Why is working out so F***ing confusing?!

8

85justine

New member
Hello!

I’m a 19 year old college freshman and am doing what seemingly every college freshman is going, trying to “get big”, or in my case, just trying to lose some fat and gain some muscle.

I am 5’ 8’’ and weigh 150-155 depending on the day. I have been working out for around 6 weeks and might be seeing results, I can’t really tell.

Before working out, I would not eat a ton but I still had some gut fat and was starting to get some small moobs which is when I realized things had to change haha. So I started lifting for about 30-35 minutes and then cardio for about 15. (Back and Biceps, Legs, tricep and chest, rest is the rotation I’m using although I have been lazy on the weekends (whoops).

My weight has stayed about the same and that’s why I am worried I’m doing everything wrong.
With doing research on what I should be eating, I see “oh you NEED to have Whey protein powder and some pre workout!” So I bought some whey but don’t really have a lot to mix it with so to low sugar protien drinks and shakes that are sold. Also people say “AVOID SUGAR” so I’ll avoid sugar and then I read “AVOID AVOIDING SUGAR BECAUSE OF FAKE SUGAR THAT IS BAD” so I’m like oh.... also- should I be eating a lot if I want to lose belly fat- or should I wait? But if I don’t eat a lot- doesn’t that mean I’m just lifting without building muscle which is something I would absolutely hate! To do.... help!!!

TL,DR: I am worried I am working out but not doing enjoy to see results, but when I try to see what’s going on, answers are so mixed and confusing.

I am sure some of you have gone thru this so please help!- you can DM if needed because I know these posts get taken down after a few hours. Thank you!
 
@85justine Then stop stressin' breh. You want to lose fat, cardio. You want to gain Muscle, push and pull. Avoid crazy amounts of processed sugar, that's soda, cake, ice cream. Do eat natural sugars, fruits baby. Eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner (if you're working out you're hungry) and stay HYDRATED. Also sleep, ideally the same time every night (I know college makes that hard). You do that for 6 months you'll feel great and see gains. After 6 months you'll be stronger and can think about cutting for definition (or sooner if you're feelin' good). But real talk at the start just focus on getting into good habits, and sticking to them.

Drink, Eat, Sleep, Workout = get big

Drink, Eat (a bit less (greens + Chicken), Sleep, Workout (more cardio) = get defined
 
@85justine Your main goal should be progressive overload, since you are a beginner. This should happen relatively quickly in the early stages of working out. Basically means, each week you should be adding either more weight(ideally) or more reps to every workout. Not much weight. 2-5lbs. But progressively advance how much weight you can lift. If that number increases, you are at least getting stronger and are building muscle.
 
@85justine I played football and ran track in college. I've had multiple weight training programs throughout my playing career. My freshman year I gained more muscle in track than I did in football training which threw me off. My strength mostly improved when I had football workouts as opposed to my track ones later in my career. The program I've noticed best results is Jeff Nippard's full body split. I'm no longer in college but this program is what I wish was available to us during college. For the diet part, itll be harder in college than if you were on your own. If you have a meal plan just try to eat healthy, I know it's hard in the cafeteria as they aren't the best. Find a diet that works for you. I'm 6' 190 now and I stay under in a range of 1600-1900 calories. That's what works best for me. Dont worry about weight change, worry about the mirror more. Muscle is slow to build. My legs have barely if ever gotten bigger since hs but my upper body has packed on muscle. I dont use protein powder. I did in college but since being out, my body has responded better to getting all my protein from my diet and not powder. I dont want that to deter you from trying it out, everyone is different and gets different results. One thing I do suggest in getting stronger faster is to have a partner and push yourself. I wouldn't have played football in college if I didnt have a workout partner my senior year of hs to push me in the weight room. Dont be afraid of moving up in weight
 
@85justine I would recommend sitting down for an evening and setting up some real goals, both in the short term and in the long term. These would be things that are attainable (if you set unrealistic goals, you will become discouraged, etc).

By reading your post, I got some mixed signals. I felt like you were both trying to lose weight and gain muscle by working out. I would maybe recommend setting up a baseline level of fitness first by getting into a regular training program -- this could be something as simple as a grid for the week with what you will do that day at the gym. This both gives you a clear indication of what you will do that day and it will show you if you are overloading any muscle groups.

I would start off really easy by just focusing on either performing workouts regularly OR tackling your diet. I think both at once when you first get started on your fitness journey can be really overwhelming, so I recommend picking one and then when you have built a habit, come back for the other. Maybe set up a reminder that in six weeks, you will come back and add the other into your routine -- you could even make it one of your goals.

