24% to 10 - 12 % BF in 6 Months?

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Hello all,

I am wondering if something is possible. Do to some encouragement I got rid of my old scale and got one that tell my BF %, I also got some calipers for BF% because I heard they were more accurate. Much to my horror I am sitting at about 24% BF (according to the calipers), the scale said a bit more which furthered my horror. I asked my self how did I get this way, but right then I knew the answer (two words ?desk job?).

I have gone through spurts where I have worked out very intensely and I can usually drop about 20lbs pretty easy. After that I get discouraged because the scale doesn?t move. Hopefully with me focusing less on weight and more on BF% this time will be different. I have started a journal to keep track over every thing I eat, all my body measurements, and my exercises.

My main question is: Is it possible to go (relatively) safely from 24 ? 26 % BF to 10 ? 12 % BF in 6 months?

This is my planed workout.
(Yes I know there are no legs, please lets not talk about it. My reasons are in another post)

Monday

Cardio
Bike 5 miles
20 min on the stair climber

Weights
Chest, shoulders, and back

Tuesday

Cardio
Walk/Jog 2 miles (This will be turned into sprints when I?m reconditioned)
Bike 5 miles
20 min on the stair climber

Weights
Arms and abs

Wednesday

Cardio
Walk/Jog 2 miles (This will be turned into sprints when I?m reconditioned)
Bike 5 miles
20 min on the stair climber
Abs

Thursday

Cardio
Bike 5 miles
20 min on the stair climber

Weights
Chest, shoulders, and back

I know after a bit I will have to switch things up to keep things effective, but any ideas if this is a good way to get me to my goal? Really what I want is good abs. Girls love them, and got I love girls. = )

Any one here had a transformation like this one? Or does any one know at about what BF% you will start to see your abs?

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I went from 48% BF in April this year to 11% BF now (and dropping). It is both possible and safe if you do it right. There’s alot of good info on this site on how to do it properly, also check out Dr. Berardi’s home site, where he has a free e-book available that covers the basics of nutrition.

Upper abs begin to become visible around 15-17% BF depending on how developed they are. Lower abs are tougher.

I personally don’t like your routine that you’ve posted - Tabata intervals are a fine substitute for most of that fobbin’ around on bicycles and stair climbers & they’re faster. I only did a proper long run every now and then (maybe once every two weeks) just because I felt like it, not for fat loss.

Focusing and isolating chest, back, arms and abs is a classic mistake amongst people starting a weights routine and you will regret it later (I did! and I had a torn ligament in my knee which is a proper excuse for not doing leg work). After checking your other post (which I’d prefer not to have to go look for) I’m generally unimpressed by the figures you posted for your leg size and wouldn’t see that as justification for leaving out legwork. If you don’t include big compound exercises in your routines you will probably end up with a weak core and minimal functional strength.

Doing a heavy weights set after a cardio session is a great way to waste your time and minimise muscle gain. If you must do cardio, do it on a seperate day.

I would suggest that you just start working out regardless of what your program looks like, but bear in mind that it seems like you have alot of research to do on nutrition and exercise - check out the archives, they contain alot of diet info and there’s probably a pre-planned workout there somewhere that’ll suit your goals.

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[quote]sma92878 wrote:
Yes I know there are no legs, please lets not talk about it.[/quote]

Why bother posting your awful workout when you’re not keeping an open mind?

Focusing on chest & arms is a classic mistake. Do you really want to look like a light bulb?

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You are really missing out on some good fat burning opportunity by not having a leg routine. One of the best exercises I have found for burning fat is hindu squats using the tabata protocol.

Before eating anything in the morning, do these. 20 seconds of squats, 10 seconds of rest, eventually working up to 16 sets. You should be able to do at least 25 squats each 20 seconds, meaning about 400 squats in 8 minutes. The fat will fly off!

Of course diet is important too.

5

I’m far from an expert but a couple things:

What is the goal?
With that much cardio and that odd a weight routine you are most likely going to end up skinny and overtrained.

Chest shoulders and back in the SAME WORKOUT?
Jesus Christ. I’d be in the gym for 3 hours if i tried that. All of your large muscle groups in one workout? There’s no way you’re going to have an efficient back workout after slamming your chest and shoulders. You’d be exhausted…at least you should be after a good chest and shoulder workout.

I might suggest something like:
Chest + biceps day
Shoulders + triceps day
Back + Legs day
(this is a lot in one workout too, but if you’re concerned about your leg size for some reason…)

But again, it depends on your goal.
What you want your body to look like.

6

Ok ok, I seem to be seeing the same thing. INCLUDE LEGS. My only worry is that like one poster I have an knee injury and like I said I’m just happy with the way they are. I guess I never really knew that legs could have that much of an impact on fat loss. For that reason alone I guess I would pick it up.

As far as the cardio goes I just feel good when I do it, I enjoy biking and even running when I get back into it, and it helped me drop about 53lbs in about 3 months a few years ago. My reason for doing so much of it was because it worked last time.

I?m not sure what Tabata is so I will have to look it up. For those of you who gave constructive suggestions thanks very much. My knowledge of working out is basically from a high school weight training class I had, which consisted of run and life, run and lift, rinse repeat. I?ll look over some of the programs on the boards and see if I can find on that I like.

Just a FYI, I figure I can spend 2 hours a day (Mon ? Thurs) in the gym. I just want my work outs to be enjoyable so I don?t get burned out.

7

Tabata is simply a protocol, 20 seconds of intensity, 10 seconds of rest, repeat until you drop. It has been shown to significantly increase fat loss. So you could do tabatas for most any bodyweight exercise, i.e. pushups, squats, etc.

You can achieve he-man status by doing 8 rounds of tabata pistols. lol.

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[quote]uberswank wrote:
Tabata is simply a protocol, 20 seconds of intensity, 10 seconds of rest, repeat until you drop. It has been shown to significantly increase fat loss. So you could do tabatas for most any bodyweight exercise, i.e. pushups, squats, etc.

You can achieve he-man status by doing 8 rounds of tabata pistols. lol.[/quote]

Are you talking about sprinting for 20 seconds and walking 10, rinse repeat? Or some sort of strength exercise?

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Sprints can work. You should choose exercises that you can do intensely for at least 8 sets of 20 seconds. That is to say, you probably shouldn’t do tabata bench presses.

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Tabata Training