Advice for a training program

[viksenpai]

Hey guys,
Recently I've read a lot about fitness, cardio, etc. and with my New Year's resolution being to fulfill my goals (I like doing a lot of things, but I struggle with motivation, f.e. I have a guitar and a book for learning how to play the guitar, but I did it for 3 weeks, the same goes for a book about body language and a Japanese grammar - I suck) I've decided to build a good training program for myself and stick with it for good!

What do I want to accomplish:
1. Increased anaerobic and aerobic endurance.
2. Increased speed and explosiveness (I like playing football (soccer!) and it doesn't hurt to get better at something you like doing :P).
3. A little body mass for the upper body (15-20 pounds, so I am 150-155 pounds - mainly chest and arms) and some strength overall.

So, what have I decided to do about it:
As far as I've read HIIT helps with 1 and 2, while it benefits mostly anaerobic endurance and speed. Oh, I suppose that's as good as any place to mention something about myself - I'm 20 years old, 5' 9'' tall, 135-140 lbs. with ~6% body fat and I haven't been in a great shape lately (no friends to play football with and a prolonged sickness). I mentioned that, because I feel like HIIT would be a bit too much for me at this point. As for more aerobic-endurance-oriented - simple running at 65-70% Max Heart Rate (MHR from now on) would suffice. As for explosiveness I have 1-2 exercises in mind (plyometrics!) which would completely suffice.
Ah, body mass. Firstly, I don't want to use any supplements, except for L-arginine, maybe, (:P). Secondly, I don't want to become a bodybuilder, just have a fit, strong and good looking body. I'd really prefer Ryan Raynolds (google him) rather than a bodybuilder . I'm sure you get my point.
And third but not last, after a little reading and thinking I've come to the conclusion that I don't need a gym for training, I could train with items at hand (pets, CRT monitors, vacuum cleaners, etc. :P (joke)). With that in mind, I have found the following program to be good:

Week 1-3
Mon-Fri: 5 minutes of meditation and relaxation. 5 minutes of visualization. 5 minutes of stretching.
During these 5 minutes you can put on some of your favorite music to get pumped up, and just sit and relax and think about what you want to accomplish. For the 5 minutes of visualization, I don't really need to go into the many benefits visualization has given to thousands of top executives, bodybuilders, and people all over the world, but it works. During this time you should be thinking about what you want to look like, what you will be doing and see yourself achieving everything you want to in any area of you life.
"Important, all exercises should be attempted consecutively" If you wish to transform your body, you must perform these exercises consecutively and not stop."
100 sit-ups(Remember to contract the abs)
50 push-ups
30 pull-ups (If you don't have access to a pull-up bar, do 100 push-ups instead)
(You'll have to do these in sets probably with small breaks) 15 fingertip push-ups
100 body squats (This is a squat performed with no weight but the body) 1 mile of jogging

Sat-Sun
10 minutes of stretching
20 push-ups
20 body squats
20 pull ups

(Here's the full program - teenbodybuilding (dot) com/steh7.htm .)

However I think that this would be too much for me to begin with, so I've modded it a little bit and here's what I'm thinking about:
Week 1-2 (just to get in the necessary shape, I hope 1 week will suffice):
Days 1, 3, 5: Warmup + 30-40 min running at 65-70% MHR (dunno how I'll manage to keep track without the necessary equipment, but I'll think of something)
Days 2, 4, 6: Warmup
50-70 sit-ups
25-30 push-ups
15-ish pull-ups (those are hard)
~10 fingertip push-ups (dunno about that, I've left it just because it's in the original program)
30-40 one-legged squats (speedandagilitytraining (dot) org/speed-and-agility-training/speed-and-agility-training-best-leg-strengthening-exercise - they're far better for leg strength than body squats and also help for having a good balance)
Day 7: Rest

When I feel ready and in shape, I'll compose a new program for myself which will include HIIT, the program mentioned above and plyometrics.
For now, I'd love it if you guys made some comments about the things you just read and tell me if I'm missing something, if my starting program is too much/too little (I don't want to be making no progress, but I don't want to overtrain and make... well, no progress), if I should add/remove something from my program (I could buy dumbbells), etc. Whatever you think should be said - say it. Any advice/critique is welcome.
Oh and, what and how much should I be eating if I want to gain 15-20 pounds of muscle mass? A diet recommendation in other words, would be appreciated.

P.S. Should I not train on days that I've played football (soccer) or tennis on, or am I just being a pussy?

Thanks in advance.

[ltbs]

Would you consider going to a gym? you will meet your goals 100x quicker using bars and plates and regularly increasing resistance.

[viksenpai]

Yes I would, if you guys say it's better/easier/faster that way. But it's a no-no for supplements though, I'd only concider L-arginine.
I just read that article (the one I "linked" under the quote) and got the impression that those stuff would suffice and going to the gym is not needed. If I'm wrong though I'd reconcider. That was my initial plan before reading that article anyway.

