# 1 Month after joining the gym



## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

Hi,

Have been training seriously for 1 month now and thought I would post up some pics of me 1 month in.

I have been doing weights on and off for years and in the past have just used free weights at home, it is only now I have decided to take things seriously, joined a gym 5 weeks ago, the first week I did light weights and cardio. After the first week I decided to use a personal trainer.

My starting weight 4 weeks ago was 10 stone and bodyfat was 12.8%. Have gained 6lbs as of last Thursday and body fat level has increased to 13%. (age is 36)

Thought I would post up some pics, mind you they are not the best but at least it gives you an idea of what stage I am at (if any lol), I will keep posting updated pics from time to time so you guys can see the progress I'm making.

Feel free to post up comments guys.


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## leveret (Jun 13, 2007)

Looks like your got a good base, allready having some decent muscles.

Make sure your diet is good, dont want to be doing all them weights without eating correct!


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

Liam,

Cheers mate for your support, yeah trying to keep the diet good/clean and keep the kcal intake high so as to gain more size.


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## NGW (Jul 29, 2007)

Good pics M8:lift:


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## ewokbowes (Apr 27, 2006)

Biceps looking pretty good mate, keep it up.


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

NGW & ewokbowes: Cheers for the feedback guys, helps to keep me motivated


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

As many of you guys on here have well many years of training experience I thought I'd put this by you - comments and advice welcome.

Before I fire off with question I thought I would put you in the picture of where I'm at now with regard to training.

Started training in June at 10stone and now just over 4 months on I have gone to 11stone, pics on this thread are very similar with regard to size although some size has been gained.

Been using a PT at the gym once a week, now PT has gone away on a long holiday to the US and will be returning in January '08, he has put me in touch with another PT whilst he is away.

The first session with the stand in PT was tonight and he of course has his own way of doing training.

Sorry for the essay there but questions for you guys are :

Original PT had my b/fat around 14% but stand in PT has my b/fat at 26%, some how that doesn't add up - thoughts ?

Stand it PT recons he wants to get my b/fat down and thus has started me on quite intense cardio as well as heavy weights, i.e cross trainer on a level of 7 up to 160 on the counter and then going down to 140 on the counter, this seems odd to me as my goals are to bulk up to between 12 and 12.5 stone and then start cutting - thoughts ?

Does this method work as from what I have read over time and many times on UK-M that most of you guys bulk and then start cutting, just doesn't seem right to me what the stand in PT is wanting me to do ?

Of course yeah I can get another trainer and this was my first thought, but just wanted to run the subject past you guys first.

Cheers in advance for your relies and comments, if there is anything I have left out which needs to be taken in to the equation, then let me know !


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## ah24 (Jun 25, 2006)

Your no-where near 26%bf!

Dont listen to this guy, carry on bulking, eating loads and training hard. Get just above your target weight whilst doing your best to stay lean, *then* bulk.

Either go it alone or look for another PT, shame you dont live down this way dude.


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

put it this way... if you are 26% then I must be nearly 40% rather than the 19% I'm sure I am...


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

ah24 said:


> Your no-where near 26%bf!
> 
> Dont listen to this guy, carry on bulking, eating loads and training hard. Get just above your target weight whilst doing your best to stay lean, *then* bulk.
> 
> Either go it alone or look for another PT, shame you dont live down this way dude.


Cheers dude for the reply, comments appreciated ! And yeah just as I thought then his bf measurement for me is c***p ! No I'm no expert far from it but from what I have read and seen with pics on UK-M etc bf is way out. Yeah pity, I'm up in West london so Crawley is a bit far for a trainer lol


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## Pip1436114538 (Sep 6, 2007)

Liam said:


> Looks like your got a good base, allready having some decent muscles.


What in the fcuk is this bullsh!t?!

Are you seeing something no else can?

He is a 16yr old lad who has years of filling out ahead of him. End of.

Mind you its a bit of an ad hominem considering the poster..


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## megatron (Apr 21, 2004)

lol 26% - how are these mouth breathers PTs?


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

Thanks for your replies guys, comments much appreciated.

As for the trainer I had, its bye bye from me lol:rolleyes:


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## Tiger81 (May 4, 2007)

What are your goals dude?

1 month is not enough time to see any real progress, you are very skinny, you have got some nice little pistols there (lol) but yes you look like a small boy...dont take any offence to this - i am just being brutally honest!

maybe you just want a little lean mass or maybe you want to be a monster.. either way, post your goals and your diet and we can help you get to where you need to be 

And yes ditch the PT, most are completeley useless. You can get a good routine on here.

All the best.


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

Tiger81 said:


> What are your goals dude?
> 
> 1 month is not enough time to see any real progress, you are very skinny, you have got some nice little pistols there (lol) but yes you look like a small boy...dont take any offence to this - i am just being brutally honest!
> 
> ...


