Hello all...

I'm looking for some advice on my training program. First, about myself -- 25 yrs. old, 5'9" and 165 pounds. But I am not in shape much. Very thin frame, a bit of a beer belly. Ready to change.

Questions:

#1- I'm in a bind. A, I want to bulk up size-wise, get some added muscle. B, I at the same time want to lose the beer belly. I certainly dont want to lose too much weight, maybe just convert the fat I have now into muscle. I've been eating well -- about 1700-2000 calories a day, high protein. What are my best options? I know I can't lose fat and bulk up at the same time, but will weight training and about 20 minutes of good cardio every morning accomplish what I'm looking for?
#2- I've heard it both ways: don't do cardio on same days as weight training, I've also heard that cardio after weight training gets the blood flowing in the muscles well. I love cardio -- up until a bad injury a year ago, i ran about 4 miles a day, didnt have a gut, but wasn't much for upper-body muscle.

You've all been helpful to everyone on this thread. I'm anxious to hear some advice. Thanks.

no point in cutting if you aren't too far over weight
- you won't have any impressive muscles underneath yet...
my suggestion - bulk for 4-6 months, THEN cut and you'll like what you see underneath.

for bulking read my "beginners guide" here:

bulking guide (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=51)

hey thanks bud. i took a quick look at your program. i liked it, but one question about it: would there be a downside to me doing 15 minutes of cardio soon after my morning weight training? with my schedule, there's no way to wait 8 hours, and i dont want to stop doing it every day.

Of course you can't convert fat into muscle (I trust that you simply mean that you just want to lose fat and replace it with muscle, but I don't want anyone to read that statement and think that converting fat to muscle is really possible :))

Anyway, at 5' 9" 165 pounds, you probably don't have much fat to lose, so you might as well go ahead and bulk. The only reason to not bulk right now is if the fat is bothering you to such a degree that adding a little more will make you have trouble sticking to your bulking plan. Personally I can't stand it when I'm carrying around extra fat (probably because I was overweight for so long), so I'd have to cut first.... but that's just me. :D

hey thanks bud. i took a quick look at your program. i liked it, but one question about it: would there be a downside to me doing 15 minutes of cardio soon after my morning weight training? with my schedule, there's no way to wait 8 hours, and i dont want to stop doing it every day.

I think it is counter productive for several reasons, to do cardio the same day as weight training when bulking...

why not just skip cardio on weight training days?