Thank you! Will shoot for 3500 cals! Will that be enough for muscle growth and maybe for a bit of fat loss? At the moment I want to lean down a bit before putting on some quality mass. What do you think? I feel too fat to bulk at the moment!
A couple of things…1.) I personally don’t like 5/3/1 especially for someone trying to improve their physique, not saying that it can’t be useful or isn’t beneficial but just refer to the recent article by Dave Tate. He specifically says that you look like a bodybuilder you MUST train like one. He also mentions the importance of diet, which is just as important if not more than the training itself.
2.) I’m not sure if I love that diet…judging by your physique you may be a little carb sensitive (only a guess) and so a carb cycling approach may be more suitable for you. That’s a lot of fat too…carb cycling usually follows a High, Medium, Low carb day. On the lower carb days you increase fat, on high carb you have very little fat…Or you could look up the past article where they discuss the 100g of carb a day diet…or you can try having carbs only pre and post workout…my point is there are a couple different things you can do so I suggest reading up on them a bit more and picking one.
3.) I don’t think you’ve mentioned cardio which is obviously a helpful tool in weight loss…I don’t personally like HIIT, despite the claims that it helps preserve muscle I find that it does quite the opposite. I prefer a low intensity cardio.
4.) supplements get kind of a bad rep on here but they can be very useful as well when trying to lose weight…fish oil, a thermogenic, cla, etc etc.
220lbs! are you tall? and they are some big love handles there. Calves need some work but apart from that your strength sounds pretty good.
what’s ground beef? Is that like normal beef?
I think you have a good base, just carrying too much bodyfat. If I were in your shoes, I would maybe try eating in that 3000-3500kcal range, see what happens, but then maybe transition to a fullblown diet. Get lean, see how you look, then build back up but with a proper diet.
[quote]Bunny Bench wrote:
what’s ground beef? Is that like normal beef?[/quote]
Its like hamburger meat or minced meat
[quote]fd24 wrote:
A couple of things…1.) I personally don’t like 5/3/1 especially for someone trying to improve their physique, not saying that it can’t be useful or isn’t beneficial but just refer to the recent article by Dave Tate. He specifically says that you look like a bodybuilder you MUST train like one. He also mentions the importance of diet, which is just as important if not more than the training itself.
2.) I’m not sure if I love that diet…judging by your physique you may be a little carb sensitive (only a guess) and so a carb cycling approach may be more suitable for you. That’s a lot of fat too…carb cycling usually follows a High, Medium, Low carb day. On the lower carb days you increase fat, on high carb you have very little fat…Or you could look up the past article where they discuss the 100g of carb a day diet…or you can try having carbs only pre and post workout…my point is there are a couple different things you can do so I suggest reading up on them a bit more and picking one.
3.) I don’t think you’ve mentioned cardio which is obviously a helpful tool in weight loss…I don’t personally like HIIT, despite the claims that it helps preserve muscle I find that it does quite the opposite. I prefer a low intensity cardio.
4.) supplements get kind of a bad rep on here but they can be very useful as well when trying to lose weight…fish oil, a thermogenic, cla, etc etc.[/quote]
- Ive read Dave’s article, but will make sure to do it again. It made a lot of sense!
- Yes, I do think I am carb sensitive. I did a keto a few weeks ago, but couldnt sustain it due to life constraints. I had more energy on the keto than I have eating carbs. When I reintroduced carbs it immediately blew me up. Thats why I want to do a more low carb approach! Unfortunately I store most of my fat around my midsection, hence the big love handles!
- Yeah, I dont do a lot of cardio. I know its an helpful aid and I must do more.
- Im not a big supplement fan but I do believe in whey and some thermogenics to be beneficial.
you look fucked up. start cutting
my .02 cents
you don’t look fucked up. At least your training, more then what most people can say. Your body composition probably isn’t something your happy about. So lean out. Your going to have carb cycling thrown in, Micro-nutrients, blah, blah. All good stuff, but really if you just eat half way decent, and start doing cardio by mid Summer I bet you’d be fairly leaned out, and feel healthier.
