If You're Not Lean Under 200 Lbs....

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

…You’re Doing it Wrong.

I’ve read this a few times recently and in the past as well and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. It seems most people believe that if someone of reasonable height is below 200lb. there’s no reason they should need to be losing fat and anyone who does either

  1. Has a shitty diet or
  2. Isn’t training hard enough

I don’t know about other people but I was “fat” even around 170lb. and I’m 6ft. I’ve always gained fat very quickly and always been nearly obsessive with how “clean” I keep my diet. I’m not crazy strong compared to many here but I’ve benched over 315, deadlifted 450, rowed 275 and military pressed 240lb.

I’ve made progress in all my lifts of course while gaining and have eaten high protein with different macro levels but, regardless, I still gain fat pretty damn quickly and am wondering what most would possibly say has been done wrong in this case.

I started at roughly 130lb. and 14% body fat or and was about 170lb. at 17-18% 1-2 years ago, having to stop a few times to do some damage control due to the excessive fat I was putting on at times. Now I’m around 198 and 17-18% body fat, but it sure as hell hasn’t been easy to not gain a good deal of fat in the process, even when I had much less muscle.

In case anyone was going to bring up cardio, I’ve done anywhere from 3x/week HIIT awhile ago, to fasted incline walking, and everything in between. Now I’m not even really doing cardio and hardly notice a difference in fat gain. Carb cutoffs have always been part of the diet since about a year in, high protein, etc…

2

If I were you I would have my biosig done.

3

Your military is huge relative to your bench.

4

I think most people are talking about people who have already been training for 3-5 years or more. At 6 foot, it shouldnt take you more that 5 years to weight 200 and be relatively lean.

Also, who cares about the military Alffi, if you are six foot tall and only deadlift 415, but bench over 315 there is a pretty big imbalance.

5

thyroid problems lol

6

If you’re very concerned and feel that you can’t get lean no matter what you do, go order a BMP, lipid, and hormonal profile.

What’s your full schedule? How much time do you spend per week exercising. Most people need at least 5 hours per week of activity to control weight and some people need considerably more to get lean.

You haven’t listed your diet either.

We shouldn’t be going by broad, vague, shit sayings like the one you mentioned.

7

How did you get that bf%?

8

Stop training like a powerlifter and train like a bodybuilder! Also, get some blood work done, who knows, maybe your hormone levels are off.

Edit: How long have you been lifting?

9

[quote]WalkingGunShow wrote:

Also, who cares about the military Alffi, if you are six foot tall and only deadlift 415, but bench over 315 there is a pretty big imbalance.[/quote]

Short arms :wink:

10

[quote]trav123456 wrote:

[quote]WalkingGunShow wrote:

Also, who cares about the military Alffi, if you are six foot tall and only deadlift 415, but bench over 315 there is a pretty big imbalance.[/quote]

Short arms ;)[/quote]

If he is six foot tall and his arms are short enough to effect his deadlift, then he would probably look like a T-Rex.

11

[quote]WalkingGunShow wrote:

[quote]trav123456 wrote:

[quote]WalkingGunShow wrote:

Also, who cares about the military Alffi, if you are six foot tall and only deadlift 415, but bench over 315 there is a pretty big imbalance.[/quote]

Short arms ;)[/quote]

If he is six foot tall and his arms are short enough to effect his deadlift, then he would probably look like a T-Rex.[/quote]

hmm? They only have to be relatively short compared to his frame to affect it. Either way a high bench and a low DL says relatively short arms to me. Doesn’t really matter :slight_smile:

Also I just realized there are no leg numbers, which would affect how much lbm OP would carry greatly.

12

I will echo that you should get blood work done, but I think you should post your exact weekly diet

13

What sort of bloodwork are you guys talking about? This question interests me as I’m in a fairly similar situation. My lifts aren’t quite as high but I feel like I have the same problem (super clean diet, more than enough cardio through training history either steady state/interval etc, still “fat”).

I had bloodwork done about 3 months ago by my primary care doctor and everything came back normal/great according to them. I’m just wondering if it’s something specific?

14

I think OP is just pmsing, be sensitive guys!

15

To be clear, this is not a thread complaining about my results or something. I appreciate any advice you guys can offer, but mainly I was just pointing out that it seems odd that people would say everyone should be able to get above 200 relatively lean before needing to cut down at all, as this certainly hasn’t even been close to the case for me.

[quote]Bricknyce wrote:
If you’re very concerned and feel that you can’t get lean no matter what you do, go order a BMP, lipid, and hormonal profile.

What’s your full schedule? How much time do you spend per week exercising. Most people need at least 5 hours per week of activity to control weight and some people need considerably more to get lean.

You haven’t listed your diet either.

