need some feedback..

[MAC27]

So i have lifted over the past year on and off with not much of a diet. This is the first time that ive put it all together and plan on living the lean life for good now. Ive been into it for a few weeks now so these are basically my starting photos. My past, years ago i was an over wheight kid id say about 235 threwout middle school was my lagrest. After that i leaned out a bit, but have always help this pudgy lower stomach and lower chest area that just wolnt go away.

im now,
age:24
hight:6'2"
weight:155-160
bf: not sure??

i know my weight is not much for my hight but i seem to like i said only store fat in my stomach and chest which is quit frustrating. Heres a few photos now...

[ar-gun]

a year of working out is not much.i promise you work out religously and take your prottein religiously and shit starts transforming in your body. put the ipod on have your playlist for the gym go in no bulshitting with friends just straight biz brother. use some over the counter supplements and shit and try to beef up year round **** leaning out imo . but congrats on shedding 75 + lbs

[gbrice75]

a year of working out is not much.i promise you work out religously and take your prottein religiously and shit starts transforming in your body. put the ipod on have your playlist for the gym go in no bulshitting with friends just straight biz brother. use some over the counter supplements and shit and try to beef up year round **** leaning out imo . but congrats on shedding 75 + lbs

Agreed. Make sure you have your diet in check and optimized for slowly adding mass while maintaining your current bodyfat. You can shed that last couple % once you have some beef on IMO. Get over to the diet section and post yours up so we can help you sort it out.

[MAC27]

ar-gun: its funny you say ipod, I was just about to go pick up the new mini shuffle for the gym. currently useing whey, casien before bed, and Xpand pre- w/o..

Gbrice: Ive been working on putting something together for the diet post. I may leave out the numbers for now so you can just get a general idea.

[gbrice75]

Gbrice: Ive been working on putting something together for the diet post. I may leave out the numbers for now so you can just get a general idea.

Honestly, we won't be able to do much without the numbers. Time of day for each meal, where the workout fits in, and most importantly - macros for each. Yes it's alot of work, but it's the only way to really know what you're eating. Also, if you haven't done so already, you need to work out your TDEE so we can figure out your caloric needs. If you don't know how to do that, let me know and i'll post up some info for you.

[MAC27]

Ok sounds good, it may take a day or so to put it all down on paper and work the macros out. As for the end of your post you completely lost me haha. Im not sure what a TDEE is.?. is calorieking.com an accurate site to compute from?

Thanks for the help btw!

[ar-gun]

dymatize expand is def legit . once that gets old try jacked3d they both work bangin

[gbrice75]

TDEE = total daily energy expenditure - basically your maintenance calories. Use the info below to calculate your TDEE, and also to educate yourself on diet and nutrition. This should help you with your diet:

BMR/TDEE formula:

Let’s start with BMR. This is your Basal Metabolic Rate. AKA – how many calories you burn each day by just sitting on your ass. In order to figure out your BMR, you need to know what your lean body mass is. In turn, you need to know what your body fat percentage is.

If you don’t know your body fat percentage, go to your gym and get tested (please don’t use electronic scales to get your bf % checked, they're horrible). If you don’t have a gym that offers this service; ask me and I’ll give you a pretty good estimate.

With your bf % in hand, here’s the formula:

BMR (men and women) = 370 + (21.6 X lean mass in kg)

Total weight x bf % in decimal form = total bf weight

Total weight - total bf weight = total lean body mass

For example:

I am 6'1 210 lbs at 10% body fat... so I would multiply 210 by .10 (converted from percent to decimal) = 21 lbs
210 – 21 = 189 lbs lean body weight

189 / 2.2 = 86.0 lean mass in kg

370 + (21.6 x 86) = 2227.6 BMR (this is high for the average person)

Now that we have a BMR figure, we can move on to TDEE. Total Daily Energy Expenditure. This is how many calories we actually use during the day via our BMR and activities such as work, exercise and various tasks. We can figure this number out with simple math but be honest because this figure is to be the cornerstone of your diet and healthy lifestyle. We need to determine your activity level. We’ll choose from a few levels:

§ If you are sedentary (little or no exercise): Calorie - Calculation = BMR x 1.2
§ If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
§ If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
§ If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
§ If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

For example:

I train with weights 5 days for 90 minutes per week. I play hockey three times per week
for 90 minutes. I do 60 minutes of cardio training 5 times per week as well. I also practice my sport 3 times per week for 90 minutes. Either via skating or puck/shooting drills. All are high-intensity. I am between very and extra active. Let’s say BMR x 1.8. My TDEE is 4010.

