[BiG_mAn]

I have been training for a while now using a split routine and have made some muscle gains and have become alot stronger. However i still carry abit of body fat and cant really see my abs and don't look toned.
I am thinking whether i should change to a full body routine to see if it will burn that extra fat off but i don't wont to lose any muscle or strength.
What do you think I should do?
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.

[Big MuMbO jUmBo]

if you making good gains with what you doing now keep doing that but up/do cardio.....with cardio and a good clean diet you will shed the bf in no time my man

[MikeNYY420]

Stick with the split for now bro. Full body routines are very difficult and finding a good one's hard too. Split's are good cuz you're doing it more times a week so you're in there burning calories and fat say 5 times a week versus 3. It could be argued to do a full body routine and cardio on the off days too though.

You'll need an overall lower body fat to see those abs, you can't spot target fat loss.

[Moro]

A full body routine could be useful if you needed to drop the fat fast because you could do Cardio *HIIT* on off days, you will be working each muscle group 3 times a week which is more than any split will give you so you could even gain muscle faster,

Its up to you but something like

Mon, full body w/o
Tue, Cardio HIIT
Wed, full body w/o
Thu, moderate intensitiy cardio
Fri, full body w/o
Sat, HIIT
Sun, OFF

Its up to you what you do in the end bro but remember diet and cardio will be the determining factors of you abs

[RAGEN2008]

I see stuff on working out, but nothing on your diet???? What types of foods are you eating and how often? You can workout 7 days a week 3 hours a day, if you still eat ****ty foods you're gonna have a lot of stomach fat regardless.

I would keep the split, but I would add a separate time just for cardio, like 1st thing in the morning hit the tread mill or go run, then later in the day do your weight lifting.

You can also try cutting down on your rest periods between sets to keep your heart rate higher and maybe go from exercise to exercise 2-3 in a row for a little more heart rate calories burning like circuit training but just on the muscles you're doing that day.

Something like chest press, flys, tricep push downs back to back without resting, then take your 30-60 second break, then do another multiset. Before taking any suggestions I'd post your diet, especially if you want to cut and hold gains you'll need to get the diet right for sure.

[Big MuMbO jUmBo]

ya full body workouts are useless for gaining muscle unless you have close to a perfect diet and you would need to eat a lot if your going to gain muscle and do an intense full body workout.....if your just trying to loose fat and see the abs then this will work better because you will burn more fat.....just depends on what your goals are really

[BiG_mAn]

thanks everyone.
Sorry I didnt tell you my diet earlier. So here it is.
Meal 1 - poridge and glass of water
Meal 2 - tracker bar and peice of toast with scrambled egg
Meal 3 - tuna and pasta
Meal 4 - tuna and water
Meal 5 - spaghetti bolognaise, boiled egg sandwiches, shepards pie, fish (not battered) and chips, chicken mashed potato and veg, chicken curry
Meal 6 - slow release protein shake made with milk.
Again any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[MikeNYY420]

Originally Posted by BiG_mAn

thanks everyone.
Sorry I didnt tell you my diet earlier. So here it is.
Meal 1 - poridge and glass of water
Meal 2 - tracker bar and peice of toast with scrambled egg
Meal 3 - tuna and pasta
Meal 4 - tuna and water
Meal 5 - spaghetti bolognaise, boiled egg sandwiches, shepards pie, fish (not battered) and chips, chicken mashed potato and veg, chicken curry
Meal 6 - slow release protein shake made with milk.
Again any help is appreciated. Thanks.

A few points you need to address. For breakfast you need a fast digesting protein and a fast digesting carb. Because you were just sleeping it's similar to PWO, your body needs nutrients as soon as possible. Dextrose, white rice/potatoes all work. Have a whey shake with water too.

Also, make sure the toast is whole grain along with the poridge. Vary the protein source from meal 3 and 4 for gaining mass eat massive portions. Eat till you're full at every meal if you're serious, then eat more. What's bolnaise? What's shepards pie? Drop the chips if they're not whole grain. Mashed potatoes (white) cause insulin spikes so drop those and replace with whole grain slow digesting sources. Chicken curry?

That should take care of it, I hope.

[BiG_mAn]

Right thanks for that but because i am still at school it is quite hard to get whole grain sources. Spaghetti bolognaise is spaghetti with mince meat and like a pasta sauce. Shepards pie is mashed potato and mince meat. Chicken curry is chicken rice and curry sauce. This is what we eat in england if your american.

Another thing is my parents aren't really understanding about everything to do with bodybuilding but they are some. Like food they think what they give me is good food but its not the best for bodybuilding.

Thanks again.

[BiG_mAn]

Any more suggestions to burn my fat off but keep muscle??

