I’m posting this because I’m very frustrated with myself and am trying to “snap out” of whatever condition is ailing my brain.
I’ve been an avid lifter for about 6 years now, though I’ve just discovered t-mag about a year ago.
Although I’ve been steadily increasing size, I’ve always had a large bf%. The one personal goal that I have NEVER been able to (so far) accomplish is to see my 6 pack without being able to see through my arms.
I’ve tried a lot of routines published in T-Mag, though I confess that I don’t give them enough time. After 5 or so weeks, I get frustrated with a seemingly lack of progress (or just because my brain is f*cked and tries to convince me to switch between either losing fat or gaining mass).
THIS time I want to make a REAL concerted effort to get the job done.
I’m taking a week off from my weight schedule and am just going to sit down and really do some number crunching.
My plan:
Diet: TDawg2.0
AM: HIIT rope jumping 3x a week
PM: 20 min. of cardio 3x a week
Weights: 3 or 4 times a week. 5x5
Now I know someone with a higher bodyfat percentage is recommended to start with some Meltdown training, but I've been down that road before and it took a LONG time to get some strength back...
Be more specific about your diet–macronutrient breakdowns, how many calories, sample menu. You’d be surprised by some of the crazy stuff people do and call it T-Dawg 2.0.
I want to hover around the 100g Carb mark, and stick to the PF and PC meals with the first meal of the day being a PC one…(most likely oatmeal)
Apart from that, I want to try to stick to “good sources” of fat and protein.
Flax oil for the fat and low-carb grow, cottage cheese, salmon, chicken, tuna and lean beef for the protein…
I’ll try the recommendation of
BW (235) * 15 for the starting caloric intake, then adjust it from there.
Could anyone recommend a good fat burner?? I can’t really afford HotRoxx (drat) at the mo, so what would be a (distant) second??
This isnt going to go over well with everyone else but this is what i do when its time to not be a fat ass anymore. I think ive gone from fatass to lean more than anybody ever so i feel qualified here. When its time to get lean i eat a protein carb meal in the morning and then protein fat meals the rest of the day. The only time i eat protein carb again is postworkout. I did this last summer and had great results. i didnt do any cardio and i didnt take any thermogenics except for preworkout. If you stick to that and dont waiver you should have no problem getting down to at least 10%.
I second Goldberg’s method, trust him it works! For me on training days I have P/F meals until I train and then have 1/2 serving of Surge before and then the other 1/2 after, those being the only carbs I have on training days. On non training days I have a P/C meal as my first meal like Goldberg and then follow that with P/F for the rest of the day. Also if I am using 4-ad-ed or mag 10 for cutting I do not have carbs on non training days. This approach has worked very well for me. I know from a lot of experience. I used to be at around 300 lbs. with bodyfat at God knows what! At my peak I have gotten downt to 180 at 6%. So just stay positive and you can do it! Feel free to ask any questions about diet or training. I am more than willing to help you in your crusade for leanness. Oh yeah I ususally do 1-2 sessions of HIIT in the morning for 20 minutes before breakfast, depending upon how I feel my progress is going. As far as other thermogenics I am not aware of how effective the other products that are on the market are, but I do know that Hot Rox works so if you can manage up enough money some how, it is well worth it! Peace!
Considering all the great results people have seen with Roxx I would just bite the bullet and use that. I try not too touch the stuff since I’m trying to gain some weight, but friends have all had great results and afterward didn’t even mention the price.
I like goldie’s idea as well. As an alternative, if you want a short and brutally effective program, check out Joel Marion’s “CD/EDT” thread over on the Lair of the Ice Dog forum.
There are so many testaments to the effectiveness of this diet over on the Hot-Rox Contest forum that I’m not even going to try to list them here. But you can go over and see for yourself. And the diet’s easy to follow!
I second Char-Dawg’s advice on CD/EDT. Im in the middle of it (just finished my second EDT workout). Surprisingly easy, yet you feel the results. I am a perrenial 18-24%er, but this week alone, I have dipped down to 16-16.5% while making some LBM gains (about 6 lbs, although it is hard to tell on this diet I do feel/see it). I cant wait to finish it off and see how low I go in under three weeks.
