noob few questions any advice?

[rumrak]

First off since its my first post. Hi All

I am a noob to body building, I just started 2 weeks ago.

I have a few questions but first here is a bit more about me and what I am currently doing.

I am 22, 5'11 190lbs and a hard gainer.

although I am a hard gainer after 4 years of being a couch potato I have gained about 30lbs, mostly in the gut.. So of course that's one of the things id like to get rid of

Here are a few of my goals

-Get into good shape & build muscle
-Change my diet to try to bulk up
-Keep the weight, id like to be 180+ (normally 160)
-I have a bad back, id like to strengthen

Currently I have no exact routine, I am working on it though. doing research on dif exercises before I create one. I have been working out every other day doing a mix of these exercises (all with dumbbells) butter fly, cuban press, upright row, side Lateral Raise, bicep & Concentration Curls, Triceps Extension, Triceps Extension, db bench press and a few others.

My diet again still working to get all that together but so far I know I need lots of extra cal, protein & carbs. I take a daily multi V, I have a Instant breakfast daily plus my normal meals (which I will be increasing) middle of putting together a list of common foods I eat with there info and putting together a tracking system.

ok here come a few questions.

**aprox how many calories, protein, carbs ect do I need daily? remind you I am a hard gainer. Although I am over wt currently mostly fat, should I be treating my self as a hard gainer still or an average BB amount until I get my fat amount reduced? or should I just continue going and will the fat amount just reduce on its own and turn into muscle? rest of my body is fairly thin, just the gut.

**I have a bad back, which exercises should I be doing to help strengthen my back & abs? For abs I am currently just doing breathing exorcises while I workout and at times just though out the day. For back just the ones listed at the top.

**Right now I am very limited to my equipment, actually only a 2x 5lb dumbbells, which is a good wt for me to start off but I am finding I am doing a lot more then the recommended 8-10 reps. I keep good form and just keep going till my muscles burn and I find it very difficult to continue then I switch to the next exercise

Will doing this still give me the same results as increased weight and less reps? I do plan to get more heavier dumbbells soon though.

**Any good free diet trackers out there? I havent found really many good free ones yet.. best one I found so far has been Paraben's Diet Tracker.. but its only a 15 day trial, and as you can tell by my weight collection funds are limmited right now.

**I plan to work out almost daily thinking 5-6 days a week. with 3 different workout sessions.. was thinking along the lines of targeting these muscle groups

Day one: back and biceps
Day two: chest and triceps
Day three: legs and abs
Day four: restart with day ones routine

Is this the better way for me to go or should I try to get more done in one day and take a break the next day? and is that enough of a rest period? (rest of that day plus the next)

I haven't yet chosen which exercises to perform in my routine.. if any one wishes to recommend some, by all means please do

My current equipment is the 2x 5lb dumbbell, soon to be 2x 8lb & 10lb. near future will have even more weights & a bench press, barbell & chin up bar.

type of exercises I am looking to do mostly revolve around dumbbells & either standing, sitting or using the bench (when I get it) for now I can use the bed.

I have been doing research and gathering information, much of it right from bodybuilding.com I have been working on a site for my own reference, putting together a list of exercises I am cable of performing now or soon, soon to also add my sessions and which exorcises int hose sessions ect.

Thought not only would this be good for my own ref but be easier for some of you if you wish to help me select the best workout sessions for me from a list I can perform (minus the chin-up bar, for now) Also know of any other good/better ones to add?

that list can be found here http://www.angelfire.com/games4/zom/fitness.html

any advice be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

and sorry for the lengthy post, wanted to be as detailed as possible.

Rumrak

[ex-banana-eater]

i didnt wanna read that whole thing so im bumping it for you.

i read about 1/4 way down and noticed you said you are a hardgainer but have gained 30lbs of fat. no, you are obviously not a hardgainer. quit telling yourself that ****.

www.fitday.com ---best diet tracking

[rumrak]

Thx will check that diet tracker out..

if you read further would have also noticed that was over a 4 year period of being idle and I mean very idle.. and prob having more then double the amount of calories your supposed to have in a day, mostly from 2 cases of pop/week 4 meals a day ect.. by idle I mean sitting in a chair 15 hours a day and often more and long sleeping hours.

Yah I know **** life.. but thats what I want to change now, tired of it.

I am sure the average person would gain more then that in 4 years of that life. though your prob partially correct I am sure my metabolism has changed durn those years.. before I started working online I defiantly was a hard gainer though running 140-160 lbs at 5'11, possibly 6 feet now, not pos as haven't checked in years, but should be the same height

any how I still see my self as one, if I am wrong, others please correct me as well, will help me select my diet more accurate.

Still not totally sure the best way to go about starting out, I was reading on other sites about HG info most had to put on weight first to help gain mass. and I am already at that stage so sounds like a good time to start trying to mass build? or no?

Should I try to build mass now while I have more far or loss some wt first then try to bulk back up gradually?

Rum

[Capricio]

first of all, find a gym. U cant just buy anything for hometraining ie. dumbells, weights (and not only 10lbs, also 20-45lbs etc..) cuz u will get stronger faster than u can imagine. I started with 10-20lbs military press but after hardly 2-3 weeks i pressed 90 lbs.

So get your ass to the gym

Also dont overtrain yourself, if ur a beginner, first try to train one musclegroup if u wanna go everyday to gym..but otherwise experiment with 2 days on/1 day off or 3 days on/1 day off etc.. until u feel the off days are enough for recovery.DONT OVERTRAING URSELF..because it's a big motivation killer.

READ before starting any diet/program..just read until u KNOW what ur doing, dont be like me (i started with bodybuilding 3-4 years ago, just on my own path, but i started reading around 8 months ago and thats when my gains started coming.
Learn what insulin, testosterone, anabolism, catabolism is, learn how much cardio u have to do, what u have to drink postworkout, when u should stop eating carbs etc... or else u will get frustrated at time.

by any means, good luck!

[ex-banana-eater]

Eat high protein meals, low glycemic index carbs, low saturated fats, good amounts of healthy fats, slow digesting protein before bed, whey protein with high Glycemic index carbs post workout. Dont ask me what any of these things are, go read up on them

[rumrak]

Great thanks for the advice.

I will change my plan for my sessions.. think i'll consentrate just on upper body for now and rather then rotating to dif muscles daily i'll take an extra days break inbetween.

gym sounds like a good idea, sure beats buying all the stuff your self too be looking further into that soon as as I get every thing organized, want to learn the exercises, form ect before I do it.

the diet sure is going to be the tuff one, im so used to eating what ever I feel like & when ever. I will continue to do lots of research on all those things you both mentiond before I start putting my diet program together.

Thanks

Rum

[bizzaro]

use the search function and read the articles on the front page there is lots of good info to read

[rumrak]

Originally posted by bizzaro
use the search function and read the articles on the front page there is lots of good info to read

Thanks didnt even think of that.. prob find others have already asked some of those questions

[bizzaro]

no problem. id say be patient and there is no perfect workout out there everyone is different. find out which one is best for you

[ScottyAx800]

use the bb.com article index and read, read, read: all of the articles here have great content. I have learned a ****load from them. One other thing: you might want to invest in a bench and set of weights, or a gym membership. 5 lb weights won't cut it for you.