I have always been fascinated with the art of change and manipulation of the body, and the bodies desire to adapt to the stress put on it.
I have been in and out of the gym for almost two years (but never for more than 3 months at a time). I was truly much scrawnier when I first started then I am now(if that is beleivable). Recently I experienced an epiphany and gained a DO or DIE attitude and am now attending the gym religiously. My main goal in the gym is hypertrophy , I want to put on the most amount of muscle in the shortest amount of time, while retaining the least amount of fat.
This is where my problem comes in , over the past year of hardly training I have put on this ridiculous layer of “tire” fat. Since I am an ectomorph , every single bit of fat I put on goes straight to my waist and it looks plain ridiculous as you can see in the photo. I am in desperate need for cardio , but also am in desperate need of bulking up. I try to change my diet so I consume next to no fat, but I also need to eat like a beast so I can gain muscle.
It seems like the rules for losing fat and gaining muscle are in direct opposition to each other.
What advice can anyone offer me on losing the monstrous ring of fat around my waist but also gaining insane amounts of muscle at the same time.
Feel free to take a look at the other pictures on my profile, you will see that I am in desperate need of some help. I have the motivation, I have the will, i just need the advice .
You don’t seem to have the motivation or the will. Why do I not think so? Here’s why: “I have been in and out of the gym for almost two years (but never for more than 3 months at a time)”
"This is where my problem comes in , over the past year of hardly training I have put on this ridiculous layer of “tire” fat.
I had that too. Improving your posture and putting on muscle will get rid of it. It’s not a “monstrous ring”, it sticks out past your chest because you’re slouching and have no pecs.
[quote]goochadamg wrote:
I’m going to be brutally honest.
You don’t seem to have the motivation or the will. Why do I not think so? Here’s why: “I have been in and out of the gym for almost two years (but never for more than 3 months at a time)”
"This is where my problem comes in , over the past year of hardly training I have put on this ridiculous layer of “tire” fat.
Getting to the gym consistently is the easy part.[/quote]
Thanks for being honest , and yes I realize my lack of consistency prevented me from getting the results I wanted. In saying that I also said that recently I have realized that and am going to the gym religiously now and am extremely motivated.
What I am asking though is some advice for me to rectify all the wrongs Ive done…which you can clearly see by the picture.
I have the same body type…ecto with a bit of belly fat. I was working out on/off over the years and that got me nowhere just like you. I started to workout consistently and I’ve been doing it for three weeks. I’ve put on about a pound of weight…that’s it. However, in my third week I got tired of following my diet and I fell off the bandwagon in that respect. If I stuck to my diet during that time I’m sure my gains would have been better.
Just going to the gym consistently isn’t nearly enough. You have to follow a strict diet and accept the fact that you’re not going to turn into a beast overnight. My initial excitement wore off in my third week and that’s when I feel off the wagon, but now I’m back on it. I don’t feel bad at all about what happened, because I know it’s part of the process.
You’re either trying to lose fat or put on muscle. Pick one or the other.
[quote]Digity wrote:
I have the same body type…ecto with a bit of belly fat. I was working out on/off over the years and that got me nowhere just like you. I started to workout consistently and I’ve been doing it for three weeks. I’ve put on about a pound of weight…that’s it. However, in my third week I got tired of following my diet and I fell off the bandwagon in that respect. If I stuck to my diet during that time I’m sure my gains would have been better.
Just going to the gym consistently isn’t nearly enough. You have to follow a strict diet and accept the fact that you’re not going to turn into a beast overnight. My initial excitement wore off in my third week and that’s when I feel off the wagon, but now I’m back on it. I don’t feel bad at all about what happened, because I know it’s part of the process.
You’re either trying to lose fat or put on muscle. Pick one or the other.
Thanks for the reply, yes i fully understand that turning into a “beast” will not happen overnight , with the correct training , diet and enough rest it takes years , even decades. I am willing to put that dedication in, I’m just trying to find advice that will help both put muscle on me AND get rid of the fat on my body. Surely there must be someway…
Thanks for the advice and the links you’ve given me , much appreciated.
[quote]eigieinhamr wrote:
Just one question: Do you do a lot of ab work, especially that work the lower abs?[/quote]
I do no ab work whatsoever. I didn’t find a reason for building my abs, because with the layer of fat around it, it wouldn’t be visible anyway( am I thinking along the mirror muscle line?)
Although you asking that made me remember that muscle burns fat as well, is that where you’re heading?
[quote]Dookz wrote:
eigieinhamr wrote:
Just one question: Do you do a lot of ab work, especially that work the lower abs?
