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This is a personal question, so feel free not to answer without causing offense...
How tall are you, and how much do you weigh? The reason I ask is that I'm about 6 feet tall, currently at about 225 pounds. A lean weight for me, with my current muscle mass, would be 190-195 pounds. I'm in the process of trying to shed the extra fat and add a little more muscle, and your proportions are just about exactly what I have in mind.
I don't need any info on "how" to do it, but find it helpful to have a mental image in my head, of what it is I'm striving for. Even if we are of significantly different heights, if I know how tall you are and how much you weigh, I will be able to proportion the goal image to my own height.
Again, no biggie if you don't want to publicize or share this info. Feel free to email it to me if that works better for you (validusarcane@gmail.com).
Strength and Honor,
Val
Hey Val
I'm around 5 ft 10 inches and about 190 pounds. Still striving for more muscle though. I started out at 133 pounds!
Good luck with your training.
Troy
Thanks for the info, Troy. You've obviously worked hard to get to where you are. Keep up the good work, bro!
--Val
Hey Validus I know you didn't ask me but I've been training for some 27 years and the only way you can lean out and gain muscle mass at the same time is to eat as clean as you can, keeping your protein levels high and carbs high enough to give you the energy needed to have productive workouts. Of course you need fat in your diet but keep it no more than say 10% and make them good grams of fat. Also you have to do aerobic exercise at each session for 30 to 40 minutes after your workout not before. Try not to eat after 7 PM if you can and maybe drink a protein shake before bed to keep the hunger pains away. Take it for what it's worth but that's what works for me as I am presently in the same process. I too started at 133 lbs and currently at 5'7" at 225 lbs and would like to lean down to about 200 if I can support that kind of weight.
Thanks for the input, Woodman. Your suggestions are very sensible, and represent a good, "common sense" approach to combined fat loss/ muscle gain. This is actually very close to the strategy I employ... intermittently. It's the "intermittently" that causes problems, and prevents real, lasting results from happening. I actually have a bachelor's degree in Health Promotion & Wellness and am a certified natural trainer. Ironically, since I started a mostly-desk job 2 years ago (as the "obesity prevention coordinator" for a local health dept.), I've gained 20 lbs. of fat. Being married with 3 kids (soon to be 4) has also made it more challenging to prioritize fitness. Not making excuses, but it really is amazing how the unwanted weight can just sneak up on ya!
Anyway, starting out small was never the problem for me... I've always had a fair amount of muscle mass, along with a little extra fat unless I took measures to prevent it. Sometimes it seems like it's actually a little too easy for me to gain muscle... my goal isn't to be "huge," just strong, capable, and healthy. At six feet, I'll be more than happy being a lean 200 lbs (about 30 lbs. fat loss and 10 lbs. muscle gain).
I know what you mean, the weekends are my biggest problem knowing when to quit eating and having a few beers is tough. I do fine at work all week long if I could get control on the weekend and do some kind of aerobic activity I would do better. Well that's what works for me and it seems like you got it under control. Movtivation is always the tough part maybe get a magizine, rent Pumping Iron, or go see a local bodybuilding show will help. I'm 48 and would like to compete in next years "All Natural" compition that takes place in May. That will help me put that beer down and think before I open that frig.
Yes this is decent sound advice. It can be very hard to nail the conditioning, and this is usually what separates the good from the average bodies (in my opinion).
Normally, I find most guys would be better dropping a few pounds and coming in lighter. The conditioning will make you look bigger and more ripped.
I'm hoping to enter some natural competitions next year. Here is a pic from a couple of months ago. I normally try to maintain this condition year round.
Take care
Troy
Awesome, Troy. You've lit a metaphorical fire under my butt to get back to work, and to achieve and maintain the physique I know is "in there somewhere!" Thanks for that.
Being almost-31, it's becoming more and more apparent every day that I'll never have more life ahead of me than at this very moment. This is relevant in terms of health, fitness, career, hair length... any personal achievement to which one might aspire. Lately, I've also been feeling the added incentive of wanting my kids to think their dad really IS the strongest guy in the world (not that I will be, literally, but I believe every child should be able to think this of his or her father).
Indeed, "coming in lighter" is where it's at for me. I weigh about 225 right now. If I were to maintain my current muscle mass, at 195 lbs. I'd have about 8% bodyfat, which is about as low as I ever really care to have it. I'm really just looking to lose 25-30 lbs. of fat and gain about 10 lbs. of muscle, with my primary focus on power-sculpting the arms and shoulders, while maintaining high-level functionality. A rock-solid 200 lbs. would be just about right. More "Steve Reeves" than "Dorian Yates," if you know what I mean. The development of gymnastic-type, Tarzan-like strength and agility is also a big interest of mine.
Regarding your earlier comments about strength being related to the length of your hair, I know exactly what you mean. When I was 19, I cut off my long hair (to get into the military, which subsequently denied me entrance due to a minor eye defect!). Immediately--and I mean IMMEDIATELY--upon cutting it, I felt as though a great surge of power had left me. Even as evidenced by the before-and-after pictures, I looked like a big, strong, young man when I still had the hair. In a photograph taken just moments later, my hair shorn, I looked (and felt) frail. Now, I don't believe there was any sort of bio-physical process that caused this phenomenon. Physically, other than the removal of my hair, my body didn't actually change. Yet, I think the body, spirit, and heart-mind are an inseparable whole. What happens to one, affects the other. In shearing my hair, I was altering a part of myself that was physical, yet also imbued with tremendous spiritual and emotional meaning. I was becoming "less myself," and in doing so, sacrificing some of my own personal power.
It's high-time for me to take back the ownership of my human experience, including, in no small part, the state of my hair and physique.
I've included a rear-view of my hair-of-olde, just before it was hacked. This was 16 months growth from 1/2-inch all over.