Working out without protein

[kerry]

Originally posted by 4lti7ude
Isnt Less weight more reps more tone
More weight less reps more size.

Not necessarily. Only at extremes. You're best bet is to do a weight anywhere between 8-12 reps x 3 sets. That's where I personally found the best toning and lean mass building. I'm pretty damn proud of how my arms/back/shoulders now and that is how I did it. They're not huge, but they're pretty toned and hard.

[riced]

thanks guys
like 98type_r said, the only problem area is the gut. It's not overly big, or even noticeable.. but like most of you (I'd assume), I'm pretty self conscious about it. I'm not asking for washboard abs, but I don't want a small lump so I'm working to get rid of it.

I picked up so ISO XP protein today, and I'm gonna start mixing them with fruits to help get the nutrients up. I'll see how the cardio thing goes, my stamina has gone down drastically from high school.

would 15-20 minutes of running or biking at the gym be good and then weights for the last 40 minutes?

[TravisD62]

dude, just lift like you are now. try HIIT training, and do a half hour of cardio after your workouts, make sure you keep your protein intake up so you don't lose an excessive amount of muscle mass when you cut. obviously a proper diet is more important than a shake, but 1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight is more than sufficient, and it doesn't hurt to make sure you get that. keep your carbs down, and still make sure you eat. ideally, you only want to cut 500 calories a day, 250 out of your diet, and 250 by excersize. eat at least every 3 hours, and train hard. this stuff takes alot of time. another thing, don't weigh yourself much. your bodyweight can fluctuate ~10lbs just from water weight. and, if it's abs your after remember the only way you see them is dropping your bf%. you could do all the crunches in the world and still see no results without a lower bodyfat, but it's impossible to just target one area for weightloss, so you have to drop your entire body at once.

[wintonyk]

I have read alot on protein requirements being .8 g/kg for the average person and up to 2.0 g/kg for resistance training. I know men's health recommends about 2 per pound. I have never noticed any difference between eating 160 g per day and 300 g per day. 2 g per pound is kinda outrageous if you think about it. But something works for everyone.

One thing I tried though was saving 3 oz of meat to eat right before bed. Most of you should know that the muscle repair occurs at night. I found this helped.

like most guys have said keep up with your lifting schedule just throw in more cardio. One thing worth trying too is circuits. If you can keep up your HR throughout your entire resistance training it will be just as good as the treadmill.

If you get a HR monitor try using that to gage your rest periods. Once your HR gets to 140 for example start the next set.

[mikestang]

you dont need protein supplements if you're not doing anything intense... and when I say intense I mean fucking gaining mass amounts of weight and expecting huge gains..

drinking those fucking booster juice shakes and shit is a waste... buying expensive protein powder is a joke... just goto superstore and get a cheap noname brand whey protein if anything....

if you're doing lots of cardio, make sure you do take enough protein and calories, and also get l-glutamin and vitamin b12, since those really help in muscle recovery and minimize muscle loss during cardio.

you don't fucking need 1g of protein for every lb.. jesus christ.. you do realize that the majority of powder protein you don't even absorb? it just passes through your system... not to mention when you take large amounts of protein at the same time - same shit, you don't absorb much into your body.

its the same as anything else, contiously eating throughout a day so your body continously gets the nutrients it needs effectively, since your muscles are always rebuilding and tearing, you need those nutrients continously... not twice a day.

I drink 1-2 protein drinks in a day... 1 in the morning because im half dead and too lazy to make anything, and 1 before or after a workout (before if im on an empty stomach) and after if i dunno when im eating. other than that.. during my bulk I eat a couple cans of tuna a day, have a triple from wendy's with a chicken on it, and once or twice a week i eat fucking mcdonalds breakfast, wendys triple chicken, mcdonalds for lunch, multiple tuna, couple protein drinks, pizza, jesus christ. thats also because when I bulk I train like a scary mother fucker lol.. im hungry 24/7


ps. straight protein powder isnt meal replacement. the shit has 130calories usually.. it helps when you're doing cardio because it fills you up for a few hours which is essentially when you're trying to only eat salad, which is why its recommended when doing cardio.