Tiger, no offence taken at all mate, appreciate your honesty. Anyway diet is mainly as follows, with one or two variations but cal intake stays at 3500-4000 a day, mainly consists of the following:

7:30am Quaker porridge oats with 200ml semi skimmed milk

8:00am EAS Myoplex original with 350ml semi skimmed milk

10:30am CNP Pro flapjack protein bar

12:30pm 2 new york bagels with turkey breast & mayo

14:30pm CNP Pro flapjack protein bar

16:30pm CNP Pro flapjack protein bar

19:00pm 2 Chicken breasts with 525g baked sweet potatoes

21:30pm EAS Myoplex original with 350ml semi skimmed milk

Started at 10st in June and put on 1st 2lbs so far now, ideally like to get to 12.5stone and see what happens from there, so yeah goals are to get a lot more mass/size.


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## Five-O (May 21, 2006)

an absolute astonomical amount of useless supps there mate, you need real food, and you at only 10stone DO NOT need all those calories, im thinking you will easily grow from 2500-3000 calories...easily, you run the risk of gaining "unwanted" weight if not.


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

Five-O said:


> an absolute astonomical amount of useless supps there mate, you need real food, and you at only 10stone DO NOT need all those calories, im thinking you will easily grow from 2500-3000 calories...easily, you run the risk of gaining "unwanted" weight if not.


Cheers for your reply Jimmy, 11stone now lol. Any suggestions as to what I should be supplimenting them with instead, cooked chicken breast etc ? Or just ditch them and keep the intake at 2500-3000 ?


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## Five-O (May 21, 2006)

tim_e said:


> Cheers for your reply Jimmy, 11stone now lol. Any suggestions as to what I should be supplimenting them with instead, cooked chicken breast etc ? Or just ditch them and keep the intake at 2500-3000 ?


well mate, you could make up some things like chicken and rice/pasta for work etc, or tuna/mayo/sweetcorn, even those pouches of tuna etc are better than the CNP bars.

Don't get me wrong, from time to time I use them too but not on a daily basis.

Also EFA's like flax or Udo's oil can add nice clean cals to your diet very easily mate.

Forgot, cottage cheese (natty, low fat) is very cheap at asda, 200g for like 23p

I guarentee you'll feel better and improve faster with proper foods in you, chicken sandwhich, stuff like that mate, get it all in and you'll grow quickly. If you find yourself gettign a little podgy than you'd like, then you can cut the cals back and re-assess


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

Five-O said:


> well mate, you could make up some things like chicken and rice/pasta for work etc, or tuna/mayo/sweetcorn, even those pouches of tuna etc are better than the CNP bars.
> 
> Don't get me wrong, from time to time I use them too but not on a daily basis.
> 
> ...


Ok cheers mate, yeah will give the tuna/mayo a go and the chicken breasts in place of the flapjack bars and keep an eye on the weight as I do anyway, will also look at getting flax/udo oil.

Will have to skip on the cottage cheese - can't stand that stuff lol for some reason.

Yeah thanks again, will give those a go and post up some feedback again soon after a week or so !


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## Tiger81 (May 4, 2007)

How tall are you mate>?

ive made some changes/suggestions to your diet...

7:30am Quaker porridge oats with 200ml semi skimmed milk - *how many grams of oats? have a protein source here too ie shake or a few egg whites and maybe some fruit juice to finish.*

*
*8:00am EAS Myoplex original with 350ml semi skimmed milk *- scrap this.*

10:30am CNP Pro flapjack protein bar *- whole food needed here ie chicken and rice.*

12:30pm 2 new york bagels with turkey breast & mayo *- scrap this.*

1*3*:30pm CNP Pro flapjack protein bar *- need a meal here mate.*

16:30pm CNP Pro flapjack protein bar*- and here*

19:00pm 2 Chicken breasts with 525g baked sweet potatoes *- fine.*

21:30pm EAS Myoplex original with 350ml semi skimmed milk -* fine, maybe a handful of nuts would be good here too.*

hth


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## jjb1 (Jun 28, 2007)

you like like cp30 your head is like a camera almost ;-)


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

Tiger81 said:


> How tall are you mate>?
> 
> ive made some changes/suggestions to your diet...
> 
> ...


Yeah cheers Tiger, sounds good to me, will give this a go !

I'm 5' 9", weight of oats (dry) is 36g


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2007)

My suggestion is stop spending money on flap jacks and buy some steak:lift:


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

Con said:


> My suggestion is stop spending money on flap jacks and buy some steak:lift:


Yep agreed - hence my agreement with tiger's diet suggestion


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## Pip1436114538 (Sep 6, 2007)

Con said:


> My suggestion is stop spending money on flap jacks and buy some steak:lift:


Yep.


