Progress pics, advice would be useful

J

Jcross22

0
Been lurking here for a little while, this is my first post. This seems like a really great community and I'm ready to become a part of it. Well I started out as a sedentary mess. I didn't get any physical activity and ate nothing but pizza and junk food as well as drink soda and capri suns. The before pics are actually after 3 months of heavy weight training, basically I had zero muscle tone before. I started at the end of may, but this before pic is september 9th, the second is from october 17th. Looking to maybe burn a few more pounds and then bulk back up, anyone wanna take a stab at BF%, hydrostatic not really an option for me right now. Very self conscious about chest, can't wait to get rid of it. I can't believe I even posted these pics. Started out 168 no muscle tone at all, right now around 138 with some muscle tone although the pics don't do a great job of showing it and actual make my traps look non existent lol

Diet before: all junk food and processed frozen meals, it hurts my stomach just to think about it
Diet now: 5-6 meals a day, mostly lean meats, veggies, whole grains and fruits, drink water and occasionally OJ or apple juice, try to stay about 500-700 cals below my ML.

typical day:
meal 1: kashi go lean cereal, banana, protein shake w/low fat milk
meal 2: ham sandwich wheat bread, apple, water
meal 3: protein shake w/low fat milk and pear
meal 4: grilled chicken, potatoes, carrots, water
meal 5: turkey sandwich wheat bread
meal 6: protein shake before bed with water
pretty much the same day in and out, boring but seems to be working, i have absolutely no junk food, once a week i have a day with lots of pasta and carbs


Exercise before: zero, almost literally
Exercise from June to September: Weights 5 days a week, heavy
Exercise from September to now: Higher rep, lowerht rest time Weights focus on heart rate up MWF and cardio TTH

any advice or tips or anything you'd like to share would be helpful thanks. My goals are basically to get rid of some more fat, then bulk up and then cut down again for next summer. I don't want to be the incredible hulk, likewise i don't want to look like a marathon runner, just a flat stomach and some muscle definition.
 

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congrats on the weight loss man
its would be a good idea to post your current workout programme if you want more informative answers

good luck and welcome
 
welcome the this place we use to get better.

Like Marko said- tell us what you are doing first. Otherwise we tell you stuff and you say you are already doing it, and then we stopp offering ideas.
FF
 
Wow, great progress!! I say keep doing what you're doing, and you'll get to your goals in no time. Good job.
 
Jcross22 said:
Been lurking here for a little while, this is my first post. This seems like a really great community and I'm ready to become a part of it.
Click to expand...

WELCOME CROSS! YOU FLAT ROCK!​

Cross: You dipped into your mental SAUCE and became the BOSS in your weight LOSS!------------>YOU ROCK!

Welcome to the best forum on the internet. Where we encourage you to do and be your absolute BEST!

==========================================================
Well I started out as a sedentary mess. I didn't get any physical activity and ate nothing but pizza and junk food as well as drink soda and capri suns.
Click to expand...

We all have our starting place! Congratualations on taking off and improving yourself! You already have proven to yourself you can do it, and WILL continue to improve!

Keep tearing down the walls......be tough....GROWL BABY! ;)


The before pics are actually after 3 months of heavy weight training, basically I had zero muscle tone before. I started at the end of may, but this before pic is september 9th, the second is from october 17th.
Click to expand...

FANTASTIC PROGRESS!


Looking to maybe burn a few more pounds and then bulk back up, anyone wanna take a stab at BF%, hydrostatic not really an option for me right now. Very self conscious about chest, can't wait to get rid of it. I can't believe I even posted these pics. Started out 168 no muscle tone at all, right now around 138 with some muscle tone although the pics don't do a great job of showing it and actual make my traps look non existent lol
Click to expand...

Whats your Hgt and Age?

Diet now: 5-6 meals a day, mostly lean meats, veggies, whole grains and fruits, drink water and occasionally OJ or apple juice, try to stay about 500-700 cals below my ML.
Click to expand...

This looks okay, what is your MT Line (Maintenance Line)? Make sure the juice or natural and free from added sugar (I never completely understood WHY makers have to ADD refined sugar and other sweetners to an already sweet food item, lol)

typical day:
meal 1: kashi go lean cereal, banana, protein shake w/low fat milk
meal 2: ham sandwich wheat bread, apple, water
meal 3: protein shake w/low fat milk and pear
meal 4: grilled chicken, potatoes, carrots, water
meal 5: turkey sandwich wheat bread
meal 6: protein shake before bed with water
pretty much the same day in and out, boring but seems to be working, i have absolutely no junk food, once a week i have a day with lots of pasta and carbs
Click to expand...

Get a bit more veggies in the diet. Do you like oatmeal? Salman, tuna, or Natty PB? Add some good healthy fats as well.



Exercise from June to September: Weights 5 days a week, heavy
Exercise from September to now: Higher rep, lowerht rest time Weights focus on heart rate up MWF and cardio TTH

any advice or tips or anything you'd like to share would be helpful thanks. My goals are basically to get rid of some more fat, then bulk up and then cut down again for next summer. I don't want to be the incredible hulk, likewise i don't want to look like a marathon runner, just a flat stomach and some muscle definition.
Click to expand...

What is your "specific" routine? Are you currently doing a split? If so what type of split? What exercises are you doing, and when?


I wish you the best in all that you set out to do!