In terms of food choices, here goes:

I love analogies. Let’s use a good one. Think of your perfect body as a house that you must build. You’ve figured out your BMR and TDEE, so you know the exact specs of the property you have to work with. You know how exercise affects weight loss and how much of a caloric deficit/surplus we must create to lose/gain said weight; so you know how to build - you understand architecture. You also know the pace you intend on losing/gaining weight at based on these other factors, so you know it will be harder to get your house built in weeks as opposed to months. The only thing left is the tools/building material you must use and because you don’t know how to eat, you still can’t build anything. At least, not well. Sure, you can starve yourself for a few months but you’ll just gain all the weight back in a couple weeks of binge drinking and shitty eating on a vacation – you’re house will fall down!

So, let’s talk tools baby. Let’s talk food. First off, there are only 3 types of foods/macronutrients. Protein. Carbohydrates. Fat. That’s it.

Protein – 4 calories per gram - Building material. Bricks. You can’t gain energy from protein, you can only use it to build muscle/skin/hair/nails. It’s basically just amino acids and it’s what our bodies are made of. As such, we need lots of it. 1g of protein per body lb is a good number to shoot for . Go as high as 2g per body lb if you’re lifting weights and trying to build muscle. For example, I am 207 lbs and I eat between 300-400 grams per day. Our body can only break down so much at one time however, so we want to eat 20-40 grams of protein in every meal, several times per day. Protein, being building material only and not energy/labor – the body can rarely find a reason for it to be stored as fat. If you must over-eat – make it lean meat/fish.

Carbs – 4 calories per gram - Think of these as human labor for your house. Think of sugar as dudes you pick up out front of home depot and oatmeal as a skilled carpenter. Both are carbs, both serve very different purposes. Carbs help transport essential nutrients to the muscles, create glycogen stores, and as such, increase protein synthesis but do not build muscle; they are simply an energy source. As such, they should only be eaten/used when we need energy. Any carbs we ingest before bed or before watching a movie, or something sedentary are not used as energy, and as such, are more likely to be stored in the body as glycogen (glucose/water in our muscles that we will use when doing high-intensity exercise). Once our glycogen reserves are full, they will spill over and be stored as fat. Yes, they will make you fat. Carbs can be your best friend or your worst enemy.

Fats – 9 calories per gram - Like carbs, fats are an energy source, not a building material like protein. They provide nowhere near as much energy as carbs however. Ask anyone who's on a ketogenic diet. With regard to our house, think of fats as the glue/cement. They provide much needed essential fatty acids, which are great for joint/organ health and increase our protein synthesis. Going back to our analogy, cement/glue increases the effectiveness of bricks! If we give our bodies the right fats, it will be able to burn stored body fat quickly as it won’t see any use in keeping it. Remember, like carbs – not all fat is good and ALL fat is high in calories so watch out. A tablespoon of peanut butter can be a good addition to a meal. Snacking on 5-6 tablespoons, however, means you’ve just eaten over your TDEE for the day.

Acceptable proteins for your healthy lifestyle diet:

The goal is to eat lean protein. Meats/other sources low in fat/carbs.

§ Ground beef (93% lean or better)
§ Lean steak (Flank, flat iron, or top sirloin)
§ Bison sirloin (the highest quality red meat)
§ Chicken breast
§ Turkey breast
§ Tuna (canned or sushi grade)
§ Salmon
§ Tilapia (mostly all white fish)
§ All shellfish
§ Venison
§ Whey protein (post-workout recovery purposes only)
§ Casein/Cottage cheese (before bed only)

Black-List Protein sources. Do not eat these because they are high in fat. And not the
good kind we find in nuts and olive oil – I’m talking about cholesterol raising saturated
fat!

