New to the T-Nation

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

Greetz to all! As the title states, I’m new to the T-Nation but I’ve been lurking here for a while trying to absorb as much knowledge as I can on my own. I finally decided it was time to step out of the shadows, introduce myself and become even more active in trying to build a better me.

For someone relatively new to this, the sheer volume of information available is somewhat overwhelming so I would like to put myself at the mercy of the Nation and possibly gleen information that would be more specific to me.

A little about me:
Age: 30
Height: 6’ 7"
Weight: 250
Bodyfat: in the 20% range ALL in my abdomen and love handles
Diet: TDawg Diet 2.0
Workout: Dawg School - what better place to start than the beginning?

Looking at me with my shirt on you would never be able to tell that my BF% is at or above 20%, I look very lean (not lanky), have broad shoulders and good proportion for my height. Once the shirt comes off, all my BF problems lie in my stomach and love handles. My chest isn’t squared off like I want it but everything else seems like it has good potential to get big, (somewhat) naturally musclular bi’s, tri’s, quads and calves. My goal is obviously to rid myself of the spare tire but beyond that I would like to see definition. After I accomplish that I’d like to move on with bulking up but I’m so dissatisfied with my present appearence that I don’t want to concentrate on anything else. I have worked out on and off since getting my first home gym two years ago, no more than 4-5 months at a time without “falling off the wagon” and my diet has always been shit. At 6’7", I’m sure you can imagine my dream of packing on some LBM and becoming a human “solar eclipse”. Which brings me to my first problem, it seems that no matter how hard I worked during my brief periods of motivation, I’ve never seen any gains at all which sapped my motivation and eventually led to me stopping my workouts for about a month at a time. I could be in denial but I’ve always attributed that to my height.

Secondly, regardless of cardio, bullshit fat burners, and half-ass attempts at clean diets, I’ve never been able to shake this spare tire that I have which has also done a number on my motivation.

Moving on… I have been browsing the T-Forums, reading articles and trying to do alot of homework and have committed myself to dropping the excuses and getting on the right track to obtain my goals. I have decided to start all over from scratch and as I mentioned before, I’m 2 weeks into the beginners workout program (Dawg School article) and TDawg Diet 2.0. I have just begun my food log and just purchased some body fat calipers and a food scale to help me nail down the details. The only supplement I’m taking right now is GNC Mega Whey. I don’t have any “before” pics to post at the moment and would probably be too embarrassed to do so even if I did, but If you looked at Christian Thibadeaux’s (apologies for any misspelling) before pics in “Evolution of the Beast”, stretch him out to 6’7" and put another 2-4 inches of love handles on him, that’s pretty close to my present body shape.

Anyways, I’m finally posting here because I’m very impressed with the knowledge of the people on this site, the awesome personal transformations, the lack of bullshit and because I figured if I threw myself out in front of everyone it would help me stay focused and motivated. I’m very open to any suggestions regarding supplements, training, cardio and diet that might apply to someone that is much taller than the average T-Man if such a thing even exists. Thanks to everyone for the information that’s been made available to me on this site and thanks in advance for any advice.

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Dstrbed (I cant remember how you spelled it :slight_smile: one,

Thats one small step for you and one giant leap for spare tire removal.

You already know the first thing that you need to do. Turn that half-assed attempt at eating clean into a full-J-Lo-esque-assed attempt and do it. Sounds like you are on your way there. I cant give nutritional advice like the others here, so Im not going to try. I think of myself more as a motivator. Now I could really careless about most people until they show me that they are worthy of my care, then you’d soon hold back the tide than my willingness to help my friends.

Youve probably already heard that you can’t “spot reduce” fat stores so focusing on the tire might get you depressed at first. Fear not, keep at it and that tire will soon be spewing its unwanted air like Howard Dean after getting spanked in a caucus.

Now Im not gonna mouth off to a 6’7" sumbitch, but you know what you have to do. Youve tried the easy ways and they didnt work, youve tried the hard ways for a while and got lazy or unmotivated.
As youve seen, you came to the right place. The motivation train is in the station and there are tons of people to actually give you advice.

Its your turn…NOW STEP UP…its looking good so far.

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Welcome!

