Skinnyfat. What's the Solution?

I’ll come to the defence of Ripptoe and SS/Texas, but with a caveat. Back in 2010 to 2013 when I done weights for rugby I used SS and then Texas to get bigger and stronger. It worked. They are good programs to get people stronger and quickly.
But that’s the issueas you say, the rate of increase can be considered too fast for most, especially smaller guys. And stalling is not a nice feeling.

For example. I have a friend (who weighs 70kg) who started SS just after the new years and is very close to stalling on his OHP already. It’s a bit demoralising as all he sees is “5 work outs in and I’m already struggling”. Not that in 3 weeks he’s added 62% to his OHP and if we use the 75% rule his ORM is now about 42.5kg, or 65% of his body weight. Or that his OHP is now higher than his bench press would have been if we’d have tested it on January the first. Nope just the impending fear of failure.

So the best thing about SS is the worst. You’ll get strong fast. But, unless you’re big and don’t mind eating like a king. You’re going to stall early and hard.

As for Texas – humm. I liked it. But I was 25 ate like a king and could dedicate my life to fitness and rugby. I was a machine and ate as such.

I only recommended SS as I’ve done it and know it inside and out. So I can help out more with program ETC. Just trying to get him to lift big and hard and often.

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You really can’t build that much strength on SS in that little time. What SS really does is reveal the strength you already have. It’s fine for getting you from squatting the bar to something that truly represents your current strength level, but after that you are best off moving to a real strength building program like 5/3/1.

Do Westside for Skinny Bastards.

ok now this might be the most ridiculous statement in this thread.

Why in the world would you believe this is the case? You’re essentially saying that squatting 6 sets of 5 heavy reps every week will not build strength. That’s utter nonsense. OF COURSE you will get stronger doing that, particularly if you are new to lifting. If I ran starting strength, even at the level I’m at, which is squatting 560x1 unwrapped, I could improve my squat. And I can guarantee you I’m well past the point of just ‘revealing strengh that was already there’.

Which is why I will say, for the millionth time, that I hate it when beginners try to give advice to beginners. They say shit like this, and everybody loses.

@carlbm I read your post as well. Stalling is not a nice feeling, but that’s not a peculiar thing to SS. It happens to all lifters. And if you progress quickly, you will stall sooner. But that’s a good thing. You’re stalling at the same point you would have otherwise, you just got there sooner, and you can move to a different program at that point.

You guys are just putting too much stock in programming, and attributing things to this program and that that aren’t really there.

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So, first things first. If you’re cutting and you’re stronger, you’re doing it right. Do what works for you, period. If you find that your body responds to a particular protocol, use it. There are no cookie cutter answers for cutting, it’s something that needs to be catered to individual needs. Stick to what works, until it doesn’t work anymore, and adjust from there. I’ve seen people start cuts at 800g carbs. I’ve seen people start at 100g. Both can work, as part of a bigger picture, in the right context.

yes, that’s often more than is necessary. 1g/ lb of bodyweight is not a bad rule of thumb, my starting point would be more like .8g/lb, but 1 is fine to gauge response. 1.5-2g/lb used to be advocated all over the place, often as a minimum. That’s out of line for most people.

The thing I would manipulate more for a cut than protein is carbs. I want to acclimate my body to a very high carb diet when I’m not cutting, so that when I do want to cut, that’s the only variable I need to change for most of the process. Clearly, this is easier said than done, but it works. If you can start a diet at 500g carbs per day, you can continually cut 50g of carbs out of your diet here and there all the way to contest shape. Think about where I’m at right now. 500 is on the low end of what I eat right now. If I wanted to get into contest shape, I have a sure-fire way to cut fat quickly.

Drugs play a part in cutting for some people. I have never used drugs for cutting, so I can’t speak specifically to it, but IMO, they are most useful at the end of a contest cut, to get to ‘another level’, or to accelerate a cut near the end.

Training age and experience always matter. Those things affect the way you adapt to diet, without a doubt. They affect metabolism, response to lifting, etc.

