I recently (4-5 months ago) started working with dumbbells at home at a really relaxed pace. I was a swimmer for a long time in my life, but I did quit many years ago, since then I still swim occasionally whenever I get a cheap pool membership, other than I bicycle and walk a lot. Actually right now I walk 1 hour a day at least. I'm 165 pounds and 6 foot tall. So I don't seem to have any extra weight on me, when I look at myself in the mirror, the shape of my body seems pretty ideal to me. But I wanted to build some muscles in my arms and shoulders and also build some abs as well. So 2 months ago I started some self exercise program. I do dumbbell lifting every 2 days, for half an hour (found some dumbbell program online), that is 2 sets of 15 minutes with 6.6 pound dumbbells. (not quite heavy, I'm gonna buy some heavier ones soon), then I do some exercises for my abs and back (doctor recommended ones which don't have to do with my regular exercise routine but they help for my abs as well) and then I do 30 crunches very slowly, 15 leg raises, 15 bicycle move and 15 crunch on gymnastics ball, followed by 2x20 pushups.
With this exercise routine over 2 months I did see some differences on my abs, looked at a certain light, one can see lower abs now, but they are not necessarily visible from all angles. My shoulders and arms got quite a lot bigger even with those lightweight dumbbells so I'm assuming when I switch to heavier ones, they will continue to grow.
My question now is this. I didn't lose or gain any weight during this period. I don't want to lose weight since I'd look a bit skinny if I did, but I want to build more muscle as well. If I continue working like this, do you think I'll eventually burn more fat and build more muscle or do you think I need a more severe exercise program and/or an actual diet to go with the program to accomplish that?
I didn't watch my diet at all, I've been eating the same stuff I ate before, some junk food every now and then and I didn't cut sugar or carbs.
With this exercise routine over 2 months I did see some differences on my abs, looked at a certain light, one can see lower abs now, but they are not necessarily visible from all angles. My shoulders and arms got quite a lot bigger even with those lightweight dumbbells so I'm assuming when I switch to heavier ones, they will continue to grow.
My question now is this. I didn't lose or gain any weight during this period. I don't want to lose weight since I'd look a bit skinny if I did, but I want to build more muscle as well. If I continue working like this, do you think I'll eventually burn more fat and build more muscle or do you think I need a more severe exercise program and/or an actual diet to go with the program to accomplish that?
I didn't watch my diet at all, I've been eating the same stuff I ate before, some junk food every now and then and I didn't cut sugar or carbs.