Habby

I like to say that I have a great overall body shpe. Im not fat at all, and I do have alot of natural muscle, but what I want to do is add definition to the muscle to make them more prominant. At the moment ive started on creatine and tommorow I will start on synytax whey protein. In addition some days I eat chicken, some days tuna, and others soya. I usually have a breakfast of crunchy nut cornflakes (I know but I love it). Then for lunch i'll probably have a tuna mayonase and sweetcorn sandwitch or something and for dinner well last night I had two lina mcartny country pies (soya) with salad (avocardo, lettuce, tommatos). At the moment im on my loading phase of creatine, so im having 4 x 5gms per day. And i will also start on my whey protein shakes tommorow.

For excercise im currently doing 200 bicep curls on each arm with 5Kg weights (highest I have at the moment) followed by 20 triceps and 20 (working out my shoulder and chest area). Ive also got those things you squezze with your hands, I do about a hundred of those with each hand. Followed by about 50 -60 situps and 20 pushups. I usually do this about twice a day.

Can you see anything that im doing wrong in there? Im a total newbie when it comes to this so im going to need some help. Bear in mind thogh, im not looking for massive muscles, just hard and defined ones. Oh by the way, im 21 years old...

Ultrasonic

Not sure why no-ones replied to you yet... I'm a newbie myself, but I'll make a couple of comments.

Essentially I think if you want to get better muscle definition you'll need to lose body fat, by appropriate diet and exercise. This needs to include enough protein and some weights work to stop you from losing muslce mass at the same time. The sort of light weight, high rep exercises you're doing at the moment are not what's recommended for building muscle (check out the sticky at the top of this thread), but whether they'll suit your aims or not I couldn't say I'm afraid.

Whey protein is just a supplement to a diet. You need to work out your protein needs, and if you can't get these from whole food then consider adding supplements such as this to do it.

Now hopefully someone more knowledgeable will come along with some useful advice.

James.Titor

creatine will bloat you like a pig at an all-you-can-eat buffet. and that will do nothign for your "definition.".

the advice given above is spot in imo. definition comes with as reduction in overall body fat. nothing else.

forget this 200reps nonsense. thats endurance training. he exact opposite in the spectrum of muscle adaptations to what you want. <(hypertrophy and strength).

go heavy on your weights, to force your body to keep all the muscle it has and have a read about an areobic training system called HIIT. (high intensity interval training).

Habby

By saying creatine will bloat me like a pig, do you mean in terms of fat or muscle?

James.Titor

neither. creatine draws water into the cells. nothing else. any, and i mean any, increase in muscle size+strength is down to increased volume of water. making your muscles look and feel "soft". it is theorised that in time tthe extra water will draw other nutrients into the cells (protien) to re-balence the concentrations. and hopefullythe protien will be synthesised.

i don't buy it though.

also, 1/3of people do not react to creatine at all. these are called creatine, non-responders. i am one such bloke.

Panthro

neither, water! it makes you hold water in your mucles, so with smooth defenition

in a rush, so not got time to comment, but you really need to look at a proper training routine! 200 bicep curls aint gonna do jack sh1t!

oh, and that syntrax whey is the dogs bollocks! Excelletn choice, tastes amazing too!

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Habby

Why wont 200 bicep curls do anything?? If that wont do anything, then what will?

winger

Stick with basic compound movements. Bench, squats, deadlifts, military, pullups. I like to stay in the 8-12 rep range for about 3 to 4 sets per excercise. Weight lifting is one of the best fat burners there are. Dont forget when you put on more muscle your body just burns more fat to support the more muscle

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Habby

Nice... Thanks alot for that information... Just one question... What are deadlifts?

James.Titor

good god man! its no wonder your having problems

the deadlift, second only to the squat, is the most important lift when aiming to gain size and strength. its very easy to explain, but very technical, and as it requires a huge amount of lower back strength, it is best to get someone to show you the correct form in real life. a good coach/PT should do this.

or find out where the nearst PL club is, even if its a 1 hr drive, just go once and see how its done. they will be big guys with big lifts, but they don't bite, and are usually more than happy to help a newbie get squatting and pulling.

lastly, if you value the ability to walk and perfrom simple day to day tasks that you take for granted: NEVER, EVER do deadlifts for reps higher than 3. 5 at very most. its just plain dangerous.

hackskii

Hab, If you are training by yourself without a gym then do pressups/pushups.
This will develop your chest and triceps and the supporting muscles of your stomach.
A proper gym would be nice but if you dont have it then you need to compromise.
I know guys that have developed with high reps myself.

If you do basic compound exercises then this would be great.

Your original post was asking for information regarding lean-ness.
Diet is key here, pure and simple.
This is done with frequent meals,
Lots of water,
Lots of sleep,
Enough protein to support your lean muscle mass.
Not too many carbs (especially high glycemic ones).

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Ultrasonic

Read the sticky at the top of this section; it contains links to three sites showing video clips of loads exercises, including deadlifts.

Benj

Why do you recommend this james? I currenly do my deadlifts to reps of 8 - 10!
Correct me if im wrong but, Less reps = More weight, which I think would be more likely to cause an injury.

James.Titor

as you wish.

yep.

nope. not at all. the deadlift is incredibley technical, as i am sure you are aware. it requires huge concentration and near perfect form. "thats not all that different form every other exercise you say?" and you'd be right. but:

in my opinion, the deadlift is very hit/miss. you either have excelent form, or you have poor form. and if you are doing 3x8 do you honestly think your form is as good on the final few reps of the 24+ you will be doing, as it was on the first few? no, me either.

one question: how far in front of the bar are your shoulders at the start of the pull?
(i would appreciate it if no-one else would answer that question except benj. thanks.)

Benj

I see your point.... but im still not fully convinced

At the start of the pull ! wouldn't say my shoulders were even in front of the bar, this a bad thing?