Okay, so the title pretty much says everything. Here are some pics of me I took today after doing the Upper Body part of my Upper / Lower Split. I'm 20 years old, 175-176cm and approximately 79 kg right now. I have been a REALLY fat kid at 11-14 years old, until I started doing sports like a madman and since then I have been seeing constant body recomposition. Of course, there have been times I was working out alone (18-19 years old) and generally there have been periods where I cared about my nutrition,training etc. I mean, I strived for that body recomposition. Regarding muscle mass, I haven't experienced a big plateau yet. At 16-17 years old I was training competitively at Kayaking, so I have been training 3-6 hours a day, 6 days a week. That's when I experienced MOST of my upper body gains, taking into account that we were lifting (and getting conditioned) a lot. Though, when I started weightlifting in a bodybuilding fashion at 18-19, I've seen decent gains, and when I switched to more of a compound-focused pattern I've seen some more gains. And last but not least, when I started Japanese Ju Jitsu, I've seen some muscular gains, I suppose from the new forms of exercise, like throws,kicks,punches etc. That's what I mean by not experiencing a big plateau yet. And of course, when I'm talking about gains, I don't mean I got a kilo of muscle or something, you know, some small improvements, a visually larger than before muscle group etc. Regarding fat loss, things get stellar EVERYTIME after I reach 75-77 kg and I look pretty much the same like the photos that follow, at 79 kg. Now, the thing is I am a university student and I LOVE FOOD, so I'm eating a lot, I'm drinking lot of booze often, I'm eating junk food too and I never had this kind of metabolism that whatever you eat doesn't affect your body etc. So, I'm saying I never really gave it my all regarding cutting, cutting destroys all the nice things in life To end my nonsense, I am satisfied with my muscle mass level -I want more of course- and I don't really care about my body fat percentage in terms of perfomance. The thing is, I look good and it's visible that I work out in clothes but when naked, naaaah, this belly is killing everything. And this demotivates me a lot. So, I want you to guess my bodyfat percentage on the following photos, give some advice on cutting and general comments about my sooo important story. Relaxed 1: https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/964x723q90/809/fsya.jpg Relaxed 2: https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/964x723q90/14/n1uv.jpg Pose 1: https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/964x723q90/15/fbdk.jpg Pose 2.1: https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/964x723q90/845/0n9r.jpg Pose 2.2: https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/964x723q90/191/cev2.jpg As you can see, when flexing, it's visible that I am lifting / working out, but when fully relaxed, well, I think everyone just sees a normal to fat person. Edit: I know I'm nothing special and that I have accomplished pretty much nothing, many people are born with a better body than this, but remembering myself when I was REALLY FAT, I'm happy even with this, that's why you might think that "Hey this fat kid talks like he's done something great and he's proud of it" etc.
No problem with improving from being a fat kid, regardless of whether you have reached Adonis level or not. Seriously for your it's quite simple. If you want to start getting rid of that belly stop drinking booze and start cooking all your own meals rather than eating out with junk.
If it was so easy I would have an 8-pack right now But on the other hand I can't say anything, since most times when I try to have a solid and a clean nutrition I keep it up for 1-2 months. I never stopped working out though, rather than some 2-4 weeks injury breaks, I suppose that's why I never get fatter anymore that the state I currently am.
Hey, don't worry about it dude. When I was 15 and 5'11" (so what, 179cm roughly?) I weighed about 63kg with no muscle mass at all. Except for reasonably strong legs, my upper torso looks like a stick figure. People used to get freaked out that they could see my ribs and my skeletal hands. When I was 18 and 6'1" (so, 185cm roughly?) I was 154kg with quads that could destroy the world, but the rest was pure visceral, heart clogging fat. I would erupt in a massive sweat and be out of breath just leaning forward to tie my own shoe laces. So I get that you're happy with how far you've come, trust me I always hated the other kids that had a natural 6 pack and fancy looking biceps though. They were all lies as far as I was concerned To lose the belly fat (well, what there is)...honestly I can't recommend much and I'm sure some of the more experienced guys will be better at this. But my personal opinion would be to reduce some of the sugar and carbs in your diet on a daily basis and go out walking a little more. It's not a hard change to make and you can still eat what you would like without having to sacrifice much, but I'd be willing to bet that if you throw in a few more planks for core strength training sexiness, you'll probably notice a difference relatively quickly. The obvious thing would also be to mention a reduction in booze/junk food too, but I think you know that already.
