Q: Hey mike i juss turned 17 and ive been working out solid for about a good month and a half. I want to look more muscular and bigger but yet still have those cut abs and other places. im 179 and i play soccer and basketball- i juss started this week also your fitness guide meal plan-also i take proabolic for a protein shake before and after workout any suggestions ? thanks in advance

A: It sounds like you are well on your way! Everything you are doing is right on, now it's just a matter of time and discipline. As you probably read on my site trying to both increase muscle mass and decrease fat as you'd like to do, is not particularly easy but you are at the perfect age to make it happen. Closely following the meal plan from my Fitness Guide will definitely help -- just remember you'll need to continually monitor your weight and make sure you very slowly increase weight (by about one pound every couple of weeks). If you notice that 3-4 weeks pass by with no increase in weight then it's time to slightly increase portion sizes in your meals. And hopefully your workout program emphasizes heavy whole-body weight training, especially big exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges, rows, presses, and pullups/pulldowns.

Finally, your Probolic protein supp is fine. Pretty much any pure protein powder will help and yours is no exception. Personally I prefer Optimum Nutrition's protein powder (link at the top of the page under 'got protein?') since they tend to be cheaper but just as good as any other but your protein should be fine as well. I wouldn't recommend you use any weight gainers however -- they combine protein with sugar or sugar-like substances which lead to unwanted fat gains along with muscle and have other undesirable side-effect. Instead just stick to my meal plan and supplement with pure protein powder if you like.

Again, it sounds like you are doing everything right, just keep at it! I would encourage you to start a Fitness Blog on my site to keep yourself on track -- you'll just need to do a quick registration first (go here to register). That way I'll also be able to see what you are doing and perhaps give some specific suggestions. And of course you can always post here with any questions. Good luck!