Lift, run, exercise, work outside daily
Burning 3000 calories plus (according to fitbit)
Not following diet plan very well, getting plenty of protein, though
2 years on TRT, feeling great
Love eating food, tend to get fat if not careful
The scale says bodyfat is around 18%, which seems somewhat accurate, 205-210 pounds
I need an honest opinion: do i look like one of those fat guys who goes to the gym? or do I actually look fit? Should I focus more on losing fat or just maintain?
I don’t want to get any bigger, just enjoy lifting and slowly increasing weight.
My first thought is to just eat clean and allow a natural transition to a better body composition. Make sure you are eating enough to not lose any strength. Keep close attention to the scale and mirror.
I find this very difficult to comprehend. My primary goal for going to the gym was to get bigger. More muscle.
“Increasing weight”? Is this body weight or ability to lift heavier weight, more reps? Or both?
You look strong. The one thing that makes you “look fat” is the gut, the rest looks fine.
Were you bigger at some point and lost weight? Kinda looks like there is some extra skin.
Thanks - I used to be the fat kid, so, I have to be careful that I don’t allow that to creep back in. I’m not going on stage, just wanting to improve strength and look decent.
I don’t think you need to go on an all out cut. I would just throw in some extra ab work. In the first two pictures it isn’t noticeable, but the second two pics it is.
You are not overly fat from a non-competitive perspective.
A clean diet will be working to stabilize your blood sugar, which favors nutrient partitioning to the muscles.
Keeping your strength is keeping your muscles, which burn more calories than fat burns. I would tell people who questioned my diet having too much food: “I burn more calories while I sleep than you do running.”
Looking big and strong! In my opinion, you’d look even better if you dropped a little fat… and you’d probably look “bigger” being a little more defined.
As others said, I don’t think you need a “cut” or a strict diet. Given your activity level and muscle mass, little diet tweaks would go a long way. Wanna share more diet details? Maybe we can find a couple of things to swap around that would lead to a steady loss of fat without too much pain.
Also, when men hit their mid-40, priorities usually shift. For me, I had to come to the realization that I probably wasn’t going to suddenly gain another 20 pounds of muscle after all these years of lifting. Genetic limit was just about reached. So I shifted to more of a health focus, which mainly meant staying lean. Still lifted hard, but the focus shifted, mainly with diet and supplements. That itself can be very rewarding. And abs are fun.
Thanks - I have a hard time staying consistent with the diet and that is my biggest problem. I generally eat high protein, moderate fat, moderate carb. I think it is clear that I need to tighten that up.
Your comments on priorities are spot on - I know I’m not trying to compete or get women (I’m married), so, I don’t have to go too crazy on the diet, but, better abs would be nice.
i’m 45y on TRT for 2. somewhat more fat then you (24% i think). I am less muscular then you, and also do not care about getting more muscular. I definitely focus on the fat. you got plenty muscle. to be fair even with my BF% and muscles I have (some here say not that much), I am getting close to peak female attention. literally everywhere I am getting looks. at 30%i got 0. i’m married so not that I care, but being lean is the way to go. I don’t see the point on getting much more muscles either, makes no sense for me, although I keep pushing the gym probably forever so once I cut fat to 15% maybe? i prob will gain slowly
thanks - the TRT has been fantastic, in my opinion. I need to tighten up my diet, but it’s hard sometimes because the TRT makes it easier to focus on big lifts, eating a lot, and feeling bigger.
You’re doing good, areas that you may want to hone in from what I can tell:
traps
rear delts
lats, possibly? Cant see much back definition in any of your pics but lats always have a lot of growth potential and I don’t see the width in what angles there are to look at in your pics
Thanks – admittedly, I have not prioritized back as much as I should, though, I’ve started focusing more on it on Mondays. And I just can’t seem to grow the traps much further, despite heavy shrugs.
I know some guys on here frown on Influencer workouts but I like this set for traps & rear Delts.
I also recall Lee Priest talking about working traps and that he used moderate weight and not heavy and slowed the movement. I definitely do this and it has helped me to develop my traps significantly bette than just trying to shrug the heaviest thing I can. There are also genetic differences with how much traps pop too
