help critque my current routine and body!!

[bilboteabaggins]

didn't want to hijack another thread where fugly asked a guy to layout his info so that you guys could help, so here we go:

current:

6' 1"
172lbs
waist at smallest 35.75"
waist at largest 37.75"
chest 40.5"
bicep 13.75"
M shirt at hollister/a&f fits perfect, smalls from everywhere else are a pinch big
30" pants fit perfect

in the past 2 years I have lost over 150lbs, in Jan I was around 187lbs and was starting to look skinny fat(close to it) so I started a low carb recomp(lost all the weight on low carb), my body look has changed drastically, my measurements before the recomp started in Jan:

187lbs
waist at smallest 36"
waist at largest 39.75"
chest 37.5"
bicep 12.5"

so I have made some progress, I hold fat in my chest really bad(small bit left there) and have love handles(more to the back than to the side) that are stubborn as ****, my arms lost alot of fat so they actually look pretty big at the current size(want to hit 15") and finally I still have a very small amount under my chin LOL...my problem is that I cannot put on muscle fast enough and I am still losing weight(it has to be all fat though because my good measurements are staying the same or going up very slowly and bad ones going down), would like to flip about 15 more lbs of fat with muscle but end up around 180lb when done, so need more muscle gains than that

my lifestyle is excellent I think, I bowl 3 or 4 nights a week, work a job stocking a department store where we walk 3 miles a night and basically kill ourselves, tons of heavy lifting as well

since Jan I am eating 20 to 30 carbs a day for 3 days and then upping to 300 or so carbs and lifting like crazy on that up day, then back to 3 low carb, repeat etc. etc....currently just using a bowflex

all days of the week I am making sure I hit 150 grams of protein and I drink at least 6 bottles of water in addition to all other drinks

is there anything I can do to improve my muscle gains and stay at this current pace while keeping the scale the same?

here recently I have really noticed the 8+ HB's taking a liking to me and telling me how hot I am so it feels good to make progress but I am not where I wanna be just yet, not quite done

thanks for the help guys

 

[Fuglydude]

Dude, post pics... easiest way to judge online.

You've already made incredible progress w/ your physique by losing all that weight and it seems that carb cycling works pretty well for you. I believe that everyone has highly unique metabolisms and you're lucky that you've found a strategy that works for you.

My fiance is about 3 weeks out from a figure comp, and she's been doing VERY LOW carb, almost pure keto for the past several weeks. She'll do a carb refeed meal for her cheats, but she keeps carbs very low as you're doing on your low carb days. Problem with this is, for most people its hard to put on substantial muscle on low carbs.

Are you doing the big compound exercises like squat, deads, bench, etc? The blowflex is great for filling in the blanks, etc, but I really don't think there is any real substitute for a heavy ass pull or squat. The amount of stimulation you're gonna get from pulling a quarter ton off the ground or squatting w/ a few hundred pounds on your back is hard to emulate with anything else...

Again man, post pics and a detailed point form of your diet and training so we have a definitive idea of what you do.

 

[bilboteabaggins]

thanks fugly, no I am not doing the big compounds(other than incline and decline bench), I kinda figured that was holding me back somewhat

by the time that 3rd low carb day comes around my strength is down big time, no way I could do the training I do on the bowflex without those carbs, unless I can find some other way to give myself that energy/boost I get from them

my good measurements also seem to have stabilized, haven't gained any size in about 6 weeks, this is ok I guess because I am losing just fat

pic is at about 174lb:

look pretty damn good in fitted clothes but that pudge around the middle has to go :rockon: and I won't give up until it does

bowflex routine with current weights, once every 3 days:

incline bench 240lb 8x3
decline bench 240lb 8x3
resisted crunch 100lb 1x30
twisted crunch 100lb 1x30(each side)
chest fly 200lb 8x3
hammer curls 100lb 8x3
seated bicep curl 120lb 8x3
french press 80lb 8x3
tricep kickback 100lb 8x3
seated shoulder press 100lb 8x3
front deltoid raise 90lb 8x3
rear deltoid row 100lb 8x3
seated leg extension 100lb 8x3
prone leg curl 100lb 8x3
seated row 100lb 8x3