[riced]

thanks for the tips

no, I'm not trying to gain huge amounts of muscle, just to tone out.
My main goal at the moment is to put more cardio into my workouts and to cut out white rice, fast foods etc.
So far I've stuck to brown rice and lean meat at night.. during the day is fruit shakes and some protein powder.

mikestang, I've seen you posting about eating whatever, and working hard at the gym. I respect that, but I personally don't feel like I'm getting anything out of my workouts but a bad liver and some extra fat that I don't need.
I think it's different for everyone though, not everyone can eat mcdonalds and wendys everyday, go to the gym to work out like mad and still be in good shape on the outside. lucky you though

[mikestang]

im not saying for you to do that, im saying protein powder is essentially useless unless you work hard and really need that extra protein intake that you just cant do with eating regular foods.

tone = no fat.
to tone, you lose weight and you lose strength.. keep up with vitamin b12 and l-glutamine and just make sure you keep your protein intake sufficient... you don't need protein powder to do so, just include tuna salads and what not in your diet. 1 can of tuna is 30g... 2 cans of tuna goes a long way in a day

[CivicTunr]

i don't know, the way he is saying toning is like he wants to cut.

and I'm doing a hour of cardio a day, and i have been noticing changes definately more defined than i was before.

[riced]

an hour of cardio! wow you must be doing it for a long time for you to be able to stay that long. I'm working my way up and I'm able to do 15 minutes max before I need a break and going again.

[CivicTunr]

haha not heavy cardio, just fat burn. i want to get rid of my fat not muscle. if you do heavy cardio instead of just burning the fat, the body just trys to take supply from where ever it can, so muscle too instead of fat.

[Higgins]

Also what is the differance between protein and creatine? And is one better than the other in the way of supplements?

[jcrules99]

protein and creatine are completely different

protein helps repair tissues in your body and is therefore required if you want to build muscle, try to eat around 1 to 1.5 grams per bodyweight

creatine is found within your actual muscles and basically helps supply the energy to your muscles at the cellular level, creatine supplements basically allow you to keep going longer and get those few extra reps in

another important factor in gaining muscle is eating carbs! carbs are required for normal nervous system function because the brain uses glucose as energy, plus carbs help replenish your glycogen stores in the muscle, helping with a quicker recovery

No refined carbs, try to eat whole wheat and whole grain, try and eat carbs at breakfast and lunch so you can burn them off during the day, go low carb around dinner time, carbs are important because they are the body's main energy source and if there is a lack of carbs it will start going to other sources such as protein and fat,

to the original poster

start with a 5-10 min cardio warmup, try and do your weights first so you use up your body's muscle and liver glycogen stores, do cardio at the the end of your workout so it starts using your fat stores as a primary source of energy

[Turbojono]

This thread is unreal...from the "Less weight more reps more tone" myth to the "protein makes you bulk up nonsense."
IMO, protein supplements should be taken by every active person. It's definately not a meal replacement, protein shakes and weight gainers are not the same thing. It's a near perfect snack because it has so much nutritional content yet costs significantly less in calories and money than "real food." It should be taken inbetween meals (to keep your metabolic rate up through out the day) and directly after training (when your body needs it the most).

"A toned physic has more to diet, proper technique, and a variety of exercises so that the muscle developes more uniformly shaped. More weight=more work=better results. I've always been told the maximum amount of reps with the maximum amount of weight that your form allows is what works best. The only time you might explore slightly lowering or increasing weight/reps is to shatter lifting plateaus.
Try lifting for "bulk" on a cutting diet with HIIT cardio in the mix and see how tonned you'd get."

[hassanc21]

If you want a good resource for finding a balanced healthy diet that will help you avoid putting on weight around the middle (and lose the stuff you do have), Try a book called:
The G.I. Diet by Rick Gallop.
It's a great tool to help you decide what is best for you. It has an easy to read and follow format. It's more about choosing the right foods and meal planning.

As for protein, it will not make you fat. Protein is a building block for your body (everything from nails, hair, muscle, etc). Cutting out protein while weight training is denying your body the building blocks it needs to recover).

Don't use 'weight gainers' use a protein only supplement.

Consult a personal trainer to modify your workout to what you want to achieve. At least you know your getting advice from a trained professional.

[hassanc21]

Also, regarding your cardio before working out, reverse it. When you lift weights (at least moderately intense), you get your heart rate into the fat burning zone if not higher, and it stays this way for a longer period. When you finish it off with cardio your creating a synergistic effect on caloric burning.
You don't have to do cardio for very long either.
Try an interval cardio training system/program.

One minute at an easy/walking pace, one minute at an intense pace. Try it for ten minutes for the first week or two then move up to 15 then 20. You'll be surprised how much you can burn with the short periods of high intensity training.