Losing weight and toning up?

[CDwyer]

Okay so first things first.

I am 17, I weigh about 170, and I am 5'6. I would not say I am fat.. But I do notice a layer of fat over my abs, I have (genetically) a larger butt and larger thighs from playing premier soccer. I never could keep up with my own plans, because I was clueless as to what a good workout plan would be for me.

I want to tone up, lose the unecessary fat, and finally have my abs showing. I can feel their definite grouping if I push on my stomach, I've done numerous crunch/sit up excorsizes to find it didnt really help cut down.

I am wondering, what would be better for me?

I have a membership at a nice gym, and I was told by a track friend to just run cardio for about a month or two. That way I would lose some fats before weight training.

Another friend said to just do cardio and workout each day. 30 mins of
Treadmill then 30 of weight lifting. I have a tub of jack3d in my room unopened, and was thinking
Of getting some whey protein for after working out. If I want to lose some weight, and tone up to show my vas and muscle definition, what's the best plan?

I'm new and this is my first post, so help is much appreciated! Ps: I also have broad shoulders, more broad than anyone in my family.

 

[Goldfish]

Both those plans stink, although the latter is less bad than the former. If you want to see your abs, it's all about strength training while being in a calorie deficit (ie consuming fewer calories each day than your body burns). Cardio is unimportant, and while it can aid in creating a calorie deficit, it also increases your fatigue/need for recovery. A calorie deficit is a recovery deficit, thus diet + cardio = putting yourself in a position where you're high on fatigue and low on recovery. This can cause all sorts of unnecessary problems with training, and here's the clincher - it can actually cause you to have more trouble losing the excess fat than you'd experience just by doing strength training every other day and eating low enough calories to lose 1lb per week (which isn't a huge deficit at all).

So, fix up your diet and do full-body strength training 3 non-consecutive days per week, and you'll be right on your way to getting the results you're after.

 

[garnislitton]

I too prefer you drink 8- 12 glass water a day. These would rather help you.