Look good on scale but mirror not so much...

[Gustavo1]

To make this short, what should I do if I reached my ideal weight, 155lbs at 5'8, but still am far away from the body I want. For example minimal belly fat, no love handles and of course a 6 pack.

Im not trying to become "Brad Pitt in Fight Club" lean, but I do want to take off my shirt and feel confident about my body.

Assume ive lost weight with a balanced diet and gym hours, which I have.

I assume now its all about my body fat percentage right? not so much my body weight?

 

[tjl]

I assume now its all about my body fat percentage right? not so much my body weight?

Yes.

Note that it can take a lot of work to get the last few percent of body fat off to show a good six-pack.

 

[Chillen]

To make this short, what should I do if I reached my ideal weight, 155lbs at 5'8, but still am far away from the body I want. For example minimal belly fat, no love handles and of course a 6 pack.

Im not trying to become "Brad Pitt in Fight Club" lean, but I do want to take off my shirt and feel confident about my body.

Assume ive lost weight with a balanced diet and gym hours, which I have.

I assume now its all about my body fat percentage right? not so much my body weight?

It can be "both", dependent on the person.




Oughtta here.........going to train after a long day..........

Tired, but going to the gym---->anyway. THIS Rocks....

Best wishes,


Chillen

 

[Gustavo1]

Yes.

Note that it can take a lot of work to get the last few percent of body fat off to show a good six-pack.

OK so should i just keep at it? I mean should I maintain my deficit and keep losing weight maybe go down to 150 lbs or just maintain my weight and keep working out until I carve out the body im aiming for?

 

[limestix]

Well you have to ask yourself, are you unhappy with your look because you have too much fat? or too little muscle? increasing lean mass a little will help it show through more. Either way at this point, continue your diet and increase intensity of workouts.

 

[Chillen]

OK so should i just keep at it? I mean should I maintain my deficit and keep losing weight maybe go down to 150 lbs or just maintain my weight and keep working out until I carve out the body im aiming for?

What's your current bodily composition look like, Gustavo?

Have you been training with the intent to "insist or demand that" the body maintains and/or adds muscle on your frame, while "attempting" to reduce body fat?

And, you do this primarly through education in how to "manipulate calorie intake" and fitness activities, IMO.

I maintain the postion, very sternly (with few exceptions dependent on the individual), that one "does not" change their training routine whether cutting or bulking (with the potential exception of "volume" and "rest"). Meaning they train within acceptable rep ranges that are considered "heavy", unless there is a history pertaining to the invidual that would indicate a change (bodily adaption/response, or one body part responding to a different rep range than another, etc).

If you goal is basically "general fitness" and overall muscularity (with the main focus on reducing body fat), than its my opinion, that you focus on the--always available--"flexability of the diet", some intensive "short burst" cardio (HITT-like), and train the "overall" body heavy, be careful on volume and rest periods while running flexible deficits.

When I say rest periods, I mean the "time between sets" and the "rest days between workouts". And, when I say train the entire body, I mean just that (the upper and lower), including the arms (bi and tri's). I have trained the bi and tri's vigorously within my overall fitness quest, and though I knew they wouldn't grow a lot (because of the restriction of body weight increase variables, and diet), they are no slouch I assure you. My tris are my best body part, IMO), but it was just two pieces in the larger FBW equation.

You develop a "sound" lower body workout, that impacts your legs dramatically, and do a search on some lower body exercises that tends to recruit the core "more intensely" as compared to others (for example, the Front Squat as compared to the Back Squat, etc).

The main focus should be your upper/lower body (FBW) and diet, and NOT direct core exercises. You include direct core exercises, but these exercises are just rather small pieces in the larger pie.

I believe in the do more eat more philosophy. This seems like "common sense" to some, but lets take a brief look at it, for minute. If you calculate your calorie intake to be 2800 (MT Line), and this includes activities such as your FBW and maybe a session of cardio, for example. Let's say you decided to run a deficit of -500 from the 2800. This is a total approximate calorie intake of 2300. Now, you decide that you are going to add in two more sessions of cardio (or another type of fitness activity). If you do, this is going to create an even greater calorie deficit (and if one isn't tracking, they could have no idea they are doing this to themselves). While this sounds good on the surface, it "can be" seriously detrimental to muscle improvement due to the calorie deficit severity. The thing to do, is to know what the approximate calorie expenditure is (according to your personal particulars), increase your food intake.......but leave your calorie deficit the same (or change it--"slightly"). Its sort of like Dr. Berardi's G-Flux approach (at least "briefly" in the diet sense).


What has your diet been like the past few weeks?
What has your training been like?
Do you have a current pic?


