Where Would You Go From Here?


Hey all,

I just wanted to ask where you would go from here based on these pics. Any programs or diet tips you can recommend would be great.

Thanks

Here is a back picture

What are your goals/nutrition/training like mate?

Goals are to lose fat for now and then put on size later. Ideally would like to do both at the same time.

Currently not counting calories but implementing a portion control type of diet.

Protein would be palm size, carbs fist size, and fats from beef and turkey.

I am doing a 6 day split hitting each muscle twice a week. Reps change every week. Its about a 5 week template I found. I went through it once and going through it again now.

week 1, 12 reps with 3 second eccentric
week 2, 10 reps with 3 seconds eccentric
week 3, 8 reps with 2 second eccentric
week 4 6 reps with 2 second eccentric
week 5, 4 reps with no eccentric

Thanks

exercise selection is more important than number of reps/eccentric time. What you posted tells us absolutely nothing important about your programming.

What the hell is the palm size/fist size garbage? How do you measure liquids that way? Count your macros dude, it’s not that hard. Unless you simply don’t care very much about your physique. If that’s the case, keep doing what you’re doing.

I’m also curious what ‘no eccentric’ means for most exercises. You literally have to drop the weight to not have an eccentric portion of the movement. I’m guessing that’s not what you actually mean. If what you mean is simply lowering the weight as fast as possible, this seems like it could be problematic on some movements. If you’re doing 4 reps, I’m assuming the load is relatively heavy. So let’s use bench press as an example. You’re going to use a heavy load on bench press, and drop it to your chest as fast as possible? That’s not smart. Probably not smart for squats either. In fact, aside from deadlift, I can’t see this being a good idea at all.

Not counting macros right now but have no problem doing it. Where would you start?

As far as the training I am just hitting each muscle group twice a week and focusing on the mind muscle connection since that has been an issue for me.

There are also mobility issues so when I squat I have to use plates under my heels which from my understanding does not allow me to recruit the proper muscle fibers when lifting. Not an expert and not pretending ot be one but that i what I have been able to understand from the research I have done.

Mobility can be fixed with persistence, treat it like its own workout, don’t skirt around it because it sucks to do. Eventually it will help you be a better lifter, prevent injury etc.
I would definitely advise compound lifts such as Military press, Deadlift, Squat and Bench as your primary lifts, because there is no point doing an isolation exercise if you don’t have sufficient muscle to isolate in the first place…“you flex bone” as dave tate would say.

They will held you develop a balanced and strong physique, a framework to your next goals to, you know?
Nutrition wise, you can literally google ‘flexible dieting calculator’ and it will give you an estimated ratio and total cals…then just see what works for you from there. Same with weights and rep tempo…you can read all the literature in the world but everyone has a different muscle fibre ratio, therefore some people benefit more from slow reps and others from explosive reps or a mix of each. The compound lifts don’t change, they have always worked, and they will always work.

Thanks.

I have been doing compound lift for a while. If I use plates under my heels does that take away from the benefit of the exercise - ie squat.

I know Poliquin uses that technique with some of his athletes.

Where would you start with your macros?

50/30/20 of Carbs/Protein/Fats is always a pretty basic start man. I suggest just giving something a try and see how your body responds.
I go 50/25/25 C/P/F for between 3600 and 4000, all food too and I’m reasonably lean and I only lift heavy 4 days a week. No need to be scared of carbs and fats if they are carbohydrate from whole foods and fats from fish, nuts and vegetables ie. poly and monounsaturated.
keep added and refined sugars to a minimum, same with saturated and trans fat.

some people eat like 2 to 3g protein per lb of bodyweight and shit like that, but its pretty expensive and unless you are genuinely breaking the muscle down to that point, you’re just going to shit it out anyways.

