Trainning/Diet Guidance From a Male Perspective

You can friend me if you like. I'm 6'0 43 and 210lbs at about 17% bf. I'm trying to cut down to about 10% bf to get ripped for the summer which I figure will put me between 190-195 lbs. What is your bf% now? In order to look ripped you have to cut your bf% down to at least 13-14% to start to see some serious definition and between 8-10% to look shredded but everyone is different. To get there you have to eat at a caloric deficit but since you have a good amount to lose you might be able to pack on a few extra pounds of muscle as you lose, especially if you're new to lifting.

You? No probably not. You need to find your TDEE and then take about 20% off that to find your healthy weight loss goals. TDEE will take into account how often you work, and then you don't have to worry about eating back your exercise. Your goal should be losing fat and preserving muscle. I'd set your protein goal at 1g per lb of your goal weight, so 225. Set fat at 0.4 grams per lb of goal weight and put the rest into carbs. Here is the TDEE that I use -http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

Then after a few weeks, adjust your goal up or down depending on the results you see.

ndj1979 wrote: »

OP - You have several options…

You can cut down to sub 15% body fat and then run a few bulk/cut cycles.
you can cut down to sub 15% body fat and then run a recomp where you slowly lose fat and add some muscle.

Really, until you get to about 15% body fat you just need to keep cutting and follow a structured lifting program to maintain as much mass as possible.

what is your current lifting regimen like?

**co-sign**

We're really close. I'm also 44, 6'2" and started at 265 a couple of months ago. Through (so far) just walking a total of 4-5 miles a day and making sure I burn 500-750 more calories a day than I consume, I am now at 253. I plan to add exercise now, but gradually. Will start with resistance bands and dumbells.

My goal is to reach 230, but I don't care to be "ripped." It's not practical to maintain, especially the over-rated "six-pack" abs. I just want to look and feel good, and not be embarrassed at the beach.

I sent you a friend request.

CallMe_SIR wrote: »

I'm 6'1" 240 lb (started at 285 nine months ago) 44 year old male that is looking for other guys, that are or were, around my age and size that are into weight training and/or crossfit. My goal is to become and maintain a ripped 225 lbs. I'm hunting for guidance and inspiration. I'm having a hard time finding guys that log their food and share exercise routines that are successful. If you are someone that doesn't mind helping a guy along, can give some good advice and guidance, PLEASE send me a friend request.

Please post a comment to keep this thread going and near the top. Maybe we can get a good network of active guys started. THANKS.

Are you sure you want to be a "ripped" 225 pounds? You're going to have to do some serious hypertrophy training and several (years) bulk/cut cycles. You may find you'll appreciate your physique when you get to the 190-200 pound range.

I'm about the same height as you and in the 185-190 pound range. You're welcome to look at my diary. (I don't track exercise)

xmichaelyx wrote: »

kwtilbury wrote: »

Are you sure you want to be a "ripped" 225 pounds? You're going to have to do some serious hypertrophy training and several (years) bulk/cut cycles. You may find you'll appreciate your physique when you get to the 190-200 pound range.

I'm about the same height as you and in the 185-190 pound range. You're welcome to look at my diary. (I don't track exercise)

Agreed. Schwarzenegger is 6'2" and competed at 235. OP is unlikely to be "ripped" at 225 without substantial help from PEDs and years of lifting. 195 is probably to upper limit to "ripped" for a natural 44-year-old at 6'1".

But OP could potentially be"well-built" at 225, depending on his natural build.

Yeah, to be ripped at 225 you'd have to look something like Simeon Panda that is 6'1", 225 at around 8% bf and he's freaking huge with the smallest waist I've ever seen on a natty bodybuilder. He just may have some kind of freakish genetics but I'm suspecting cycles of roids. It's possible to be a natural that big at that low a body fat but it's going to take many years of bulking and cutting to get even close. I'm suspecting to get to the 10% bf I want, I'm going to have to drop down somewhere between 190-195 and I know I'll look pretty thin at that size in the waist with some abnormally looking broad shoulders. OP, if you eat right and you are a newb to lifting and you do progressive overload, you'll probably gain some muscle during your deficit. As crazy as it is, I gained about 10lbs of muscle during my first 6 months of weight loss but I was hitting heavy weights crazy hard. There's a nice article (I'm not sure who it was written by but I know it was by a nutrition specialist that is a pro fitness competitor) that talks about how it is possible to gain muscle on a caloric deficit if you have plenty of fat to burn because your body has the stored calories to do so. It was an interesting read.

