Hi everyone,
Okay, this is not usually my neck of the woods, but I realize this is the sort of thing you’re good at here, so it seems appropriate. I generally make my home over at the CrossFit forums and similar haunts. Please don’t hurt me.
So, my story is this: for about the last year and a half I’ve been doing the CrossFit program with some tweaks. Prior to that I had no significant athletic background (some occasional sports, some unremarkable resistance training, poor diet). Since then I’ve seen phenomenal athletic improvements across the board, which I’ve been very pleased with and continue to work towards.
However, there is this niggling little problem which has not gone away, and it’s bodyfat. I am, by most reasonable interpretations, both fairly lean and a hard-gainer – I can eat a horse and a half without gaining weight, and dropping fat has never been difficult with any kind of vaguely reasonable diet. Yet, even at times when I wasn’t eating enough and got TOO thin, I’ve never dropped the last bits of abdominal fat (some on the posterior as well). I ain’t never seen no ab ever and when you’re working this hard you can probably guess how annoying that gets.
I don’t want to become a bodybuilder but I do want to hear any ideas, because no matter how much noise we make about training for performance, the next time I’m performing but still pretty much look like I just got off a vacation I’m going to start setting imaginary fires. So: any ideas?
Info is as follows:
21 years old, male, 176lb, 6’, ballpark of 12% bodyfat (measured by weight and abdomen - wrist diameter).
Some images (a few months old): http://degreesofclarity.com/misc/crossfit/physique_front.jpg http://degreesofclarity.com/misc/crossfit/physique_side.jpg http://degreesofclarity.com/misc/crossfit/physique_back.jpg
(I actually have some full-body ones as well, but I’m not wearing anything and I’m pretty sure you’d rather skip it.)
Lifts and training stats are all here: http://degreesofclarity.com/misc/crossfit/
I generally train 3 days on, 1 day off with the normal CrossFit workouts, though I’ve been doing some screwing around with that more recently (some rowing, took three months to grow on Starting Strength, did a brief Olympic lifting cycle, etc.). If you’re not familiar with the CF stuff, it’s basically high-intensity circuit training with compound movements.
Dietwise, I use the general theme from the Zone diet (if you’re not familiar, basically weighed-and-measured and insulin-controlled), with significantly increased fat to fuel my workouts and keep my tapeworm from eating me alive. Timing is four meals a day and one snack, generally no more than four hours apart. Fat, carbs, and protein with each meal, no processed starch, sugar, or grains. I did the milk thing when I was trying to gain but not currently. I cheat a couple times a week – sometimes more, sometimes less, and lately I’ve been drinking quite a bit as well (I’m in Europe right now on an exchange program), but my situation was not different in the past when I’ve been very strict, so I don’t think the beer’s to blame. Here’s a sample day of my diet right now: vector40 - free online diet and fitness journal
I generally sleep 9.5 hours a night.
Anyway, that seems about the bulk of it. Let me know if anyone needs other info. But basically I’m already doing most of the things I can think of to try. If I just eat less I lose a bit of fat maybe, some muscle too, and the stubborn shit goes nowhere. Not sure where to go from here.
Thanks in advance…