General

@Dhino: i never said you were a registered dietitian...i said you are not a qualified nutritionist

[quote=WindowLegs]you are not a qualified nutritionist (this is very obvious) so please do not think that just because you have a diploma in "fitness" that you are one.[/quote]

I know I'm not a register dietitian, but I can still suggest the basic nutritional information as I covered my nutrition and sports nutrition in my studies. Suggesting foods vs creating a whole plan would be different.

[quote=Dhino]I was in a rush to answer your questions, if you want to know more in depth in terms of diet or training, just inbox me! I'm a Personal trainer with a fitness diploma.[/quote]

you are not a qualified nutritionist (this is very obvious) so please do not think that just because you have a diploma in "fitness" that you are one.

I commend you on your decision! Although I am not a professional by any means, I think I can still give some tips.

1) I'm since you are so skinny that you want to bulk up a little bit? Gain some good(muscle) weight? You are definitely on the right track with fruit, sweet potato, and chicken breast. All good choices. However I think you might want to vary it up a bit more.

Carbs: Brown rice is most favorable in my opinion. I also think that whole wheat pasta is a decent alternate. Potatoes/sweet potatoes are also very good for putting on muscle. Combine this with a variety of vegetables and fruit (I think bananas are one of the most important, due to their potassium content) for the vitamins and fiber and I think you are good to go.

Protein: Any kind of lean meat. That could include chicken breast (I think even chicken thighs are good, even though not extremely lean), fish, other seafood that's not too high in sodium, lean beef, etc... Just use your own judgement. If something is fried or covered in grease, you obviously don't want to eat it.

Fats: This is more important than you think. Go for unsaturated fats. Olive oil, peanuts, peanut butter (not a ton) are all good choices. There's a nature valley dark chocolate/peanut butter bar that is sold by most grocery stores I believe (if you live in the US). Go check that out, I love having it as a snack.

In general, just use your best judgement. Do you best to avoid sugar, saturated/trans fats, and high sodium and I think it will work out for you.

However, the MOST important thing is to eat, eat, eat. Lots of carbs and protein. You NEED a caloric surplus to gain muscle. ALWAYS eat more than you think you should eat.

2) Protein powder is completely optional and it is absolutely NOT necessary to reach your goals. Your protein-heavy meals should cover it. You should eat 1-2 hours before working out and 30 minutes-1 hour after working out. That post-workout meal is EXTREMELY important. Fill yourself up with the food I mentioned above.

3) For workout plans, Youtube is your friend. USE IT. However, keep this in mind: DO NOT FOCUS ON ONE AREA OF YOUR BODY. Lack of training on certain parts of your body can cause muscular imbalances and could cause you pain and/or make your body look really weird. TRAIN YOUR ENTIRE BODY.

4) Working out itself naturally broadens your shoulders. Like I already said, train your entire body, and the shoulders that you want will come naturally.

"Also, for short guys (172cm), would it look funny to have wide shoulders?"
My answer is this: I personally have never seen anyone, no matter what height, look better out of shape than in shape (muscularly). Why does height matter when building your body? In my opinion, a shaped body ALWAYS looks better than one that is out of shape.

5) Dude no offense, but you weigh SIXTY kilograms. You seriously wanna lose more weight than that?
With that weight, I'm assuming you don't have any/much muscle on your body. Do not worry about your face right now. After you put on some muscle, THEN you can start to burn some fat off or whatever. Right now, I don't think there's any weight to lose lol.

All in all, I wish you the best of luck with your workout plan. I hope this helped! PM me if you have any other questions.

If you want a broader look, don't focus on your shoulders A LOT, but mainly your latissimus dorsi (or your lats). Working on that specific muscle would give you a bigger back, making you look wider. In my opinion, using free weights are better (dumbbells, barbells). But to target the lats, using the lat pull down machine is the way to go, or a deadlift is also good.

il save my spot here if I feel like coming back. il answer the shoulder thing though. do lateral raises and work on your lats a lot (pull ups with full range of motion) it wil help build illusion yu have a wide back and broad shoulders. shoulders width is highly determined on genetics too. if you have a wide clavicle (collar bone) you are destined to have broad shoulders, if you have a narrow clavicle then it will be more difficult.

a way to check which one you have is to stand up straight, tilt your head to the side as much as you can. if your head goes past your shoulder by a large amount you have narrow clavicles, if it doesn't hen you either have wide or average.

1. I understand healthy food is very beneficial. Therefore, which food would you recommend me for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

This is pretty vague because you will have to tell me specifically what your goal is; I know you mentioned you want wide shoulders and get bigger, but do you want to reach a specific weight, bulking? etc. Overall, I suggest starting off with a big meal full of heavy carbs of your choice just to give you enough energy throughout your day.

