That’s when I turned 30 and I made a commitment to myself that before the year was out I would have a better body than I had when I was 20.
I’d been going to the gym for about two or three years pretty regularly, but was only doing cardio. I’ve since started reading this website and a couple of others and have started regularly lifting - almost exclusively free weights as I don’t think machines are good for much. I particularly like the Kettlebell as it’s easy to get a hard work out done at home, and seems to really use a lot of muscle groups.
Probably the biggest difference in my diet between the rest of poster’s on this board is that I practice intermittent fasting. That is, a couple times a week I go 24 or 36 hours without eating anything. I’ve found this to be a great way to shed fat, and I have definitly built some muscles while doing it as well.
Carbs are probably my biggest weakness, but I do love meat so I think I’m getting enough protein on my eat days. I’d say I usually exercise about 5-6 times a week with a regular patern of upper-body lifting / cardio / lower body lifting / cardio / yoga / cardio being a typical week for me.
You have better posture and have lost some flab, which is fine. As far as guidance for the long term, it depends on what you want to accomplish.
If it was me, I would reduce the amount of cardio and focus on compound movements, don’t be afraid to eat and keep a logbook to track progress (if there is none then change something). You don’t strike me as someone who wants to be big but you could use 10-20 lbs.
Yea, I don’t feel any strong desire to be huge, but I would love to have a body that gets stared at when I’m at the pool. Gaining 10-20lbs of muscle and losing 10lbs of fat sounds really nice for what I want.
[quote]MikeRalls wrote:
Yea, I don’t feel any strong desire to be huge, but I would love to have a body that gets stared at when I’m at the pool. Gaining 10-20lbs of muscle and losing 10lbs of fat sounds really nice for what I want. [/quote]
He who chases two rabbits, goes without dinner…or something like that. Gaining muscle and dropping fat at the same time is damn hard and not worth the trouble. Go easy on the fasting.
If you want get some stares you are going to have to focus on gaining muscle and not worry so much reaching your ideal body fat level. You don’t have 10lbs to lose anyway.
If you spend the next few months working on building muscle, and then a few weeks getting leaner (if needed), then you can be pool-ready for the summer.
Nice effort, it sounds like you worked hard. The question you have to ask yourself is “is your hard work working for you?” I see plenty of people in the gym doing lifts that do little more than take up space and create awkward stares. Squat, bench, and eat, please…
btw, 1.1? thats a little cold.
