I told the guy to at least start cutting back on his carbs, while not eliminating them. I told him "If you don't think you have the willpower not to gorge yourself on everything in sight, then at least try to fill up with fats and protein instead of carbs."
Then, like a few days later, he tells me he's trying to eat healthier, and that he started to eat popcorn at night instead of chips. He then proceeds to tell me he puts an ENTIRE STICK OF BUTTER on the popcorn. I'm absolutely not making this up.
Oh, yeah, I understand. I realized that a long time ago. I was as high as 215 pounds at one point with considerably less muscle.
Several people at the gym have some up to me and asked how I've lost weight. Some of these guys weigh like 260 pounds, and work out like four hours a day. This one guy I talk to all the time does this. He'll go in, do an hour of cardio, lift for two hours, then do another hour of cardio, and his weight fluctuates between 240 and 260 all the time.
He tells ms things like "Man, I'm working my ass off here, and I keep gaining." I've told him numerous times the old saying "You can't out train a bad diet." The dude finally understands this, but he's just powerless to do anything about it. He simply doesn't have the willpower.
Myself, I've actually been pretty damn pinpoint strict with my diet in the past 6 to 8 weeks, on top of killing it in cardio.
Hmm. I'd be surprised if Hugh Jackman actually had more muscle than me, but he's certainly leaner than me. Just by looking at him, I'm pretty sure I could best him on the big three lifts. Then again, what the fuck does that matter? I don't compete, so I may as well just aim for looks. He's 6'2, lean, and probably does a lot of moderate rep hypertrophy lifting, at least in that one picture.
But, point taken on the weight and the abs. I never intended to stay at this weight. It's always been my goal to get back down into the 170's.
I will post more pictures in the future after I lose some pounds. The good thing is, at least, I should have a lot of potential for ab growth even on a cutting diet, as a sort of "newbie gains" thing since I haven't targeted them.
I actually do quite a bit of cardio, probably to the detriment of my muscle gain, technically speaking, but I've always viewed it as being needed for overall health and fat loss. I go to the gym either 5 or 6 days a week. That ALWAYS includes at least 45 minutes of cardio, up to two hours on some days. I kill it on cardio, too. I'm drenched by the time I get out. The two hour thing is a recent development, since I'm trying to get my weight down.
I go in, warm up, lift, and, depending on who is at the gym, sometimes I stop lifting weights and talk to people while on the the treadmill for up to an hour, go back to lifting weights, and when I'm done again, I go back and do another 30 or 40 minutes to wrap things up. If I've already done an hour, I usually take it pretty easy on the second go around.
Yeah, that guy's abs look horrible. I've seen other dudes like him. I've never wanted to look like a bodybuilder, ever. Especially the professional ones. That super-vascular steroid mutant look is not for me, not even counting the drug abuse.
Some of the amateur, non-roid using bodybuilders have a good, natural looking form, especially in the offseason. Even some of them look ridiculous when super cut, though.
I've done virtually no direct ab work. It's actually something I've been gearing up to start doing, now that I'm nearing into my goal weight. For the longest time, I was told by many people that doing heavy deadlifts and squats would take care of them. To some extent, that's true, but I wish I'd started doing direct training on them earlier, when I was bulking.
I'm not even up to date with what the most well regarded ab exercises are these days.
She's right, though, technically, to the end that we're talking about.
To get ripped abs at my current weight, I'd have to be packing another 20 or 30 pounds of muscle. I'd look like a full fledged bodybuilder to get abs at my current weight.
But, yeah, BMI is bullshit. I'm solidly overweight on the BMI scale.
If you think my fingers are bad, you should see my toes. They...just aren't good. I'm one of these people who has a big toe that sticks out longer than the other toes.
You really think the Hugh Jackman look in that picture is better than, say, Jason Statham type abs?
Your picture didn't show up, but I copied and pasted it into a new window and looked at it. Actually, I'd hope to be a little more ripped than he is. My goal is to really get some separation going. Not that the average person would complain about looking like Hugh Jackman.
High protein, low carbs. That's all there is to it. At about 1800 calories a day. Not no carbs, mind you, but at least less than 50 grams a day or thereabouts.
Well, there's certainly nothing wrong with that. Doing something, anything, with regularity is good. I mean, when it boils down to it, the only thing you really NEED is to be in decent cardiovascular shape.
I have met the goals I had for squats and deadlifts (315 for reps on squats, 405 for deadlifts,) which, by lifting standards, are quite reasonable...there are 155 pound guys who can do that much, and I weigh 40 pounds more than that.
My last real remaining goal is to get visible abs, which I've never had. When I graduated from highschool back in the 90's, I weighed 155 pounds, but with no muscle. I think once I get down to 170-175 pounds with the level of muscle I have now, it might be attainable.
I'm going to do it one way or the other. I have to be goal oriented in the gym, or I have no reason to go (in my mind.)
Of course, getting visible abs is going to be harder than any of the other goals I had. Abs are 95 percent diet, which is the stumbling block that every tard who buys an ab cruncher machine doesn't realize. I'm making progress, though.
Dude. I go to the gym with actual powerlifter competition guys in their SIXTIES who are way stronger than me, and they're just fine. I'm only in my early 30's, and I have no problems. A lot of bodybuilders and powerlifters don't even peak in strength until they're in their 30's and 40's.
Being that I have no aspirations of being either a bodybuilder or a powerlifter, I don't lift anywhere near as hard or as frequent as they do, but still.
They'd look better if I showed a larger picture, but that's the best it's gonna get taking a picture on the mirror in the bathroom. My calves are decently developed as well. That's kind of at an oddball angle, looking down on my legs. If there was someone else here to take a picture from like 15 feet away looking straight at them, it would look more natural.
The nautilus or hammer strength squat machines are alright for accessory workouts, but they take away much of what the squat is really good for: everything. It's a full body workout, and you can do them as a woman, too. Get someone who knows what they're talking about to instruct you.
There's plenty of danger in using those machines if not done correctly, as well.
I'm 5'11, 194 right now. I'm currently cutting down to 175 or thereabouts, while keeping what strength I can. I can currently squat 300 odd pounds for reps, which is horrible for powerlifter standards at my weight, but I have no interest in powerlifting or bodybuilding. I like going to the gym because it's fun. I had a goal of being able to squat 315 for reps, and now I can do that. I have no inclination to go much higher.
We had a Zayres in addition to K-Mart, Wal Mart, et al.
The one thing that stands out in my mind about Zayres...I remember going there once as a kid, after Atari had fizzled out, and they had all their Atari games on sale for like $2 a piece, marked down from like $40 or $50, or whatever they were previously. I remember seeing that and begging my parents to buy them. I think they let me buy five or six of them that night.
Ironically those cartridges are probably worth more now than they were then.
