As a collegiate athlete I basically have only worked out consistently from around 8-12 weeks at a time during the off-season. The rest of the time worked out 2 days a week with the team in-season lifts for maintenance. I feel I have a decent base but would like y’alls help.
Body Stats: I am 24 years old, 6’ 170lbs around 11% body fat. I have a scale that measures everything and I take a daily average.
Diet: I am cutting some body fat right now aiming to get to 8-9% bf by the end of the summer. I’m a member of Avatar Nutrition (which I highly recommend) for tracking my calories and macro’s which are currently at: 2123 calories- 158p, 213c, 71f.
Supplements: whey protein, creatine monohydrate & fish oil
Workout: I have currently been following Christian Thibaudeau’s Best Damn Workout Plan For Natural Lifters and I’m liking it a lot. I’m planning to continue to do it into fall.
For my cardio I either do sprints or hiit recumbent cycling twice a week.
Here are some pictures of me for reference, I know that this isn’t the rate my physique section, but I feel that pictures could help with what areas y’all believe I should improve and how I should approach my training. What do y’all think I need to start doing or should focus on? Any criticism is appreciated.
P.S. I have had 2 rotator cuff surgeries. I tore my subscapularis(the rotator cuff muscle attached to the inside of your scapula) and have some definite issues that years worth of PT could not fix. It’s just an issue I deal with now but is not normally a hindrance.
I don’t understand… You are looking to become a bodybuilder? You obviously don’t have enough lean body mass at the moment (although legs are definitely a strong point) and yet you want to continue to cut?
Your on a good program and your on a (self proclaimed) good nutrition plan. I’m not sure what you think cutting will achieve for you right now. I would say go on a lean bulk for the next 2-3 years and see where your at than.
Thanks for the input. No, I don’t want to be a bodybuilder, I just want to improve my physique. Improving your physique is “bodybuilding” which I also said I was new to.
The cut I started doing was because I was previously 207lbs, around 17% bf. I did not believe I should start bulking when I was already overweight.
My “self proclaimed” good diet is backed by data and advocated by another natural lifter like myself, Layne Norton. I believe it has been helping me, so I will stick with that for now.
A lean bulk at my previous weight and body fat did not make much sense to me to just keep getting fatter. I do understand that I need to add lean mass to my upper body to help fill out my physique.
That’s fair enough. Don’t get me wrong, I wrote ‘self proclaimed’ as I don’t have any experience with the diet so I can only assume it is good from your word. If it’s working for you than its a good diet.
No your right. It was a smart idea to diet down. I think you are at a perfect point to start a slow and steady lean mass gaining strategy. I would continue to do your CT program and reassess after it is over to where you are and where you want to go from there. You will get more out of it on a slight calorie surplus.
I d pick another program like one of these below. -That ‘Best Damn one’ gives very inconsistent results/burns out a lot of guys and all the constant failure work is not good for a beginner or someone with major shoulder issues. Pretty much any other Thib template is fine
Thanks, I haven’t read that about the Best Damn workout but its understandable. I will look at the other programs to see which would be the best for me.
Also, I’ll up the protein when I start my reverse diet and lean bulk. What makes you think more protein right now would be beneficial?
