OK before i present my plan I'll say something about myself to explain some parts of my plan better. I am 18 years old (almost), I go to highschool, and have a really tight schedule. I have a stationary bike and a pair of dumbbells. I don't have time to go to gym because it's too far (I tried but I just couldn't be consistent;on some days I just had to skip it). I go to school in shifts-one week AM shift 8:00-1:10 h, the next week PM shift 14:00-19:10 h, and so forth. I plan to cut for three months, then bulk for three months. I never stuck to a program before (I rather trained recklessly), so I plan to endure no matter what this time. I know my program must have many flaws, and can't even compare to those fancy programs you guys have, but this is the best I can do since I really don't have a lot of time for something else (this is the only way to stay consistent). So here it is...

Height: 184 cm (6.03 feet)
Weight: 79 kgs (174 pounds)
BMR: 1900 kcal
I will update my bf% and post some pictures later on if necessary.

Daily Calorie Intake : 1400 kcal

MEAL 1 (AM Shift: 7:00am;PM Shift: 7:00am)

Fish Oil=21 kcal
250g Yhogurt=112.5 kcal;8.25g protein
15g Wheat bran=28.5 kcal;2.25g protein

MEAL 2 (AM Shift: 9:35am;PM Shift: 9:00am)

200g Apple=104 kcal;0.68g protein

MEAL 3 (AM Shift: 11:35am;PM Shift: 11:00am)

200g Banana=190 kcal;2.3 g protein

MEAL 4 (AM Shift: 2:00pm;PM Shift: 1:00pm)

200g Chicken=378 kcal;52g protein
200kcal value of veggies

MEAL 5 (AM Shift: 4:00pm;PM Shift: 3:35pm)

200g Apple=104 kcal;0.68g protein

MEAL 6 (AM Shift: 6:00pm;PM Shift 8:00pm)

250g Yhogurt=112.5 kcal;8.25g protein
45g soy protein=175 kcal;23.4g protein

OVERALL
Calories: about 1400
Protein:about 100

I eat different vegetables for lunch every day, and I change meat every few days.

TRAINING

AM Shift

Monday-8pm:Weight training Biceps\Back;Stationary bike cardio
Tuesday-8pm:Stationary bike cardio
Wednesday-8pm:Weight training Legs;Stationary bike cardio
Thursday-8pm:Stationary bike cardio
Friday-8pm:Weight training Pecs\Delts\Triceps;Stationary bike cardio
Saturday-8pm:Stationary bike cardio
Sunday-8pm:Stationary bike cardio

PM Shift

Monday-8am:Weight training Biceps\Back;10pm:Stationary bike cardio
Tuesday-10pm:Stationary bike cardio
Wednesday-8am:Weight training Legs;10pm:Stationary bike cardio
Thursday-10pm:Stationary bike cardio
Friday-8am:Weight traning Pecs\Delts\Triceps;10pm:Stationary bike cardio
Saturday-8pm:Stationary bike cardio
Sunday-8pm:Stationary bike cardio


CARDIO

I only do cardio on my stationary bike. I can currently do 35min cardio at 80-85 rpm, and I plan to increase that to 45 min at higher rpm, and when I can do that then finally do HIIT cardio for some 15mins.

WEIGHT TRAINING

Day 1

Biceps\Back

Hammer Curls
Biceps Curls
Concentration Curls

One-Arm Dumbbell Row
Bent Over Two Dumbbell Row
Cuban Press

3-4 series each exercise; I increase weight each set and lower my reps

Day 2

Legs

Squats
Dumbbell Squats
Dumbbell Lunges
Iron Cross
Plie Dumbbell Squat

3-4 series each exercise;weight increase each set

Day 3

Pecs\Delts\Triceps

Side Lateral Raise
Dumbbell Shrug
Standing Dumbbell Upright Row

Skull Crushers
Standing Bent-Over Two Arm Triceps Extension
Standing One Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension
One Arm Pronated Dumbbell Triceps Extension




And here are my questions:
1) I am not sure is my hr monitor (installed on my stationary bike) not working properly, or is it that I simply can't get my pulse over 125 at my max speed. So I am asking is this a good HIIT cardio:
5 min warm up
stretch
1 min moderate pace 85 rpm
15-20 secs max speed 120 rpm
15-20 secs 85 rpm
5 min cool down

That is 15 min HIIT without warm up and cool down.

