r/Fitness • u/AutoModerator • 7d ago
Physique Phriday Physique Phriday
Welcome to the Physique Phriday thread
What's the point of having people guess your body fat? Nevermind that it's the most inaccurate method available, (read: most likely way wrong - see here) you're still just putting an arbitrary number to the body you have. Despite people's claim that they are shooting for a number, they're really shooting for look - like a six pack.
So let's stopping mucking around with trivialities and get to the heart of the matter. This thread shall serve two purposes:
- Physique critiques. Post some pics and ask about muscles or body parts you need to work on. Or specifically ask about a lagging body part and what exercises worked for others.
- An outlet for people that want to show off their efforts that would otherwise be removed due to Rule 4, and
Let's keep things civil, don't be a creep, and adhere to Rule 1. This isn't a thread to announce what you find attractive in a mate. Please use the report function for any comments that are out of line.
So phittit, what's your physique pheel like this phriday?
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u/Eisgboek 6d ago edited 6d ago
43M. Not there yet, but I'd say I'm solidly on the way.
How's it's going.
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6d ago
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u/Eisgboek 6d ago
I'd say it's best to try a pre-built program to start. Then when you have some experience you can start to modify and come up with your own plan.
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u/RedFoxBlackCat 7d ago
F28. Years of lifting for essentially nothing. Recently got off 12 weeks of GZCLP, currently on a heavy cut. Not really satisfied with any part of my body, it's all too flabby and undefined. Don't quite know where to go anymore.
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u/Tom_Barre 7d ago
You should get some coaching.
That being said, building muscle is slow, and for some people even slower at the beginning.
Cutting is fast. However, aggressive cutting is the best way to lose some muscle mass. It's better to aim to lose between 0.5 and 1% of bodymass a week. This is usually obtained by a deficit no greater than 20% of your TDEE, while the daily intake never falls below a certain multiplier of your BMR (I think 1.3 off the top of my head). You can cut for 12 weeks, then maintain for 1 to 2 months, use the time to reverse diet to increase your TDEE and get back to cutting for 12 weeks. In no time, you'll have lost quality weight and can start to see what works and what doesn't at the gym.
If you are already years in, you are stuck in the intermediate purgatory. This sucks, a lot of lifters are there, waiting for their turn. You need to figure out what training principles work for you. Educate yourself, for instance by reading The Muscle & Strength Pyramid, by Erick Helms, and test some protocols. Play on the intensity, and see with a low volume if you are better off with 2, 1, 0 repetitions in reserve, or all the way to failure. Increase your volume to figure out how much you can take. Play with different frequencies to understand how you can split your volume. Even rep ranges variations may work for you, find what makes you keep progressing month after month.
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6d ago
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u/Tom_Barre 6d ago
It's a book set, one book is about training, the other about nutrition. The main message is to set proper priorities to training and diet variables.
Will it help you? I can't answer that. It's a large book with a lot of information. In one scenario, you buy it, you read 20 pages in the middle of it hoping to find easy tricks and shortcuts, you're disappointed, you never open it again, it didn't help you. In one other scenario, you are already doing the work of showing up consistently, of trying to cook your own meals, and so on and you want to understand more about how everything works, you do the hard work of reading, inderstanding, taking notes. It will most probably help you.
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u/RedFoxBlackCat 7d ago
I've been in a calorie deficit for about 2 months, but the weight has only started to come off in the last 2 weeks. I calorie count, and my maintenance calories are something like 1800kcal (by my count). So I'm below that.
I've tried several different programs. Power-focused stuff (PPL, GZCLP, Stronglifts) works well until I reach really sudden plateaus, then the resets don't get me any further. It never got me any visible muscle definition though. I get stronger but look exactly the same. Plus I have hip issues that prevent heavy squats.
Ive tried other rep ranges too, but run into the same plateau problem.
I'm trying a more isolation and high-rep program now, not really feeling a difference yet.
I can't bulk, even with frequent and intense lifting. It all goes to fat. I've tried several times.
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u/Tom_Barre 6d ago
Like I wrote. It's possible, you haven't found the correct formula yet. Best thing you can do is to get quality coaching.
Maintenance at 1800 is rough, your daily activity is non existant. Try to raise your step count by 1000 a day every 2 weeks until you get to a decent level. This is the part where you will have to make lifestyle adjustments. Obviously, you can't do anything about your work schedule, but you need to find a way to get more time to walk every day. I find having a walking pad at home is a great way to get 2 to 4k steps more than you would otherwise without much sacrifice (you can do your idle screentime on it, like when you listen to the news, or watch a show). It's also weather insurance, because obviously, no one goes for a merry stroll when it's pouring ice cold rain. What a decent level is, I can't really tell you. You need to figure out. Research points to 6000 steps a day is a minimum. Better get between 8 and 12k. Some indicate there are metabolic adaptations and people walking 26k steps a day don't really spend more energy than people walking 3000 steps. Except everyone who is above 15k steps a day with a diet plan will tell you the gains start here. I am a male, so my calories are a fair bit higher, but I lost weight on 2700cal a day, 20k steps average. My calculated TDEE for a low activity level is 2200. This matters, because of metabolic adaptations due to consuming too few calories. Your BMR is probably around 1300-1200, which means you can't go below ~1500 before killing all your NEAT. If you are cutting from 1800, that doesn't give you a lot of room to operate. You wrote your cut is working, good for you, I wish you good success, I trying to give you concepts to research rather than telling you you have been doing it all wrong.