like I said my current pathetic job has me 6 on and 2 off, walk about 2 to 3 miles a night and work my ass off

low carb days I eat alot of chicken(packaged cut stuff with lots of real deal mayo), pickles, pork rinds, peanuts, lowest carb protein powders I can find locally(in unsweetened almond milk on low days, in whole milk on up), atkins bars and shakes, taco salads with no chips, salads, shrimp, cheeses, mcdees hamburgers with no buns if I gotta have something quick on the run LOL

carb up days I pretty much eat whatever I want within reason(prolly around 300 carbs), treat myself to a dessert or 2 while lifting

my problem is this, I obviously have more fat to loose, would have no idea what my BF is but I am guessing around 18 to 20%, but at my current pace and the low carbing I use to burn fat I am slow as **** gaining muscle, so what would have to do? get down to 160 goddamn pounds to put a big dent in that fat and that is puny as **** weight wise for my height imho, so i'm kinda stuck

thanks again man

 

[Fuglydude]

Low carb/carb cycling got you to your current state and helped you to drop 150 lbs. Low carb/Atkins style dieting is great for competitive physique athletes and those who are morbidly obese, in my opinion, however your body and metabolism is quite a bit different now than when you started your transformation.

As a result, I would recommend that you rethink your dieting strategies. I'd suggest you do a modest bulking/conditioning type diet and totally revamp your work outs. I'd kick out the bowflex and join a gym. I'd do 3 days of weights and 2 days of high intensity cardio circuit work along w/ 20-30 minutes of lower intensity cardio your circuit days.

By incorporating things like squat, deadlift, bench, etc w/ free weights you're gonna be able to recruit the big ass muscles of the posterior chain as well as the multitude of stabilizer accessory muscles that you gotta use to move free weights. Combined w/ interval cardio, this style of training is equivalent to a metabolic kick in the ass... it'll really get your metabolism fired up. Unfortunately, you're not gonna be able to eat super low carb with this kind of a conditioning program, as you'll be at risk for overtraining.

I'd suggest a moderate bulking diet that's high in low GI carbs and good fats. I'd normally suggest drinking gainer shakes, but you can replace these with the combo of 1 cup oatmeal and 50 g whey isolate.

Here's a sample diet for ya:

meal 1: 1 cup oats w/ 6 whole eggs.
meal 2: 6-8 oz of chicken/beef w/ 200 g yamn/rice and veges/fruit
meal 3: 1 cup oats w/ 50 g whey isolate.
meal 4: same as meal 2.
meal 5: 1 oz almonds w/ 1 cup cottage cheese

You can add in another meal once you're used to it. Again, just a suggestion... yes its a lot of carbs, but they're clean natural carbs, not the processed crap that makes you fat. If you're training hard and doing lotsa heavy work w/ interval cardio, this diet should be a good foundation for yielding good gains.

Let me know what you think.

 

[bilboteabaggins]

that diet plan would be totally different than what I am doing now and I am certainly open to trying it, I think my thyroid has had about enough of low carbing anyways, although I must admit that I am a highly carb sensitive person

I have never been in a gym before in my life and I am very open to doing that as well, it just my schedule is gonna be hard to get there that much, there is a really good one about 5 miles from home

this plan does it focus more on muscle gains or fat loss or does it ride middle of the road?

thanks man, I appreciate this very much, if it can get me to the next level I am all for it

 

[Fuglydude]

If you can drop 150 lbs working by yourself at home imagine what some serious iron and a revamped, well thought out diet can do for you... Your body will naturally respond well if you change things up and shock it with different stimuli. This is why I'm suggesting you totally revamp your training/diet.

