# Sorry but another noob here looking for advice



## disturbed1979 (Nov 13, 2011)

Sorry to bother you folks but im looking for a lil advice on bulking, no doubt youre sick to death of getting the same old questions each and everyday from noobs who carnt be ****d to search the net for answers, well in my case i have done some reading (too much most probabley) and if im honest what i learn from one article/thread etc gets contradicted in another so i get a lil baffled by it and thats why im here hoping for some advice if anyones decent enough to give me 5 minutes of there time.The problem is ive been lifting weights on and off for a few months now due to medical reasons but the problem i was having was gaining more fat around the gut then muscle around the arms,chest,neck etc and yet i was on a fairly clean bulk so im wanting to know were i was going wrong before i go at it again

My details,age etc..

im now 32, im 5.6 tall, i weigh about 15 stone, my arms are 14.5 inches,my chest is a 44-45 etc, i train 3 days a week,get roughly 7-8 hours sleep a night and i currently work a desk job. i did some reading and found out that because im not fairly active i should be looking at 2500 cals for bulking and i split that between 4 meals. (4 because thats all i can manage due to stomach and bowel trouble) and what i was eating went like this

Breakfast, 6.30am

3 slices of toast wholegrain (bread) and a protein shake mixed in with some instant oats from mp or a bowl of fruit and fibre with a regular protein shake

11.00am

an apple with another protein shake and some instant oats

3pm

200 grams of chicken with some wholegrain pasta and a splodge of mayo, or a tuna omlette with wholegrain pasta and mayo or a medium size baked potatoe with tuna and a light covering of cheese and splodge of mayo with 200 grams of chicken

7pm-8pm

a protein shake with semi skimmed milk with either a bowl of fruit and fibre/4 slices of toast/a bowl of porridge

my cheat meal so to speak was my sunday dinner or sometimes a chicken and bacon pizza on a friday night.i only drink tea/water or coffee etc the meals were worked out on an average ratio of 64 grams of protein,64 grams of carbs and 14 grams of fat per meal but for some reaason i was just getting a belly and not seen any real gain anywhere else so if anyone can tell me were i was going wrong could you please point it out or offer some advice. any help or advice will be greatly received and very much apretiated


----------



## AaronHudson (May 8, 2012)

Get some pics up mate. That's quite heavy for you're hight, not sure if a bulk is what you need.


----------



## disturbed1979 (Nov 13, 2011)

getting pics up is gunna be a problem mate as i have no camera. well i do,its on me phone but for some reason it doesnt work. i can give you my measurements if thats any good ?

i thought the same as you and that i should cut before i bulk but i was told not to bother and then to bulk up to the size i want to be and then cut


----------



## ausbuilt (Nov 22, 2010)

AaronHudson said:


> Get some pics up mate. That's quite heavy for you're hight, not sure if a bulk is what you need.


agree. Think a cut is required.



disturbed1979 said:


> getting pics up is gunna be a problem mate as i have no camera. well i do,its on me phone but for some reason it doesnt work. i can give you my measurements if thats any good ?
> 
> i thought the same as you and that i should cut before i bulk but i was told not to bother and then to bulk up to the size i want to be and then cut


you forgot one crucial measurement- waist.

with a chest of 44" your waist, MAX, should be 34". If its more than than that, you're not putting muscle on, you're just getting fat.

Weight training 3x week is fine if you're bulking, but it burns very few cals, and your job also burns very few cals.

An easy guide is, fix your protein amount. Say 400g/day, and jsut vary the carbs/fats. If every week you weigh yourself, and your weight is up, but your waist size stays the same, then keep going. If waist is bigger, drop some carbs/fats. Keep doing this check.

This is the key process. There is no such thing as a "clean bulk" as excess cals lead to fat storage regardless of where the cals come from- admittedly volume wise you can eat more 'clean" cals, but apart from that, excess is excess.. Since you mentioned your gut gettng bigger than you chest/arms etc, you simply are eating to many cals (but you need protein for muscle, so yuo dont reduce this).