We shouldn’t be going by broad, vague, shit sayings like the one you mentioned. [/quote]

I recently got my cholesterol and testosterone checked. Cholesterol was just under 200 (was lower, then over 300 because of some medication, now it’s back down). And test levels were unfortunately 399 ng/dl which is apparently on the low side

Acitivity, cardio and diet have varied a lot over the years, from high fat/low carbs to higher carbs/lower fat to everything in between. Cardio as mentioned has been anywhere from near nothing to an hour per day and from HIIT to low intensity. I do seem to have stayed slightly leaner when keeping fat lower though (and in turn keeping carbs moderate rather than very low).

As of now diet is about 3000 calories (90f/240c/310p) on workout days and 2600 (105f/105c/310p) on off days…slow metabolism. But as I mentioned it’s changed over the years.

4 workouts per week, strength has generally gone up, arms have gone up an inch in about 3 months or so, but fat just comes quickly with the muscle.

[quote]TheBigV wrote:
Stop training like a powerlifter and train like a bodybuilder! Also, get some blood work done, who knows, maybe your hormone levels are off.

Edit: How long have you been lifting?[/quote]

I’ve been lifting for about 4-5 years. The fat gain has definitely held me back since I couldn’t just keep gaining until I got to 200. I was only about 170 after the first 3 years or so, started at 130. I don’t train like a powerlifter

16

[quote]Wapptor wrote:
What sort of bloodwork are you guys talking about? This question interests me as I’m in a fairly similar situation. My lifts aren’t quite as high but I feel like I have the same problem (super clean diet, more than enough cardio through training history either steady state/interval etc, still “fat”).

I had bloodwork done about 3 months ago by my primary care doctor and everything came back normal/great according to them. I’m just wondering if it’s something specific?[/quote]

Look at the blood test results yourself and compare them to what other people are saying, not just you doctor. He might think free test levels in the low range are good because they are merely within range

17

[quote]TheBigV wrote:

[quote]Wapptor wrote:
What sort of bloodwork are you guys talking about? This question interests me as I’m in a fairly similar situation. My lifts aren’t quite as high but I feel like I have the same problem (super clean diet, more than enough cardio through training history either steady state/interval etc, still “fat”).

I had bloodwork done about 3 months ago by my primary care doctor and everything came back normal/great according to them. I’m just wondering if it’s something specific?[/quote]

Look at the blood test results yourself and compare them to what other people are saying, not just you doctor. He might think free test levels in the low range are good because they are merely within range[/quote]

This guy hasn’t written anything that suggests anything other than his own lack of intensity, genetics are focus are to blame for his lackluster results. If after 5 years no one is pointing out how muscular you are or noticing you stand out more than normal, you likely do not have the genetics for this or the innate drive to make “exceptional” progress.

Them’s the breaks.

However, judging by the “non-sweat” crowd at my gym lately that thinks “working out” now means putting the pin into the top slot on the rack of plates and clanging out some easy reps for EXACTLY 10 REPS…it would seem most do not have the intensity to ever make much progress. They seem to think muscles will jump on them without them having to HURT for it. I would blame that before anything else.

Those who get big do not train like “normal people”. They leave blood on the floor (figuratively speaking) while others stare and watch.

18

I must admit I’m gaining fat far too easily compared to other guys at my age. It’s family heritage, every single person in my mother’s family is obese and has diabetes, on the other hand, my father, and his family is also fatty with cardiovascular diseases running since generations.

BUT! I have an advantage: I train. And I pay attention to what I eat. They don’t. And that’s the difference. Perhaps I can’t eat pasta with family pizza all day with “natty orange juice” (I mentioned orange juice cause here in Hungary, those have 12-13 gr sugar in every 100 ml, whereas cola and sodas only have 9-10 :slight_smile: and of course, everyone regards them as health foods)

Some of them tried acupuncture, “fat burning massage”, stuffed themselves with sibutramine until they couldn’t even swallow, but they remained fat. But in fact the solution was much easier: they should’ve just train and not to eat shit.

It’s the same thing as with most of the guys in the gym who apparently cannot lose even a pound regardless their 4-5 years “background” in the gym. They’re doing pec-dec, concentration curls with 5 pound db-s, and some half-assed hanginground on the treadmill while talking on the phone or telling jokes. They don’t break a sweat, and in the end they are the same, nothing seems to change, despite their ‘effort’.

No, don’t get me wrong! I’m not against treadmill, pec-dec, or fat people. I’ve just lost 100 pounds, then gained some strength and muscle, and I know that what it takes to get results. And I’m driven mad when some blame their lack of results on the gym equipement, and due to their failure they start telling false rumours about gym-members, accuse them with drug abuse, and laugh at them because their reached their goals. Because most of the unsuccessfull guys end up doing that :slight_smile: at least here…<

19

Have you always trained 4 days per week?

20

[quote]Vir wrote:
Have you always trained 4 days per week?[/quote]

Good point. I only train 4 days a week when I feel like shit.