Advice for a Novice on Weight Training and building lean muscle

[billy_111]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this forum, so not really sure what to expect, but here goes..

First things first, let me tell you a bit about myself:

I'm 147 pounds, have barely any muscle mass, I do eat healthy and have 1 sometimes 2 BAD days where i eat what i want. My general days of eating are like so:

1. 8am: Cereal, Brown Toast, Green Tea
2. 1pm: Chicken Salad
3. 5pm: Green Tea, very small portion of curry

On my bad days i will have a kebab, but usually chicken again, maybe some pizza.

Ok, so I've finally joined a gym that i like and have been going there for about 2 months or so now. I've mainly been doing cardio (playing Squash, Badminton, Football etc).

My aim is to basically build muscle mass, lean muscle and strength. I'm very dedicated in my training and have an ambition to be realistic and go for a body like this:



I took 3 free personal training sessions with a personal trainer who gave me a training program to follow. This involves going to the gym 3 times a week, my
weekly program is as follows:

Monday - 25 minute Treadmill run

Tuesday - Shoulders, Chest and Triceps (Supersets)

- Shoulder Press and Lateral Raises
- Cable Flys and Cable punches
- Bench Press and Dumbbell Upright Row
- Cable Rope Pull Down and Shrugs
- Assisted Dips and Leg Raises

Wednesday - 25 minute Treadmill run

Thursday - Legs

- Leg press
- Bench Lunges with dumbbell
- Front squat
- Leg extension
- Calf raises
- Kettle bell swings
- Dips and Leg Raises

Friday - Back and Biceps

- Pulldown
- Seated Row
- Dumbbell row
- Assisted pull ups and leg raises
- 21's with Bar (7 + 7 + 7)
- 36s bicep curl (12 + 12 + 12)
- Dumbbell curl on machine

Saturday - Football
Sunday - Rest

I added the extra cardio days in as i felt like the weights days on their own were not enough. Now the problem is that i don't REALLY see a difference, and want to work harder to see something. I don't mind adding an extra day for weights to make it 4.

So my question to anybody out there is:

1. Is my weights program good for getting me to what i want to achieve?
2. Are my eating habits OK?
3. What would you change with my current weights program?
4. Would you change anything as a whole with my weekly routine including the cardio?

I would really appreciate it if someone can answer those questions because i have only been doing weights for 4 weeks so if i am doing something wrong it's better to know now that later when it's too late. I will put in all the time required to cut up and have a nice ripped look but again i seek the advice of you guys..

I hope someone can help me out...

Many thanks,

Regards,
Billy

 

[billy_111]

Tuesday - Shoulders, Chest and Triceps (Supersets)

- Shoulder Press and Lateral Raises
- Cable Flys and Cable punches
- Bench Press and Dumbbell Upright Row
- Cable Rope Pull Down and Shrugs
- Assisted Dips and Leg Raises

That should have said Assisted Pull ups

 

[dropoutdiet]

Hey Billy,

Your personal trainer gave you a great introductory program for basic lean muscle development, but there are couple of things I noticed:

- If you're trying to develop the kind of physique in that picture, you might want to be careful about making weights such a prominent part of your regimen. That kind of lean body is characteristic of swimmers and total body exercise. I would highly recommend incorporating regular swimming into your program, maybe in lieu of your time on the treadmill. If you're not used to swimming, it's absolutely exhausting early on but your endurance does improve quickly and the results are fantastic.

- You are simply not eating enough food to build lean muscle. Further, the gaps between your meals are too long and will probably affect your ability to carry out a plan like the one your trainer has set up for you. Try to eat between 300-450 calories every 3 hours, it will lighten your metabolic load and keep your metabolism actively working throughout the day. Also, start pounding back the water; hydration is essential.

- Squash, badminton and other racket sports are great overall workouts so keep up with those. Again, the only concern with weights is that you may run the risk of getting too bulky for what you're trying to accomplish.

Hope this helps. Best of luck and keep in touch!