I do no ab work whatsoever. I didn’t find a reason for building my abs, because with the layer of fat around it, it wouldn’t be visible anyway( am I thinking along the mirror muscle line?)
Although you asking that made me remember that muscle burns fat as well, is that where you’re heading?
Should I start working out abs?
[/quote]
I think the point he was going to make is that big abs make your stomach stick out…of if you workout your abs a lot, but have fat around the stomach the end result might just be a stomach that sticks out…I think that’s where he’s going with that. Muscular abs isn’t going to make the fat melt away.
You need to add a lot of muscle before that even happens. Usually it’s compound workouts that add on mass not isolated workouts like ab crunches.
I think that you can jump into muscle building. I had the same issues with my stomach, but someone on here told me that once my shoulders and chest got bigger then the stomach wouldn’t be very noticeable. Once you start getting more muscular that bit of fat or your stomach won’t be such a big deal, but on your small frame it seems like a big deal now.
Yes I understand, that by comparision the fat on my waist wont be as noticeable once i put some more muscle on other parts of my body. Thing is, I dont think everyone is fully appreciating how bad this “bit of fat” really is. Take a look at this pic from behind.
When I was trying to lose the belly fat I was eating 1800-2000 calories per day. I did get it to go down a bit, but after a while it stopped changing dramatically. After that, I started eating between 2600-3000 calories a day and lifting weights. Around 3000 calories doesn’t seem like much, but keep in mind I was 137 lbs when I started. The thing is, I’m downing more calories and weightlifting, but my waist hasn’t gotten bigger. If anything, I think it might be a bit smaller, but I haven’t been measuring it. However, my diet is fairly clean…I’d say 80-90% of what I eat is clean.
I think either route you take is fine. If you’re head is into losing fat then do that for a bit. Lose some of that body fat and then get into weightlifting. Just go with what you’re more mentally into at this point. You have the luxury of doing that, because you’re not overly obese or anything. Initially, I was into losing body fat and I dedicated myself to cardio + some weightlifting. After the results stopped being noticeable I switched over to weightlifting and now my focus is there. Now, I only do cardio once a week for 30 minutes.
Where is your head at now? Losing fat or putting on muscle?
[quote]Digity wrote:
When I was trying to lose the belly fat I was eating 1800-2000 calories per day. I did get it to go down a bit, but after a while it stopped changing dramatically. After that, I started eating between 2600-3000 calories a day and lifting weights. Around 3000 calories doesn’t seem like much, but keep in mind I was 137 lbs when I started. The thing is, I’m downing more calories and weightlifting, but my waist hasn’t gotten bigger. If anything, I think it might be a bit smaller, but I haven’t been measuring it. However, my diet is fairly clean…I’d say 80-90% of what I eat is clean.
I think either route you take is fine. If you’re head is into losing fat then do that for a bit. Lose some of that body fat and then get into weightlifting. Just go with what you’re more mentally into at this point. You have the luxury of doing that, because you’re not overly obese or anything. Initially, I was into losing body fat and I dedicated myself to cardio + some weightlifting. After the results stopped being noticeable I switched over to weightlifting and now my focus is there. Now, I only do cardio once a week for 30 minutes.
Where is your head at now? Losing fat or putting on muscle?[/quote]
Well Im more mentally in tune towards putting on muscle , but at the same time , I get annoyed when I come home and see that fat around my waist. I think I might stick with putting on muscle then and choose a suitable program.
You’re not fat. We both need muscle. It’s good that your head is into muscle building, because I think that’s where you need to start.
I’d like to see my waist disappear, but bodybuilding is a long process and you need to tackle one thing at a time. If you try to take on too many things and go in too many different directions (gain muscle, lose fat) you’ll end up going nowhere. Pick your goal and focus just on that. You need to just block out the belly fat issue as best you can and just realize that it’ll get addressed when the time comes. Now is not the time!
[quote]Digity wrote:
You’re not fat. We both need muscle. It’s good that your head is into muscle building, because I think that’s where you need to start.
I’d like to see my waist disappear, but bodybuilding is a long process and you need to tackle one thing at a time. If you try to take on too many things and go in too many different directions (gain muscle, lose fat) you’ll end up going nowhere. Pick your goal and focus just on that. You need to just block out the belly fat issue as best you can and just realize that it’ll get addressed when the time comes. Now is not the time! [/quote]
Thanks for the advice. Yes , what you saying makes sense. I think I’m just going to keep my diet clean and focus on building muscle.