2. What kind of protein would you recommend me? Also, do I eat protein before working out, after working out, or anytime?

You should include a bit of protein in the morning just to boost up your hormone level and to get your blood flowing throughout your body and after your workout to replenishing your muscle fibres. Stick to lean type of meat: Chicken breast, ground turkey, fish, etc.

Which type of work-out Machine should I start with? Also, is there any beneficial non-machine workout I can do at home such as squat, plank, push-ups?

I'd say 50% of the machines are biomechanically terrible for your joints, but I would still include some into your programs such as the chest press, smith machines, etc. Although I prefer non-machine workouts.

In order to make my shoulder wider, would push-ups be the best option? Also, for short guys (172cm), would it look funny to have wide shoulders?

Blast your shoulders at all different angles (rear, front, epsecially the side) upper chest and trapezius just to get that that broader look. Exercises like standing/seated lateral raises will do.

Lastly, would I gain more weight from working out? I was going to do diet as I have chubby cheeks, so by working-out, would i be able to remove fat on my face as well?text

Well, this question all depends on you. If you workout properly you will gain muscle-mass weight (Good) but of course, diet is key to losing weight as well (70% diet/30% training)

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I was in a rush to answer your questions, if you want to know more in depth in terms of diet or training, just inbox me! I'm a Personal trainer with a fitness diploma.

Jump Jacks! It really helps with teaching your shoulders proper functioning. Along with pushups those two are great starters to reduce chance of injury(perfect for warming up). Any form of protein is good. DO NOT FORGET GREENS. They should be your main source of minerals. After a workout it's best to get your insulin levels back to normal levels that can be done with carbs. You will never be superjacked. Only thing that matter is TIME UNDER TENSION(muscle control). On days you are sore don't be afraid to stretch and always drink lots of water. SLOWer the better for muscle mass. Athleticism is when the speed becomes a factor. Bent barbell Rows. Doing them in both hand grips supinated and pronated will hit the muscle in different angles. Same with pull ups. When you are doing ANYTHING make sure your belly is ALWAYS protruding. Never suck in unless you are experienced enough. Protruding your belly prevents injury. A great thing to do for large shoulders are overhead press and squating with the barbell above your head elbows fully extended, handstand push ups and power cleans are an exercise I do almost daily. Last little bit of info you will never be super jacked.

6 months isn't a lot of time to see a big difference. If you want to get big, you're going to have to eat a lot of calories in a day (3000-4000 probably). Machines are good, but you get bigger without them, but since you're a beginner, people say to use machines.

you'll lose fat while working out, but you also need to eat plenty of food. you're gonna be converting the fat to muscle. fruits are high in sugars, it's fine to eat some, but don't base your diet around them. vegetables on the other hand should be huge in your diet. chicken breast is pretty much the staple of diet foods. it tastes very bland, but it's high in protein and low in calories. speaking of protein, you'll want a lot of it. gotta build that muscle, yo. make sure you get lean meats when shopping. carbs can be good for a pre workout food but don't overload on them. do you plan on getting a gym membership somewhere? while things such as push ups can be good, they're not gonna show you the kind of gains you'd get with gym equipment. i know you're focused on your shoulders, but please, for the love of god, do not solely focus on your shoulders. you're gonna look ridiculous if you have beefy shoulders and the rest of your body is skinny. i didn't format this very well at all and probably missed some pieces of your questions, so if you have any questions i didn't answer, feel free to ask

Go on /fit/ and read the sticky.

It is all about Intensity, I like to feel "angry" when I lift. As for dieting, keep it simple. Simple protein, Chicken/Fish. Some red meat once in a while also would be nice. Simple carbs. I like brown rices/sweet potatoes. Veggies, is whatever you want. Don't worry about taking protein or buying protein powder. Find a foundation first, then start using supplements like Protein Powder. STRETCH! Do this at least 2 times a day, can't stress that enough.

Avocados are good, blue berries, basically all fruits are good for you really. Try eating a couple eggs for breakfast for protein. Always eat carbs before a work out and eat plenty of protein after your workout because you want to repair those damaged tissues. You will gain weight if you are weight lifting because you are gaining more muscles.

You can't really just make your shoulders wider...all you can do is increase the size of your traps and deltoids or something. Your shoulder muscles.

You would gain muscle and burn some fat, so overall you'd gain weight because muscle weighs more than fat.

I don't really know much else about this though. That's why I'm 5'8" and 185 lbs.