Basic Sups.

[toopher2]

I am going to be finishing up my college soccer season in about 2 weeks and start off season training in about 4. I am interested in learning and researching more about not so much bulking up, but decreasing my body fat and increasing my muscle performance. Right now I am sitting at 168 pounds, and 5 foot 11 inches, I am going to try to obtain about 10 more pounds in the off season and reach a goal of about 180. With this, I have read some threads suggesting that my diet should be in about the 3k cal range, taking in about 1 gram of protein for every pound I have. The supplements I am looking into taking are whey protein, a multivitamins (right now I am taking Ultimate Man from Vitamin Shoppe), and going on a creatine cycle. The workout I am looking at is cardio 6 times a week, and splitting my weight cycle into 2 splits, half my muscles one day, the other half the next, 6 times a week, and leaving Sunday to recover. Am I on the right path? Also does anyone know any good recipe sites for healthy cooking? note: my culinary skills are not the best.

thank you upfront for your input!

Would you recomend me taking a mild weight loss pill to help jumpstart my program?

 

[ShaftedTwice]

Soccer's a great sport, you're already on a good start by being active.

The way I see it is that you want to increase 12 lbs, yet have good definition and tone in your muscles. You should either choose to cut first by going on a calorie deficit and then bulk up to the weight you feel comfortable at or to bulk up to a higher weight by going on a calorie surplus and then cut to where you keep a good weight but still have definition. Trying to do both at the same time usually wields very slow results, so it is best to do one or the other first.

You should be getting 1 to 1.5g of protein per body weight lbs. Real foods are always best, but if you are not getting the protein you need for one reason or another, whey is a good trick. Stick with the multivitamin, I say that a creatine cycle wouldn't be bad, and check out the Healthy Recipes section on these boards to get some good foods.

With cardio at 6 times per week, bulking up will be hard to do, as you lose a lot of muscle mass by a lot of cardio. Make sure that your workout split hits all of the main muscle groups and includes many compound exercises (benching, squatting, pull-ups, etc) as well. You look like you are on the right track so far, just a little tweaking it for your needs.