Is your goal to be an endurance athlete?
If this is accurate, it is a sweet spot for gaining muscle and still lean enough to look impressive. IMO, you should always be able to see major muscle group separation. It keeps me motivated. But if you get below 10% body fat it is difficult to build muscle.
2 Likes
Not even close but roots run deep and I always got away with just eating anything. Carbs were my primary food composition for 12 years because of hockey and 2 a day training sessions
This is based off of Amazon calipers and one of those stand on body composition machines which are wildly inaccurate so I am kind of just taking the higher average that seems right and it’s basically that all my fat gets stored in my stomach. My legs are somewhat separated and my arms and shoulders are too. Like you can tell I workout but also that I don’t turn down a cookie when offered
@Reider you keep bouncing around and guessing what your bodyfat % is, but won’t post a picture.
As someone who made a horrifically bad guesstimate of his own BF% at one time, I highly recommend just taking a picture and blurring your face out of it.
1 Like
Thank you for posting pictures.
Do you want honest advice or sugar coated?
You are definitely north of your BF% estimate. give or take, 20% as @jskrabac said, not that it matters.
Also as jskrabac said, you are likely able to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. You are not overly trained, so muscle recruitment is not out of the question, and you are fat enough that fat loss can happen without serious caloric restriction.
It’s not a bad place to be.
You said you do not track any part of your diet… well start doing that. I like Cronometer for this as it has all the benefits of MyFitnessPal, but with less input options (this is a good thing).
4 Likes
Called it! That’s about 20% my friend. Honestly just cleaning up your food choices could carry you a looooong way. I believe you’re in a spot you could conceivably build muscle and cut some fat simultaneously.
4 Likes
I’m all about counting, believe me, but in this case I don’t even think that’s necessary. Given his food choices, just shifting a bit could carry him a long way before stalling and needing to start tracking. Just my $.02.
1 Like
Fair point for sure, some people are just so far off on their macro/calorie guesses that doing so for even a week could get them solid insight into why they don’t look the way they want to.
*At one point, I was this person.
2 Likes
True. It’s really up to Reider if he thinks that will be beneficial.
OP, if you have questions about choosing better foods for your goal and within budget, let em rip.
1 Like
Honestly food is the one thing I don’t really care about cost on. It’s one of the most important things in my world and a lot of my time revolves around good food and eating. So as far as a diet goes, what should I be reaching for? More protein I’m guessing, more veggies? Fruits? Less carbs? (Pasta is also a big one I eat) I have never worked toward a strict diet as it was just eat eat eat
I think about this once a day.
I’d do it if I wasn’t terrified of side effects
3 Likes
The most important thing to do is get at least 40 grams of protein every meal. Six meals will set you well with protein requirement. IMO, if you are interested in optimal body composition drop all the bread, tortillas, granola, and all junk food, or you aren’t even trying.
When the beginner is trying to get more muscle, you should be looking for your strength to steadily increase. Do you do the three powerlifts, squat, bench press, and deadlift? (Your structure is going to make squatting a challenge. I have long legs and a short waist and it took me until I was 40 years old to squat efficiently. So, if you find the squat difficult, start your leg training day with leg presses, and as much weight as you can do with full range of motion without your hips coming off the pad.)
How many pullups can you do?
How much weight can you bench press 5 reps?
How much weight can you deadlift 5 reps?
1 Like
Never ever change this mentality…even if you start.
4 Likes
Here’s a starting point.
Good protein sources
- Skinless chicken breasts or thighs
- Ground beef, grass-fed even better. I try to stick to 92% or higher.
- Protein powder: whey if you can stomach it, plenty of good beef or plant proteins if you can’t handle lactose like me
- Fish–salmon, tuna, tilapia, orange roughy, etc.
- eggs
- ground turkey
- pork chops
Carbohydrate sources
- oats
- rice–brown, white, basmati, whatever you like
- Sweet potatoes
- Baked potato
- Quinoa
- Lentils (decent protein here too)
Fat sources
- all natural nut butter
- healthy oils–extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, flax oil
- Fish oil capules
- Almonds
- Walnuts
- Cashews
Vegetables
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Asparagus
- Cucumbers
- Pickles
- Celery
- Spinach
- Mushrooms
- Mixed greens or kale
- onions
- bell peppers (if you can handle them, some get acide reflux)
6 Likes
This is the one thing that keeps me away from Tren.
I’ll pass on the sudden interest in tranny porn while beating my wife, thanks.
13-15% bodyfat and you want lower?13-15% bodyfat to me is consider maintain and not even bulk.Bulk bf% generally would be 17-20% max
You are eating like one with that breakfast. There’s no protein in it and all carbs.