I started as a puny little shit as you see most Indian kids. I have done everything natural from starting at 155lbs at 16 to eventually going to 230lbs at around age 20 ( btw height is 6’0). Now Im 22 and 180 and my goal was to get lean. As lean as I go , measuring via vascularity, there is still a belly. I can have veins in both the shoulder, bicep, even trap, but still look like 1 month pregnant. Is this just nature, or is there some error in my regiment. My strength is insane though since I’ve done everything naturally, however , tell me what is underdeveloped , as I am thinking tricep and trap. How can I holistically balance this, aside from shedding a gut. If you have advice on how I could shed it and if it is possible let me know. Also, I feel as though my tricep development is hindered as I extend the arm in exercise, it is not perpendicular, because my lat gets in the way? Does anyone else have this issue?
Your fat accumulation around the midsection is most likely hormonal/cortisol related and has very little to do with your ethnicity. Maybe you were dealt shitty genetics via your parents, but to say that you can’t get any leaner due to being East Indian is ignorant at best.
[quote]knowledgeispower wrote:
Also, I feel as though my tricep development is hindered as I extend the arm in exercise, it is not perpendicular, because my lat gets in the way? Does anyone else have this issue?
Thanks for your time, critique, and analysis.
[/quote]
Do you mean that your arm is not perpendicular to the ground at full elbow extension when performing standing cable pressdowns?
Because your lats get in the way?
If it’s really bothering you, employ skullcrushers or overhead extensions or any elbow extension exercise where your glenohumeral joint doesn’t have to be at 0 degrees of flexion.
There’s no rulebook that says cable pressdowns have to be done at a 0 degree shoulder joint angle either. Step back from the rope/bar/whatever, bend forward at the hip a bit so your shoulder is at ~30 degrees flexion and continue as planned.
thanks for your advice. I got down to 160 at one point and the stomach became flat, but it was too hard for me to pursue my career/studies while limiting my calories etc. I thought I was a pure mesomorph because of my shoulder to waist ratio. For ex. my chest is 44 in and waist is 31, but because it seems my body can’t really function at homeostasis under 10%bf would you say perhaps I am meso-ecto ? What type of regiment/lifestyle/supplements are efficient in dealing with cortisol as I think that’s the issue. I can’t lower my stress levels because of my work, and the T levels are around 650 ng/ml so I could exclude that factor.
Anyway to the first comment, to say Indian’s have bad genetics in terms of bodybuilding ( fat storage abdominally) is not ignorant , do your research, it is scientifically established; but thanks for the attempt at advice or your inadvertent method to make yourself feel learned. There are even certain studies calling for adjusting BMI measurements for the specific ethnicity. No man is created equal, obviously there are exceptions. Akram, thanks for your advice, my limbs are pretty long so when I do skull-crushers and overhead with a good amount of weight, I feel like even though my triceps can handle it, my elbow can’t. Do you have any advice on how I can strengthen that area? If I do it on the smith do you think this might be the most efficient way?
diet is , sandwich in the morning, at evening some meat, carb ( mostly potato or rice), and some type of vegetable. Im in med. school so having time to eat small meals is the problem, do you think just doing small meals as in muscle milk boxes periodically would help me out?
[quote]knowledgeispower wrote:
thanks for your advice. I got down to 160 at one point and the stomach became flat, but it was too hard for me to pursue my career/studies while limiting my calories etc. I thought I was a pure mesomorph because of my shoulder to waist ratio. For ex. my chest is 44 in and waist is 31, but because it seems my body can’t really function at homeostasis under 10%bf would you say perhaps I am meso-ecto ? What type of regiment/lifestyle/supplements are efficient in dealing with cortisol as I think that’s the issue. I can’t lower my stress levels because of my work, and the T levels are around 650 ng/ml so I could exclude that factor. Anyway to the first comment, to say Indian’s have bad genetics in terms of bodybuilding ( fat storage abdominally) is not ignorant , do your research, it is scientifically established; but thanks for the attempt at advice or your inadvertent method to make yourself feel learned. There are even certain studies calling for adjusting BMI measurements for the specific ethnicity. No man is created equal, obviously there are exceptions. Akram, thanks for your advice, my limbs are pretty long so when I do skull-crushers and overhead with a good amount of weight, I feel like even though my triceps can handle it, my elbow can’t. Do you have any advice on how I can strengthen that area? If I do it on the smith do you think this might be the most efficient way?[/quote]
Well, if you have links to those studies, I wouldn’t mind seeing them. Speaking as a South Indian (so in theory, less able to build muscle), I’ve found that even on a vegetarian diet, you can get pretty lean.
If you want to lose the belly and not look “pregnant”, I think maybe more fiber and lesser carbs. Can we get more detail on the diet? Something that describes your daily meal split?
no problem heres the excerpt: "Studies say that India will become the global diabetes capital by 2050 if the abdominal and lower limb obesity and metabolic syndrome are not arrested.
Researches over the last several years have shown that Indian bodies and genetics are different from their western counterparts. Indians suffer from abdominal obesity compared to people in the west whose bodies are uniformly obese.
“The Indian body composition puts them in high risk for diabetes and hypertension. The guidelines?with revised statistics?will benefit the additional 15-20 per cent (60-80 million) of the Indian population who can now be clinically termed obese under the revised measurements,” Anoop Mishra, director and head, department of diabetes and metabolic diseases, Fortis Hospitals, New Delhi and Noida, said releasing the guidelines.
