Need help with workout routine

M

monkey25

0
I need help with my workout routine. I don't know if i'm doing the right amount of reps to acheive my goal
I'm approx 5' 7 1/2" and weigh 130
I'm thin, but I have no muscle at all. I really want to tone up overall and have nice muscular legs. I'm noticing that my inner thighs are jiggly and are starting to show dimples.

I'm trying to hit the gym 4 times a week. I am focusing mostly on weights.
one day legs, next day arms, take the day off and repeat

I lift about 12 reps and do 3 sets..I make sure that my muscles are fatiuged on the 12th rep, but I'm wondering if I should lift heavier and only do 6 reps?

After I finish up weights I will run on the ellipitical for about 10 minutes. My fear is that by doing to much cardio I will lose weight. I don't need to lose weight, but I do need to lose flab.

I should also mention that I eat 3 meals a day. Dinner is always protein , veggie and carb.. Lunch is whatever I have time to eat. Usually a sandwhich. Breakfast is always a bagel.

Any help is greatly appreciated

thanks!
 
Hmmmm
Okay , it is fine you are working out 4x a week. How many years or months training experience have you had?
It sounds more like you want to bulk up.......getting "tone" or cut/ripped is simply maintaining your muscle mass. Sounds like you want to add muscle while keeping more fat from collecting (at least as much as possible).
You can't chase two rabbits at the same time.....you can't get muscle mass while shredding through fat.....at least not efficiently.
Cardio....a walk on an incline treadmill will most likely suffice.
Reps and sets....here is the breakdown:
REPS DICTATE SETS
1-4 reps strength training
5 reps strength mainly and hypertrophy
6-14 reps hypertrophy training
15 and up ballistic reps (usually used in dynamic/plyo movements)

And eat a lot of good stuff. Check out this link for help on that:
 
You're right . I want to add muscle. I don't believe I have any leg muscles to begin with so it's definitely not toning then!

If I'm adding muscle to my legs,the extra flab will go away right?
I guess that's where i'm getting confused. I understand that there isn't spot training. I'm just not sure how to get muscles and lose the flab.
Weights and proper diet? weights, running, and diet etc...?

thanks :)
 
You want to add muscle, so here's what you can do:

For muscle- 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps (12 seems too high if you want muscle), moderate weight (bodybuilders)

Strength- 3-4 sets of 4-6 reps with heavy weights (powerlifters)

If you build up muscle, the muscle will overtake some of the fat, simply due to muscle speeding up your metabolism, thus burning more fat. I would suggest doing some of the strength exercises first for a few months, then do the muscle exercises from there on out. If you notice yourself getting too big and you want to lean out, then you need to cut, which means do more cardio, less weight, more reps (15-20 at the most, also use circuit training).

By the way, I saw you only do arms and legs...I would do the whole body just so you don't become outbalanced in one area. ie...back is stronger than chest, tri's more than bi's, etc. Just keep your body in sync with the rest bc if it does turn out that one part is stronger than its counterpart, that could lead to injury down the road, which sucks.
 
Wanted to add in order to gain muscle you need a calorie surplus. If you do a clean bulk you will gain minimal fat. Start out with 300-500 over maintaince and work your way up from there as need.
 
I'll definitely shorten my reps and lift heavier.. I do include back and shoulders the day I do my arms. However, I usually only do one workout for each muscle. Hopefully that's ok for now.

Can you point me in the right direction as to how I can figure out what my calorie intake should be?

I'm obviously new to all of this so I'm not sure what clean bulk means!!
 
One of the most popular equations for determining BMR (basal metabolic rate) is...

(for women) 655 + (9.6 x weight in kg) + (1.8 x height in cm) - (4.7 x age)

(for men) 66 + (13.7 x weight in kg) + (5 x height in cm) - (6.8 x age)

(Multiply height in inches by 2.54 to get cm, multiply weight in pounds by .4535924 to get kg).

Work the equation, then take the number you get and multiply it by one of the following depending on your activity level...

Sedentary 1.2
Lightly active (light exercise 1-2 days/wk) - 1.375
Moderately (mod ex 3-5 dy/wk) - 1.550
Very active (hard ex. 6-7 dys/wk) - 1.725
Extra active (very hard ex/physical job) - 1.9

After getting your final number, if you are wanting to bulk (add muscle) then you would create a caloric surplus by adding more calories to this number (as Leip said, 300-500 kcal a day). By "clean bulk" I imagine the Leip meant not eating garbage to get your extra calories in, but paying close attention to the quality of your calories, getting enough protein, etc.
 
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