Feedback wanted! 5'9" 185

[djjohnnied]

Hey guys! I know I'm not the biggest or the leanest but I work my ass off and want to get there. I've been lifting 3 years and need any tips you guys are willing to share with me. At the moment I am cutting with a very clean diet and my goal right now is to get to between 8-10% body fat. Any body fat estimates will be helpful even though my caliper says 12%. These pictures are without a pump.
My diet is:
4 days: protein 277 g carb 120 g and fat 57 g for a total of 2150 cals
2 days: protein 251 g carb 54g and fat 54 g for a total of around 1800 cals
1 day: is the same as one of the 277 g protein day except with a carb heavy cheat meal

I am doing 20 min. of fasted low intensity cardio 3 times a week and I am following a George farah routine, thanks for any help and responses.

[Ken "Skip" Hill]

Consistency and time. Keep doing what you are doing by kicking ass in the gym and learning all you can about nutrition. This site is a great place for that.

Welcome to IM!

Skip

[Petros]

Hire Skip if you can and if he has room.

Best investment I have made and have made my biggest gains working with Skip in a 3 month period.

Thanks again Skip!

[mentalflex]

How old are you djjohnnied?

What kind of training programs have you used in the past?

One piece of advice I want to give you as you work your way towards your goals is to always listen to your body. Monitor how you respond to various training stimuli and nutritional strategies as well as different exercises and techniques. Training frequency, volume, rep ranges and intensity are highly individual and listening to your body will allow you to determine what type of training and dietary approach will suit you best.

Keep at it, be consistent and track your progress.

Good luck djjohnnied!

[djjohnnied]

Hire Skip if you can and if he has room.

Best investment I have made and have made my biggest gains working with Skip in a 3 month period.

Thanks again Skip!

I am really looking into hiring a coach in the future, I am currently unemployed and do not have the funds to cover it though. If you don't mind me asking, around how much is it per month?

How old are you djjohnnied?

What kind of training programs have you used in the past?

One piece of advice I want to give you as you work your way towards your goals is to always listen to your body. Monitor how you respond to various training stimuli and nutritional strategies as well as different exercises and techniques. Training frequency, volume, rep ranges and intensity are highly individual and listening to your body will allow you to determine what type of training and dietary approach will suit you best.

Keep at it, be consistent and track your progress.

Good luck djjohnnied!

Thanks for the advice man!

I am 20 years old. I used to be 230 lbs all fat at 15, I dropped to 140 with just cardio but lost all of my muscle with improper dieting. I decided I was going to devote my life to bodybuilding at about 17 and I started with a strength program and did strength training for 2 years, to be specific starting strength and madcows 5X5, it made me somewhat strong but my muscles did not look nice, I was not aesthetic, I did not look like my goal of looking like a "bodybuilder." I got to bench press 225*4, deadlift 405*3, press 175*3 and squat 330*3. But I began a 5 day split and a lot of my body parts started growing nicer and getting a better shape to them. I am currently on a 5 day George Farah split that a teen my age with my same goals and roughly same stats bought from him. I really like the pre exhaust technique and I've been using it only a few weeks, but have a much better mind muscle connection. here it is, any suggestions?

You ramp up the weight every set, and every workout is different but with similar lifts

Chest and tri's
6 sets DB flyes 8-15 reps
4 sets BB bench 6-12 reps
4 sets Incline DB bench 6-12 reps
4 sets of dips 8-15
4 sets of reverse pulldowns 8-15

Back and Bi's
5 sets of weighted pullups 6-15
5 sets of T bar rows 6-15
3 sets of deadlifts 6-12
4 sets of close grip curls 6-15
4 sets of weighted decline situps

Shoulders and calves
4 sets of lateral raises 8-15
4 sets of front raises 8-15
4 sets of rear flyes 8-15
4 sets of BB or DB press 6-15
4 sets of DB shrugs 8-15
4 supersets of calves 10-50

ARMS
Pushdowns 5 sets of 12-18 reps
Dumbbell Skullcrushers: 3 sets 8-12
Seated DB Curls : 6 sets 8-15
Hammer Curls: 3 sets of 8-15
Leg raises 4 sets till failure

Legs
6 sets of squat 6-20
3 sets of hack squats 8-15
2 sets of leg extensions 10-30
5 sets of lying leg curls 10-20
4 supersets of calves 10-50

[Petros]

When you get the funds, I highly suggest you invest with skip. He has different packages and you can ask him about those, but the consult was 3 months and was under $1000. Ill let skip inform you on the specifics. Worth every single penny though

Skip has a training protocol in this thread. Use the search bar to find it, its a great training program geared towards adding mass to the upper body.

