I just know I am doing it wrong.

[higakun]

I have no experience in how to properly exercise. What I have been doing for some time involves about 20-30 minutes of jogging on a treadmill, followed by a bit of weight training. Problem is, I have a goal, but no idea of how to get there. So I feel that even though I work out monday through friday for almost an hour, that because of my lack of knowledge, I may be wasting more time than neccessary.

My goal is to have a lean body with nice abs (kinda like you see with male underwear models) and not a body builder type. What kinds of exercises should I focus on to achieve this slender build? Also, what kinds of foods should I focus on?

 

[megookman]

Hey, I was in the same position as you. Honestly, I think what you are facing is good!! When I started, I just blindly jogged, and barely lifted any weights. After a while, I started to see if I can jog further and further. I went from 1 mile jogs to 4 mile jogs within a couple of weeks!

THEN, I realized, "DAMN!! I don't want all this running to go to waste!!", and made my workouts MORE EFFECIENT by adding weight training.

AND THEN!!!, I incorporated High Intensity Interval Training becasue, "DAMN!! I don't want all this exercise to go to waste!!"

Anways, I can go on and on because I am always tweeking my diet and workout.

My best advice... READ THE STICKIES!!!! and try to incorporate little bits into your workout! As for your goal... Can't help you there. I'm a fatty trying to lose weight. It seems like want tog get even more cut.

 

[edco76]

I have no experience in how to properly exercise. What I have been doing for some time involves about 20-30 minutes of jogging on a treadmill, followed by a bit of weight training. Problem is, I have a goal, but no idea of how to get there. So I feel that even though I work out monday through friday for almost an hour, that because of my lack of knowledge, I may be wasting more time than neccessary.

My goal is to have a lean body with nice abs (kinda like you see with male underwear models) and not a body builder type. What kinds of exercises should I focus on to achieve this slender build? Also, what kinds of foods should I focus on?

How is your diet? To get nice abs and Calvin Klein body you will need to lose the fat on top os all the muscles. As far as knowledge goes try this site. It a great beginners program.

 

[IHateCardio]

My goal is to have a lean body with nice abs (kinda like you see with male underwear models) and not a body builder type.

That is a good long term goal, but it will not be easy. You generally have to have bodyfat below 10% to get that look, and that is a tough thing to achieve and thus may take quite a while.

You should set some more moderate goals that you will be able to achieve sooner that will keep you motivated, happy and give you a sense of accomplishment. Don't focus just on the end goal but on the mini-goal that is the next step to get you where you want.

 

[Steve]

Lean, muscular physique = lowered body fat levels while maintenance of muscle

Read the stickys to get a full description of how that's done.

Things will be in order of importance as follows:

Diet
Strength Training
Cardio

With diet, calories are primary. If they're not in check... you aren't going to get anywhere. You must be in a caloric deficit if fat is to be lost. From there, you need to worry about what said calories are comprised of. Things like adequate protein, essential fats, fruits & veggies, hydration are critical.

With strength training, it really depends on what your current stats are. I can't remember if you stated them in your original post or not. If you're not carrying a ton of body fat now, focusing on something like the link edco posted above isn't a bad idea. You want to be doing the things that preserve the most amount of muscle possible. These are going to be things that send the signals to your body in appropriate amounts telling it to hold on to the muscle. Light, high reps shit isn't going to cut it. Heavy, relative to your strength in appropriate volumes is what you want.

From there, you may or may not need cardio. Cardio acts as a caloric bank so to speak. Instead of eating 500 calories of deficit each day, you could add cardio in and only eat 250 calories of deficit per day... in a nutshell it allows you to eat more. But too much of it is not a good thing, especially in the context of preserving muscle.

Many people put too much of an emphasis on cardio and not enough emphasis on strength training and/or eating the right foods. Weight loss is possible in such a case, but it's just that... weight loss. You're interested in fat loss. This takes an entirely different angle of attack.

 

[higakun]

Right, certainly this body type is a long term goal. I am very interested in fat loss, which is why I am not going to focus on "weight loss" as much as I used to. Sometimes I would get upset because I was gaining muscle weight, but losing any pounds on the scale. I can now see that it was the wrong attitude to have.

I am commited to losing fat and building lean muscle. I looked over the sticky notes, but had a hard time determining which posts aimed to build mass and which ones were aimed at losing fat. I guess they must go hand in hand.

 

[Steve]

You do realize that building muscle requires a caloric surplus, correct?

 

[IHateCardio]

That is commonly accepted however I can guarantee that while I have been losing weight (from 212 to 197 in 2.5 months) I have absolutely gained muscle. Not only are my arms and quads measurably larger but I have also increased my lifts by a significant amount.

I am 40 so my results definitely cannot be chalked up to "high testosterone" or anything of the sort.