Chillen
 
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Thanks for the welcome guys, to address a couple questions.

I'm 23 and 5'2-5'3" ish, right now about 138 when i wake up, 143ish when i go to bed.

Chillen, I'm gonna try and add some more veggies I know i don't work very many in right now, me and veggies don't really agree lol, my diet has changed drastically from what it once was so i'm trying to work my way in not slowly, but not head first since I don't want to demotivate myself by absolutely hating my diet. But I am going to try and add in some more veggies. I can't stand fish, so unfortunately tuna and salmon are out but I can try natty peanut butter, i'll try and pick some up this week. thanks.

my workout currently looks something like this: I'm trying to cut a bit more fat off of me before I try to bulk, I workout 5 days a week with both cardio and weights now. Looks something like this:

Monday: Chest, I do 3-4 sets of exercises, with 30 sec to 1 minute rest to try and keep my heart rate up. My reps usually look something like 10-8-6, then I do interval cardio for about 20-25 minutes

typical exercises i pick from:
Flat bench, incline dumbell, pec deck, crossovers one week, incline bench, flat dumbell, dumbell flyes, bench pushups next, sometimes substituting a couple exercises to keep it varied

Tuesday: Back, 10-8-6 3-sec-1min rest. then I do an ab circuit of 3 sets of different ab workouts with no rest, like (20 crunches, 10 jackknives, 15 decline situps) then rest a minute and repeat, no cardio

I pick about 4 from:
Pullups, Close grip pulldowns, Lat pulldowns, Bent over barbell rows, seated rows, side shrugs, front shrugs

Wednesday: Shoulders, 10-8-6 30 second to 1 minute rest, then 30 minutes of steady cardio

Military press, overhead dumbells, arnolds, seated side lifts, front raises

Thursday: Arms, same as above, 10-8-6, low rest etc. and another ab circuit

standing barbell curls, concentration curls, hammer curls, skullcrushers, tricep pulldowns, tricep extensions, and a few others that i'm not sure the names of

Friday: Legs, 10-8-6 reps, 30 sec to 1 minute rest, then interval cardio for about 20-25 minutes

leg press, seated extensions, lying extensions, calf raises

Sat/Sun Rest

I'm trying to hit weights a bit so that i don't lose muscle but my main concern is cutting away fat for at least another month or so. So my weight lifting sessions are short, just trying to keep my heart rate up a bit and tell my muscles i need them so don't use them as fuel for my cardio. I was told that doing cardio after weight lifting is also useful in burning fat, not sure how true that is.

Any advice on how I could augment my workout to maximize fat loss?? I plan on going into a bulking phase sometime around jan 1st I think, maybe sooner if im happy with how I look after maybe another month. Thanks in advance for any responses. I don't really know what I'm doing I just started hitting the gym for the first time ever at the end of may so I'm just kind of learning as I go.
 
ideally i think you should be doing a full body workout 3x a week but if you want to do a split routine maybe try it like this:
MONDAY:chest +tris
TUESDAY:back+bis
WEDNESDAY:rest
THURSDAY:shoulders
FRIDAY:legs
at the moment you dont seem to have a lower body workout where are your squats lunges deadlifts??? if you incorporate these the exercises into your workout(whether it be in a fbw or a split as above) youll see better gains
once again good luck and welcome:)
 
Marko, Not to hijack the thread but what's the benefit of the whole body workout? Someone else suggested this to me a while back but I never got any reasoning behind it. I currently work chest,tri's,back and bi's 3x/wk and legs, shoulders and traps twice a wk.

Jcross, thanks for letting me borrow the thread. Probably should have pm'd Marko but thought the answer would benefit a bunch of us. Thanks again, Greg
 
it places emphasis one working your whole body in one go therefore cutting the need for isolation work bi tris etc. In my opinion a bent over row is better for your bicep than a curl (some people may disagree)and a lot of people on the forum with a hell of a lot more experiance than me will also tell you that squats work your abs more than the common crunch.It also helps to prevent muscle imbalance (ie:you`re not just working on the bicep and chest and turning yourself into a walking cartoon)
Its also great when your cutting because on a fbw you tend to lift heavier therefore giving your body the need to keep as much muscle mass as possible. at the moment im on a split(just to shake things up a bit) but my full body workout consisted of

SQUATS
DEADLIFT
PULLUPS
BENCH
ROWS
PRESS
my workouts sometimes changed week to week with a few iso exercises thrown in but the core of every workout consisted of the above 5 exercises:)
 
I may give it a try. I'm planning on hunting this afternoon so if I don't workout tonight then I'll try the whole body routine tomorrow. I get an awesome pump with chest/tri's/back/bi's, I can't imagine how I'd feel if I did the whole body routine. I'll also have to carefully consider if just working out 3x/wk would work for me. One of the main ideas behind working out each day and at home is to prevent boredom. If I'm working out and staying busy then I'm not drinking beer. I'll let you know how it goes. It may be something for me to try in situations like tonight when I might miss a workout. Thanks for the explanation. Greg
 
A full body workout is a wonderful idea for you personally. If you don't want to do it, don't, you're making great progress as of right now. You're looking like a whole new person. Feel proud, and make sure you hang onto your old 'fat' pictures for others to see.

Keep it up and keep us posted.
 
Great job!!! Looks like you're doing all the right things!
 
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