Starting out at 33

[Subvertio]

I Am learning that the anabolic steroid factor is almost the least significant part of fitness on these forums. Here is where I am at. I am studying these forums as best as I can please let me know if you can personalize any recommendations to what my plan is.

Right now I am 33 years old, 5'10", 193.8 lbs, ~24.8% body fat ( according to my tanita scale.) I would consider myself an endomorph.

Obviously I am beginner and want to increase lean muscle and reduce body fat. So what i am guessing is that I would try to gain muscle in order increase my metabolism first.

Do I take 2 grams of protein per lbs of body weight? Or do I stick to the minimum of 1 gram?

How long would it take me to reach 15% body fat, or essentially cut my fat in half assuming I diet and exercise appropriately without bringing in any hormone replacement with an anti aging dr?

I can expedite fat loss and increase my metabolism by doing two workouts in a day, and eating at least 8 times a day and having ~40 g of protein per meal.

I will start my mornings off with a workout before eating my first meal, I will do 15 minutes of cardio followed by another 45 minutes of resistance training, circuit style essentially focusing on all major muscle groups, squats, dead lifts, bench press. Since diet is the most critical key I can continue this regime twice a day and still see results within a few months. True or false?

[musclestack]

Welcome! Congratulations to you for making a great lifestyle change. Let me try and sum up some basic things. It is very difficult for anyone to both put on lean mass AND lose body fat at the same time. In your case, it is probably possible since you are just starting out and it's much easier to do this since your body is being 'shocked' by this new environment. IMO, I would concentrate mostly on losing the body fat rather than adding muscle. 24% is pretty high (no disrespect). I would definitely do more cardio than 15 minutes per day; try to go for 30 minutes at first, then increase to 45 min-1 hour. When I cut, I do about 45 minutes of cardio in the morning, then in the evening, I weight train, followed by another 20 minutes of higher intensity cardio.

Diet, as you know, will be key to reaching your goals. When I'm on a cut, I personally keep protein high, carbs low, and fat moderate. I'm somewhere around the 2grams of protein per pound of lbm. Some will argue that 1.5 grams is sufficient. You'll have to play around with the macros and see whta works for you.

No one can tell you how long it will take to drop x amount of body fat. It's really individualistic. Some people have a hard time trimming bf and put on muscle easy. Others can cut easily and have a hard time gaining muscle. I can tell you that if you dial in your diet and training, you WILL DEFINITELY see results within a few months.......even less.

My advice is that you read through the stickies here in the diet forum and workout forum to get a general idea of how to eat and train. Then, post up a detailed diet including macros/total calories that suits your stats and goals, and we will help fine tune it for you.

[Subvertio]

Thanks for the response! Yes, I'm fat and I'm sick of it. Okay, I'll start cranking out 30 minutes of cardio in the morning and work my way up to 45-60 minutes. I believe you're right I haven't been doing enough cardio. Ill post my diet too and use forums for photos and progress. I will use fasting cardio in the morning.

[JohnnyVegas]

Congrats on getting started. It is never too late. I was in the same boat as you in December. I had been out of the gym with a back injury for around six years and I looked and felt horrible. I am 42. Since then I have lost almost 30 pounds of fat while putting on muscle. It is slow going (but you can probably lose fat faster than me as I was concentrating on putting on muscle), but all of a sudden it has been seven months and my body looks completely different. Stick with it!

I try to keep my protein up around 1.5 grams per pound. The only way I can live my busy life and still come even close to a decent diet is to bake ten pounds of chicken and a big pot of brown rice every Sunday. That makes up most of my meals for the week. Talk to the guys in the diet section to get headed in the right direction.

I agree with the above comment: read stickies! They tend to cover the basics, and you can get answers there instantly rather than asking a question and waiting for answers.

Good luck...and welcome!

[gbrice75]

I Am learning that the anabolic steroid factor is almost the least significant part of fitness on these forums.

Glad you picked that up! Without solid training/dieting fundamentals, AAS will do nothing but drain your wallet (and potentially fvck you up for life)

Right now I am 33 years old, 5'10", 193.8 lbs, ~24.8% body fat ( according to my tanita scale.) I would consider myself an endomorph.

