Toning Up Question - My First Post :)

[EmoGuy]

Hi All, I just joined the forum after reading loads of your posts... Good community you have here

I'm 18 (just) and have over the last 6 months lost about one 3rd of my body weight, I don’t want to loose anymore weight because im happy with the shape of my body now, but I want to tone up my muscles badly!! I have been trying for two months and I haven’t seen any improvements, its really frustrating because I found loosing weigh easy & im so close to having the body that I have been aiming for


I don’t know where im going wrong, i work out for about 40 mins a day, manly sit ups, press-ups and a few other exercises i read up on and play soccer for about 30-40 mins 3 times a week


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My diet consists of...

Breakfast when I wake up... normally some kind of carbohydrate

Sandwich at lunch

and normally something healthy in the evening... most of the time carbohydrate again!... plus fruit in the day

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What more do i have to do? is my diet wrong?... do I need to work out more?

Is it possible that I just still have to much fat on my body? I consider myself slim and have the faint line of abbs But still have a little bit of fat around my lower back, & on my legs…



Any help you guys can give me would be great

 

[Dakkon]

First off, I mean no flame here, but toning up is a word people selling fitness products use to sell to women and fat people. What you are trying to do is get some definition right?
I found that when my gains were not coming it was from lack of nutrients. I could train my life away but IF I WAS NOT EATING I wouldn ot gain anything.
I can tell right now that you are not eating nearly enough. A quick estimate says you are onlyconuming 1200 cals/day which is half of what you need at least. It is hard to say without stats.
You are doing a lot of cardio with soccer, and I am not going to tell you to quit that, cause you need to enjoy some exercise.
So here comes my advice. keep your weights, but concerntrate on doing your compund exercise like your bench press, deadlift, and squat. They are the ultimate in mass/strength exercises. Keep going with your abs, but try not to forget they are not the end all exercise. Sure everyone wants to have a six pack, and everyone would with the right diet and training.
Now your diet jsut stinks. You need 1-2grams per lb of bodyweight per day of protein divided into 5-6 meals.
Some guys grow on 1 gram per ,and other need 2 grams per. I need around 1.2 grams per to see gains. Also because you like your cardio you need lots of carbs...and if mass is your goal then I mean lots. I would try and get 3000 cals/day total from food. So lets say that you are 160lbs...and you are taking in 2 grams per lb if bodyweight iin protein that means you are taking in 320g of protein a day. 320g is 1280 cals in protein....If you were taking in 3000 a day subtract the 1280 and you are taking in 1720g from carbs and fat. I usually taking in 40g of fat which is 360 cals/day from fat. which leaves 1360 cals from carbs, which is 340g of carbs....
You want to eat roughly the same amount of nutrients per meal, wether that is 5 or 6 times a day, but 5 is the bare minimum. you carbs should come from low glycemic carbs, wether that is whole grain breads, or yams, or beans or whatever.

Keep in mind that I used 3000 cals as an estimate, but it is just an example. I can find that not only do I drop fat but I put on muscle when my diet is right on. From your post I see that is what you want to do. Everyone is different and you will have to play with your nutrient ratios. But just by reading what you posted that you ar enot eating nearly enough. I can explain in more detail if you would like, as I am pretty drunk right now and this makes sense when I read it, but I am sure when I sober up it will not.

Take care

 

[PowerBuilder]

I agree with some of what Dakkon Dragon has said here. Do compound movements like bench, squats, deadlifts as well as other bodybuilding exercises. Do not do a lot of situps and pushups. Do eat 5-6 times a day, 2-3 of which can be a meal replacement shake or bar. DO NOT each more calories than you need to maintain your weight. You do not want to risk gaining your fat back that I'm sure you worked hard to loose. You said you can barely see your abs so I would guess your bodyfat is about 17% like mine. Last month, I lost 15 pounds of fat while simultaniously gaining 5 lbs of muscle. Everyone says that is an impossilbe goal, so I wasn't even planning on doing it. But I measured my bodyfat at the begining and the end of the month and taking into account that I lost 10 lbs of bodyweight, those numbers must be accurate (+ or - a little error). I believe that the idea that you must either eat more to gain muscle or eat less to loose fat only applies to people with a very low bodyfat that are already near their limit, and not to people who are far from their limit and have a normal or high bodyfat %. My suggestion is that you continue on a low calorie high protien (1 gm/lb bodyweigh is enough if you are natural) diet of 5-6 small meals.