Hey J, I find it near impossible to do the calorie surplus guideline of 500 over maintenance and make steady progress. I Don’t notice anything until I up the calories plenty. I use my carbs wise, fast acting around training and slow acting when resting. The fast actors are in and out of the system in a few hours and will mostly be used up when training. The slow actors don’t create such as big an insulin spike and work better resting.
I also get in that empty stomach cardio first thing on wake. I find this minimises fat gain. As the body is already in a depleted state it burns away excess and starts the furnace up nicely for the day ahead. I would also get in a 30 min hill walk with the dog after dinner, just enough to work up a good sweat.
Them Rich Piana feeders will keep that calorie burn going while adding size in the right places. If shoulders is your main aim then use the 100 rep side lat raise constant superset with front raise for 60 reps constant burn for 2-3 sets with a few mins rest in between. Might have to start lower to begin, it’s tough going. I’d do this say half hour before bed. No food after. The constant pump on the muscle sticking to the same movement over and over I find is superior to a mixed superset type exercise were the focus shifts to another movement. Doing that kind of gives the muscle a breather in a way.
I guess we are all different though in how our bodies work when it comes to food and fat etc. If the goal is just pure fat lose then Jacks approach is the best. If you want to grow some areas while not getting fat you could try something like this. Its just some ideas I’m throwing your way buddy that I use.
Unfortunately it didn’t look the way I’d hoped. It was spread over 10 months but I think it was still mostly fat. I’ll do a photo check-in once I hit 215 lbs and I’ll put it side by side with my 217 physique to see what, if anything, has changed.
I’ve learnt you don’t get to choose the compliments you get. I’ve even managed to be quietly pleased with being described as “toned” last year. 10 years ago and my blood would have been boiling, but the intention was good so I took it.
Try getting called a bloody midget haha. I used to hate it when people described me. Example - “here mate what will I do with this box”… “ just give it to that wee lad over there “ grrr! . It’s not so bad nowadays but I’d love to be taller. Around 6ft at least. Any workouts for this? Ha.
SEATED OHP (no back support)
95 x 8, 8, 8, 8, 6 I was supposed to do push press but I can’t do overhead lifts in my basement unless I sit. This was probably a better shoulder workout anyway.
DB INCLINE
60 x 10, 10, 7
DB INCLINE FLY
25 x 20, 15
superset with
DB INCLINE
25 x 20, 15 I went to failure on fly’s and immediately switched to presses. It feels awkward when I reach that type of fatigue. My arms kind of do their own thing.
LAT DB RAISE
25 x 10, 10 dropset
25 x 10, 15 x 10, 10 x 15, 5 x 15
AB WHEEL
20 regular
10 standing partial reps to the wall
Your analaogy (and brother’s experience) are perfect for this situation. Maybe it’s a male thing; maybe it pertains especially to competitive people; whichever the cause may be, I can echo what you said, both experientially and observationally. My brothers, friends, and myself, particularly before full adult responsibilities kicked in, would go through cycles of wanting to be healthy - putting on mass and gaining strength - focusing more on training and the gym - enjoying it less - getting burnt out, injured, or both.
Exactly right! Stated another way - “I praise you, for I am awesomely, wondrously made; Your work is wonderful; I know it very well.” Psalm 139:14
Woke at 223.0 lbs. I was hoping for 222 something. Overall, I’m still trending downwards. I got spoiled but the 221 and 220 readings from early in the week. I was hoping that was my new normal since it occurred several days in a row.
I was 500+ calories over budget Thursday and 400+ under yesterday so I think I successfully snuck my pizza treat into the mix without sabotaging myself. Looking forward to my chicken wing binge. I think I’m going to make a night of it with a couple co-workers.
Last night’s family dinner turned out much better than expected. We ended up getting a couple rotisserie chickens from Sam’s. My wife made potatoes in the oven and my parents brought salad and veggies. I ate way more than I’ve been eating in one sitting but I still came in under my calories. My wife bought a pack of chocolate chunk cookies at Sam’s for some reason. They’re 220 calories a piece. I ate one and then opted for a Clif Builder protein bar for the rest of my dessert. It was only 50 calories more and had 20g of protein. The cookies are also a little dry and firm. That’s too bad but it’s also saving me from eating them three at a time.