Dave Tate says train like a bodybuilder, and I’m sure he’s right. But, Arnold was a powerlifter to begin with, and said it was the reason for his success. Your building your foundation 1 to 5 years of heavy eating, and lifting while trying to stay relatively lean. After the foundation is built, perfect the physique. Train in the 8-12 rep range, go heavy as you can stand, work as hard as you manage. Go in cycles where you use 5/3/1, westside whatever you choose, and up the weights. Your 19 just keep working, consistency is the key to everything.
You can also look into doing fasted cardio, there was an article on it a few months ago:
Wake up early take a caffeine tablet if you like and go 45 min of cardio. Eat after. You can also practice spot reduction by working your abdominals some before hand. I think the article made a big point to not make it High-intensity as to prevent muscle deterioration. Ill look for the article and repost it here.
First off, ignore dumbasses like ultralars.
Second, you’re only 19, so consider yourself ahead of the game. Definitely do some searches around the forum for topics you’re interested in. Keywords that will be useful for you would include “cutting,” “routine,” and “diet.”
I would start there ^^ and work your way around.
Your biggest problem is that you are always horizontal…
Seriously, decent muscular base, especially for your age. As you already know, lose the bodyfat. You will look bigger. Maybe look into the V-Diet to get the process kick-started if you are having trouble with your diet. You are young, so your metabolism shouldn’t be an issue, but if you have trouble keeping your diet in check, the V-Diet can reprogram your body and get rid of those cravings for sweets.
Good luck to you.
Right. I had a physique similar to you when I was in my early twenties, so I feel I can offer you some advice.
Firstly: Diet. you can’t out train a bad diet, no one has tried harder to do this than me, it doesn’t work. Repeat this out loud ten times and never forget it, then repeat it out loud again before you eat something.
I have a major sweet tooth just like you-and it’s a one way ticket to chubby town! Its easy out lining a diet which will revolutionize your physique, but for me, and many people implementing major changes isn’t quite that simple. The first thing I would do is try and cut out out all fizzy drinks and sweets, the key thing is finding something to replace them with. Make sure you’ve got a bag of fruit or mixed nuts and a bottle of sparkling mineral water to keep you going when you leave the house, I won’t go on but you get the picture. My main point is just to be prepared with replacements for the food you are used to and will be missing, once you get used to feeling leaner, healthier and stronger with more energy you’ll enjoy eating shitty foods less.
As for 5/3/1 I’m guessing your keen to preserve your strength levels, 5/3/1 is actually quite a voluminous workload for many people, including me. I think it may serve you well at least while your making dietary changes and adjusting your body composition, I used it for about 6 months and made decent progress, although BB isn’t my goal I did build muscle and lose fat.
Good luck
[quote]tnt2005 wrote:
my .02 cents
you don’t look fucked up. At least your training, more then what most people can say. Your body composition probably isn’t something your happy about. So lean out. Your going to have carb cycling thrown in, Micro-nutrients, blah, blah. All good stuff, but really if you just eat half way decent, and start doing cardio by mid Summer I bet you’d be fairly leaned out, and feel healthier.
Dave Tate says train like a bodybuilder, and I’m sure he’s right. But, Arnold was a powerlifter to begin with, and said it was the reason for his success. Your building your foundation 1 to 5 years of heavy eating, and lifting while trying to stay relatively lean. After the foundation is built, perfect the physique. Train in the 8-12 rep range, go heavy as you can stand, work as hard as you manage. Go in cycles where you use 5/3/1, westside whatever you choose, and up the weights. Your 19 just keep working, consistency is the key to everything.[/quote]
Wow! What a classy guy. We need more of you around here!
Thanks for all the help/kind replies. I will try my best, do more research and post new pics in a few months to show progress.
[quote]Bunny Bench wrote:
what’s ground beef? Is that like normal beef?[/quote]
It comes from cows with no legs.