Thanks for the input sloth Well, I added the edit message because I suppose there will be people here who sit on the couch all day after training maybe 1-3 years and still maintain a lot of muscle and definition, no matter what they eat/drink/do, so I needed to make sure I don't look like a disillusioned person. It's good that someone understands me Generally, since I was 17 years old, I always fluctuate from 75 to 81 kg. I actually remember all the times I got to 75-76 kg and then back up to 79-81. The first time was when I was 17, I had a break from kayaking for finals, and searching for da cut, I started walking/running 4-6 days a week, I was doing basic bodyweight exercises ( pushups / pullups / crunches ) and I was eating nothing after 3-4 pm. Well, that got me from 77-78 kg to 75 really fast, at 2 weeks or something, but I am pretty damn sure that a lot of this was muscle mass from the "extreme" dieting. It was actually visible by everyone that I lost a lot of back/chest mass. I got fatter again after I stopped competitive kayaking 1-2 months later to focus on my studies. I was used to eating enormous amounts of foods exercising 6 hours a day 6DAW, so it was hard burning all this stuff with 30 mins of running alone and some weights - and I didn't really care for some time, I enjoyed the break from competition -. Second time was when I was 18, I went again from 80 to 75-76 by just caring about what I eat(I took out sweets, sodas, I tried to limit carbs etc and I cared about my protein intake),walking at the treadmill while watching Game of Thrones ( ) (1 hour 3-4 days a week) and doing a 3DAW Full Body Split. I believe I didn't lose any muscle mass that period. Well, then I joined the University, a whole new enviroment, no time-motivation to do cardio, eating at the Uni's restaurant etc, dang, went up to 79-80 again. Third time was since I started JJJ at April of 2013, I was eating and drinking ANYTHING then, but the intense movements of martial arts at which I was not accustomed to and generally the fitness that MA offers did their job. I fell again at 77 kg and I got some mass gains, even my instructor saw them ( 3-4 months after I started, I suppose they were my JJJ newbie gains ). Then, I had stitches ( December 2013 ) so I stopped JJJ and I didn't start yet. Again, the fall from a lot of cardio / working out in general / doing sports to working out at home plus christmas got me at 79 where I am now. I wrote all this because it seems I always have up and downs, and I think I let myself fall to the downs because after getting to 75-76 kg, I never see more progress. I believe that's because at this point, just cutting out sweets and bread and doing some cardio along with my strength training isn't gonna cut it. I've also experimented with IF and it suits my schedule well, I'm currently practicing it.
I know the type you mean, I maintain that they are also lies Maybe not fully cutting, just reducing some of the intake. At the end of the day you know your diet more than I do, but I'm sure that cutting a couple of sweets here/a slice of bread there that you really don't need isn't going to do you much harm, is it? Do you really need say another three slices of toast? If you do, are you eating properly in the first place? Could you get the same munchiness from a banana/handful of mixed nuts or two? Are you frequently snacking? And so on. Funnily enough, one of my cousins has a friend that was fairly overweight, all she did was switch from two heaped teaspoons of sugar in her coffee to low cal alternatives, her full fat milk to semi-skimmed and walked at a brisk pace for a mile a day (roughly) and she dropped a couple of stone in weight in a few months comparatively without changing anything. You never know, you might surprise yourself. What's IF - interval fitness? Sounds less like you need advice though and more like you need to find your own motivation. Which is probably the hardest thing anybody can learn IMO. Anyway, why did you need stitches/where on your body? Have they healed yet?
IF - Intermittent Fasting, you know, fasting 14-16 hours during the night and the morning and then eating at a 10-8 hour window That's the general principle. That's true, I need motivation mostly than advice, actually I think I know ( and I practiced, even in the short term ) most real and effective ways to lose fat. Of course, there are hints/tricks/tips I don't know for sure, that's why I asked in the first place, along with the need to motivate myself. The story with the stitches is an embarrassing one written here: http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119289
I am one of those 2 but seriously I don't think you need any more. Drop the booze and junk food for at least a months and see what progress you make. It's a simply solution that's easy to work out. Once you have done that then worry about more detailed stuff.
Well, I'm not a big fan of giving advice in General becuase everyone has an opinion, what works for me may not work for you. I will tell you that I have a similar body type to yours, except I was much chunkier then you when I started and am now also very chunky again due to inactivity, I have started a log, if you want your more then welcome to check it out. My intension are to get back into shape, Im starting slow to prevent injury. Now genetics can suck especially if you are are bigger bloke, threw out high school I tried to loose weight threw your standard means. Running, dieting, cardio and high rep training, I saw very little results in terms of weight loss. I started doing boxing and I saw better results, the training was far more intense and I found the results to be okay but not fantastic in terms of weight loss to work ratio. Where I saw the best results was threw heavy weight training, Ie power lifting. Why I think power lifting or heavy weights work better for bigger guys trying to get cut (this is speculation on my part and were I saw the best results for me). You are putting on more muscle, it requires more calories to support more muscle. Your legs are probably the easiest area to add on muscle too. ( I've never had the desire to have a six pack) Diet will play an important role in getting cut too. High protein, I've always been pro natural food intake, raw, cooked vegies, fish chicken white meats, fruit in moderation, nuts, stay a way from processed foods like bread, pasta, pop, sugar in general. I was always horrible at holding onto a diet, I lòoooveee food. That being said belly is I think the last place you will see results, but yeah drinking and excessive eating wont help your cause . Try changing your eating habits but having a cheat day once a week where you can eat anything you want.