[ltbs]

the routine in the link reminds me of comparing a marathon runner to a sprinter, one has extremely good duration doing lots of long constant movement but next to no muscle mass, the other is explosive, powerful and generally very well built in all areas doing short, all out bursts of energy.

the routine is for the "marathon" runner type, you will have good endurance for situps and crunches but likely won't gain 15lbs muscle doing it nor get the same strength results in the same period of time of doing traditional lifts. You need to think simple, pick up and put down heavy things, ie :- deadlift, squat, bench press, overhead pressing. These will all make you strong and explosive, correct diet will determine what mass you gain (not referring to supplements).

[viksenpai]

Okay, so what routine in the gym would you propose, mate (just link an article if you don't feel like putting too much thought in compiling a routine for a newbie) ?
So, training in a gym will make me both strong and depending on my diet - give me body mass. What about that diet?
I have a question on lifting though, could I avoid the barbell deadlift?
I really don't want to be doing that without a partner and I don't have one.
I'm planning on going to a big gym anyway, so are there any "devices" that would suffice (without resorting to the barbell) or are the barbell exercises the best?

P.S. Are those exercises I put in my program bad or just inefficient/not suitable for my goals?
After all, being able to run for a really long time with really high speed would be great.
P.P.S. What about the things I'm planning to incorporate later on in my program - HIIT and plyometrics?

[Samir_Crni]

I personally think that growing your legs to big will hinder your speed....I love soccer myself and I think it will hinder your speed and accuracy...Havin stronger upper body is good C. Ronaldo or Messi aren't versatile as they are from squating big weights

[ltbs]

Okay, so what routine in the gym would you propose, mate (just link an article if you don't feel like putting too much thought in compiling a routine for a newbie) ?

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843 - lots of info and posts linked to this routine and doesn't have regular deadlift

So, training in a gym will make me both strong and depending on my diet - give me body mass. What about that diet?
I have a question on lifting though, could I avoid the barbell deadlift?
I really don't want to be doing that without a partner and I don't have one.
I'm planning on going to a big gym anyway, so are there any "devices" that would suffice (without resorting to the barbell) or are the barbell exercises the best?

The only partner you need is a video camera to do form checks. The majority of barbell lifts should be performed in a power rack if one is available, killing the need for a spotter. But being in a gym is helpful for on the spot questions/answers/hints/tips others may offer.

P.S. Are those exercises I put in my program bad or just inefficient/not suitable for my goals?
After all, being able to run for a really long time with really high speed would be great.
P.P.S. What about the things I'm planning to incorporate later on in my program - HIIT and plyometrics?

While pushups are probably the best bodyweight exercise you can do, they are limited by the fact it is hard to add any long term resistance (weight) to them. You would soon find yourself doing 100 regularly and not be gaining much out of it, the body adapts to stresses put on it and when capable of handling that stress will no longer need to adapt. Barbell exercises let you continually stress the body for a longer period of time with adding weight.

HIIT and plyo would be down to you and how your chosen routine fits together, also taking into account recovery.

[viksenpai]

I personally think that growing your legs to big will hinder your speed....I love soccer myself and I think it will hinder your speed and accuracy...Havin stronger upper body is good C. Ronaldo or Messi aren't versatile as they are from squating big weights

Well I'm planning on increasing my mass in my upper body and only increasing my strength in my legs, thus not growing my legs much if not any bigger (or at least as far as I can control it).
You think that would work?
After all, I want to add 15-20 pounds, at most, to my muscle mass, could I manage to restrict the gain for upper body only?

@ltbs - Thanks, I'll look into it.

[ltbs]

Having 2 "goals" is a tricky game to play and being a beginner it's not recommended. What time frame for a 15lb muscle gain?

[viksenpai]

No strict timeframe.
So I guess that with HIIT and plyometrics my legs would grow too, woudln't they?

What's the solution here?
Should I just concentrate on completing the endurance/strength goal and leave body mass for a later period or? If I do that, I'll want to maintain my overall strength and I'll be doing leg exercises still, thus still be endangered by the whole "big legs" thing.

P.S. ltbs could I go with the "home" edition of the program for a week or two, just for getting into shape?

[ltbs]

At this stage I think you need to just make a start, go with your first choice, get into the habit of exercising, getting your heart going and blood flowing, the key is consistency, start light and keep a written log at home to track improvement.

Too much info/reading can be just as bad as not enough, over load kind of thing. In the real world, "getting big" is relatively hard to do, it takes months of hard work and dedication and you'll see here many posts of people failing to make any size gains they thought would come easy, so the "big legs" fear is not really going to happen, search the forums to find people suffering big legs, you'll likely find not many.

[viksenpai]

Thank you a lot, mate, you've been really helpful, I appreciate that you're spending time, helping a newbie (I posted a similar thread in a forum in my language and I got responses saying "Ask google.", which is a hard thing to do, there's so much information!).
I'll get in shape with the forementioned training schedule and then I'll start going to the gym and switching jogging with HIIT and see how it goes. I suppose carefully managing my calories intake is the key, but I'll look into that too (not too much though :P).
I'll post an update in the near future. :P