Thanks

[BiG_mAn]

Right I have decided to stick with a spit routine but am not really sure wot the best is. At the minute its:
Mon-Chest and Triceps
Tues-Shoulders, Traps and Abs
Wed-Legs, Abs and Cadio
Thurs-Forearms and Abs
Fri-Rest
Sat-Back, Biceps and Cadio
Sun-Rugby

Any changes need making?
Should i train my traps with shoulder or with back?

Thanks

[chrispghmuscle]

Originally Posted by BiG_mAn

Right I have decided to stick with a spit routine but am not really sure wot the best is. At the minute its:
Mon-Chest and Triceps
Tues-Shoulders, Traps and Abs
Wed-Legs, Abs and Cadio
Thurs-Forearms and Abs
Fri-Rest
Sat-Back, Biceps and Cadio
Sun-Rugby

Any changes need making?
Should i train my traps with shoulder or with back?

Thanks

Train your shoulders w/ Traps.. they tie in together.. Put Deads with your back.. imo

[Moro]

Im going to respectfully disagree there,

yours traps are one of the biggest muscles of your back and get tied in with many back exercises

The way i see it,

Would you train incline chest on shoulder day?

[BiG_mAn]

That's what i was getting cofused with because it is included in alot of back exercises but also shoulder exercises.
Still confused what to do though.
Any other changes need making to my workout?
Thanks.

[James 09]

if i were you i would aim for two rest days as you have a lot going on so personally i would go for a four day split which should then give you enough recovery time for gains

[MikeNYY420]

How bout a balanced diet. F bulking and cutting.

[BiG_mAn]

Yeah, that's what I have decided to do, sort my diet completely and I should drop fat from less fatty food and still gain from more protein.

[bodyforum]

Originally Posted by BiG_mAn

I have been training for a while now using a split routine and have made some muscle gains and have become alot stronger. However i still carry abit of body fat and cant really see my abs and don't look toned.
I am thinking whether i should change to a full body routine to see if it will burn that extra fat off but i don't wont to lose any muscle or strength.
What do you think I should do?
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.

if ur current workout plan is working out well, i wud say u must not alter in it...
what u can do is, vary the same split workout plan and alter some of the cardio exercises u r doing ...

this wud surely help u loose fats and not hamper ur muscle and strength..!!..

thanks..

[MikeNYY420]

Originally Posted by BiG_mAn

Yeah, that's what I have decided to do, sort my diet completely and I should drop fat from less fatty food and still gain from more protein.

Yeah dude do it up. 1g pro/lbs bw, tons of carbs and a moderate amount of fat. Enough to grow, but not so much that you're gaining fat. I stay lean doing that year round but I also maintain my growth.

[getbigordietryn]

you said your tryn to make your abs more noticeable? well your abs are just like any other mucle they nead to rest and recover. training them 3 days ina row wont give u any resaults u shud work them every two or 3 days provideing u have a good diet. hope that helpd

[bodyforum]

Originally Posted by getbigordietryn

you said your tryn to make your abs more noticeable? well your abs are just like any other mucle they nead to rest and recover. training them 3 days ina row wont give u any resaults u shud work them every two or 3 days provideing u have a good diet. hope that helpd

i also second ur opinion...

every muscle is made up of the same cells and tissues and for sure require enough of rest...

so dont over stress a particular muscle of urs, and give all ur muscles enough of rest so that u meet your goals...

thanks..

[XxGrabsxX]

well it all really depends on your goals. Like for me im massing right now, and since i have hard time gaining weight (fast metabolism) i had to increase my caloric intake, among other things, and im gaining weight now...unfortunately that means that i needed to forsake my abs b/c my body fat is slightly increasing while im massing. So when i hit my desired weight, im gonna cut down and drop to 7% bf.

long story short, that could be a possibly option for you as well. if u wanna mass then cut, that'll make u drop weight AND bf as well, and you'll be well toned and should have a 6 pack. but that will take longer, it really depends how quickly you wanna drop the bf. you could cut right now if u wanted to, but you would lose a bit of muscle...nothing a few weeks of intense training though couldn't correct

bottom line though, im not sure wat your stats are, or your goals, but if you wanna keep getting stronger at the same time you lose body fat, you could also keep doing what you're doing, but add in 2 or 3 days a week a HIIT cardio session. It doesn't take too long but it is INSANELY hard to do if done correctly. You should wanna puke when your done google search one that looks good, there are tons out there.

GOOD LUCK BRO, hope that helps

[MikeNYY420]

Gain, lose, gain, lose. It's stupid. Get a good diet and stick with it. I eat 3000 calories year round and am always pretty cut, weights always go up and I always get bigger. You don't need to take in so many calories that you get fat, just enough to gain. So I'd suggest eating and lifting till you get huge, stay cut. Then if you wanna get shredded do it- once. Getting fat then getting skinny is such a waste of time. Get big then get cut, no fat and no skinny involved.

Lift 4-5 days a week eat lots of carb, moderate fat and protein and do some cardio and you're good. I don't even do cardio, I just lift hardcore and still stay cut.