I am 5'11", 35 year old, currently weigh 211. I was down to 206 in September but have since gained a few pounds with the holidays and all. My weight has been up and down my whole life but I was usually heavy. My high was about 250 my sophomore year of college and my low was 185, just after college when I decided to get into really good shape. I got into the best shape of my life and am trying to get back there now. I have been consistently at the gym pretty much for the past 2 years. I picked up running a couple of years ago but got more into it this past summer. I pretty much stopped going to the gym and j ust ran. I ran my first 10k this past September and plan on running a half marathon in the spring. I really want to get back into the gym too, but am having a tough time getting back into it. Would you guys recommend Strong Lift 5x5? Is 30-35 minutes long enough? I have a 16 month old daughter so my time at the gym is very limited. I have about 30-35 minutes that I can spend in the gym, otherwise it's running outside for that amount of time (longer on weekends). If not Stronglifts, then does anyone have an effective weight training program that can be done in 30-35 minutes?

I too have been looking for the guys on myfitnesspal as most of what I read I feel is catered to women.

Upstate_Dunadan wrote: »

I got down to 13-14% BF (InBody had me at low 14s but I weighed a few pounds heavier so it impacted the %) when I hit 185, and to be honest, I looked pretty thin. Unless you're walking around without a shirt on all the time (or are competing) nobody is going to be able to tell how ripped you are and all they will see is how gaunt your face looks. I was happy I hit the goal I had set for myself, but that was too lean. I'm bulking of and happy to the scale and muscle slowly increase. No doubt I'm getting stronger at the same time. At the end of my deficit eating, despite best efforts, I was losing strength.

Bolded up above….
Back when I was 39-40 I dropped a lot of weight and did cardio (well as much as I could stand) but wasn't lifting weights with a plan or very seriously.
I had some people at work ask those I interacted with more often if I had cancer or some other serious illness. That's how gaunt my face looked and how thin I had become. Pretty much gave up at that point, not just cardio but being fit in general (long story why, won't get into it).
This time around starting back in early '14 I decided to drop weight but follow a structured program, SL5x5. Nowadays people mention I look fit, instead of ill (by no means done, it's now a work in progress and a lifetime commitment).

Thanks for your question. Some of the above validates my own experience. Started at 245 and thought I could settle at 205, but that left me at 22-24% BF. Thought I could recomp the fat away but the best I have been able to achieve so far has been 190 and 18% BF. Would like to get down to at most 15% and consider a bulking cycle back up to 195. Even at 190 I've gotten to many comment that I should stop losing and question about my health.

I would advise getting to 14-15% body fat and training for 6 months at a slight protein surplus

The goal of a certain poundage is probably something to just evaluate as you do your recomposition. You may find that 20 extra pounds of muscle on a 14% body fat frame is your happy place for energy and the ability to enjoy life.

I went to 13% and started seeing that slight gains in lean body mass were visually dramatic. The more you taper your torso and lean out your hips, the larger your upper body appears. The same with your quads regarding the body symmetry.

Cycling blasts my legs now after building a muscle base with squats and deadlifts.

It will take time and you may adjust your goals as you get closer. IMO nutrition will really get to be important. Rest and nutrition will be as important as

I think you'll have to plan on doing quite a few cycles of cutting and bulking to get to where you want to be. I'm at 208 now with a 34 inch waist at bellybutton, 48 inch chest 22 inch biceps and 32 inches around the legs and I'm currently 15% BF. From the calculator I use, in order to get to the 10% I want, I would have to cut down to around 194 and that's if I don't gain another ounce of muscle. As it is now, I think my proportions are starting to get a little skewed. I can see what the poster said earlier that cut to 13% was saying about your midsection looking really small and making your shoulders and quads looks abnormally large. I've always had pretty broad shoulders and broad lats so I might start rethinking that 10% as the weight continues to come off. At 230 lbs, if you're at say 20% BF, you'd have to cut to around 205 to get to 10% bf which is where you'll see a good amount of definition. If you want to looked completely shredded, you'd have to cut to somewhere between 5-7% BF, which means that you would have to cut to about 197 lbs. That's also if you don't continue to gain muscle while you cut. So, to get to 225 at 7% BF, it's going to take a couple of years of cycling to get to that, depending on your genetics and eating. I applaud you on your goals. Good luck to you. I'd be happy with 210 lbs at 10% BF.