I am 5'7 and currently weight 148lbs. I have spend the past year trying to cut down on my body fat and gain lean muscle. I decided it was time to start to gain lean muscle when I noticed my stomach hanging over my shorts. Sad, but true: my stomach was in fact hanging over my shorts. I was 5'7, roughly 170lbs and over 20% body fat. 170 is not much, but my body fat percentage was so high, it made me look quite chubby.
The reason I am writing this to you is because I have spent the past year learning about how to gain lean muscle WHILE lowering your body fat percentage. But not only did I read a million articles, and books, but I also managed to reduce my body fat percentage significantly. I am going to show you EXACTLY how I mangaged to gain lean muscle and reduce my body fat.
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| October 2009, December 2009, April 2010, August 2010 |
Diet
I use the 50/25/25 dietFirst, the main ingredient to gain lean muscle is DIET. During the first 3 months of my battle to gain lean muscle, I ate only 1500 calories per day. One gram of Carbohydrates contains 4 calories, one gram of Protein contains 4 calories, and one gram of fat contains 9 calories. I split these calories up into 50% carbs (188 grams), 25% protein (94 grams), and 25% fat (42 grams). The Carbs gave me energy throughout the day and during workout, the protein allowed me to gain lean muscle by quickly rebuilding the muscles, and the fat intake reminded my body to keep kicking out the fat that was around my stomach! I should have probably raised my protein intake and cut down my carbs a bit--could have helped me keep a lot more muscle, but I guess you live and learn.
After the first 3 months--after I shaved my body fat percentage to below 15%--I bumped up my diet to 2800 calories per day so that I could gain lean muscle at a higher capacity. I held to the same, 50/25/25 calorie split and it works very well! Eat plenty of Vegetables, Fruit, Whole-grain foods, low-fat yogurt, cottage cheese, skim milk, protein shakes, protein bars, chicken, fish, turkey, nuts--all those things you probably don't like. Make sure to eat at least 5 meals a day.
Here is an example of my meal plans on a usual day:
BREAKFAST
High-fiber, High-protein Cereal: Like Golean Crunch, Uncle Sam, Oatmeal, etc. After that, have a piece of fruit.
SNACK
1 Cup of cottage cheese, handful of soy nuts.
LUNCH
Turkey and Cheese sandwich--on fiber-one bread, then a piece of fruit or carrot.
SNACK
Protein Bar, sunflower seeds.
DINNER
Chicken breast (8oz), whole-grain pasta (2oz) with shredded, low-fat cheese on top. And peas, green beans, or
fruit.
SNACK (pre-workout)
1-2 scoops of Jack3d mixed with 2-4 oz water
SNACK (post-workout)
Protein Shake (casein protein is preferred, because it digests slowly).
Lean Muscle Workout
Ok, now to the fun stuff. This might come as a surprise to you but I only workout about 20-30 minutes per day, 5 times a week. I have two different workouts that I alternate betweeen every 2 or 3 weeks. I start off each day with about 5-10 minutes of sprints.First Two Weeks
Monday - Chest
- 3 sets of MAX rep Push-ups (keep going, until you can't anymore.... 3 times)
- 3 sets of 12 Bench Press (this could be dumbbells, barbell, or machine)
- 3 sets of 12 Incline Bench Press (I use dumbbells)
- 3 sets of 12 Pec Flies (I use dumbbells)
Tuesday - Back
- 3 sets of MAX rep Pull Ups
- 3 sets of 12 Seated Rows (Machine: if you don't have access to one then buy a resistance band)
- 3 sets of 12 Lat Pull Downs
- 3 sets of 12 DB Rows or Deadlifts
Wednesday - Shoulders
- 3 sets of 12 Arnold Press or DB Shoulder Press
- 3 sets of 12 Lateral Raise
- 3 sets of 12 Front Raise
- 3 sets of 12 Shoulder Shrugs
Thursday - Biceps & Triceps
- 3 sets of 12 Preacher Curls
- 3 sets of 12 Cable Curls
- 3 sets of 12 Hammer Curls
- 3 sets of 12 Tricep Push Downs
- 3 sets of 12 Tricep Dips
Friday - Legs
- 3 sets of 12 DB Lunges
- 3 sets of 12 Machine Leg Extension
- 3 sets of 12 Jump Squats (or barbell squats--I don't have the right equipment so I just do jump squats)
- 3 sets of 12 DB Step ups
[Saturday - Cardio] IF I have the energy and am not too sore
20-30 minutes of alternating between sprints (8-12mph) and walking (3-5mph)
High Intensity Interval Training Workout
Next Two Weeks
Monday - Chest, Triceps
- 3 sets of 8 Bench Press (close grip, to work the triceps also)
- 3 sets of 8 Inclined DB Press
- 3 sets of 8 Pec flies
- 3 sets of 8 Tricep Bench Dips
- 3 sets of 8 Tricep pushdowns
Tuesday - Biceps, Back
- 3 sets of 8 Seated Rows
- 3 sets of 8 DB Curls
- 3 sets of 8 Seated DB Curls
- 3 sets of 8 Lat Pulldown
- 3 sets of 8 DB Row
Wednesday - Shoulders, Legs
- 3 sets of 8 Leg Extension
- 3 sets of 8 Leg Curls
- 3 sets of 8 Front Raise
- 3 sets of 8 Lateral Raise
- 3 sets of 8 Shoulder Shrugs
Thursday - Chest, Triceps
- 3 sets of 8 Bench Press (close grip, to work the triceps also)
- 3 sets of 8 Inclined DB Press
- 3 sets of 8 Pec flies
- 3 sets of 8 Tricep Bench Dips
- 3 sets of 8 Tricep pushdowns
Friday - Biceps, Back
- 3 sets of 8 Seated Rows
- 3 sets of 8 DB Curls
- 3 sets of 8 Seated DB Curls
- 3 sets of 8 Lat Pulldown
- 3 sets of 8 DB Row
[Saturday - Cardio] IF I have the energy and am not too sore
20-30 minutes of alternating between sprints (8-12mph) and walking (3-5mph)
High Intensity Interval Training Workout
