Please Critique my Physique (6 months after hiring Physical Trainer)

[marmel75]

kind of sad that the "advice" here has degenerated to take steroids and use viagra all just for women

I'm not advocating taking steroids I'm advocating being on TRT. Huge difference. Do you know how unhealthy it is for the male body to have low levels of testosterone? Extremely.

 

[Phobos]

I've read and watched a lot of current fitness experts, and I think all of them would recommend the following:

• Eat 10% - 20% below maintenance calories (assuming "moderate" activity level from exercising and lifting).
• Eat close to 1g of protein per pound of body weight
• Lift heavy (4 - 8 reps per set) 3 or 4 times per week. I personally like an ABA / BAB split over two weeks, so you're doing the same lift every 4 or 5 days. I have A = squat / bench / row, and B = deadlift / overhead press / pull-up, and both days you can do abs and related accessories if you want, like lateral dumbbell raises on overhead press day (which I'd recommend).
• Cardio on other days is fine; usually HIIT is better than long steady cardio (like hill sprints)

What you should NOT do is focus only on cardio or lifting light while you're cutting weight, because your body needs to be reminded that it needs all the muscle you have (for lifting heavy) so it burns fat for energy and not some of your muscle.

 

[TheMonkeyKing]

You are in reasonable shape. Would say two things....

-Forget HRT, unless it is clinically indicated for you. Cut down carbs to only during the day and none after 5pm. Though we do need them to a degree, the human race as a whole is addicted to them. You can probably get away with a bowl of musli or oats as breakfast or snack and still have all the energy you need from the rest of your non-carb diet. The only carbs I consume are treats like biscuits, cake and beer.

-Some high intensity sport or exercise to supplement the weights is a good idea to get the last 10 body fat off. Plus you need to be do exercise 5-6 days a week to get there.

You currently have the body of an amateur sportsman. I've realise lately that to get the physique/fitness level of an elite athlete, we pretty much have to live that lifestyle as far as possible. And that's exactly what it has to be, for the most part; a 7day/week lifestyle, rather than a 3-4 day/week pastime.

Keep it up. And remember progression is a primary principal of training.

 

[sazc]

no alcohol !?!?!

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

I believe this image should give you a basic idea on what certain percentage bodyfat looks like:

Based on this, I would have to say your bodyfat percentage is anywhere between 16-20%.

I dislike these comparison charts because they give people a skewed image thinking that in order to be at 5-7% you have to have muscle and whatnot. Take the picture of the guys above at 5% and compare it with this guy who is also at 5%:


They're both at 5% but one looks noticeably more muscular than the other. In fact, if you saw the second guy walking around on the street just in everyday life, you'd think that he's skinny and probably doesn't exercise very much at all or just has a very fast metabolism despite him being the most decorated Olympian of all time. This skews people's perceptions quite a bit.

 

[guru1000]

I'm not advocating taking steroids I'm advocating being on TRT. Huge difference. Do you know how unhealthy it is for the male body to have low levels of testosterone? Extremely.

Most of the populace with low T are undiagnosed and thus unaware, as the conventional blood test does not test for it. I'd venture to say in another 20 years, T will be mandatory in all lab work.

It's foolish for any man over 35 yo not to get lab work to see where their T/E/GF-1 levels.

 

[SeymourCake]

I dislike these comparison charts because they give people a skewed image thinking that in order to be at 5-7% you have to have muscle and whatnot. Take the picture of the guys above at 5% and compare it with this guy who is also at 5%:
View attachment 808

They're both at 5% but one looks noticeably more muscular than the other. In fact, if you saw the second guy walking around on the street just in everyday life, you'd think that he's skinny and probably doesn't exercise very much at all or just has a very fast metabolism despite him being the most decorated Olympian of all time. This skews people's perceptions quite a bit.

Source that he's 5%?

 

[mrgoodstuff]

Looks like around 8% to me. Regardless of the number additional leanness will show more muscle in arms and forearms and cross striation on delts and obliques

 

[kronreiff]

Seems to me, after a guy has been fvking a 21 year old HB9 for over 9 months, he'd be far less pear shaped. Fire the trainer, he's clueless!

 

[MatureDJ]

I know I can trust SS members to tell me like it is (especially my haters). Here I am this morning after 6 months of working out. Tell me what I should focus on in the next 6 months. I want to get my jawline, abs and chest leaner.

Age: 46.9
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 225lb
Body fat: 12.5%

That's the worst 12.5% body fat I've ever seen.