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## weseastham (Oct 6, 2007)

steak is friggin awesome.

I don't think the diet you posted is anywhere near 3500 cals mate. Get used to working out calorie and macro contents. The quicker you get these nailed, the quicker you will get a decent physique.


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## invisiblekid (Jun 18, 2006)

tim_e said:



> 7:30am Quaker porridge oats with 200ml semi skimmed milk - I'd lose the milk here and mix 2 scoops of Whey through your oats with water - Better still get some eggs down you
> 
> 8:00am EAS Myoplex original with 350ml semi skimmed milk - Drop in place of protein earler
> 
> ...


Awful diet - but it's not rocket science to get it sorted. In all honesty you probably don't need all that, but see how you go. Milk might seem like a good idea, but I'm not a fan. Too much sugar and it gives you a thick skin - but if it's working keep with it.

Also - When do you train?

AND no way are you anything like 20+ BF. More like 12-13% I'd I had to guess.


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

invisiblekid said:


> Awful diet - but it's not rocket science to get it sorted. In all honesty you probably don't need all that, but see how you go. Milk might seem like a good idea, but I'm not a fan. Too much sugar and it gives you a thick skin - but if it's working keep with it.
> 
> Also - When do you train?
> 
> AND no way are you anything like 20+ BF. More like 12-13% I'd I had to guess.


Cheers m8, yeah today skipped on the protein bars and added pasta & chicken in place of 1 and the 2nd one replaced it with tuna, so will see how I go on that, already feel better and less bloated without those bars for some reason.

Unfortunately can't eat eggs as my stomach does not like them at all.

Thanks for the advice again and will definately keep those bars off the menu and stick with chicken/pasta and tuna for a week or two and see how it goes, yeah do have veg with the chicken & sweet pots, just missed that out.

Training 3 times a week:

Wed - Legs & abs

Fri - Arms, shoulders & abs

Sun - Chest, back & abs


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

there are also better proteins than anything bill phillips makes......

the bars are really only a stand in for proper food.


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

Slamdog said:


> there are also better proteins than anything bill phillips makes......
> 
> the bars are really only a stand in for proper food.


Any suggestions as to any better protein shakes ?

Yep bars have gone from my diet, replaced them with tuna, chicken/pasta/rice and as per Five-O's post I have cut back the calories to between 2900 and 3100. So will keep posting on how the mass/gains are hopefully progressing and better than before.


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## Jay Walker (Jun 24, 2003)

I'd honestly up the calories, looking at your build, I dare say you could get away with eating alot more, as your pretty lean. Dont worry about the fat too much, just get some good quality food inside you, as the guys above have posted.

Good luck, keep up the good work, takes balls to post pics on here, especially after only having 1 month of training under your belt.

All the best.


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

tim_e said:


> Any suggestions as to any better protein shakes ?
> 
> Yep bars have gone from my diet, replaced them with tuna, chicken/pasta/rice and as per Five-O's post I have cut back the calories to between 2900 and 3100. So will keep posting on how the mass/gains are hopefully progressing and better than before.


CNP, Reflex, Myprotein, Bulkpowders... to name a few.....


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

Jay Walker said:


> I'd honestly up the calories, looking at your build, I dare say you could get away with eating alot more, as your pretty lean. Dont worry about the fat too much, just get some good quality food inside you, as the guys above have posted.
> 
> Good luck, keep up the good work, takes balls to post pics on here, especially after only having 1 month of training under your belt.
> 
> All the best.


Cheers Jay, yep, always been quite lean so will up the cals a bit more, keep them clean as per the guys diet suggestions.

Lol, cheers, yeah I know felt a right prat posting them but now looking back I don't give a f**k after all if you need advice and suggestions from you guys with experience and knowledge then its the thing to do.


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

Slamdog said:


> CNP, Reflex, Myprotein, Bulkpowders... to name a few.....












Cheers slamdog, will look in to getting some you suggested once my Myoplex has run out at the end of this month.


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## Slamdog (Jun 11, 2007)

just a tip but myprotein will send you a sample to try if you ask them nicely before you buy a 10kg box, the retail brands sometimes do small sizes too, certainly cnp have a 2lb tub of pro peptide. I have tried some vile wheys and some really nice ones. no point in getting stuck with something that tastes really foul.

I do like biotest stuff but the price is ott in the uk, cnp is about the nicest retail brand i've tried.... taste is a personal thing though.. what I like you may find foul. If your gym is half decent they may sell protein drinks which they make up. you might find one of them that they sell is nice and they will happily sell you a full tub. My gym does multipower and it tastes nice but the price put me off.


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## MXMAD (Oct 11, 2007)

Wheres your before pics?


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## tim_e (Jul 22, 2007)

This was taken May 2006.


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