I think its more accurate to say:

if you want to maximize your muscle gain in as short amount of time as possible then a caloric surplus is required.

higakun - I highly recommend taking your chest/waist/hip measurements and focus on reducing those. If the inches disappear but the scale stays the same then you can safely say that you're losing fat & gaining muscle.

 

[Steve]

That is commonly accepted however I can guarantee that while I have been losing weight (from 212 to 197 in 2.5 months) I have absolutely gained muscle. Not only are my arms and quads measurably larger but I have also increased my lifts by a significant amount.

Novices can gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously.

So can fat people.

But it shouldn't be expected.

And strength gains don't mean bigger muscles silly. Especially in the early stages of training.

I am 40 so my results definitely cannot be chalked up to "high testosterone" or anything of the sort.

What are the measurement changes?

 

[IHateCardio]

Novices can gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously.

So can fat people.

But it shouldn't be expected.

And strength gains don't mean bigger muscles silly. Especially in the early stages of training.

What are the measurement changes?

I'm not a novice, I have lifted on and off for the past 10 years. Last time I seriously lifted was about 2 years ago.

I am aware that "strength gains don't mean bigger muscles" thats why I said that not only have my lifts increased (i.e. strength) but so have my arms/quads (size). So no matter how you want to quantify it I have increased lean mass.

Unfortunately I didn't measure my arms/quads right at the start, however since I lived in this body for 40 years I am pretty darn familiar with it. I can safely say that both arms & legs have gained quite a bit. I would estimate an inch (or more) on my arms. Since I have been measuring my arms have gone up by almost .5". Sleeves on t-shirts are now tight, same thing with legs on boxer-briefs.

I believe I am very average, particularly since I'm 40, so if higakun is younger he will probably have more Testosterone and can expect (yes I used the word "expect") to succeed at both muscle gains and fat loss. Granted, if he focussed on just weight loss or just muscle gains then he would achieve more in that one dimension, however a two-dimensional approach can/will succeed.

 

[Steve]

I'm not a novice, I have lifted on and off for the past 10 years. Last time I seriously lifted was about 2 years ago.

That makes you a novice.

Coming back from a two year hiatus from lifting can lead to simultaneous recomp.

I am aware that "strength gains don't mean bigger muscles" thats why I said that not only have my lifts increased (i.e. strength) but so have my arms/quads (size). So no matter how you want to quantify it I have increased lean mass.

I'm not going to play the semantics card with you.

You say you have... nice work.

I should couch the phrase "you need a caloric surplus to gain muscle" with "in most cases because of X, Y, and Z."

Frankly I just don't have the time.

And concurrent recomp is not something most people should expect.

Hypertrophy is a very intensive process, energetically speaking. When you're dieting, you don't have enough calories to preserve what you currently have in terms of tissue...

So if you're suggesting it's common for people to simultaneously gain muscle and lose fat outside the realms of novice-hood or overweightness, you might want to reconsider.

n=1 in terms of your experience doesn't carry a lot of weight.

I've worked with countless people and it's no different each time... outside that realm from above.

Unfortunately I didn't measure my arms/quads right at the start, however since I lived in this body for 40 years I am pretty darn familiar with it. I can safely say that both arms & legs have gained quite a bit. I would estimate an inch (or more) on my arms.

If you've gained an inch on your arms while eating hypocalorically, you are blessed genetically.

There's no other way to slice it.

Since I have been measuring my arms have gone up by almost .5". Sleeves on t-shirts are now tight, same thing with legs on boxer-briefs.

Good job!

I believe I am very average, particularly since I'm 40, so if higakun is younger he will probably have more Testosterone

You keep reverting back to T.

T isn't the be all end all to hypertrophy.

And no, you shouldn't outlay your n=1 experience to everyone else.

and can expect (yes I used the word "expect") to succeed at both muscle gains and fat loss.

Certainly, assuming he's a novice or fat.

If not, he shouldn't expect it but if it happens... awesome.

 

[IHateCardio]

That makes you a novice....etc

Thats fine, I accept that.

He's clearly a novice too. Thus, higakun, you can feel free to expect to lose fat and gain muscle.

T helps grow muscle & lose fat... thats why I refer to it. Its not the be all end all but it certainly helps things!

 

[Steve]

Sorry, just found it strange you keep referring to T.

The elderly who haven't been exposed to resistance training seem to benefit from resistance training the most in terms of strength and hypertrophy. So I wasn't much sure what you were getting at with the age factor.

And as I stated above, he shouldn't expect to put an inch on his arms while dieting. I've been doing this a long time and have never seen that.

 

[edco76]

Just my 2 cents. I started a pretty strenuous strength program about 3-4 months ago while staying in a caloric deficit. I have lost a lot of weight. I have improved my strength. My body looks better, my arms are more defined and when I flex in the mirror they look bigger, stronger and more defined. When I measure myself every week though they are always within 1/2 inch or so of where I started.