Clueless

[Guest Avery F]

Hey there folks,

So, recently I've been working out to try and develop some more shoulder muscles, and to get my stomach to look flatter and more masculine. I'm sort of clueless as far as exercising goes, however, and I have a few questions for those who know more about it than I do.

Firstly, I'm not at all overweight, but I'm wondering if I ought to diet anyway just so that my stomach will sort of recede and my ab muscles will be more obvious. Keep in mind, my idea of dieting is not fancy; mainly, it is 'eat less', lol. I wouldn't starve myself or anything, but I'm wondering how low I could get my weight while still remaining healthy. I'm 5'7", with a fairly narrow build, and at the moment I weigh about 120 lbs. That's what I've been for the past year or so, and I'm not regulating my eating, so if I don't do anything I'll probably stay at that weight. Could I go lower than that without risking my health, or is 120 pretty much the minimum?

As for workouts, I go to a one-hour karate class once a week, and at times it can be strenuous. Mainly, though, I do twenty pushups three times per day, thirty crunches twice per day, and an extended ab workout once per day (it takes about ten minutes). Does that sound like a good program? Is it better to let muscles rest for a day or two in between workouts, and just do longer workouts less frequently, or is every day a good idea? Also, I'm not sure whether the push-ups are building my shoulder muscles up all that much; mainly, my pecs get sore after push-ups, so do any of you know a good shoulders-only exercise? I can't do most types of cardio exercises, unfortunately, because I have asthma, but non-cardio stuff is fine.

Thanks for reading my doubtless entirely ignorant post

[Guest Blindheart]

Hmm, i think if you want to "bulk up" and look more manly you need to actually gain weight. Not using fatty foods of course, but drink lots of protein shakes and do lots of weight training like body builders. You probably don't want to go that extreme of course, or maybe you do , but i think that's the way to go. Your body needs fuel to grow and build the muscle you want, so "starving" yourself will just hamper your progress... i think.

[Guest Elizabeth K]

Google to find your weight for a male your age and height. If you exercise, body fat is replaced by muscle mass, especially if you are on T. You could probably add 20 pounds of muscle and still look slimmer.

Lizzy

[Guest Mina89]

Any form of exercise will help reduce body fat. I suggest mixing cardio like running with weight training in whatever areas you want to develop. The increased muscle mass will, in turn, increase caloric consumption, which will help aid in fat loss so long as your diet doesn't go out of control.

It's a little different for us girls who are trying to reduce muscle mass without gaining too much fat. That algorithm is a bit more complicated.

-Valerie

[Guest Mina89]

Oops! Idiot me! I completely blocked out that line about asthma.

If it doesn't tax your breathing too much, walking at a quick pace for long distances is a fair substitute for more intensive cardio exercises. You might want to try and double the sit-ups at least if you're looking for a masculine abdomen. A good trick for flattening the muscles there is to lay flat on your back and lift your feet up about 6-8 inches off the ground for 30 seconds.

I'm 5'7" and 145 lbs, but I also have the bone structure of a lower primate, so I look a lot more muscular than I am. I wouldn't try to go for less than 120lbs if you want to present as masculine, though.

-Valerie.

[Guest Avery F]

Hm... well, I looked up the weight charts for males my age and size... apparently I'm considerably underweight, which is weird to me because I don't ever stop myself from eating - I just eat until I'm full, and eating any more after that makes me feel sick. Huh. Maybe I just have no muscles, lol. Well, never mind, I just won't try and lose any more weight.

I'll try putting more protein (and less empty carbs... farewell my countless snacks of chips and English muffins) into my diet. Peanut butter has a lot of protein, right? I tried just quaffing a raw egg about a year ago, but didn't like the taste - unsurprising, because I don't really like cooked eggs either.

Thanks for the suggestion about the legs-off-the-floor exercise; my karate teacher tortured us with that one (only for two minutes) last class, and I should have remembered how effective it was. I'll certainly try increasing the ab workouts, as yet I haven't found them all that strenuous, so yeah... thanks for all of your help, ladies!

[Guest Emily Ray]

You asked about giving your muscles a break period to recover and it is critical to do so. You need to not do sit-ups/crunches at least every other day. And when you do work them you really need to work them. Try to get up to three times what you are presently working at. On the off days you can do squats which will work your core muscles of your back and abdomen but it won't be nearly as taxing as the days you do work them. The stomach muscles are very hard to see growth in if you are above 10% body fat so you do need to cut the carbs out of your diet.

Huggs

Emily

[Guest Miss_Construe]

Check out www.menshealth.com for a host or home and gym based workout routines. Next google 'calorie calculator' and find your maintenance calories for your fitness level and build, then add 300 calories a day to that. Eat around 30% protein as your daily calories.

Need to work shoulders to broaden your shoulders so something like a military or pike press. Also, doing wide grip pull-ups will broaden your back and make your shoulders seem broader.

The body is very complex and a wide variety of movements are necessary in order to balance yourself.

Hope that helps,

Jaime