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Mon(chest/triceps) - DB Chest Press, BB Incline, Weighted Dips, Cross Overs, Triceps Pulldown. 15 sets.
Tue(rhoenboids/biceps) - Pendlay/T-Bar Rows, Cable Rows, DB Rows, Hammer Curls, Preacher Curls. 13 sets.
Wed - Day off
Thu(Lower back) - Deadlift, Front Squats, Lunges, Ham Curls, Calf Raises. 17 sets.
Fri(Shoulders/Lats) - DB Press, Weighted Pullups, Front Raises, Lat Pulldown, Face Pulls. 15 sets.

What do u think? Does it look good?

The only worry i have is that i train every musclegroup just 1 time in a week.

Disclaimer: Noob Lifter is responding here

It’s alright, you’d probably need a bit more front and side delt work, and lower back fatigue will become an issue on leg day once you get stronger.

I highly recommend you try any program on TN written by Dan John, Jim Wendler, Christian Thibaudeau (hope I spelt that correctly) or Charles Staley.

If you think this is true based on the program you wrote, I’d just pick an established program.

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Curious: without knowing sets and reps, how were you able to evaluate it? That is what prevented me from giving it feedback.

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once again, the beginner proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that he has no business giving advice.

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What are your llifts? Do you deadlift 400 yet and bench 2 plates for a few reps? if so carry on ignoring the advice and proven strategies youve been advised(for free) to do and carry on with whats working

As Flip has said anything can work if you actually get in the gym regularily and train balls out. So, whatever. Good luck.

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But guys, cardio, can i add it? For example, 45 min of lifting, and straight after, 30 min cardio? Or will this fukk my muscle?

I believe that’s the answer

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Well I was trying to get a sense from the total sets per workout he was giving…

Fair. I’ll head back to mumma’s basement.

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without reps, that’s a meaningless number.

Let’s say I told you I did 10 working sets on squats. What does this mean? It could mean I did 10x10. Which would be enormous volume, and very difficult for even an experienced lifter. It would probably take like an hour, you wouldn’t really need any other lifting that day. What if I said it was 10x20? Then you’d have to say ‘the load couldn’t be heavy enough for that to be effective. That’s basically just cardio’. What if I said it was 10x3? That’d be a pretty sweet spot for a lot of goals. You could say that’s about right, and you could still incorporate other work that day. What if I said it was 10 singles at 70% of my max? Then you would say ‘oh, must be a deload week, that’s basically nothing’.

I know I was cursory in my first response, I can do better. This is better.

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expert

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Currently started to lift again after a longer break, my goal is a tighter body and fat removal. I am not fat, more skinnyfat. The program i will go for is a Fierce 5, upper/lower:

Upper A
Bench 3x5
Incline Bench 3x8
Lat Pulldowns 3x8 (any grip)
Bent Over Rows 3x8
Curls 3x10/Reverse Flies 3x12 Superset

Lower A
Squats 3x5
Weighted Back Extensions 3x8
Leg Press 3x10
Leg Curls 3x10
Ab work 3x15/Calf raises 3x12 Superset

Upper B
OHP 3x5
Flies 3x10
Pullups 3x8
Pendlay Rows 3x8
Face Pulls 3x12/Tricep pressdowns 3x10 Superset

Lower B
Front Squat 3x5
Romanian Deadlift 3x8
Leg Extensions 3x10
Leg Curls 3x10
Ab work 3x15/Calf Raises 3x12 Superset

But can i do this on maintance/small deficit, or? Is it possible? I will eat proper food, with high protein and low fat.

Any reason you opted for the intermediate program?

I though you were new to this? There is a beguineers program for a reason.

In my limited experience I will say.
It looks okay. As a Newbie you might struggle doing more than one exercise per muscle group each day.
Bench followed by incline bench, followed by flies.
Lat pull downs, bent over rows followed by curls.

This might be too much. Which is why the novice program does one exercise per muscle group.
But it will work better than doing nothing!
But again. Use the newbie program. There is nothing wrong with it.

Because i like to push myself, and the program looks quiet good for beginners. It contains not many excercies, and the excercies contains the full body.

I could also pick the Fierce 5 original one, but i dont like that its just 3 days.

More is not always better.

Honestly - I would simply stick the full body beginners work out. And maybe (as in maybe depending on your preference) swap the Romanian deadlift for a normal deadlift.
Your choice.

Either way crack on. No one got stronger posting about it online.