I wish you the best young man.


Answer my questions, and I will return to see if you responded.


ROCK ON!


Best wishes,


Chillen

 

[Gustavo1]

What's your current bodily composition look like, Gustavo?

Have you been training with the intent to "insist or demand that" the body maintains and/or adds muscle on your frame, while "attempting" to reduce body fat?

And, you do this primarly through education in how to "manipulate calorie intake" and fitness activities, IMO.

I maintain the postion, very sternly (with few exceptions dependent on the individual), that one "does not" change their training routine whether cutting or bulking (with the potential exception of "volume" and "rest"). Meaning they train within acceptable rep ranges that are considered "heavy", unless there is a history pertaining to the invidual that would indicate a change (bodily adaption/response, or one body part responding to a different rep range than another, etc).

If you goal is basically "general fitness" and overall muscularity (with the main focus on reducing body fat), than its my opinion, that you focus on the--always available--"flexability of the diet", some intensive "short burst" cardio (HITT-like), and train the "overall" body heavy, be careful on volume and rest periods while running flexible deficits.

When I say rest periods, I mean the "time between sets" and the "rest days between workouts". And, when I say train the entire body, I mean just that (the upper and lower), including the arms (bi and tri's). I have trained the bi and tri's vigorously within my overall fitness quest, and though I knew they wouldn't grow a lot (because of the restriction of body weight increase variables, and diet), they are no slouch I assure you. My tris are my best body part, IMO), but it was just two pieces in the larger FBW equation.

You develop a "sound" lower body workout, that impacts your legs dramatically, and do a search on some lower body exercises that tends to recruit the core "more intensely" as compared to others (for example, the Front Squat as compared to the Back Squat, etc).

The main focus should be your upper/lower body (FBW) and diet, and NOT direct core exercises. You include direct core exercises, but these exercises are just rather small pieces in the larger pie.

I believe in the do more eat more philosophy. This seems like "common sense" to some, but lets take a brief look at it, for minute. If you calculate your calorie intake to be 2800 (MT Line), and this includes activities such as your FBW and maybe a session of cardio, for example. Let's say you decided to run a deficit of -500 from the 2800. This is a total approximate calorie intake of 2300. Now, you decide that you are going to add in two more sessions of cardio (or another type of fitness activity). If you do, this is going to create an even greater calorie deficit (and if one isn't tracking, they could have no idea they are doing this to themselves). While this sounds good on the surface, it "can be" seriously detrimental to muscle improvement due to the calorie deficit severity. The thing to do, is to know what the approximate calorie expenditure is (according to your personal particulars), increase your food intake.......but leave your calorie deficit the same (or change it--"slightly"). Its sort of like Dr. Berardi's G-Flux approach (at least "briefly" in the diet sense).


What has your diet been like the past few weeks?
What has your training been like?
Do you have a current pic?


I wish you the best young man.


Answer my questions, and I will return to see if you responded.


ROCK ON!


Best wishes,


Chillen

Sorry it took me so long to answer, but I just got my laptop working again. So to answer your questions:

My diet the last few weeks has been low on carbs or so i have tried. In the morning I have 2 scrambled eggs with a small side of beans, a slice of avocado, a big glass of water and an orange.

My pre-lunch snack I have a piece of fruit(orange, apple, banana, or grapes).

For lunch I have a piece of skinless chicken or any other lean meat sometimes with a small piece of bread(like those from Subway but nowhere as big as the 6 inch ones) and more water.

My pre-dinner snack is another piece of fruit

Dinner is almost always a piece of meat or skinless chicken and water.

Now for your 2nd question:

My training since about 2 weeks ago went from upper body workouts on Mon, Wed and Fridays with continuous 30-40 min cardio on Tue and Thursdays( with the intention of losing weight while gaining muscle) to HIIT sessions on Mon and Wednesdays, continuous running on Sundays and Tuesdays, total body workouts on Thursdays and soccer game on Saturday. Obviously I sometimes miss a session but stick to it for the most part.

Oh and one last thing: I think ive lost sight of my absolutely number one most desired goal of all which isn't a six-pack or huge biceps or boulder shoulders. My most desired goal of all is ENDURANCE to last me 90 minutes and become a force on the soccer field.

And here is a current pic, although its a bit blurry.

 

[realworksuks]

Sorry it took me so long to answer but ive been having trouble with my laptop anyways ive replied to your last post on my "look good on the scale but on mirror not so much" thread please take a look at it when you have time.


Gustavo

Not to sound like a jerk, but there are private messages for reasons such as this.

 

[tonymcclellan]

and the thread in which you started lol