Expert: Harry Hayfield - 3/17/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hi
im 24, 6 feet tall & 69 kg weight.
my gym instructor told me to come to gym every day, ive newly joined the gym hardly 9 days ago.
my questions are:

1.should i hve to gym everyday or get one day rest between 2 workout days?

2.since i dont want to go into serious bodybuilding, what weight is ideal for my hieght?

3.what diet u suggest for my body type?

ANSWER: 1) No, muscles grow during recovery and if you train the same bodypart all the time, the muscle will never recover

2) At a height of 72 inches and a bodyweight of 152lbs, your BMI (Body Mass Index) is rated as 20.6. This is scored as "Lower End Normal". Most bodybuilders are rated as "Extremely Obese", this is because BMI measures thickness and muscle is heavier than fat. A more reliable guideline is your waist measurement. If you are able to supply this, I will be able to give you a more accurate number.

3) Please see answer 2

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hey thanx for reply,
firstly, as u asked my height 6", weight 69kg, neck 14' & waist 32.5'
secondly, i checked my bmi in online calculator it says 16.22 % body fat,
what does it means? what should be my weight? & what should be the diet?

Answer
And there in lies the problem. You are mixing up body types and terms.

BMI (Body Mass Index) is a number (usually to 2 decimal points) that tells you how much weight per square metre of height you are carrying. You are 1.83m tall and weight 69kg. This gives a BMI rating of 20.6 which as I mentioned puts you at the lower end of Normal, however thanks to the introduction of a waist measurement, I am now able to calculate % body fat (a more reliable calculator of body type) I apolgise in advance for the maths

Lbs Body Fat = -98.42 + (4.15 x waist) - (0.082 x bodyweight)
Lbs Body Fat = -98.42 + (4.15 x 32.5) - (0.082 x 152)
Lbs Body Fat = -98.42 + 134.875 - 12.464
Lbs Body Fat = 23.99lbs
% Body Fat = 23.991 / 152lbs bodyweight = 15.78%

That means you have a lean body weight of 128lbs. As an example of some famous bodybuilders, Tom Platz competed with a lean bodyweight of 180lbs at 4% bodyfat, Arnie competed at 210lbs lean body mass at 3% bodyfat, and the current Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler competes at 250lbs lean body mass at 2% bodyfat. It is therefore up to you what you want to do. You can either gain lean body mass, reduce bodyfat or both at the same time.