Question about my "routine"

Hello guys

I'm 18, male, from Quebec. As I am tired of being so skinny, I have a started a work-out program, something I have already tried in the past without success, but this time I'm taking it slightly more seriously.

First of all, my goal is not to became a body-builder or a professional, I just want a "normal" body with something between the bones. I eat a lot and still I can't gain fat (odd isn't), so I hope work-out will help me.

My main limit is time. I study in applied sciences in college so I don't have a lot of time for work-out. In fact, my muscular mass just isn't enough to support prolonged exercises. I have hard times doing real push-ups ... :p

I read some stuff on the internet, and with that in mind I designed a little plan. Something like

Tuesday and Thursday : 15 min in the morning and 15 min in the evening
Saturday and Sunday : 15 min in the morning, 15 min in the after noon and 15 min in the evening.

Which bring to 150 min per week. I know it's not a lot, I am aware it's short. What I want to know is : is it worth ? will this 150 min of workout will be any help, or is it plain wasted time ? Should I make a single session of 30 min per day instead of two ? If it's useless, how much time should I pass per week to be minimally effective ?

Secondly, my routine is fairly simple as I have no access to fitness machines. I involves warm-up, dumbbell lifting, set up and push-ups. I heard if my routine wasn't training the legs (or bottom part of the body) it was an heresy, what about that ?

Thanks in advance, hope to read your suggestions.
 
This plan is crap. Trust me. Never count how many min. you work out per week.

You cant go to gym at all, is that what you are saying with "no access to fitness machines" ?


Also about eating: you think you eat a lot. There isnt such thing, that you can eat a lot, and not gain weight. It means you are not eating enough.

Can you PM me your everyday eating. Even 1 day (average), will do. You can reply here too. And ill try to help you out.


Also tell me about your training. How heavy DB's you can use? What else you can use. Do you have bar for pull-ups?


Also, what is your current weight, and how tall you are?

Who buys your food, you or someone else? Like mother, father etc.
Do you work, study?

If you don't want to write everything here...PM me and ill help you.


You are very young and very easy to build into decent shape :)

Up for challenge?
 
are you attending university? they have no gym there?

30-45 mins a day in one session is what you really need. 15 minutes isn't a good weight workout. two 15 minute cardio sessions a day could be helpful when trying to shed body fat but that isn't your goal.

If you're not growing muscle you're simply not eating enough.
 
Thanks for your answers.

There must be a gym in my college, but I spent most of my time studying when I'm at school. However I may have fitness as physical education class next session (in 3 weeks).

My parents buy the foods, and we're 6 in the family. In the morning I usually take a cup of milk and a couple of tangerines. For dinner and supper, it's usually rice, pastas, beefs and/or greens. Then cheese and yogourt.

I think I eat a lot, but in the other hand both my dad and my granddad were really skinny until they hit 20'.

I am 73 inches tall and I weight about (sigh) 128 pounds. My BMI is about 17,5.

I use 8 pounds dumbbells, apart from that I have some kinds of pulley in my basements, which could be use for pull-ups.

Right now I'm in vacation for 3 weeks, but during school I'm too busy studying and trying not to fail my class to work. Which means my week-ends are relatively free.

I think I'll try 30/45 min per day, 4 day per week.

Thanks again for your help, really appreciated :).
 
Oh, you are really down with your weight.

First what you can do, is to talk with your parents. And tell them, that you want to add bit of weight on you, so they can buy you some extra food for you, when they are doing shopping.

But about eating. I didnt calculate how many calories you need, as you should add weight anyway.

You can go something like this:

Morning (breakfast): leave everything like it was, BUT...add oatmeal. 3.5 oz in dry weight. So you will have nice full bowl when ready. Also its easy and fast to make. You can add bit of sugar on top if you dont like the taste:). Breakfast is most important meal of your day.

Between your dinner and breakfast, you need to have 1 meal. Snack is fine. Get nuts...whatever you like. Handful of nuts is fine. Lots of good fats there and calories.

Dinner was ok. Rice, pasta beef, greens...all good. Beef can be replaced with chicken, turkey, fish if you like. 6 oz is great.

After dinner you can have 1 more snack if you want. Nuts are good, as you want calories most.

I dont know how you evening looks like, but i usually have 1 cup of cottage cheese, mixed with fruits or something. Some people dont like cottage cheese...i love it. Good source of protein, what is good for building muscle.


Ok, training. 4 days is too much. Why? You want to add weight, not to lose weight. Dont think now, that its better not to exercise at all.

Ye 30-45min is enough. Youtube is your best trainer, when working out at home :D Search for " spartan home workout". Its the one with a guy training in basement (light brown walls) or something. Really good exercises. Also very hard...so take it easy first. Friend of mine got very good results.

Your muscles will grow, if you put lots of stress on them. With 8lbs DB's...its not going to happen. And I think you prefer gaining some muscles, not fat.

Go 3 days and see how it goes. So lets say monday you train, tuesday off, wedn. on, thur. off, fri. on and all weekend off. Leave workouts to the evening. Never train same muscle on next day. Like if you do something for shoulders on 1 day...leave at least 2 days between...then you can do it again. You need to recover too, if you want to grow. And try to eat after you finish training. Carbs and protein food is great.


If your weight isnt going up, work out 2 days per week 1 on, 2 days off, etc. Or...eat more. Dont be afraid to have junk food sometimes. Your weight is way too low and you need to get it up.
 
Ok, training. 4 days is too much. Why? You want to add weight, not to lose weight. Dont think now, that its better not to exercise at all.

Although I agree with a lot of what you say, there really isn't anything wrong with training 4 days at all so long as the rouitne is split to allow recovery time for each muscle.

The 8lbs DB's aren't going to get you far though, if anywhere at all. Try looking up sandbag training or looking in the body weight training section on here. And whatever you do, remember to train your legs hard, they're your body's big guns and will give you great all round growth.

There are some good sandbad training tips in this article Bodybuilding.com - Effective Sandbag Training! - Josh Henkin
 
I'll take your suggestions about eating, thanks a lot :)

I looked "300 Spartan Workout Routine To Help You Get Six Pack Abs", it was really interesting. Not sure I can do all those push-up variants, but it will help me diversify my routine. As for the 8 lbs Dumbbells, I'll try to get some heavier or sandbags.

I'll go for 3 x 45 min and follow your eating suggestions, it should work pretty well.

Again, thanks a lot for your time :)
 
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