In the start of his log like 1.5 years ago he was 55 ish, 6'4 200 or something like that. From all his form check videos he just looks really damn skinny

Have you had your tsh (Thyroid) levels checked?

You can develop hyper-thyroidism...or rather, it will onset if you were genetically pre-disposed.

Here's Lyle talking about his book on point:
http://www.bodybuildingsecrets.com/a..._of_it_pt1.php

* Does not apply to anyone over 12% BF

BB looks pretty skinny to me, but 12% is pretty low, too. TDEE of 3k seems kind of high. I'm quite active, taller and more muscular than BB and mine seems to be somewhat lower than that.

Is that directed at BB?

I don't think any stubborn fat protocols should be in this thread.

agree with saw. the above is the answer until conclusively proven otherwise imo.

You eat eggs three different times during the day?

It's obvious the problem is he is skinnyfat. A 6'4" 200lb 55 year old man can certainly be 25 to 30% bodyfat. The older you get the fatter you get. Muscle starts atrophying and bones get less denser.

The solution is seriously to cut to about 180 if you really want to be lean.

Look I am only 36, and at 169 I am overweight. To be lean and ripped I have to be sub160.
We have seen similar weights for people to be truly lean at my height. Fakeb is a bit taller and he cut to 159. EV cut to 161. Aidan cut to 166 and he was a bit fat.

So it makes sense that a 6'4 55 year old man who lifts on and off would have to cut to possibly 175. There is really nothing that can be done about that. There is TRT though, that could help.

BB is describing symptoms of stubborn belly fat. He should definitely read good information about it to convince himself if he does or does not have it. Based on his body type, I think it is pretty likely that he will have it if he does cut down far enough (maybe he already has, idk). I read Lyle's whole Ketogenic Diet book, and decided that I shouldn't do a ketogenic diet. It was totally worth the few hours it took to read.

Incidentally, BB, if you think you are on a certain deficit and you are experiencing stubborn body fat, you should expect to drop somewhat more weight than 1# per 3500 cal deficit, as you'd be catabolizing a higher percentage of muscle. If you're just staying the same weight, then it really must be that your caloric balance isn't calculated properly in some way.

Isn't this the whole crux of his issue? Am I missing something? I don't think he's saying help guys I'm dropping weight fast and getting weaker, is he?

Hi bros. So on my shoulder day on 5/3/1 I decided to do bench press for assistance since my bench is lacking. I benched 65kg this Monday for the first time ever for 8 reps which felt good but today I could barely do 40kg for 10. I thought I should go light and do 4x10 of 50kg but I could barely lift the weight. This was after a new pr of OH pressing and 4 sets of seated dumbbell presses.

I wanna be hitting chest twice a week but if I don't have any strength on pressing day and there's definitely no way I'll have any energy left on deadlift day where do I fit it? I don't wanna do anything special just 60-70% of 1RM for 10-12 reps.

Just see how it goes. Really if you have an unexpectedly low performance you haven't recovered from your previous workout and most likely didn't get enough sleep, or eat enough calories/protein etc since then. That said bad days happen to everyone for even the best prepared. Since you PR'd in your OHP I think recovery may be an issue, oftentimes when I don't sleep/eat enough or am slightly dehydrated I can still somehow PR on my first lift but my accessory stuff goes to **** because I have nothing left. Track your recovery and adjust as you go, the great thing about 5/3/1 is it is so flexible with accessory work.

I don't want to make this the biggerboat diet thread but I'd like to respond to a few comments.

I'm 56, 6.4, 200.

My thyroid levels are fine. I passed my last physical with flying colors except for blood sugar.

I've had this stubborn fat since I was in my 20s. It's not horrible but it is more exaggerated now.

I realize that I may not be super believable without posting exactly what I eat but my diet has gotten consistently leaner the older I get. I am more, much more, disciplined than I've ever been. I used to eat burgers, pizza, etc. a lot. I think I've had one burger in the last 6 months. And, since my pre-diabetic diagnosis I've removed almost all sugar and all bread/wheat. Yes, I do drink some, but even that has been cut by at least 70%. I guess my point is I've pretty radically changed my diet but my body shape has stayed almost the same.

Yes, I eat eggs three times a day. Sometimes 4 because I'll make eggs for dinner sometimes. I go through an average of 3 dozen a week.

I don't know anything about TDEE. I just used the first calculator I found. My height weight and age are exact but the activity level is probably subject to interpretation. The category I used was "heavy exercise" 6-7 days a week. I work out 6 days a week. Lift heavy 3, lift light and run 3. If I use "moderate" which I'm sure I do it's 2939.

Cutting to 180 seems extreme, I dunno. I weighed 175 in high school and I was a stick. If it comes to that I'd just as soon keep the fat.

Thanks for the input guys. It does make me think about some things.

I would try to google around for more information about "hard gainer", "ectomorph", "skinny-fat". I know very little about it, but the #1 thing is that to gain muscle, such a body type needs more recovery time. You also need more recovery time if you're on a deficit. Lifting 6 days a week (albeit only 3 heavy) is almost certainly overreaching.

If you don't lose weight after a reasonably long period of time, your energy equation is wrong. It's nothing to do with fat in any particular spot.

I would suggest making it a priority to read a well written scientific book about your body type. I don't know if one exists, however .

Aren't these (well, the first 2 at least) just code words for "this is 100% broscience, stop reading immediatly"

Would appreciate some feedback from the in-house masters of cutting. I assume my plan below will lead to BF loss. The question is, if the plan will also lead to too much LBM loss (too large a deficit combined with the amount of cardio?) and/or if the caloric breakdown across different days could be better based on your experience?