 

[mrgoodstuff]

That's the worst 12.5% body fat I've ever seen.

I've seen others like this. The body fat number says one thing but the pic says another.

Those of us whove been around it for a while know this pic corresponds to 20-22% body fat. And it teaches bigneil not to get caught up in the bodyfat % number. Use the mirror. An athletic build will have all 6 abs and sometimes 8 showing, cuts in for arms and biceps and hardly any pec fat. You will see your quads without flexing hard. There will be under 1" of skin pinch on the waistline. You won't have fat on your neck ( turkey neck or gizzard ).

It takes time and weeks and weeks of cardio and diet, with diet being 70-80% of the battle. That being said it's CARBS that make most of us fat. Cut out alcohol and don't eat carbs in the second half of the day. When you get it right about 1-3lbs per week will drop off you. This will last 8-12 weeks, and you probably will drop 1% bf a week, so in 10-12 wks you'll be at 10% bf, see your abs and they'll look nice when flex.

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

Source that he's 5%?

I could ask the same of you for those pics. But her you go:
http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-phelps-rio-prep-trainer-explains-body-diet-2016-3

4th paragraph btw.

 

[mrgoodstuff]

I could ask the same of you for those pics. But her you go:
http://www.businessinsider.com/michael-phelps-rio-prep-trainer-explains-body-diet-2016-3

4th paragraph btw.

Ignore what they say. 5% sounds sexier than what it is at 8 or 9%. It's not even necessary for him to be at 5%. Look at the level of musculature visible on him. That's not 5%. 5% has cross striated obliques, arms and delts will also have cross striations on them and veins.

 

[Tenacity]

I know I can trust SS members to tell me like it is (especially my haters). Here I am this morning after 6 months of working out. Tell me what I should focus on in the next 6 months. I want to get my jawline, abs and chest leaner.

Age: 46.9
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 225lb
Body fat: 12.5%

You have a Trainer that you are paying? You don't need a personal trainer.

- How many workout sessions are you doing per month and what do those workout sessions look like? For example, is it Weight Training with Cardio, just Cardio, etc.?

- Your BodyFat is between 20% - 25% right now, it's not under 20%.

- Your Personal Trainer is only in it for the money, like most of them are.

- You need about 20 intense workout sessions per month (about 5 per week) and a healthy eating plan with only 1 - 2 cheat meals per week. The workout sessions should include mainly weight training but you also need some high intensity cardio sessions in there as well.

 

[SeymourCake]

I dislike these comparison charts because they give people a skewed image thinking that in order to be at 5-7% you have to have muscle and whatnot. Take the picture of the guys above at 5% and compare it with this guy who is also at 5%:
View attachment 808

They're both at 5% but one looks noticeably more muscular than the other. In fact, if you saw the second guy walking around on the street just in everyday life, you'd think that he's skinny and probably doesn't exercise very much at all or just has a very fast metabolism despite him being the most decorated Olympian of all time. This skews people's perceptions quite a bit.

1. He's tall, so his muscle distribution would be different than the image I posted.
2. His training is endurance based, not strength training. Because of this, he will lose muscle mass.
3. The author of that article made the assertion that he's 5% body fat, not his trainer. It's not in quotations, suggesting that his trainer made that claim.

 

[ImTheDoubleGreatest!]

Ignore what they say. 5% sounds sexier than what it is at 8 or 9%. It's not even necessary for him to be at 5%. Look at the level of musculature visible on him. That's not 5%. 5% has cross striated obliques, arms and delts will also have cross striations on them and veins.

This is only the case if you are BIG and have a low bodyfat percentage. The guy isn't even 200 lbs. Most people who get to 5% with the visible striations and all that are pro bodybuilders who likely weigh over 300. Trust me, there's a difference. Anorexic people for example don't have any striations and don't even look like they have muscle at all, yet they're sub 5% and look less muscular than Phelps. Not only that, but all the pics you guys see are when they're flexed. Check this guy below at 2% bodyfat (Helmut Strebl). In the first, he resembles someone at 8-10% bodyfat, but that is because he is barely flexing any muscle at all. In the second when he actually is flexing, he shows all those striations and the extreme muscle definition in the delts and whatnot; he actually exhibits similar musculature to the dude in the 1-4% bodyfat pic, yet at the same time he isn't as BIG.

3. The author of that article made the assertion that he's 5% body fat, not his trainer. It's not in quotations, suggesting that his trainer made that claim.