If you're working 8 hour shifts, it shouldn't be difficult to go train following work. 99% of my shifts are 12's, and I work 50-60 hours a week on average. They're also a mixture of day and night shifts, so at times its tough to get all my work outs in. I'm very fortunate that I have access to a great gym right there at the hospital that I can use during my breaks. You just gotta figure out a time/schedule when you can go. Gyms have much more equipment than you probably do at home, and you can do a ton of different things including the heavy stuff like squats and deads. In addition, depending on when you go, there's bound to be lots of eye candy. Personally I don't go to the gym ogle girls, but its definitely nice to have something nice to look at between sets!

When I was lean, like < 10% I was training on average 3x/week. You've can see my pics on any number of my posts. I wasn't really doing any cardio except for sex and stripping (now thats' what I call fun cardio!). My diet was mostly meat, protein shakes, fruits and veges... I'd avoid bread and dairy. You should be able to make it to the gym 3x/week, right? It sounds like your job has you doing lots of low intensity cardio, so even if you get in a single high intensity cardio session, you'd probably be ok.

The program I'm talking about is basically a "kick your ass" conditioning program that's designed to drastically shock your system and add muscle while burning fat. This will obviously depend on how your diet is. Keep in mind everyone has unique metabolisms and you're gonna have to tweak and fine tune your diet as you see fit. The carbs sources that I'm gonna suggest to you are:

- Oatmeal
- Brown rice
- yams

These are all low GI carbs. You can have fruit/juice post WO but I'd avoid them at other times. I'm recommending that you add more muscle because muscle is very metabolically active and will really help to burn more calories and make it easier to get lean. One of my old profs, dude is an expert on potassium ion channels and diabetes, once said that muscle mass is like metabolic armor that'll protect you from getting diabetes, metabolic syndrome, etc.

In your case more muscle mass coupled to the fact that you're doing lots of low intensity cardio at your job will mean that you'll be able to burn lots of calories and stay lean. Just remember to restrict your carbs to low GI unrefined natural carbs that I mentioned above. I'd also suggest dropping most of the processed crap from your diet... human beings aren't meant to eat that shiit on a regular basis. Plan your diet out so that you're eating AT LEAST a pound of meat per day, try for 20-24 oz... preferably chicken, leaner cuts of beef or fish. Nothing wrong with getting in animal fat, just make sure you have adequate protein.

I'd strongly recommend that you supplement with a good high potency multi and high dose fish oil. GNC has some decent multis', and Costco has some great high potency fish oil caps. Aim for at least 3-5 g of actual EPA/DHA per day.... These are the EFAs' in fish oil caps. Most caps will have anywhere from 300-900 mg/capsule of actual EPA/DHA. I'd also suggest you get a higher quality protein, preferably an isolate or a good isolate/concentrate blend. I know that the Optimum nutrition stuff is quite popular in the US.

I know this is a huge change for you, but I think it would really help to take your physique to the next level assuming that you're able to stick to the program and diet.

 

[bilboteabaggins]

thanks man, you are truly a wealth of knowledge

I have came this far so I can do anything I want or wish to do, no joke, not meaning to brag, just stating facts!

the really good gym is actually at the hospital 5 miles from me, I was going to seek security employment there in the very near future, so this may all workout perfect to pardon the pun

again I appreciate this very much

 

[Tortendieb]

meal 2: 6-8 oz of chicken/beef w/ 200 g yamn/rice and veges/fruit

At the risk of sounding stupid, 200g rice is dry weight before cooking, yes?
Because I like to cook (lean) curry and always feel kinda guilty about eating too many carbs when I have a big pile of rice

 

[Fuglydude]

At the risk of sounding stupid, 200g rice is dry weight before cooking, yes?
Because I like to cook (lean) curry and always feel kinda guilty about eating too many carbs when I have a big pile of rice

Ya Curry rules... Nothing wrong with it if you're bulking as long as you're eating adequate amounts of meat with it. By adequate I mean at the very least 1 lbs of meat per day, and ideally 1.5-2 lbs.

Yeah I was talking about the cooked weight. Nothing wrong with eating lots of rice during a bulking phase as long as its brown rice.

 

[bilboteabaggins]

white rice tastes like cardboard and might as well be LOL, brown rice is one of my favorite things in the world, just had to avoid it the past 2 years to do my carb thing