A helpful website is:

www.fitday.com

Another thing, is if you've only been training a few months, be realistic. You will only gain 3-4kg of muscle in a year naturally if you're consistent. Dont expect huge weight gain, unless you count fat..


----------



## Super_G (Feb 20, 2012)

First off mate dont be sorry as this is why this forum is here and is so good. Many of the members come on just to help others and honestly will give you that 5 minutes and more 

What the above said is right, defo get pics up, even if they are taken by the webcam. People hesitate before uploading pics but no-one takes the p1ss and when you have put pics up it honestly does make you more determined to change and show off your gains (from experience). I don't know everything either but I agree with the above on that for your height and weight a bulk might not be ideal. How are you going cardio wise? 

Best bit of advice I and many others can give you is to look at whatever ausbuilt suggests, the guy is more helpful than the yellow pages


----------



## disturbed1979 (Nov 13, 2011)

getting pics up is gunna be a problem fellas as i have no camera. well i do,its on me phone but for some reason it doesnt work. my jeans size is a 36 and i dont do cardio because i was told its not good for someone bulking. like i said ive been searching for info across the net over the last few months and what one person as said on one forum as been contradicted by another on a differant forum so i thought sod it il join this site and just ask the users of this forum

i thought the same as you guys and that i should cut before i bulk but i was told not to bother and then to bulk up to the size i want to be and then cut.


----------



## disturbed1979 (Nov 13, 2011)

sorry fellas slightly off with my height measurement. im 5.8 not 5.6. not that that it would make much differance


----------



## disturbed1979 (Nov 13, 2011)

managed to get a pic, hope ya not eating whilst looking threw this thread


----------



## AaronHudson (May 8, 2012)

Yup - cut not bulk mate


----------



## GolfDelta (Jan 5, 2010)

Agreed you really don't need to bulk you need to cut,you've quite a high BF% by the looks of it.


----------



## disturbed1979 (Nov 13, 2011)

yep like i mentioned i thought i should be cutting to start with too, so il need to drop my calorie intake to say 1900 cals and stick to a low level of carbs and add some cardio in on the days im not lifting ?


----------



## GolfDelta (Jan 5, 2010)

I don't know about your calorie intake that's something you will need to fine tune yourself but with regards to cardio I personally favour fasted cardio 5/6 times a week.You could alternate between fasted cardio and doing HIIT after weights,that's my preferred method.


----------



## disturbed1979 (Nov 13, 2011)

well when i did cardio before i was lifting mon,wed,friday and going for a bike ride before breakfast tue,thurs,sat and sunday i just rested. i also lift before i eat breakfast in a morning too if that makes any differance


----------



## GolfDelta (Jan 5, 2010)

disturbed1979 said:


> well when i did cardio before i was lifting mon,wed,friday and going for a bike ride before breakfast tue,thurs,sat and sunday i just rested. i also lift before i eat breakfast in a morning too if that makes any differance


You should eat before doing weights so you have more energy IMO.Sounds like you do a lot of physical activity so your calorie intake must be far too high for your requirements as you are holding quite a lot of fat.


----------



## disturbed1979 (Nov 13, 2011)

well i read that lifting in the morning on an empty stomach would burn fat so i was trying that theory out, i also read that eating a quick 50 grams of carbs before a workout would fuel me but i wanted to burn off some fat so i decided to lift on empty.


----------



## AaronHudson (May 8, 2012)

Personally don't do cardio (off or on season) - you can tweak your diet to get your calories below maintenance and not have to do it.

My display pic is from a couple of weeks ago of me dieting for the NABBA Brits and I've done zero cardio.


----------



## GolfDelta (Jan 5, 2010)

AaronHudson said:


> Personally don't do cardio (off or on season) - you can tweak your diet to get your calories below maintenance and not have to do it.
> 
> My display pic is from a couple of weeks ago of me dieting for the NABBA Brits and I've done zero cardio.