The guidelines estimate that the absolute mortality due to chronic heart diseases in India will increase to 20.3 million annually by 2010 and by 2020 it will touch 2.58 million. The mortality rate stood at 1.59 million in 2000.
The current load of diabetes in the country?41 million?is expected to rise by 170 per cent in the next 20 years. Even today, India has the largest population of diabetics in the world, the guidelines said.
According to the report, every second person in Delhi fulfils the criteria of obesity or has excess abdominal fat and nearly one-fourth of the adolescent population in the capital has Syndrome X or metabolic syndrome, that heralds the onset of heart diseases and diabetes.The need for weight and fitness guidelines, specific to Asian countries, was first stressed in a study by the World Health Organisation’s sub-committee set up to look into obesity and metabolic syndromes in the Asia-Pacific region in 2000."
[quote]knowledgeispower wrote:
diet is , sandwich in the morning, at evening some meat, carb ( mostly potato or rice), and some type of vegetable. Im in med. school so having time to eat small meals is the problem, do you think just doing small meals as in muscle milk boxes periodically would help me out?[/quote]
I would take a serious look at this before anything else.
[quote]knowledgeispower wrote:
diet is , sandwich in the morning, at evening some meat, carb ( mostly potato or rice), and some type of vegetable. Im in med. school so having time to eat small meals is the problem, do you think just doing small meals as in muscle milk boxes periodically would help me out?[/quote]
I would take a serious look at this before anything else. [/quote]
Also, there is nothing wrong with a cooler. I did it so I know he can.
[quote]knowledgeispower wrote:
no problem heres the excerpt: "Studies say that India will become the global diabetes capital by 2050 if the abdominal and lower limb obesity and metabolic syndrome are not arrested.
Researches over the last several years have shown that Indian bodies and genetics are different from their western counterparts. Indians suffer from abdominal obesity compared to people in the west whose bodies are uniformly obese.
“The Indian body composition puts them in high risk for diabetes and hypertension. The guidelines?with revised statistics?will benefit the additional 15-20 per cent (60-80 million) of the Indian population who can now be clinically termed obese under the revised measurements,” Anoop Mishra, director and head, department of diabetes and metabolic diseases, Fortis Hospitals, New Delhi and Noida, said releasing the guidelines.
The guidelines estimate that the absolute mortality due to chronic heart diseases in India will increase to 20.3 million annually by 2010 and by 2020 it will touch 2.58 million. The mortality rate stood at 1.59 million in 2000.
The current load of diabetes in the country?41 million?is expected to rise by 170 per cent in the next 20 years. Even today, India has the largest population of diabetics in the world, the guidelines said.
According to the report, every second person in Delhi fulfils the criteria of obesity or has excess abdominal fat and nearly one-fourth of the adolescent population in the capital has Syndrome X or metabolic syndrome, that heralds the onset of heart diseases and diabetes.The need for weight and fitness guidelines, specific to Asian countries, was first stressed in a study by the World Health Organisation’s sub-committee set up to look into obesity and metabolic syndromes in the Asia-Pacific region in 2000."
Man… I’m a T-Nation lurker but I never thought this post would be the one I had to respond to. First off congratulations on Medical school. It’s good to know you’re perpetuating Indian stereotypes both in training/body types and occupations.
What’s most troubling is that you should know better as a soon to be physician and as an Indian. Your report was garbage. “Researches over the last several years have shown that Indian bodies and genetics are different from their western counterparts. Indians suffer from abdominal obesity compared to people in the west whose bodies are uniformly obese” Sources? Studies? Sounds like a lot of cheapass excuses. Indians FROM INDIA may in fact be more vulnerable to diabetes or other conditions but those may very well be culturally linked (and by that I mean specific dietary differences from ‘the west’) Considering you live in the West, I’m pretty sure you don’t fall in that category.
In addition after years of intermingling from many cultures (lots of conquering included) Indians are extremely heterogenous genetically, meaning saying they have a higher propensity to get belly fat is even more undermined because ‘they’ represents a whole lot of variety. I joke about having a gut all the time and being one of “those Indians.” in the same way my friend jokes about his ’ post college fratboy belly’ Both of us work out. He drinks too much beer and I like pizza. We could both crunch the #s, suck it up and handle it if we wanted to. But thats the difference. And if you haven’t figured exactly what you need to do to get your goals yet, that’s understandable, I’m assuming whats what these boards are for.
But for you to start off with some self hating “puny little shits” is just sad. I know plenty of Indians with flat stomachs and a few who’ve achieved six packs. Some are skinny some are meatheads (including my brother a dedicated T-Nation head who’s pushed me into working out for reals * by the way whats up T-Nation community - its great to read all the wisdom you guys share)
The point is if you are using your ethnicity as an excuse, and using dodgy reports to back yourself up, you need to shut the fuck up and drop out of school so someone with a hopefully more objective and scientific point of view can contribute to the sport rather than peddling this misinformation. Race aside, this is why so many doctors are absolutely fucking useless when it comes to things like bodybuilding. You spend 4 years of school to do another 4 years and drop hundreds of thousands in the process… learn to call fat adipose tissue and read JAMA but then reference citizen written ‘government’ sites to back up your thinking. Jesus… what a waste.