I’m due for my shoulder workout today but the wind chill is going to be below 0 Deg F all day. That means I’m dressed warm. I have my flannel pajama pants on under my work pants and a long sleeve under my uniform shirt. If I work hard then I’ll get hot and sweaty and then I’ll have a wet undershirt. I definitely won’t be doing push press. I could opt for regular OHP again.
Speaking of work pants. I’m wearing my smaller pants with another pair of pants under them. These pants were getting snug at the end of 2018 and now I’m layered up and they’re still loose.
Are your family and. Friends on board with your dieting? It happens to me all the time… I’ll be hands down the fittest one of our group when we’re out and trying to order something that works. (You know like getting romaine leaves instead of tortillas with fajitas) and it never fails. Someone is always like, why don’t you just eat normal? Your already in good shape. I find dedication and discipline to be a very admirable characteristic. I’m moticated when I see someone staying strong and not caving to temptation. It feels like it’s the opposite for most people. They think your weird for denying yourself at times. Sorry… rant over. Just annoying to me
@jackolee yeah that’s annoying. I’ve learned to just ignore it. People just dont understand it, so they question it. The real idiots make jokes about it. I take customers out to lunch pretty much daily and the same 5 or so always have some smart ass comment. Everyone of them are fat as hell. I laugh it off with them bc I need them to keep buying from me so I can buy my lean protein
Thanks! Luckily you can force weight loss (unlike adding muscle). My goal is to lose two pounds a week. I don’t want to drag this out.
I think they know me well enough by now to understand me. My wife is more picky than I am. She’s vegan and she sticks to it. She doesn’t impose her eating on others; she just abstains from the meat and cheese.
I’m pretty sure my parents think I’m crazy because I’ll still weigh my food when they’re over. I’m just not good at estimating. Every time I stop weighing and tracking I don’t get the results I want. I’m always unpleasantly surprised when I track my food for a day just to check myself. I’m always underestimating everything. I think I’m eating six ounces of meat and it’s 10. I think I’m having two servings of a condiment and it’s five. I suck.
I get this crap at work. The fatter people say crap like “Eat a donut.” “Eat a cheeseburger.” And I’ve heard the same stuff about already being thin or in good shape so go ahead and eat some garbage. I can’t ever speak my mind but I’m thinking “Well, fat ass, the reason I look this way is because I don’t eat like you.”
And then when people see me eating junk, they like to talk about how I’m lucky to be able to eat that and be thin… freaking idiots. “You spend zero hours a year in the gym and I go six days a week. I also weigh and measure my food nearly every day. I’m not lucky; I’m obsessive. This doesn’t happen by accident.”
I can never speak my mind because apparently I’m a jerk.
I don’t even take the time to change during my lunch break workouts. I get 30 minutes. The gym is like 10 minutes from my patrol area. My Sgt told me to check enroute to the city building and then officially check out for my lunch when I’m actually ready to start my workout. I’m usually already “busy” for about 20 minutes before I start my workout. I train for my 30 minutes and then take any extra time I can get after that. Dispatch (should) automatically show me “available” after 30 minutes. I’ll keep training until I’m done or until I get sent to a call.
I don’t really have time to change clothes. Well, I guess I technically do but it would just take me that much longer to get back to work and I feel bad enough the way it is. It’d be nice if we had a gym at the station because it’s one block off of my patrol area.
When I get to the gym, I take off my vest and duty belt and get to work. I also plan my training week so that I can do what I need to do in this clothing and footwear.
Like you, I’ve thought this many times but then I swallow my pride and respond with something much kinder lol! I really wish that I could be an ass for a day without retribution.
Yeah, I’m pretty lucky at work. For the most part I just get some funny looks at my giant salad and can of tuna or chicken, but when we’re doing a group feed in the department there’s always some comments and some peer pressure to pig out, but I just laugh it off. My cheats are (almost) never at work, but out with the family at nice restaurants.
I’m actually wearing a pair of jeans right now that I had relegated to the back of the closet as unwearable a couple years ago. There’s some definite benefits to this ‘getting thinner’ thing.
B. O. REV CABLE FLY
20 x 10, 8
20 x 6, 10 x 10 dropset
DB OHP (dropset)
30 x 19
20 x 10
10 x 16
5 x 30 lateral raises
23 minutes. I did a few sets of hip strengthening exercises to finish. My knee is still hurting pretty bad on stairs. Sometimes I feel the stabbing pain in my knee and hip at the same time. It feels like the two ends of the same muscle/tissue. The IT stuff will be my focus for PT Wednesday. And I won’t be playing basketball this week.
