong and definitely not any supplements. You will notice that this whole session doesn't have any weights involved. Your body weight will ensure that you get uniform muscle development. (sometimes, many people who do free weights will have skewed muscle development, as usually one part of the body is stronger than the other. Say, your right arm might be able to lift more than the left, etc) You'll be surprised that many body builders will struggle to turn out 50 pull ups in 5 reps. And yes, you'll get that V-Shape of the back too with all this work.
NOTE: Increase the work out loads gradually. For the first two weeks, you might not be able to do one dead pull up/chin up also. Keep at it. Slowly increase the number, till you hit say 10 in each rep. Never hurry. Just enjoy the workouts. Also, you can use this program for 4-5 days a week. You'll be burning about 700 Kcalories per workout i guess.
Follow this routine for 6 months and then get back to martial arts. I have been to martial arts sessions. I agree that they're extremely demanding. Esp, the mixed martial arts which is done more as an exercise. But, this 6 months work out program will get you up to speed. I'm pretty sure of it.
Cheers,
Jay