Agree that some can get away with it,more so if using AAS,but for a newbie looking to shift weight cardio is one of the most useful tools in the box.

Looking in great shape btw.


----------



## disturbed1979 (Nov 13, 2011)

can i just ask would the same advice apply if i didnt want to look lean and ripped as some of you guys ? im not looking for washboard abs or anything im just looking to beef up my arms and chest, shoulders etc id like to go more for this look  just not as extreme if that makes sense


----------



## GolfDelta (Jan 5, 2010)

That pic has high muscle mass and high bf whereas in your pic you don't have high muscle mass but high bf.If you just want to be 'big' then i'm sure you could bulk yes but IMO it would be healthier and you would look much better if you cut.


----------



## disturbed1979 (Nov 13, 2011)

yer i get youre point. i was kinda hoping i could balance the 2 out along the way if that makes sense. i was hoping to add more mass but lose some of the fat around the gut along the way

can i just say a big thanks to all of you guys for taking the time to reply to my thread and to offer the advice youve given. its much apretiated


----------



## robbo9 (Mar 24, 2012)

5 mins cardio at the beginning...then an hour of weights at medium reps (8-12) with medium weight...not too much rest but plenty of water.

Want to keep that heart rate up.. Thats what im doing atm to gain that muscle but burn a little bit of fat..but everyone is different


----------



## robbo9 (Mar 24, 2012)

And kill those legs


----------



## GolfDelta (Jan 5, 2010)

disturbed1979 said:


> yer i get youre point. i was kinda hoping i could balance the 2 out along the way if that makes sense. i was hoping to add more mass but lose some of the fat around the gut along the way
> 
> can i just say a big thanks to all of you guys for taking the time to reply to my thread and to offer the advice youve given. its much apretiated


It does make sense but i've been in the same situation as you before,I thought if I bulked I could increase my mass and get leaner at the same time,it didn't happen I did get big,but fat as well (this was obviously down to my diet) I looked big,but crap and unconditioned and it took a lot of work to get back to down a bf% I was happy with.

You will look bigger if you lose fat and retain muscle.


----------



## disturbed1979 (Nov 13, 2011)

sorry to dig this thread back up again but ive been looking threw some body fat calculators and according to them i have 30.8 bodyfat which basicaly makes me obese. would you say thats about right from the look of the picture on the threads first page or are these body fat calculators way off the mark


----------



## ausbuilt (Nov 22, 2010)

disturbed1979 said:


> sorry to dig this thread back up again but ive been looking threw some body fat calculators and according to them i have 30.8 bodyfat which basicaly makes me obese. would you say thats about right from the look of the picture on the threads first page or are these body fat calculators way off the mark


yes, I'd say you where definitely over 25%, and closer to 27-30% easily:

You have no visible muscle, and man-boobs. All that is happening is perhaps a little reality is creeping in, harsh as it is.

they guy in the pic you posted is a massive off-season bodybuilder who is carrying a lot of water from his heavy cycle which would have a lot of deca, test and dbol in it, but his body fat would be no more than 15%.


----------



## ausbuilt (Nov 22, 2010)

dinogoesrawr said:


> noob question - but when gaining lean mass (through a bulking diet) and following a good muscle building exercise program, will you get any definition? can someone show me the difference between someone who has just build mass and someone who has built mass and cut? this will help me clarify it in my head a lot. thanks.


ALL muscle has "definition", you just can't see it, when its covered in FAT. If you cant see definition in your muscle, while standing relaxd (not flexing). you're fat.

If you're fat, DIET first... become lean, SEE your muscles... then work on bulking up a little then cutting down again, then repeating... it takes a few years..


----------



## disturbed1979 (Nov 13, 2011)

Cheer aus. I dont/didnt need a reality check i know im carrying too much fat and have been for a while but thanks for the honesty. its the first time ive realy used a bmi and bf calculator and compared to some people i wouldnt realy class myself as obese but hey if thats what it says then thats what it says. Thanks again bud


----------

