24y.o. female beginner

Im a 24 yr. old female. about 5'5/ 5'6, 160lbs... very athletic, toned and about 15-18%body fat.

I dont know where to begin but I would like to training to become a lean bodybuilder with good definition but not with bulk mass of muscle.

Any suggestions on a program or tips for getting started??

The most important thing in this sport is diet- Possibly even more so than which routine you choose. First thing you should do, head over to the nutrition forum and find the calorie calculators near the top- Choose one, either the easy formula to get a rough idea, or a more involved formula to get an exact count, of how many calories per day you need to reach your goals- Whether you want to add a little muscle first, or lower your body fat percentage.
See, in order to gain some muscle, you're going to need to put more calories into your system than it needs to maintain it's current size. In order to lose fat, you'll need to take in a little less than that- Finding out how many calories you actually need gives you the basic info you'll work from. Once you've got your goal number, feel free to ask around about meal plan advice with that number in mind- It might help if you post that number, along with a basic idea of what you're currently eating. Fitday.com can help out a lot too- They have a database of all sorts of food you can access, and by choosing your foods from their menu, along with the serving sizes, they can tell you how many calories per day you're getting already, and how much of those calories are coming from protein, fat and carbs.

Thank you so much. How do I find or develop a good program?

There are many programs to choose from, and I'm sure plenty of people will have different recommendations- But for your goals, I'd definitely suggest choosing a routine that works every muscle group once or twice a week. Personally, I'd start out with once a week. Here's an example of what that might look like-
Monday- Chest
Bench press, incline bench press, decline bench press
Tuesday- Legs
Squats, stiff leg deadlifts, calf raises
Wednesday- Shoulders and abs
Standing military presses, side lateral raises, shrugs
Kneeling cable crunches, weighted crunches, hanging leg or knee raises
Thursday- Back
Deadlifts, bent over rows, pullups
Friday- Arms
Standing barbell curls, alternating dumbbell curls, reverse curls
Close grip bench press, skullcrushers, triceps pressdowns.
 
This way, each muscle group gets an entire week to recover from it's workout until it's next one- And muscle is built when the body's at rest, keep that in mind.

What do you do now for diet and training, I can help you tweak from there toward your goals.  What is your weight and height?

Linda

Come Visit my websites! www.figureteam.com www.lindacusmano.com www.bodyrushpersonaltraining.com

Hi, Thanks so much for helping me and taking interest in my post. I really appreciate it.
To be honest, I do some minor weight training, but nothing to talk about.  Just a little bit to keep tight.  Ill do bicep curls, tricep presses, seated row, leg press/curl but only like 3 sets of 7 or 8 and not alot of weight.  For the most part, I usually jog or do spinning classes. 
My body frame is about 5'5/5'6 and 160 lbs, but very athletic and toned.

Well you should look at training a bit more serious with weights if your goal is to look like a lean bodybuilder.

• 1 -2 gram protein per lb of your bodyweight per day up to 40 gram per meal, 6+ Meals per day
• 5-6 day split is what you want to work UP TO, for now work on maybe an upper, lower then core then in 4-6 weeks look at further breaking the split down to 4 then 5 days.
• keep with the 3x8 and then look at trying 5x5 for a week or so in a few months from now then go to supersetting 4x8-12.
• Include squats, deadlifts, chest press, lat pull, chins, tricep dips, shoulder presses, calve presses, leg curls, hypers, abs with weight and moderate cardio.

Linda

Come Visit my websites! www.figureteam.com www.lindacusmano.com www.bodyrushpersonaltraining.com

thank you Linda

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