§ Bacon
§ Sausage
§ Expensive fat-marbled Steaks (Ribeye, Strip, Filet)
§ Pork and beef ribs
§ Pork/Lamb chops
§ Restaurant ground beef (80/20 fat – most burgers)
§ Duck
§ Chicken legs/thighs
§ Chicken skin
§ Cheese

Acceptable Carbs for your healthy lifestlyle:

Complex carbs are now your creed. These are slower-digesting, natural, low on the glycemic index carbohydrates that digest slowly and provide us with sustained energy. They do not drastically affect our blood sugar and do not cause insulin spikes. Thus our body sees no reason to store them as fat, it would rather burn them for energy. Simple carbs such as enriched white breads/pastas/rice/potatoes/sugars (including most fruit) cause insulin spikes and are high GI foods. They should not be eaten when on a strict diet. Fruit can be consumed early in the day or pre/post-workout because of it’s high nutritional value but should usually be avoided due to being a form of simple sugar. Remember, healthy, low-calorie foods aren’t always the correct foods and such is the case with fruit.

§ Oats/Oatmeal
§ Grits/Cornmeal
§ Unsalted/non-buttered popcorn (great, low-cal snack)
§ Sweet potato (the best choice)
§ Butternut squash
§ Whole wheat pasta (not enriched)
§ Organic whole wheat bread (not enriched wonder bread crap)
§ Brown rice
§ Ezekiel bread
§ Swedish grain bread
§ Gluten free bread
§ Wheat couscous
§ Corn
§ Quinoa
§ Lentils
§ Beans
§ Many more, look up the GI (glycemic index) for healthy choices

Black List:

§ White pasta
§ White bread
§ Baguette
§ Bagels
§ Cookies, cake, muffins, cupcakes, all sweets basically.
§ White couscous
§ White rice
§ You get the idea…

Don’t get discouraged upon reading this list. I still make desserts all the time with whole
grain flour and splenda. I buy bagels and baguettes at the health food store that use
complex carbs as a base. If you’re dedicated, you don’t have to miss out 100%

Acceptable fats for your healthy lifestyle:

We look for fat sources that are high in omega-3, 6, and 9 fatty acids. Also, many are high in protein. We do not want saturated fats such as butter, cream, meat fat. We don’t want test tube fats like trans (the worst). We want mono/polyunsaturated fats that our body can use for something other than calories. Remember, even good fats are high in calories.

§ Natural peanut butter (no sugar added, just roasted peanuts)
§ Natural almond butter
§ Cashews
§ Almonds
§ Peanuts
§ Flax seeds
§ Flax seed oil
§ Salmon and Trout (great fatty proteins)
§ Fish oil
§ Extra virgin olive oil (should be used on all veggies/salads)
§ Chia seeds
§ Grapeseed oil
§ Macadamia nut oil

Acceptable miscellaneous foods:

These foods don’t provide much as far as macronutrients but are great for adding vitamins/minerals and taste. Notice some of these other foods are dairy. Dairy is another animal’s milk. We lack the enzymes to digest it as they do and it’s high in fat/sugar. It should only be eaten early in the day for nutrient purposes with the exception of whey and casein (cottage cheese).