2)Is it possible to do a home workout with dumbbells only as I described above?

3)I didn't mention my carb and fat and fiber intake, but carb intake is definetely low, and so is fat. If there is a need to post it later tell me.

4)Is my daily calorie intake too low?

5)Should I have higher carb\calorie days (like every fourth day) or is that unnecessary?


PLEASE Post all sorts of helpful comments, possible changes I can make to my plan, what can I improve, answers to my questions etc. I will highly appreciate any help, altough I know my plan is confusing and not perfect. Thanks in advance.:rolleyes:

Welcome. :)

OK before i present my plan I'll say something about myself to explain some parts of my plan better. I am 18 years old (almost), I go to highschool, and have a really tight schedule. I have a stationary bike and a pair of dumbbells. I don't have time to go to gym because it's too far (I tried but I just couldn't be consistent;on some days I just had to skip it). I go to school in shifts-one week AM shift 8:00-1:10 h, the next week PM shift 14:00-19:10 h, and so forth. I plan to cut for three months, then bulk for three months. I never stuck to a program before (I rather trained recklessly), so I plan to endure no matter what this time. I know my program must have many flaws, and can't even compare to those fancy programs you guys have, but this is the best I can do since I really don't have a lot of time for something else (this is the only way to stay consistent). So here it is...
First realize that you do have time to go to the gym. :) Don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to come off harsh at all. I want you to succeed, and I see you making excuses.

Certainly you can build an effective training program with dumbbells at your house, nobody here would doubt that. But the "I don't have time" excuse is not generally a good one around here. We all have time constraints.

What you could do is start out with your current plan of home-workouts with what is available. Once you progress to the point where you need more equipment/heavier weight, you may likely have a fire lit under you as you may at that point notice progress in the mirror (seeing the fat melt away is darn good motivation to keep going and to push harder). Then maybe you'll find the time to go to the gym. :)

Squats
Dumbbell Squats
Squats and then dumbbell squats, but you only have dumbbells? Are you talking about bodyweight squats?

Day 3

Pecs\Delts\Triceps

Side Lateral Raise
Dumbbell Shrug
Standing Dumbbell Upright Row

Skull Crushers
Standing Bent-Over Two Arm Triceps Extension
Standing One Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension
One Arm Pronated Dumbbell Triceps Extension
Where's the pec work?

1) I am not sure is my hr monitor (installed on my stationary bike) not working properly, or is it that I simply can't get my pulse over 125 at my max speed. So I am asking is this a good HIIT cardio:
5 min warm up
stretch
1 min moderate pace 85 rpm
15-20 secs max speed 120 rpm
15-20 secs 85 rpm
5 min cool down

That is 15 min HIIT without warm up and cool down.
Yes that HIIT style is fine. I would try to increase speed or duration of the max-speed intervals every week or so, if you can.

2)Is it possible to do a home workout with dumbbells only as I described above?
I think so, again you can certainly design an effective dumbbell-only routine, but I feel once you progress you'll become interested in adding barbell exercises and possibly more. Also, how heavy do your dumbbells go?

3)I didn't mention my carb and fat and fiber intake, but carb intake is definetely low, and so is fat. If there is a need to post it later tell me.
Yes, knowing those would help, but... (continued below)

4)Is my daily calorie intake too low?
I think it is way too low, and I think your meals could be much better. One banana is not really a great meal by itself (sure bananas are fine, but throw some cottage cheese in there or something). Your protein intake should be increased imo, as should your fat intake.

