Going to Start Working Out But Need Help

Bigger Stronger Leaner
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Hi. I’m 26 years old, I’ve been working out a lot before but never consistent. Always on and off. It’s been a couple years since I last hit the gym hard. Now I’ve decided to do it again and its been such a long time that I consider myself a beginner.

I have a good and muscular lower body, but my upper body sucks. I have 0 muscle on my upper body, low overall body fat except for under my belly. That area is huge. I think my body stores all the fat right there :confused: so my stomach is flat, but lower belly is like a balloon. I know there are no shortcuts but there is a right way to do it and a wrong way. What is the right way to building muscle for someone like me fast? Cut the lower belly fat first and focus on the upper body until it is at the same level as my lower body? Full body workouts? Just forget about the lower belly fat and bulk then cut?

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Address your eating and pick up a basic lifting program you can stick with.

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Then I will need to know if I should hit caloric surplus or deficit. Problem is if I hit deficit I might lose the lower belly fat but I will become weak and skinny AF. If I hit surplus I might build some muscle but the belly fat might grow.

Let’s say I hit surplus for 4–6 months and build some muscle. Then I decide to focus on losing the fat. Will I keep the muscle considering it was gained on a short time?

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I mean, you can have the benefit of the doubt I guess, but without pics, this is a major red flag that’s almost never actually the case when guys claim it.

Not if you properly coordinate your training and nutrition. This is one solution:
How to Stay Strong When Dieting - Bigger Stronger Leaner - COMMUNITY - T NATION

What is “someone like you”? What’s your current height, weight, and general bodyfat level?

Lower belly fat is generally the last to go on anyone, so focus on losing fat and building muscle in general and let the site-specific stuff take care of itself for the most part.

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Absolutely untrue. You can absolutely get stronger, more muscular and leaner at the same time when you come into this relatively untrained. And your intro says you are fairly untrained.

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Hit programs off this site hard and as a born again newb you will add muscle and lean out and the same time.
This below a good start, then move on to something by Thib or Paul Carter etc…

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5/3/1 BBB or 5/3/1 for hard gainers

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Trust me on this, its nothing worth taking pictures of, but it is much better compared to my upper body

I am 186cm, and weigh around 80-85kg. I dont have a lot of fat on me, except for my lower belly area. Last time I had my bf % measured were 4 years ago, and it was 11%, I wouldnt say my bf% have increased. And if it has, its not by much.

I like both these training systems, lots of compounds and training 3-4 times a week seems like something I could and want to do. I read the 5/3/1 ebook, could be that I’m very tired, but I found it a little too complicated. It was very interesting and motivating though.

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It’s really not. Sometimes it can appear to be a bit much at first glance. All it really is is 3 gradually heavier sets of 1-5 reps, then you have a few options for supplemental work - some lighter 5x5, or even lighter 5x10, etc. You’ll figure it out.

If you have “only slightly more than 11%” body fat, than I doubt your lower belly is so huge. So in that case, I’d say you’re wrong and you have a much higher body fat than you think.

Lift hard 3-4 times a week using any program (a few have been mentioned), do some conditioning if you can, and don’t eat total crap all of the time.

I just started this program and am loving it. Plus, I can already tell my conditioning will improve, so I assume I’ll lose some fat.

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how so?

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So this, train HARD and consistently for years and then reassess. Sorry to burst a bubble but there are no quick solutions. It’s a lifestyle choice and not something you do for a few weeks to look good for the beach.

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I dont know what exercises to do and when to do them so that I have recovered enough before I do another exercise that targets the same muscle group. If I were to just make a 3 day program It would probably be overkill and not enough to hit all muscle groups, but it would look something like this:

Day 1:

Deadlifts, seated military press with dumbell and or barbell, lateral raise (front and side), close grip pulldown, incline back extension, EZ bar curl, hammer curl, dumbbell curl.

Day 2:

Squats, leg extension, leg curl, and the machine for inner thigh.

Day 3:

Bench press, dumbbell press, overhead dumbbell tricep extension, tricep cable pushdown.

I would also make room for some cardio and ab workouts.

EDIT:

I tweaked the program and changed it to a 4 day program. Now it looks like this:

Monday:

Deadlifts, seated military press with dumbell and or barbell, lateral raise (front and side), cable side lateral raise, close grip pulldown, incline back extension.

Tuesday:

Squats, leg extension, leg curl, and the machine for inner thigh.

Wednesday:

EZ bar curl, hammer curl, dumbbell curl.

Thursday:

Bench press, incline dumbbell press, incline dumbbell flyes, overhead dumbbell tricep extension, tricep cable pushdown.

Fri/Sat/Sun: Rest

What do you think? Anything you would remove, add or exchange?

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Hey man,

When I started lifting I didn’t know about surpluses or deficits. It didn’t even occur to me that I might have to change my eating.

I didn’t know about recovery or any of that shit.

All I knew was lift 4x per week and get 1 more rep or 2.5kg more than last time.

Somehow I managed to get much stronger than when I started. You can too if you stop worrying about how you can fail because despite what all the internet keyboard warriors think/say, it’s pretty hard to fail at this if you stick to it.

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i think your making this harder than it has to be. a simple way to put it like people have said --train hard and eat good. its that “easy”.

focus on splitting up the big 3 each day, and add some supplement work afterwards. i do a simple push/pull/legs and its works. tbh, any program will work for you as long as you stick to it. you could do it for a year and still see results and gainz

monday-
flat bench, incline dbs, shoulder press,dips, tri pull downs

wed-
deadlift, bent over rows, lat pull downs, curls

friday-
squat, leg curls, ext, lunges, calves

throw some abs in there on days and your good, cardio on off days. yea its simple, but starting out simple is good. work on your form, get your reps whether its 3x10, 5x5, or whatever, depending on what your goals are.

of course you can tweak stuff add another day in, whatever. but do this, stick to it, eat well, and i guarantee within a year you will look better.

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Less non-bicep days, more bicep days.

See, I felt the exact opposite. Wasn’t exactly interesting or motivating, but god damn was it uncomplicated.

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