§ Skim milk (Hood brand is only 45 calories and 3g of sugar per cup)
§ Greek yogurt (no sugar added)
§ Berries (all berries are much lower in sugar than other fruits and packed with fiber/nutrients – eat berries)
§ Green Vegetables. These are technically carbs but they are packed with fiber (a type of carb that isn’t used as energy or stored). In bodybuilding/nutrition – we refer to most vegetables as fibrous carbohydrates. While a serving of Broccoli may have 6g of carbs, 5 are from fiber. Meaning that it contains only 1g of storable carbohydrates. In addition, green vegetables are a calorie neutral/negative food (our body uses more calories to digest them than they contain – think celery). Veggies should be eaten with every meal. Every day. If you do this, you can become almost impervious to getting sick. Some vegetables are better than others for healthy diets.
§ Many non-green vegetables. Most are fine – just check labels, some have a good bit of sugar and should be eaten in moderation only (carrots)

[tbody66]

Eat and lift

[MAC27]

Great info, thanks gbrice! Ive got to ask the gym to measure my bf for me. As an educated guess where would you say im around? Oh and the diet is going up this weekend, been workin on it...

[tbody66]

Whatever your bodyfat is I definitely do not think you need to be concerned about that, you need to put on some muscle and you can eat to gain for sure. Hit it hard and heavy and get blown up.

[MAC27]

diet posted!

tbody-yeah im trying to add as much muscle as i can.. less reps, more weight.

[gbrice75]

11, maybe 12%?

[LBSOMEIRON]

Eat and lift

Yeesh - couldn't have said it better - screw the technicalities, completely worthless at this time other than picking good food choices.

Eat protein and carbs in every meal and train hard and heavy - build the foundation FIRST -

[MAC27]

Yep looks like thats gonna be the plan! Now i just have to figure out how to train hard without over working it and makeing sure my fragile lower back is ok.

[LBSOMEIRON]

Yep looks like thats gonna be the plan! Now i just have to figure out how to train hard without over working it and makeing sure my fragile lower back is ok.

Your 'fragile' lower back is due to your core being extremely weak, Period.

Strengthen you abs and you'll be amazed at how your bain pain goes into remission.

#1 work on loing that baby fat #2 Learn how to train smarter not harder

[tbody66]

Sets to failure, perfect form through full range of motion, a 3-0-1 second rep tempo(2/3rds of size and strength growth comes from the eccentric/negative portion of the exercise)

[gbrice75]

Sets to failure, perfect form through full range of motion, a 3-0-1 second rep tempo(2/3rds of size and strength growth comes from the eccentric/negative portion of the exercise)

I'm not saying I agree or disagree one way or the other, just curious to see opinions. What about the people who say do your movements as fast as possible (as fast as perfect form will allow of course) which recruits more muscle fibers which in turn leads to more growth/strength?

Sorry for the hijack. =\

[tbody66]

I would agree on the concentric portion of the exercise, full involvement during explosive contraction of the muscle fibers.

[gbrice75]

I would agree on the concentric portion of the exercise, full involvement during explosive contraction of the muscle fibers.

For me personally, this makes the most sense too. Slower negatives, explosive positives.

[MAC27]

when you say sets to failure, does that mean lift till u cant get it up anymore. if so do i make this the last set at the heaviest weight that i lifted for the sets on that exercise?

[gbrice75]

when you say sets to failure, does that mean lift till u cant get it up anymore. if so do i make this the last set at the heaviest weight that i lifted for the sets on that exercise?

Yes, bringing a set to failure means you cannot complete the last rep. You should struggle with this rep for a few seconds before giving up, knowing full well you won't be able to complete it. However, keep in mind that for pushing exercises (bench press for instance) it's very difficult and can be dangerous without a spot. Much easier with pulling exercises.

When I lift to failure, I make sure to fail on every set.

[tbody66]

Failure can also mean simply failing to perform the exercise through the proper range of motion at it proper tempo, an example: you are bench pressing reps of 8 - 12 with 185#, on your first two sets (after warm-ups) you are using a 3-0-1 second rep tempo, 3 secs to lower the weight, a zero second touch on the chest and explode up, on your set when you are unable to explode up when the bar touches your chest or it glitches before lock out you have "failed". I recommend this type of failure with push exercises, be sure to explain this to your spotter.

[MAC27]

Ahh ok now ive got it. Good to know im going to use these methods next time I work out. I normaly dont do bench with the barbell due to not haveing a workout partner, I find i get much more done and on my own schedule. Is useing dumbells less effective for growth?