2100 calories per day making sure to get 180g of protein. how you want to fill those calories is up to you. counting calories can be very easy. I just keep a notepad and pen in my kitchen and write down the calories every time I eat something.

do you have experience with weight training?

I took a weight training course in my last year of highschool (So I took the course about a year ago until last january).. but I didn't really pay attention to the work parts, just used it as a free gym. ANd then I got lazy :P. Sooooo no, I don't.

As far as counting goes, I guess I would just be checking out the nutritional facts of everything I eat/drink throughout the day?

E/ Here are some pics of what I look like right now.

http://i.imgur.com/5eMBI.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6zpjX.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/fnJNo.jpg

They're kinda big, so I removed the tags.. just click em
As you can see I'm not... OBESE.. and I'm actually skinny in some areas (my ribs show), but I guess I want to just look toned, and not chubby or skinny.. just toned

This post was edited by Archmage on Aug 15 2012 05:34pm

yea, just check the label. if it doesn't have a label you can look it up on the internet for a decent estimate. protein intake can be somewhat difficult so to be able to hit 180g per day you might want to buy whey protein isolate. buy from the internet. allstarhealth.com has great prices. bodybuilding.com is good too.

Since you're pretty much a complete beginner you should be able to see some big changes in your body quickly. You will likely be able to both gain muscle and lose fat at the same time on a strength program.

you're going to want to focus on: squat, bench press, bent over rows, deadlifts, standing shoulder press, and chin ups.

The program "Starting Strength" is a linear progression strength program. this means you add the same amount of weight to the bar every session.

Workout A
3x5 Squat
3x5 Press
1x5 Deadlift

Workout B
3x5 Squat
3x5 Bench Press
3xFailure Chin ups

3x5 means that you will warm up and then do 3 sets of 5 with the same weight. You will increase this weight every workout.

This is a monday, wednesday, friday program. So on week 1 you would do A, B, A. Week 2 would be B, A, B, etc. I think you would see great results with this program

Just saw your pics. Gonna be honest, you look underweight to me. I would strongly recommend that you eat at a caloric excess so that you can gain some muscle mass. I believe this will accomplish the look you want.

I think being on a deficit will just cause you to look like shit, not gonna lie.

This post was edited by Aimed_Shot on Aug 15 2012 05:40pm

No, cardio sucks. Unless you're really fat. DIET = EVERYTHING.

Wow okay, thanks a lot.
How do I determine which weight to start off with, and how much to increase each time?
Increasing the weight with every workout seems like a lot of weight increase

Also, what constitutes a fair warm up?



Well if I'm trying to improve my cardio, would it interfere with the changes I wanna see? For example a 10-15 minute run on the treadmill (or jog) as a warm up?

This post was edited by Archmage on Aug 15 2012 05:39pm

Dude don't listen to him, SS freaking sucks... trust me.

If you havent done the lifts yet I would recommend that you do some research. Watch youtube videos on how to perform the lifts with proper form. Then get in the gym and start practicing and getting comfortable. You'll get a feel for what would be a good starting weight.

Add a minimum of 5 lbs each session. You can add more if you see fit. You likely won't be able to add 5 lbs a session on standing shoulder press however, so just do what you can.

A good warm up.

2x5 with just the bar
1x5 with 40 percent of your work set weight
1x3 with 60 percent
1x2 with 80 percent

then do your 3x5


This post was edited by Aimed_Shot on Aug 15 2012 05:49pm

in addition to this i'd like to suggest starting with a weight that feels "light" because you increase it so rapidly you don't want to plateau one week in.

Intermittent Fasting...

Learn it, love it, do it.

Not at all, for people in decent shape I can see it being too low volume, but it's pretty easy to add Dips / Rows / Barbell Curls as desired and as you can handle it.

OP -> Do a full-body workout 3x a week, it doesn't matter which, just make sure it includes Squats, Pull-ups, and Bench (and I'd say the Press too). Add in a few arm exercises if you want and if you can handle it.

Do as much cardio as you can stand, hit the elliptical 5-6x a week and do it for an hour, you'll still need to diet, but it'll burn an extra 600-700 calories and give you some breathing room if you make some diet mistakes or need the occasional burger.

Figure out what you burn each day and eat 500 less than what you'd need to maintain. You have time and there's no need to rush it, if you cut too fast you won't make any strength gains and will end up wearing the emaciated look (not good).