I'd like to make a follow-up of my "bodybuilding" progress so far. After the end of Easter holidays last year, I've been a fat dude. Photo-Fat Dude-25 April 14: I decided to start calorie counting to 2000 kcal (fat loss as a goal) and after sometime (I started June 1st or something) I hit the gym, I've been working out at my place with 70 KG max. My max lifts (in KG) at that time were pretty much: Bench Press 70 x 15-17 Deadlift 70 x 20++ (never maxed out) Squat 70 x 20-25 Overhead Press 55 x 2-3 Pullups 20-25 After 5 months training (I didn't train at all in August) my max lifts are: (I'm gonna write the lower RMs, because I believe these are the closest to real 1RMs) Bench Press 100 x 4 Deadlift 130 x 6 Front Squat (no Squat Rack) 80 x 9, 75 x 12 Overhead Press 55 x 10, 57.5 x 6 Pullups ~30 Muscle-Ups 3-5 Okay, time for some visual feedback: 17 of July: 24 of July (my leanest so far, 73 KG): 16 of October: 10 of November: 5 of December: If anyone is interested, I will gladly post how I've trained or ate etc, I'm waiting for your feedback, thanks.
I have no idea why the images got so huge, I think the first time a mod got them into imagizer or something first (as I can see from the URLs)?
I used to be quite fat because of medicine I used to be on. I went from being a fatty to now being under my desired weight but still a bit puffy. :/ What's worked best for me is the lifting routine I've been noting in my MAP log, cardio, and cutting simple carbs. Just the carb-cutting can make me skinnier. Whatever you try, do it in a scientific way (journal!) so you know what's working for you and what ain't. Gluten intolerance is fairly common, so glutens in your diet could be keeping you chubby.
I found that cutting carbs destroys my training perfomance, I lost 8 KGs of mostly fat (as all of my lifts increased a lot) by just counting most of the things I ate and stopping when I reached 2000-2200 kcal. I'm still eating sweets, fast food and still drinking but in a controlled and tracked manner. Thanks for the feedback man! Thanks very much Bobby I've never counted my bf%, I'm just weighing myself and taking tape measurements. My waist (measuring at navel) right now is approximately 86-87 cm (needs to go down, I know), whereas in the first photo of my last post it was 90+. With calculations of NAVY bodyfat calculator: (Link = http://www.calculator.net/body-fat-calculator.html?ctype=metric&csex=m&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=10.5&cneckfeet=1&cneckinch=7.5&cwaistfeet=3&cwaistinch=1.5&chipfeet=2&chipinch=10.5&cheightmeter=175&cneckmeter=38&cwaistmeter=85&chipmeter=90&x=84&y=8 ) at my leanest phase (73 KG) I was approximately 17%, maybe 1-2% more. Right now (76 KG) I'm calculated at approximately 18% +1-2% more, maybe. (My neck is 38-40 cm at any time, depending on if I train it and how many KGs I weigh) So I'd say that on most of those pictures I've been 17-20% bf%, except the first one where I was approximately 25% bf%.
Fair play on your progress so far It will get to a point where In order to make further progress and get any leaner that will have to change. I'm not a huge beleiver in callorie counting, I recomend just trying to make each callorie count nutritionally. Your 2000 callorie target is fine but you will be able to make much more progress if those are 2000 nutritionally helpfull callories. Sweets and fast food are pointless, so ditch them and then if nothing else you have more callories spare to drink more
Ι know, I totally agree. I am aware that I went from a fat state to a semi-normal state, still having excess bodyfat, I'm not under the illusion I'm ripped or lean I would also like to say that since September I'm adding weight on purpose, eating 2500-3000 kcal everyday and fortunately my bodyfat % didn't increase a lot, while my strength and mass levels go up It's just, as a university student, I don't have the energy nor willpower to cook every meal etc, when I'm talking about fast food I'm talking about somehow nutritious foods (see chicken on a stick in a pita with yogurt), not too greasy burgers/pizzas etc. Sweets are just epic though. Haha, more calories to drink = win in everyway. Cheers to that!