Wow! Thanks for all the positive feedback folks. It’s really gonna help me figure out how to smash through that 18% barrier!
I’ll check out that thread in the HotRoxx forum and grab all the details.
My wife and I are on the brink of finishing up the purchase of our home, so about all I can afford at the moment is some low-carb Grow. I’ll try to take it as far as I can go without the HotRoxx then go from there…(cross fingers)…
peri that sounds like a plan! I’m starting to put my spreadsheets together of training and food stuff, so that if I maintain the information, I can chart the progress and see where/how I’m stalling…
Yeah it would be interesting to get some feedback from Goldberg as to how he accomplishes it without cardio. (Or is he nitpicking between HIIT and cardio?? grin)
KraigY…heheh I know what you mean about food “crutches”. It actually helps that I’m a bit poor at the moment, which prevents me and my wife from ordering chinese takeout which we used to do every friday night.
Dont mean to take anything away from the big guy, but goldberg is a heavily muscled young fella and by virtue of eating clean and training hard with weights im sure he can get down to the low teens BF%.
If you aren’t a big muscly muthafucka this probably wont work as well, and cardio is going to be inevitable.
This would be especially true if you have a hard time getting below 18%.
The diet guidelines that GB outlined are sweet, and pretty much what most of us that have followed T-Dawg would do.
That copmparing notes thing sounds pretty cool. liek I said, I am doing Cheater’s diet, but it would be interesting to see who went lower faster, Tdawg, 5x5, or CD/EDT. you said you were organizing your spreadsheets, Ill be willing to share my charts and spreadsheets. I have a spreadsheet that automatically calcs your Tdawg 2.0 needs, plus a few sheets for training, supplementation, meal planning, and body comp charts, referenced from an initial comp as well as from msmt to msmt (so you can see your microprogress).
If you want, I can email it to you, maybe you have some ideas tha tI missed on mine.
I feel you on the reasons. But, I have five reasons why it is worth it to make the sacrifice:
Being fat sucks
Being fat sucks
Being fat sucks
Being fat sucks
Being fat sucks
Plus, all these programs plus the available supplements make getting there waaay to easy not to. AND, you have a support group better than alcoholics anonymous. These guys know what they are doing and are more than willing to help you get there.
Fortunatly, I am also addicted to working out. So I have made great progress in the last 1 1/2 years. I am currently doing Meltdown 1 4x per week with the don’t diet diet doing CrossFit HIIT 2-3x per week and training Muy Thai and Grappling twice per week. Plus Jason Norcross and I just started a Kettlebell club. BUT I still have a lot of work to do on my diet. Thanks to this forum though I know what I need to do to get there (12% BF) now I need to JUST DO IT!
Jodgey - That would be great if you sent me a copy of your spreadsheets…I know I have taken a stab at that a few times…be interesting to see how another comes up with their calcs.!
Kraig –
I felt the same way, I was training a lot. But I was just dicking around with the idea of cleaning up the diet. I stopped eating fast food and bad carbs, but never really dialed anything in. and then, almost in a moment of epiphany, I decided to ‘sack up’ and do it. keep in mind it has been a week and a half. But the results are almost too good to be true.
eyuzwa-
Your plan sounds very much like JB’s “The Winning Formula” am I correct? It is a great plan.
jodgey-
Great job! Keep up the good work and it's worth the sacrifice.
I know I need Am HIIT to get my leanest it's those damn morning sprints that KILL me. I am working on getting a rowing machine but I like the jump rope idea. What kind of periodization are you using?
Hey peri, eyuzwa, and anyone else who is at or around 18% BF. Since a lot of us chubbies are looking at the hot roxx challenge and realizing that it is possible to do it, I propse a new challenge. Call it a race.
FROM 18 TO 8 . . . .
It looks like we all are, or started at, around 18% BF. First one to 8% wins. you pick the exercise program, you pick the diet, you pick the supps. Hot Roxx not required, perhaps recommended. There should be two categories.
obviously, first one to 8% BF, and 2) most lbm (based on percentage of initial LBM) preserved or gained.
It would be a good way to compare some of the diets, exercise progs, and suppsout there, all other things being equal (ie people naturally tending to be 18%).
anyone game?