I'm no professional.. just a regular dude doing exactly the above steps and it's been working out well. I hope you find some of what I said useful. Good luck!
 
@85justine Hey man, I feel where you’re coming from. At the end of high school I was 5’10” 160, but still a little chubby. I had erratic periods of working out for a few months every so often, but bc there’s so much information about working out and it can get so complicated, I often fell off the wagon bc it seemed like such a huge effort. I’ve been lifting continuously for around a year and a half now (with intermittent breaks of ~1 week for holidays and such), and here’s what I learned: keep it simple.

From your description, it sounds like you’re simultaneously trying to gain muscle and lose fat, and control your diet, which is a lot to squeeze in. It’s also not very efficient because generally speaking, you gain muscle by loading up on protein and calories, and you lose weight by creating a calorie deficit. This is why most lifters have “bulking” and “cutting” periods where you build up as much muscle as you can, along with some fat in a bulk, then cut the extra weight off by doing cardio and minimizing calorie intake. I would say to dedicate yourself wholly to one of those.

If you want to bulk and gain some muscle, you won’t get as much definition but you’ll be bigger - this means hit the gym as often as you can and do a lot of compound lifts (bench, pull-ups, squats, etc) and focus on certain muscle groups each day (bench—>chest/triceps; pull-ups—> back/biceps; squats—> legs/core) to maximize your time. Just getting in and doing that as often as possible, coupled with a clean (no simple carbs like chips or whatever), high calorie diet will put you where you need to be with your muscle mass.

For cutting, just eat green shit with chicken and don’t go overboard. You probably have a salad bar in your dorm cafeteria, so use that (no ranch dressing allowed). This is the best way to ensure a continuous low calorie intake without having to actually count calories, and the chicken (or eggs - the powdered eggs that most cafeterias have are surprisingly loaded with protein) will provide protein to sustain your lifting regimen. A side note: chest out r/fasting - by limiting the window in a day that you can eat, you maximize the time your body has to metabolize nutrients instead of using energy to digest food. For actual physical work, cut down on your lifting by about 50% and spend the rest of the time doing cardio. Doesn’t matter how far you run or how many stairs you climb - oxygen use is the determining factor in weight loss. Grind until you can’t breathe anymore and you’ll be far more efficient in your weight loss (that’s why people who go on walks to lose weight don’t see very much change).

Basically, just dedicate yourself wholly to either of those lifestyles for a predetermined period and you’ll either get big, but not defined (bulking), or defined but not any stronger (cutting). It’s really that simple. The thing most people struggle with is maintaining that self control and discipline.

With summer right around the corner, assuming you want to look good for girls and stuff, I’d say do cutting first. Bulking takes longer and you can start that in the fall.
 
@dawn16 Damn bro that was exactly the answer I was looking for. Guess I was just biting off more than I could chew so I should be freaked out about not making it happen. This was super helpful- thanks a ton!!
 
@85justine When I knew i wanted to get into weight training i bought the Jefit app. I just needed something to give me weight training work outs and track my progress. I also reccomend tracking changes with a measuring tape not the scale. Give yourself some time to see results, a few months at least. For food, just try to eat health and don't drink your calories.
 
@85justine The biggest thing for you to do now is lift big compound lifts. Ideally you need to find a weight training class or friend because you want to be 1) motivated to lift and 2) have someone spot you so you can lift until failure. You are missing the biggest lifts to build muscle in your rotation. Squats and deadlifts. These activate all the muscles in your body and will help you get the biggest increases overall while still doing some chest (bench press) as well as back (pullups and rows/etc). Add in some shoulders and abs as well. But stick first to the big heavy weights on squats, deads, bench. Don't do rest days. Most of us will miss the gym once or twice a week anyways, those are your rest days. If you go 5 days straight lifting then you can earn a rest day, see how often that actual happens. As far as diet, the other guys are correct try to eat pretty clean which basically means chicken, eggs and veggies with some/limited good carbs (100% whole wheat bread, oats, brown rice, roasted potatoes). Eat your carbs in the morning, afternoon and try to lay off at night. Do interval cardio for best results, if you have a track instead of running 20 mins run 20 mins of sprint intervals (sprint straights and walk the turns), you will be destroyed but they will help you lean up while still maintaining weight (just google sprinters body vs distance runners body, you want sprinter's body shape!). If no track nearby you can do intervals on a exercise bike but they are not as effective. Good luck!
 
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