Okay, i’m 20 years old and im 5’8 138lbs.. i’ve been going to the gym religiously since about january and i’ve noticed some muscle mass building but not a lot. I’ve not really been dieting persay, just watching what I eat. I need some advice like a diet plan or suggestions on what to eat so that I can buld muscle.People always suggest a high protein diet, but I dont want to gain weight and i feel like eating a high protein diet will make me gain weight and not lose some of my fat. I dont want to be a body builder or anything, but I would like my abs and arms to be muscular. Also if you have some suggestions for my workout routine that would be awesome!
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Here is an arm workout, it was designed for males, but will work on females:
1. Seated barbell biceps curl – Sit on a bench and rest a barbell in your lap. Take a shoulder-width underhand grip on the bar and curl it upward toward your chin. Use a weight that is so heavy, you can only perform eight reps.
This exercise allows you to use more weight than you normally would because the seated position limits the range of motion. Try to curl 150% of your normal bicep curl weight. Perform one set of eight reps, rest 30 seconds, then increase the weight 10% and perform as many reps as you can.
2. Close grip bench press – Do yourself a big favor and perform this exercise in a power rack or on a Smith machine. Limit the range of motion to the top third of your range. By limiting the range of motion, you will be able to hoist a much heavier weight and it’s that big weight — not the range of motion — that triggers new muscle growth.
Grip the bar with your hands spaced about six inches apart and contract your triceps to lift the bar off the support and to full extension. Use a weight that is so heavy, you can only perform eight reps. Again, with this restricted range you should be able to use at least 50% more weight than normal. Perform one set of eight reps, rest 30 seconds, then increase the weight 10% and perform as many reps as you can.
Forearms
Forearms tend to be neglected in most workouts, but these two exercises are great at generating an awesome intensity of overload to these highly visible and impressive muscles.
3. Seated Wrist Curls: These are performed from the same position as the bicep exercise described above. With an underhand grip on a barbell, rest your wrists on your knees so that your hands extend beyond your knees. Allow the weight of the bar to force your wrist toward the floor. Use your forearm muscles to power the weight back up. Perform one set of eight reps, rest 30 seconds, then increase the weight 10% and perform as many reps as you can.
4. Wrist Curls Behind The Back: These are performed by holding a barbell behind your back with your palms facing backward. It helps to have the bar on a rack to start or to have a training partner place the bar in your hands. The heavy bar will naturally hang down and your wrists will be in a relaxed position.
Use your forearm muscles to power the weight up by bending your wrists. You can use a lot more weight on this exercise than you think you can. Go heavy — don’t worry about getting a full range of motion. Perform one set of eight reps, rest 30 seconds, then increase the weight 10% and perform as many reps as you can.
Each time you perform the four exercises in this arm workout, try to increase your weights by 15% to 25%. Doing the same workout each time gets you nowhere. It’s all about making progress. Progress drives new muscle growth.
Do this routine 2 times a week. After 4 weeks, take a week off of arms.
As far as abs go, rotate thes exercises into your workout, only do 2 or 3 per workout.
1. Decline weighted situp
2. Oblique crunches using the back hyperextension platform, you can hold a weight if you need more force.
3. Reverse crunches
4. Exercise ball pass – go here for an example:
http://exercise.about.com/library/bladvancedball.htm
The ball pass will work the abs like no other.
5. Plank – go here for an example:
http://exercise.about.com/od/abs/ss/abexercises_10.htm
Try to go for 60 seconds at a time on this one.