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dstrbd one,
welcome to T-Nation. You want information a little bit more specific to your body type? Welcome to the Lerch Club. I’ve been in that exact same boat you’re rowing. Here’s my current stats:
Age: 31
Height: 6’6
Weight: 305
Bodyfat: 13%

The good news: If you dedicate yourself and work hard, you're gonna see results REAL fast and there's nothing like being what you've called a "Human Eclipse". 10 years ago I was 6'6 at 180lbs and looked like a barbell with legs. Once I started hitting the weights hard I saw quick gains. 
The bad news: You're gonna have to work alot harder than the 5'8 guy to put all that mass on and even harder for it to be noticeable. Even with the quick gains, I had to work harder to put the inch on my arms or chest compared to the guy I was working with who, being 6ft, seemed to bulk up by just lifting his gym bag. This is why you've never seen any gains. You have to work harder and longer to make the same gains other do in half the time. 
I can't really offer you advice on a specific workout as I do alot more powerlifting type work than anything resembling a fat loss/bodybuilding routine. I will tell you that you are going to have to adjust some excercise to what will work better for you. Our height is an advantage in many ways but when it comes to the gym, I've found that adapting some of the ways I do things helps.
Forget the calipers. You're not worried about a specific % of bodyfat. You want to be satisfied with what you see in the mirror. Don't stress yourself over #'s just yet. 
Even if you decide not to post "before" pictures on this forum, do yourself a favor and take them for yourself. You'll thank yourself in a month or so when, once again, you don't see the amount of gains you want. You can go back, look at that pic, and see just how much you HAVE done even if you didn't hit that whole 1" on your guns. 
I can't tell from your post what exactly you're looking to do in the long run...strength? fat loss? size? Depending on your goal pick any of the workouts you see on this site. Pick them apart, adjust them, play around with what works. If it's not fun you're not going to keep going. 
Finally, get yourself some GOOD protein and go at the weights for a month or so till you feel like you're back into it and strong. Then, if you really want a good charge up, get yourself a months supply of MAG for 2 doses a day, and keep those "before" pictures around to laugh at afterwards.

GOOD LUCK. PM me if you’ve got any questions or even if you need some motivation man. Hopefully, we’ll run into each other one day and we’ll have one of those rare double solar/lunar eclipse events…

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dstrbd

Welcome.

I think you named the culprit to both your problems of no gains in the gym, and not losing your spare tire. It is your “half assed attempts @ eating clean.”

By following through with the steps you have begun with following the TDawg 2, food log, measuring foods and such you will begin to get what you have been in desire of.

At the weight you stated in comparison to your height I dont think that your issue should be one of a server hypocaloric diet, but more of concentrating on eating right, and changing your overall body comp… Changing that BF to LBM. Make sure you are getting in enough protein in various sources, ( 250lbs @ 20%BF = 200lbs of lbm, 200x1.5= 300g Protein a day) and your fats in the right amount and approx. equal portion of monos, poly and saturates. (200x.6= 120g of fat) If you are getting at least these in a day, from mainly real food sources (clean), and dedicate yourself to your training, (concentrate on the compound lifts) there is no reason that you cant get great gains.

Above that just keep up with the reading/education that you have started here @ Tmag, and dont simply learn it, put the knowledge to use.

Throw some cardio sessions into the training, eat right, continue to educate yourself, hang on to the motivation and you will change for the better. It aint going to be easy, but it is do able.

Once again welcome and come on back with any further ?'s.

Oh, and is that BF% a guess, or is their any real measurement behind it.

Phill

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By the way Hak’s points on measuring your progress with the mirror and taking befor pics, are ones that you should follow up on.

Phill

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Welcome aboard!

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Thanks for the warm welcome and comments.

hakt0ne, 6’6" 305 13%BF?? That’s awesome and pretty close to where I would like to be. Since our frames are so similar, I will definately be sending a PM your way.

Phill you nailed it when you said I should concentrate on my overall body composition. That’s my most specific and immediate goal. The BF% was an estimate because I’m not sure how to get my “overall” BF%. Measuring with a BF caliper, my midsection is a solid 22% but my upper and lower body sections measure between 6-10% depending on the specific body part (bi’s, tri’s, quads, calves, back,etc.).

Reluctantly, I have taken some “before” pics and have them stashed on my comp for comparison.

Thanks again and you will be hearing from me!

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Welcome, you hit the jackpot as this is a great forum.

Mike Mahler