Skinny Beginner

[matt.ryles]

Hi all,

Would like on how I'm going on, I have bits of advice but recently found this site cause I want to buy some supplements.

I have moved to Germany and have started a gym here, they only have machines, but its cheap and I have a 6 month contract.

The problem is my left arm is really weak compared to my right, is there anything I can do with the cables to improve my left?

Also I have man boobs and a belly but been told I shouldn't do cardio when trying to gain, can people help clear this up for me?

I need advice on what to buy also, I have been using some cheap whey i got from Germany but gonna start buying from here. Advice please?

Also can you check my diet to see if its ok. All info is below and a pic of my skinny self.

I have been doing this routine for two weeks nearly (8 reps x 3 sets):
Ab Crunch
Chest Press
Shoulder Press
Rows
Pull Downs
Back Extensions
Bicep Curls
Tricep Pressdowns
Leg Press
Calf Raise

Diet
8am - Wake Up
Oats & Protein Shake

10.30
A Piece of Fruit
Banana/Apple/Peach/2 Plums/Grapes

12.30 - Lunch
Something from the canteen, never a large portion. Always look for something with plenty of protein and carbs.

2.30
Handful of Nuts

4.30
Tuna & Cucumber Sandwich

7.00 - Dinner
300g Chicken Breast & 150g Pasta or 125g Natural Rice with a pepper & a onion.

9pm
Gym

10.30
Protein Shake

11.30 - Bed

[Was_once_fat_dave]

Diets not the worst for a begginer. Could be some improvements such as drop the canteen food for something you have more control over and up the good fats (efa's). However I know what things can be like and if canteens the only option ensure you go for the NON-PROCESSED stuff, ie salads or veg with piles of meat. (should be plenty of meats available being in germany. Sausage anyone?)


Try shuffling your lifts round a bit, bring the leg press to the start of the session. Biggest muscles are found in the legs, therefore you need to use more energy working them to there max. If your allready exhausted before hitting the legs you won't get the maximum benefit out of working them.

Is there any free weights at all in your gym? if not once your 6 months is up get out of that place asap. If there is, even just DB's try using them for as many lifts as possible instead of the machines.

For now don't worry to much about the moobs, your just starting out on a long journey. Start training hard, eating cleanly and you'll notice all those wobbly bits slowly getting replaced with some firm muscle. Not overnight, just slowly. People will tell you that you cant loose fat and build muscle at the same time. I tell you know that it's lies, you can. But mainly through 1 of 2 ways.
1) As a begginer, the next 6-18 months you will see some of the best gains you will ever see (if you stay on the legal side of things!). Your body is reacting to something totally new and your new muscle will require a higher metabolism from your body meaning that you're burning more fat at rest. This will level out eventually as the human body trys it's hardest to maintain a status quo.
2) With very hard work in the gym and huge amounts of discipline with what goes down your throat.


Basic supplments for a begginer though are
1) a protein shake of some sort, bulk whey is fine. Get flavoured if it helps you drink it
2) omega 3's. your diet can hardlys ever have enough of these. They are the essential of all essential fatty acids (efa's)
3) once you hit a plateau start thinking about possibly introducing creatine. Three types there. All as good as each other, they just have there own little perks.


Left to right strength balance will/should even out over time. Nowt much you can unfortunatly.

[matt.ryles]

Thanks for the advice, it is very much appricated. So I should stick to doign absolutly no cardio a week then? Shame really cause I did wanna get a little fitter, and get rid of this flab I have, but bulking takes priority.

There a dumbells, but really light ones.

The problem is when im using the machines my left arm is not doing much of the work, so I was wondering if somebody could advise me a cable machines technique to work on my left arm with?
My chest is the same left and right but my left arm is so week, my when i tense my biceps my left one hardly raises at all and my right looks half decent.

Also I have stretch marks on my shoulders, but im guessing this is a good thing right?

So I will just get some Whey protien from here and some omega 3 supplements.

Thanks

[echelon101]

Machines are not evil.

If you have a muscular imbalance always start with the weaker muscle and use the same weight with the stronger muscle even though it will be easy.

No free weights makes it hard. If you give a run down of what machines there are I am sure that people on here would be able to come up with a better program than what you have above.

Cardio is fine, circuits are better. Try

Squat Jump
Sit Up
Burpee (with jump)
Press Up

10 reps as little rest as possible at the end of each circuit for 5-10 rounds.

[Tomskiii]

As wofd says if you get a chance get on some free weights, they work you harder as you need to stabilise them and they help trigger your body to release hormones that help you change shape.

Diet doesn't look too bad, just remember to get as much protein as you can and have regular small meals.

Can't see the pic (and dont know your height/weight) but if your skinny then as you put on the muscle and your body adapts to the weight training that little excess fat will get used. If your skinny naturally that means your likely an ectomorph and you have fast metabolism, this means that you will likely find it easy to lose weight through exercise but you might struggle to eat enough to put on muscle because your body can naturally get through a lot of calories.

When i think about it, whats your goal? To put on some muscle? In which case you may need to eat more.

As for balance between your arms, you need to train them together if possible, if your doing your bicep curls with a straight bar using both hands thats fine. This way they will slowly balance out as your weight will be limited by your left arm but your left arm will also be working harder to do the exercise. Is there any reason they should be very different?

If its just because your right handed i wouldnt worry about it, they'll even out quick. I recently broke my leg and all i've been doing is walking around and my left calf has grown from barely anything when i had the cast off to becoming similar now 3 weeks later!

Stretch marks is good because it shows your changing shape too quickly for your skin to get bigger, hope they're not too bad!

Get some whey for sure, most people on here say omega 3 (i've not tried them), everything else (apart from creatine) isn't worth considering while your still getting your first easy big gains!

Good luck!