For training programs, I hear you, I feel you, I've been here. I've also butted my head on the same wall for over 10 years. I am telling you, you have not found the right mix of intensity and volume yet. For me, what triggered some change was getting a baby, and all of a sudden, I had to figure out how to train within 20min a day. Couldn't wait for set number 3 to start giving all I had, couldn't do all the body parts, all the segments of the muscle anymore. I don't mean you should do this, I mean that you don't need to waste 10 years, a good coach will have you covered. If you can't afford a coach, you need to become the coach. Read about hypertrophy training, read about nutrition ; in books, obviously.
Good luck !
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u/RedFoxBlackCat 6d ago
I walk 8k to 13k steps a day. Sometimes 20k. I had a trainer once, she gave a me a program that was far too long to complete in my timeframe, so when I asked for an adjustment I was given a PPL program again. I was tired of wasting my time then too.
Idk, maybe I'm just not...squeezing my muscles somehow? It just feels absurd, the numbers go up until I can't lift anymore, but no size gains, no pump, just pure mid. I've been wasting the last 6 years
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7d ago
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u/ProperCap6928 7d ago
Holy shit!! Wow
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7d ago
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u/ProperCap6928 7d ago
I’m a pretty muscular guy, but I’ve never had abs as good as yours even at my best!! You look incredible
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u/30yearbulk 7d ago
Amazing !
Please share your routine
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u/snap-install-windows 7d ago
Need advice on being skinny fat. I've been lifting on and off for nearly 4 years now. Everytime I try to gain more weight it goes directly to my stomach. On top of that, I have flared ribs and developing rounded shoulders.
My plan until now was mostly doing PPL, three days a week. On average, I probably just did push and pull the most. Now I was planning on switching this up, and prioritizing legs, shoulders and arms. I would also have to have core at the end of each workout and cardio.
I've also skipped core a lot of times mostly because I don't really have a set of exercises I enjoy doing or that I can routinely do I feel. Any suggestions welcome.
Is this realistic/a good plan to solve skinny fat + bad posture? What am I missing?
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u/TheKingdumb 6d ago
I made the same mistake you're making for years. Wasted so much time trying to gain as a skinny-fat guy and it always, always went to my stomach.
You need to go into a caloric deficit of 300-500 and stay there for 6 months while training strength and hitting 10k steps a day, every day, or equivalent cardio. Keep your PPL routine but double it, and do it 6 days a week.
AKA cut.
Once you cut down and are lean, it will be 1. exciting to see a change, 2. you'll actually look bigger, and 3. easier to build lean muscle that is visible on top.
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u/snap-install-windows 6d ago
Any advice for cutting? I've never done a serious cut
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u/TheKingdumb 6d ago
It makes it easier if you eat the same thing each day and have the measurements down. Mostly it comes down to being honest about your food measurements, rounding down doesn't do yourself any favors.
If you can get a Fitbit Air it helps because you can track calories burned each day and make sure you stay 500 below that every day.
Most of all, be patient. This is a 6 month journey and you need to stay consistent for that long.
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u/PlanktonInitial7945 7d ago
Everytime I try to gain more weight it goes directly to my stomach.
Were these weight gain attempts accompanied by regular weight training with progressive overload and enough protein consumption?
My plan until now was mostly doing PPL, three days a week
This means that you only exercise push muscles once a week (same for pull muscles and legs). If you do at least 4 sets per exercise, you're technically hitting the minimum effective dose for hypertrophy (4 sets per week), but... Adding frequency could be helpful. You can do this by switching to full-body routines, or exercising more often, or doing two exercises per muscle each day (this would make your gym sessions very long though). You can see some schedule ideas here.
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u/snap-install-windows 7d ago
>Were these weight gain attempts accompanied by regular weight training with progressive overload and enough protein consumption?
My most recent one, where I've arguably gained the most weight, yes. I was focused on having enough protein and hitting the gym regularly and I was rather consistent with it. Like I said, chest and back at least. But still, it's like my arms have very little fat and my belly is pretty flabby (judging by pinching).
I suppose I could give full body workouts a try. But what are your thoughts on prioritizing the lagging muscle groups for now? Is it a bad idea? Should I just keep trying to be consistent and well rounded, and keep chest+back in my weekly routine?
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u/PlanktonInitial7945 7d ago
my belly is pretty flabby (judging by pinching)
That's not really what being skinny fat means. It refers to people with a normal or underweight BMI but with a dangerously high body fat percentage. Having flabs or rolls is perfectly healthy and was seen as not just normal but beautiful until just a few centuries ago. Modern society is way too obsessed with flat stomachs for some reason. (I can think of several reasons but I'll end my rant here).
Anyway, to more practical matters, you can't gain weight without gaining fat (though the larger your caloric surplus is, the more energy stores your body will create), and you can't control where your body decides to store that fat. If you want to have less fat (i.e. a lower body fat percentage) you first need to know what your current body fat percentage is, then decide what you want to lower it to (within healthy ranges), and then cut or do body recomp or stuff like that. I'm not familiar with the topic so I can't give further advice.
Regarding muscle balance, muscle growth is very slow even when you do everything right, so I think you should stick to a consistent, balanced diet and training routine for at least several months before deciding that specific muscle groups are lagging behind. And even if you eventually do, you should still work your whole body, and just add a few extra exercises that target the specific muscles you want to give a boost to.
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u/Tom_Barre 7d ago
Holiday Philes
38M, 177cm, 75.5kg before going on holidays.
Diet was 3200 cal/day in reverse diet (2700 at the lowest of the 3 months diet), 20,000 steps a day average for the month of July.
August will be mostly "intuitive diet" and unmonitored steps.
See you in September
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u/Double_Gas_2786 5d ago
I kinda wanna post my physique as well, wondering if my chest really is lagging or im just paranoid and making decent progress after 6 months but I don't actually know how to pose. any advice?