I began lifting in March 2019, when I weighed 100 kgs and had high blood pressure. Consistency in working out and maintaining a calorific deficit worked wonderfully for me, and I’ve now crossed my goal weight (I used to think 75 kgs would be amazing when I started) and eliminated my blood pressure problems. I’m not a beginner per se, but I am far from being shredded too.
My areas of concern now are the loose fat / skin hanging off the extremities of my chest, and from the lower abdomen. While these areas have improved massively from what they once were, I now really want to make the push to look as good as I feel.
Through lockdown, I’ve been improvising home workouts with a pair of 10 kg dumbbells, which while light, force me to focus on basic moves and form. My current routine looks like this:
A full body workout, every morning, 6 times a week. This starts with 5 mins of stretching. Then its 4 sets (60 reps) of push ups, bench dips, db bicep curls, db shoulder press, db squat, db deadlift, db chest press, db shrug, db calf raise, Russian twists, and leg raises. For closers, its a 60s regular plank, and 30s side planks.
An interval running session, every evening, 6 times a week. This basically involves alternating sets of running / walking to get to a total step count of 10k. I tend to work with 600m segments (10 terrace laps) for each interval.
On rest days, I pack in a shorter pushup routine (6 variations, 60 reps each), and a straight out 10k steps walk.
This reads as intense, I suppose, but the light weights and the small intervals help me recover amply. Always happy to optimise though.
In terms of food, I’m taking in around 2000 calories a day. This is from 110g of protein, 220g of carbs, 65g of fat, and 25g of fiber, give or take. The numbers are based off a calorie counter, but consider room for error there if you’d like.
If it was me, and I’m currently in fat losing mode myself, I would get rid of that last bit of fat around your waist before starting a bulk. You don’t have that much further to go. I’d boost the protein and cut out more of the carbs and fat to make up for it.
I’m always amazed that people have advice to give in threads like these, without even asking the OP what the end goal physique is, lol. How can you give advice on achieving a goal when you don’t know what the goal is?
If your goal is to look like a soccer player, or like brad pitt in fight club, or something, that’s a different answer from if you want to look like a pro bodybuilder, and also different from wanting to just look big and strong, regardless of bodyfat. All kinds of goals out there, and they require different approaches.
A year down the line you’ll have gained muscle mass and lost fat, no matter which one you choose first.If I were you, I’d start with what makes me feel better
What difference does it make? His goal is to lose fat then add muscle. The advice is still pretty much the same. When he reaches whatever his goal is then he can adjust from there.
If his goal was to eventually be a 250 lbs bodybuilder, I would say, don’t cut any more fat now, there’s no point, and it will just make it take longer to reach his overall goals.
If his ultimate goal is to be, say 10 lbs heavier than he is now, and leaner, I would say go ahead and loose that last bit of fat, and then slowly add that 10-20 lbs back on while maintaining a low bodyfat level.
I’ve been in this game a loooong time dragon. And I’ve had a lot of success in it, with myself and helping others. Trust me, I wouldn’t waste my time asking a question if the answer wasn’t relevant to the advice I would give.
In this case, I would advise the latter. ‘looking good naked’ is the absolute most modest goal he could have. And most people who say that don’t really care about much besides abs.
Christ, either way he’s only 31 yrs old. It’s not like he’s got a deadline :^ / I believe I said “if it was me” but ultimately it doesn’t really matter. We’re talking a few weeks give or take. It’s not like either way is right or wrong, it’s just opinion. Get over yourself. BTW, speaking of “looong time” the 1952 part is my birth year.
I meant being in the ‘helping people reach their physique goals’ game, not the ‘existing on this planet’ game. But congrats on being old, I guess?
Depends on how lean we’re talking. Which, again, is why goals matter. If his goal was bodybuilding-contest lean, I’d want 16-20 weeks to program a diet for him, based on where he is now. That’s 4+ months. And during that time, depending on his level of dedication and work ethic, he’d be risking losing lean mass during that time. After which, if ultimately he’s trying to end up adding 50 lbs of muscle, he’ll put fat back on quickly anyway. So at the end of the day, the results we’d expect after 6 months would only have him at a marginally different place than he is now. I’d fire a coach if he led me in that direction.
There are just a ton of variables that matter. BECAUSE the goal revealed to us after I asked the question was so modest, obviously there are plenty of viable options to get there. But if he had lofty bodybuilding goals, setting him back by months would be pretty shitty in my opinion.
Final note and then I’m off: 31 isn’t old, but it’s not that young either for an athlete. I’m 36, and my window for a being a national and/or world champion in my sport is closing FAST. A 6 month setback for me is killer. Which, incidentally, is what I’m experiencing now in the absence of available competitions (because Corona).
And yes, I know my last point is less relevant to this particular case, just sharing my perspective so you have a better idea of where I’m coming from. I won’t be posting in this thread again, best of luck to you, dragon and 98gp
Damn, your skin didn’t handle the weight gain well. But it will improve. Anyway congrats on your progress.
If I were you I would stay at maintenance or very slightly higher, and focus on building quality muscle patiently. Train everything but probably focusing on chest, shoulders, abs a bit more to fill the gap
Focus on whole foods, meat, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, other fats & oils.
Focus your lifts on whole body complex lifts, swings, KB snatches, get ups, pull-ups, farmer walk and deadlifts.
Focus on small INCREMENTAL improvements. They are the most sustainable and most practicable.
Hello again folks! Checking in after a month on this.
I’m now 69.8 kgs, stopped running, and maintaining 6x weekly full body routines (see first post for details). Just wondering if you can see discernible progress, and what you think I should be working towards.
I have dropped down to a 75 cm waist (from 80), and lost 2 cm from the chest. The arms are 0.5 cms down.
I would say you need to stop the high rep training and start lifting heavy weights in the 4-10 rep range. Focus on Squat, Bench, DL, and Presses. Last rep should go to the point right before you need to sacrifice form to get the weight moving. Lift weights 3-5 days per week, not 6, and pick a program that correctly sets up your exercise plan so you’re getting enough recovery time for each muscle group. Eat at maintenance calories or slightly over. If you cut more weight like you’re doing you’re going to get more and more skinny fat.
You seem to be recomping–you are both leaner and have more muscle. Excellent work.
As for the goal of ‘looking good naked’: This is ultimately in the eye of the beholder of course. That said, I think most would agree with the following components:
+Wide shoulders
+Small waist
+Abs
+A tight rear end
IMO, these goals should determine how you program your lifting. Anything that doesn’t advance the ball on reaching one or more of them should be cast aside, or at the least given less priority. (The exceptions being any needed rehab work, or exercises done to promote health.)
I’m going to start with a well done. You are getting results.
My only thing to raise is this:
Typically when you train a muscle you wait 48h minimum before working it out again. This gives it chance to recover.
So 6x fully body a week sounds too much.
How are your lifts looking? Have you been making good progress?
Thanks mate. I only have a pair of 10kg dumbbells to work with, and the gyms are shut here in view of the pandemic.
Lift wise, I’ve been able to increase the number of reps per set. One of the reasons why I’m still sticking to the 6x routine is that I keep on thinking I have to compensate for not being able to lift heavy through the lockdown.
Strength wise, there’s a noticeable improvement to my bodyweight exercises and holds. Even managing basic arm balances, and my headstand game has upped a lot.