Do you have any pics? Bodyfat sounds pretty high for your height at 194lbs. You may be lower than you think (those scales are pretty off the mark from my experience), unless you have very little muscle mass (which certainly could be the case)

Obviously I am beginner and want to increase lean muscle and reduce body fat. So what i am guessing is that I would try to gain muscle in order increase my metabolism first.

As a beginner, you absolutely can increase muscle whilst burning bodyfat. I did it myself (consequently I was 32, not far off from you). I was 5'11 @ 255lbs (so think of how much fatter I must've been than you) and made gains and developed somewhat of a physique while dropping down to low-mid 190's.

Do I take 2 grams of protein per lbs of body weight? Or do I stick to the minimum of 1 gram?

1.5g per lb of LBM (not total bodyweight) would be a good starting point IMO

How long would it take me to reach 15% body fat, or essentially cut my fat in half assuming I diet and exercise appropriately without bringing in any hormone replacement with an anti aging dr?

Impossible to answer. There are way too many factors involved. Regardless of how long it will take, progress is progress and that's all you should be concerned with. Baby steps.

I can expedite fat loss and increase my metabolism by doing two workouts in a day, and eating at least 8 times a day and having ~40 g of protein per meal.

Is this a question or statement? It all depends on what you're eating, how you're training, how MUCH you're eating, etc. Undereating and overtraining can halt fat loss, completely counter productive. You will definitely want to put some research in

I will start my mornings off with a workout before eating my first meal, I will do 15 minutes of cardio followed by another 45 minutes of resistance training, circuit style essentially focusing on all major muscle groups, squats, dead lifts, bench press. Since diet is the most critical key I can continue this regime twice a day and still see results within a few months. True or false?

Personally, i'd eat a meal preworkout, resistance train, then do cardio PWO. Btw, 15 mins of cardio won't do much at all - 30 mins should be your BARE MINIMUM. 45 - 60 mins would be better. 45 mins 2x a day would be optimal IMO.

Agreed about your lifts - for the most part, stick with bigger compound movements. Don't bother trying to isolate forearms or some retarded sh!t like that. As a complete beginner, I would recommend low sets to start with (around 2), moderate weight (nothing too heavy) and higher reps - 12-15. Get used to the movements. Build the mind to muscle connection. Strengthen your neuro-pathways. Condition your CNS. Growth/gains will come naturally, and can be focused on more later as you become a novice.

Do NOT do the lifting regimen 2x a day. I would suggest 1 of 2 scenarios:

1) fasted am cardio, 45 mins, moderate intensity steady state
PM (or any time later in the day, pre workout meal included) weight training followed by PWO cardio, 20 mins intervals, 25 mins steady state medium intensity

or

2) preworkout meal, am weight training, PWO cardio 45 mins steady state moderate intensity
PM cardio 20 mins intervals, 25 mins steady state medium intensity (this will also be in the fed state obviously)

Hope this helps mate.

[Subvertio]

Thanks everyone for all the help! Im posting my starting point here. Gbrice, I'm going to make those adjustments. I found my lbm to be 147.3, so I am carrying almost 50lbs of fat. BTW this makes sense because when I was in my 20's I was about 140 when I was in prime shape from martial arts. so 1.5g protein X 147.3 = 221 gm's of protein in a day right? I'm barely at 100 gms so far.

http://s1229.photobucket.com/albums/...view=slideshow

I am having trouble throwing down this much protein, am I going to get used to this?

today I did this, this is officially my starting point:

10:00 am two glasses water
10:30 am 20 minutes of treadmill medium pace, 20 minutes of high intensity martial arts (wushu)
11:30 am 26gm's protein (max muscle, lean protein -this probably isn't the best but im getting a better one), fist full of almonds
11:45 am 4 oz of smoked salmon, large leaf of Kale in a whole wheat wrap, one egg white
12:00 pm coffee
5:00 pm back was sore- bench press, military press, quad raises calf raises, 15 minutes cardio, another 25 minutes of high intensity martial arts
7:30 pm 1 egg white, 26 gm's of protein shake again, another 4 oz of salmon, kale on whole wheat wrap

It's 9 and I don't think I can eat anymore, but I'll try 4oz of a lean buffalo steak I got tonight.

In a few hours I'm gonna eat 4 oz of a buffalo steak with more kale. I'm going to take some psyillium because I feel all bloated