Am 6'1, ~200 lbs, ~15% BF.

I bike to and from work (18km ~= 11 miles in total) every workday, which takes 50-60 mins - medium effort; am sweaty but not gassed.

I lift 3 times a week (most often at the corporate gym; i.e. the same days I bike).

Am aiming for a base kcal level a day of 2,000 w/ 500 added on bike days, and extra 500 added on lifting days.

A M/W/F schedule would give this breakdown:
3k -2.5k - 3k - 2.5k - 3k - 2k - 2k => ~2.6k on avg.

Wut. No. But yes.

Yea pretty much, imo...


PNHH:

What's your maintenance?

The only reason to cycle calories would really be psychological. It's all gonna kind of blend together anyway. I find it easier to just have a constant intake and then you can adapt up or down if weight loss is too slow/fast. And you'll know you're risking LBM loss if weight loss is too fast.

Yes, they are terms that describe BBs issues to some degree associated with a lot of broscience. It would behoove BB to learn what's bogus and what's real. I don't know anything aside from whatever Lyle or Aragon happened to write about it in articles I've read.

hardgainer has to do with consistently miscalculating ones' personal energy equation (BB seems to do this, though in reverse recently). Also, slower than expected muscle growth.

ectomorph is a term out of favor, but describes his anthropomorphy pretty well. I thought there was some truth to skinny people with long levers needing more recovery time because their joints didn't hold up well to a lot of 5RM type work. Maybe it's all bogus, but would be good to know the truth if it's out there somewhere.

Loco suggested he cut to 180 to start. What should he expect when he gets there based on his history?

Anybody read Girth Control (Aragon)? I wouldn't be surprised if he touches on some of this stuff.

Even if he cuts to 180 he will still be somewhat skinnyfat. I don't recall much from BB's log, but he certainly doesn't hit the weights hard. But maybe at his age it's not possible.

All I am saying is that I am certain he is carrying large amounts of fat. My sister-in-law is finishing up a nursing degree and she has dissected a few OLDS. She says a 120lb 65year old lady was all fat. Just layers and layers of fat.

Some guy recently showed up in the LC thread and he was in his 50s and pretty ripped. If I recall correctly he was 6'1" 190 pounds.

Yes, he admitted to being on anabolics.

I don't want to sound like a downer, I really ain't. But the problem hear is that BB is carrying too much bodyfat. I don't need to see noodz. As long as he is active it really is no big deal. I personally would cut to 190 and get on some TRT while being active. But that's just one wild opinion by someone without a medical degree.

But please let's not talk about the diet and grapes. Or even hardgainer or ectomorphs. Has nothing to do with that. This is all about getting old and getting fat. A reality of life. Oh and of course that we live in LolfatAmerica where 6'4" 180 is considered a skeleton. Of course it is, I just saw an article where the average female is 5'4" 167.

I'm guessing my maintenance without the cardio is ~2.8k, but there are so many variables that I haven't really ever put in the effort to establish it more accurately. This is based on various BRM-calculaters out there, Lyle's multipliers etc. It might be off, but I don't really know. This would be -0.2k/day without the cardio.

Do you not think that there is a physical aspect to it too; i.e. a day with lifting and almost an hour of cardio compared to a day with none of this? My fear is that I will be completely fatigued come Friday, if I don't front-load the calories a bit.

This random calculater puts the calories burned riding the bike at 6-700/workday. This would coincidentally also give me a deficit of 6-700/day.

My main concern is basically that the cut is too aggressive and very sub-optimal long term considering the size of it, and the fact that an excessive amout of cardio can lead to too much LBM loss compared to fat loss?

I cycle to/from work 3 days a week, 20 kms total per day, takes me about an hour.
I add 300 kcals to my tdee and don't think thats too much off.

Eta:
That 600-700 include what you'd burn even if you'd choose to sit on your ass instead of cycling?
Still prolly too much.

I've been working out for almost 3 months and have been to the gym 51 times over the past 80 days.

Seeing some very modest gains but taking things slow. My goal is to lose a small amount of fat (6-8 lbs) while slowly bulking up a bit.

I've been doing 10 rep sets the whole time. Should I switch it up and do ~6 rep sets for a couple if weeks?

Thanks.

Weight loss is controlled more by your diet, so if you aren't losing the weight you want then you should think about how many calories and how much protein you consume. There are some links in the FAQ that you might find helpful.

If you want to bulk, then you need to eat a caloric excess, but if you want to cut fat then you need a caloric deficit. So I'd recommend you spend 6-12 weeks cutting and then thinking about a slow bulk. If you are a beginner, then you'd probably be better off on a beginner plan like starting strength, strong lifts, etc. I don't think just changing the reps you do will affect your results.

I'm trying to come up with a better routine - moved this to my log. I would greatly appreciate any input.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/85...l#post44054631

Bought Muscle Milk brand powder. Is it supposed to taste like chalk or did I get a bad batch?

How many calories are you eating? How much grams of protein do you eat every day? How are you determining progress in the weights you're moving? Which exercises are you doing?

This is most probably related to both poor exercise programming and poor diet. While it's possible for absolute beginners to add muscle and lose fat at the same time, it's still better to make a choice so you can actually aim towards something and work at it.

Optimizing your diet is probably going to way more efficient than changing to 6rep sets of whatever it is you are doing, if you want to start seeing more results.