Do you understand the basic premise behind a calorie surplus and deficit?

http://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/node/add/calculator-energy

Something like this will give you a guide as to how many cals/day to maintain health…eat like 400-600 less to lose weight and as much as you are willing to in order to put on mass, basically.
The body is a little more complex than that, in terms of the individual’s metabolic rate etc, but its a pretty basic concept.

[quote]afink32 wrote:
Thanks.

I have been doing compound lift for a while. If I use plates under my heels does that take away from the benefit of the exercise - ie squat.

I know Poliquin uses that technique with some of his athletes. [/quote]

I doubt it. Weightlifting shoes have a raised heel, I doubt olympic weightlifters and competitive powerlifters would wear them if negatively affected the exercise bud.

[quote]kleinhound wrote:

[quote]afink32 wrote:
Thanks.

I have been doing compound lift for a while. If I use plates under my heels does that take away from the benefit of the exercise - ie squat.

I know Poliquin uses that technique with some of his athletes. [/quote]

I doubt it. Weightlifting shoes have a raised heel, I doubt olympic weightlifters and competitive powerlifters would wear them if negatively affected the exercise bud.[/quote]

I wear lifting shoes with a heel. Most lifters seem to now, even in powerlifting. I would say most lifters can achieve considerable leg development with a raised heel.

But kleinhound, I would consider the fact that the reason oly lifters and powerlifters use these shoes is because it makes the lift easier. So depending on goals, that’s not necessarily optimal. I feel like your answer was a bit smug and lacked proper consideration. If one of the goals for of squatting for an individual is to further develop ankle and hip flexibility, weight lifting shoes are not necessarily a good thing. nor are they necessarily optimal for someone who competes in a sport where they can’t wear these shoes. I can’t see them being beneficial to a lot of athletes in sports outside strength sports. Even crossfitters need to be able to squat properly without them, because they can’t always change shoes in their events.

Just some things to think about. For the OP’s purposes I think you’re right, they won’t be detrimental, but in a broader sense, the answer is not so cut and dry.

I would add some more protein and get on a real strength program like Madcow 5x5 or 5/3/1. You don’t have much fat or much muscle. Get twice as strong and then worry about details.

Thanks for the tips. Any online coaches here that can take me by the wing?

[quote]kleinhound wrote:
50/30/20 of Carbs/Protein/Fats is always a pretty basic start man. I suggest just giving something a try and see how your body responds.
I go 50/25/25 C/P/F for between 3600 and 4000, all food too and I’m reasonably lean and I only lift heavy 4 days a week. No need to be scared of carbs and fats if they are carbohydrate from whole foods and fats from fish, nuts and vegetables ie. poly and monounsaturated.
keep added and refined sugars to a minimum, same with saturated and trans fat.

some people eat like 2 to 3g protein per lb of bodyweight and shit like that, but its pretty expensive and unless you are genuinely breaking the muscle down to that point, you’re just going to shit it out anyways.
[/quote]
Mostly good advice, except for the fat sources. Stay away from “vegetable” fats. Eat animal fats, nut at fruit fats (coconut, avocado, olive). Polyunsaturated and man-made trans fats are the worst kind. Naturally occurring saturated fats are healthy.

So would you suggest I focus on fat loss or muscle gain?

Tough question, but it’s really personal preference my friend.
Maybe give fat loss a go first, because it might help reveal where you are most/least muscular and therefore give you a scope of what to work on?
For me, if i tried to do a cutting type diet I would get ripped, but I also fade away to nothing IMO, because my upper body isn’t as full as I would like it to be, so my priority is dense muscle. I guess it’s just personal preference from here buddy, but from your photos I would say you’re in a good place to really try either.

From those pictures you look like someone who plays soccer on a semidaily basis, but simply getting a lot leaner will cast an illusion of size… but actually HAVING some size and density would be a more long term solution. Have you ever been really lean with all abs showing? If you are naturally lean and this is what you look like after “bulking” (skinny-soft) then yeah…you should focus on gaining but be more careful with your food choices as well as training paradigm.

How long have you been training?
How old are you?
What are your lifts?