They're paraphrasing what his trainer said, it doesn't have to be in quotations. 5% at 194 looks vastly different from 5% at 300. Your grasping onto straws here with that argument. And like I said above, most people you see are flexing. They don't show you what it's like to not be flexing.

 

[mrgoodstuff]

This is only the case if you are BIG and have a low bodyfat percentage. The guy isn't even 200 lbs. Most people who get to 5% with the visible striations and all that are pro bodybuilders who likely weigh over 300. Trust me, there's a difference. Anorexic people for example don't have any striations and don't even look like they have muscle at all, yet they're sub 5% and look less muscular than Phelps. Not only that, but all the pics you guys see are when they're flexed. Check this guy below at 2% bodyfat (Helmut Strebl). In the first, he resembles someone at 8-10% bodyfat, but that is because he is barely flexing any muscle at all. In the second when he actually is flexing, he shows all those striations and the extreme muscle definition in the delts and whatnot; he actually exhibits similar musculature to the dude in the 1-4% bodyfat pic, yet at the same time he isn't as BIG.
View attachment 810
View attachment 811

They're paraphrasing what his trainer said, it doesn't have to be in quotations. 5% at 194 looks vastly different from 5% at 300. Your grasping onto straws here with that argument. And like I said above, most people you see are flexing. They don't show you what it's like to not be flexing.

This guy looks to be 5-6%. What bigneil has to take from this is to use the mirror and forget about the % number. People use that as a bragging right like the bench press. Right now bigneil is fat, with inflammation an turkey neck and he needs to accept it and do something about it if he cares.

In my vision for big neil he drops about 20-25 lbs of fat, and gains 20-25 lbs of muscle. Perhaps 1lbs of real actual solid lean muscle a month. No whale or pig style bulking. So the muscle gain will take time. He can get all the bodyfat work stripped off over the next 3 months.

The bodyfat is removed to see what you have, and the weights is used to refine and show better musculature. He's going to look great if he stays the course.

 

[marmel75]

Looks like around 8% to me. Regardless of the number additional leanness will show more muscle in arms and forearms and cross striation on delts and obliques

Those charts are just a general guide, people vary significantly from those because everyone carries fat in different places. For instance, I carry fat in the midsection mostly, so that is the hardest for me to get lean. I've tested with both calipers and Skulpt, which is second in accuracy only to a DEXA machine(within a percent or two in accuracy of a DEXA) and was around 9% body fat, however my fat was unevenly distributed. I literally had almost no fat on my arms, legs or back, and had most of it on my abs and chest. Those areas were like 11% and the other areas were like 4 or 5%...overall total body was 9%, but everywhere on my body wasn't 9%. You are going to have more fat where the body has more fat cells present. Fat cells don't go away, they just shrink.

People rarely take this stuff into account when they just take a guesstimate of body fat percentage, and typically its near impossible to get an accurate measurement unless yuo are very god with teh calipers or get a DEXA or have a SKULPT

 

[mrgoodstuff]

Those charts are just a general guide, people vary significantly from those because everyone carries fat in different places. For instance, I carry fat in the midsection mostly, so that is the hardest for me to get lean. I've tested with both calipers and Skulpt, which is second in accuracy only to a DEXA machine(within a percent or two in accuracy of a DEXA) and was around 9% body fat, however my fat was unevenly distributed. I literally had almost no fat on my arms, legs or back, and had most of it on my abs and chest. Those areas were like 11% and the other areas were like 4 or 5%...overall total body was 9%, but everywhere on my body wasn't 9%. You are going to have more fat where the body has more fat cells present. Fat cells don't go away, they just shrink.

People rarely take this stuff into account when they just take a guesstimate of body fat percentage, and typically its near impossible to get an accurate measurement unless yuo are very god with teh calipers or get a DEXA or have a SKULPT

I'm just saying **** the %. Doesn't mean anything. Plus I think they fluffed him up on the % number anyway with the 5%, making it sound better than it is... Use the mirror. People phvck up with calipers and even submersion testing isn't perfect. Use the mirror and get the fat off.

 

[marmel75]

I'm just saying **** the %. Doesn't mean anything. Plus I think they fluffed him up on the % number anyway with the 5%, making it sound better than it is... Use the mirror. People phvck up with calipers and even submersion testing isn't perfect. Use the mirror and get the fat off.

Yeah the mirror is always what's most important but it's good to know where you are at for comparisons sake too.