Need basic tips on toning up

I'm 18
5'10
64KG
Im fairly skinny, with regards to a lot of muscle on my legs (from sports) my arms are skinny and I have a tiny bit of fat on and around my stomach. I started the gym the other day and I'm just generally looking for beginners advice on slowly toning up, including diet, what kind of machines to use, what parts of my body to excercise etc.. One thing I noticed was my right arm is superior to my left and can lift a reasonable amount more.. My diet isn't healthy at the minute, however ive exchanged fizzy drinks for water and snacks for fruit. If anybody can help me in any way that would be great, including dieting and other forms of healthy options.. Thanks :smile:

Reply 1

Hype en Ecosse

Original post by lewisgibson96

Well what are your goals? If you're new to all this and are just looking to lose a bit of fat and look better, you should be working your whole body, not just specific parts of it. Every muscle group has its own job, and every muscle group is important in creating a balanced physique - and that includes your legs!
Best thing to do is find a good beginner routine that suits how often you'd like to go to the gym (many are 3x/week), that's well balanced (has a similar amount of volume/exercises for the different muscle groups; has appropriate time for rest), and is appropriately designed for your goals (the right rep ranges to encourage hypertrophy). Every exercise has its use and there's more than one way to skin a cat! Have a read at the FAQ, which talks about some popular programmes you might want to try. Alternatively, have a google for "beginner weightlifting routines" - and try to avoid anything that promises short-term results like "4-week shred" or "6-week blahdeblah" - it needs to be something you can stick to for a long time and make consistent progress, so that means avoiding something that changes every week and has you doing wildly different stuff.

Everyone tends to be stronger on one side of their body than another naturally, but that'll catch up with balanced weight training!

Eating healthily is surprisingly simple, once you know what sorts of things matter. There's too much for me to write about here, but have a read at the NHS choices website to get started.

Reply 2

Jakeroberts_123

Some of the best advice I can give is not to get caught in the common "broscience" culture of the gym. Don't waste money on any supplements other than basic whey protein and some creatine mono for example, no matter how well they try and sell them to you with their audacious claims. Try and stick to the basic compound lifts where you can and try not to take on any "to good to be true" workouts claiming crazy achievements.

"Toning" is not actually a thing. Being toned just means you have a low body fat.

Before I can give you more specific advice I'd need some more information about your goals. Are you training to be more functional for the sport you compete in? What sport/s do you compete in? Do you just generally want to get stronger? Lastly, do you just want to get a bit bigger because it looks good?

Reply 3

lewisgibson96

Original post by Jakeroberts_123

My goals are simple really, I want bigger arms for my sport which is cricket, and simply to look/feel good, boost my self esteem, Its quite embarrassing how weak I am haha, so really a stronger upper body and stomach, I will also work on my legs just not as intense until my body is well balanced.. Im not looking to be ridiculously big, just t shirt muscles really and work my abs

Reply 4

Angry cucumber

As Hype said give the New FAQ (with new sparkly contents page) a read http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3014757

Reply 5

Hype en Ecosse

Original post by lewisgibson96

Bigger arms won't help you very much in cricket, but a stronger upper (and lower!) body all-round certainly will. :tongue:

Everybody has their own goals and starting points, so it's nothing to be embarrassed about. I started off struggling to bench the bar with 2 flimsy 2.5kg plates on either side!!

If T-shirt muscles are all you care about, any generic beginner bodybuilding programme will do for you, really. How many times a week would you want to work out?

Reply 6

MindTheGaps

Original post by lewisgibson96

OK, what you need is the following: to lift more, eat more and sleep more.

The best way for a young beginner to gain size is to train for strength. Your body isn't stupid, and that's what muscle is for. If you consistently get stronger, you will get bigger and more muscular. Don't use the machines, use free weights, they are much better for your progress and joint-health. Look up Stronglifts, Starting Strength or similar programmes.

Don't ignore lower body exercises because your legs are already proportionality bigger. You have a BMI of 20, there is no way your legs are big. You are skinny everywhere, and lower body exercises like squats and deadlifts are the best for overall body development. They will only complement your upper body training, and will aid upper body growth, and fat loss everywhere.

Secondly, at your age and weight, if you start training properly and eat healthily you have no imminent need to worry about getting fat. So... just eat more. Much more. Obviously it's best if you eat healthy stuff: whole grains, lean meat, fish, eggs, milk, nuts, fruit, vegetables, especially vegetables. But you have to eat an excess of calories to grow.

Lastly get enough sleep. Everything from muscle growth to fat loss to strength to just being healthier is associated with getting enough sleep. Do it.

Reply 7

lewisgibson96

Original post by Hype en Ecosse

Bigger arms won't help you very much in cricket, but a stronger upper (and lower!) body all-round certainly will. :tongue:

I could bench the bar with 10kg on each, but I was struggling and it really hurt my back the next day so i need to go down a bit..

I thought maybe arms for batting and throwing the ball hmm

Im planning on working out 4 days a week, 2 hour sessions.

Reply 8

Jakeroberts_123

Original post by lewisgibson96

You would probably benefit most from a full-body workout routine. Cricket requires a number of different muscle groups. I'd start by researcing how to correctly perform some compound lifts. Namely I would look into the following.

Bench press - Good chest development, minor development for the triceps, shoulders and core.

Squats - Good leg development, decent core development. I know you said you have proportionately bigger legs, but in my opinion that doesn't mean you should skip on working them, you could put the squats at the end of the workout and do the other exercises at full energy to balance it out a bit.

Deadlifts - Great lower back development, decent legs and core development.

Bentover rows - Great back development, good core development.

Pullups - Great for your arms, good for your upper back too.

If you are planning on going 4 times a week, alternate between squats and deadlifts each workout as they place a lot of strain on your body.

You may want to add in some accessory work too for shoulders (Military press) and your triceps (Close grip bench or close grip dips)

All these exercises will help to add overall strength and develop the whole of your body, laying out a strong foundation and strength which you can develop in the future as you become a more "advanced" lifter.

Any other questions please ask. I'll try and reply a bit sooner next time.