5)Should I have higher carb\calorie days (like every fourth day) or is that unnecessary?
Carb/calorie cycling is fine indeed, but I would not recommend it for you. Lay out a simple and effective plan you can do on a day to day basis and stick with it until you have more experience under your belt.

I would recommend you also check out the sticky threads, those should really be a big help. :)

Welcome to the boards. 1FastGTX posted some solid advice for you please read it over and make sure you read over the sticky threads for more help getting started. One thing that wasn't touched on was your planning intake. A lot of people starting out always always always aim too low on calories and regret it later. 1400 is much too low for your current weight and your planned activity. Again, the stickies will tell you everything you need to know about caloric intake, food choices and nutrition timing. Goodluck!!

First of all, I was amazed by your hospitality guys. I posted this thread before I went to sleep, and when I woke up, it was thouroughly answered. Thanks for your effort really.

1.About the gym, I think you're totally right. I'll do it this way: I will do my dumbbell workouts for a while, just to get me started, then I will find a gym that's closer to my home, and start going there. I can't believe how lazy I've become. But I do remember that when I tried to do this dumbbell workout about a month ago, it was very effective, and my muscles were literally burning (maybe that's because I did too many sets and reps).

2.Well, yeah I was talking about bodyweight squats when i mentioned "Squats" :o. I was thinking of doing about 3-4 series of bodyweight squats (about 30 reps each set), just to get my legs warmed up. If u were thinking about them being too easy, then I dunno...they weren't that easy for me (don't misunderstand me: I ain't lazy, weak, or some fat slob, I think I look pretty much OK). As for dumbbell squats, I found that exercise in bb.com's database-you hold dumbbells in your hands and do squats. I usually put the maximum (or near max) weight on dumbbells when I do these. Can you recommend some other exercises with dumbbells for legs?

3. OK as for the pecs, my bad, forgot to add those. So I was thinking, I'd add Dumbbell Bench Press and Bent Arm Dumbbell Pullovers. But then again is that too few exercises for pecs? Should I transfer the pecs exercises to some other day or just leave it as it is, or maybe add some more exercises? Day 3 of my training would look like this now:

Bent Arm Dumbbell Pullover
Dumbbell Bench Press

Side Lateral Raise
Standing Dumbbell Upright Row
Dumbbell Shrug

Skull-Crushers
Standing Bent Over Two Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension
Standing One Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension
One Arm Pronated Dumbbell Triceps Extension

If it's too crowded let me know, but I think I could do it (I do remember the last time I did triceps training, my triceps didn't feel too tired the next day or after the training, unlike the biceps or back or legs etc).

4. Yeah I did think it was too low. As for those carbs and fat, I will tru to update my plan with those tonight or tommorow night.
I was thinking of adding the following:

MEAL 3

I would add another 250ml of yhogurt here so that is= 112.5 kcal;8.25g protein

MEAL 4

250g of cooked chicken (instead of 200g)=472 kcal;78 g protein

MEAL 5

Here I would add some low fat cheese (200g, 0.5% mil fat)= 118 kcal; 24g protein

So my overall calorie and protein intake should be about:

OVERALL

Calories:about 1725 kcal
Proteins:about 150 g protein

That yhogurt, cheese and meat should have added some more fat, but as I said I will update my plan with carb and fat and fiber intake tonight or tommorow night.

Oh and one more thing: Is one glass of water with every meal plus 500ml in between enough? That's about 2 liters of water daily (0.52 gallons).

I am very grateful for help so far, as I would be for any further assistance :tu:.

I forgot to mention the max weight of my dumbbells-not too good, I'm afraid. When I use both dumbbells, each one weighs 7.5kgs (16.53 lbs), and I can place about 10kgs when using only one dumbbell (22.05 lbs). Don't get me wrong, I've tried working out with these, and it's just the right measure so far, but again you were right about the gym: I will have to start going there sooner or later.