And by no means am I an expert, but my opinion about your workout is that it is overkill. Way to much. But ill let mental and everyone else be the judge of that. Just my .02.

I am really looking into hiring a coach in the future, I am currently unemployed and do not have the funds to cover it though. If you don't mind me asking, around how much is it per month?



Thanks for the advice man!

I am 20 years old. I used to be 230 lbs all fat at 15, I dropped to 140 with just cardio but lost all of my muscle with improper dieting. I decided I was going to devote my life to bodybuilding at about 17 and I started with a strength program and did strength training for 2 years, to be specific starting strength and madcows 5X5, it made me somewhat strong but my muscles did not look nice, I was not aesthetic, I did not look like my goal of looking like a "bodybuilder." I got to bench press 225*4, deadlift 405*3, press 175*3 and squat 330*3. But I began a 5 day split and a lot of my body parts started growing nicer and getting a better shape to them. I am currently on a 5 day George Farah split that a teen my age with my same goals and roughly same stats bought from him. I really like the pre exhaust technique and I've been using it only a few weeks, but have a much better mind muscle connection. here it is, any suggestions?

You ramp up the weight every set, and every workout is different but with similar lifts

Chest and tri's
6 sets DB flyes 8-15 reps
4 sets BB bench 6-12 reps
4 sets Incline DB bench 6-12 reps
4 sets of dips 8-15
4 sets of reverse pulldowns 8-15

Back and Bi's
5 sets of weighted pullups 6-15
5 sets of T bar rows 6-15
3 sets of deadlifts 6-12
4 sets of close grip curls 6-15
4 sets of weighted decline situps

Shoulders and calves
4 sets of lateral raises 8-15
4 sets of front raises 8-15
4 sets of rear flyes 8-15
4 sets of BB or DB press 6-15
4 sets of DB shrugs 8-15
4 supersets of calves 10-50

ARMS
Pushdowns 5 sets of 12-18 reps
Dumbbell Skullcrushers: 3 sets 8-12
Seated DB Curls : 6 sets 8-15
Hammer Curls: 3 sets of 8-15
Leg raises 4 sets till failure

Legs
6 sets of squat 6-20
3 sets of hack squats 8-15
2 sets of leg extensions 10-30
5 sets of lying leg curls 10-20
4 supersets of calves 10-50

[mentalflex]

It is great that you are learning to really "feel" the muscle (at least based on what you said) and you certainly have made some great strides losing all that weight!

I think right now, at this stage in the game, what Skip said cannot be echoed enough. Be consistent with your training and learn all you can about training and nutrition and how you personally respond to different approaches. I am not saying bounce back and forth between programs, but try different training methodologies and give each one a fair shake, add in some advanced techniques and build the experience you need continually improve your physique.

[djjohnnied]

Thanks for the tips man! All the help I get is appreciated!

[Andre Gregoire]

What formula are you using on the calipers? I prefer the 9 site parillo equation from this site: http://www.linear-software.com/online.html

My guess is that you are closer to 20% then 12%.

For only 3 years working out you are starting to have a shape.

I think you should go back to a strength based routine. I like Wendler's 5/3/1 and you add accessory movements for biceps, triceps, calves, etc...

You shouldn't be doing a high volume bodybuilding pump style routine right now, building strength and mass is more important for your long term goal.

Your current diet and cardio regime will at best make you burn 0.5lb of fat per week based on your estimated lean body mass so if you want to lose 10% bodyfat it's going to take 40 weeks or so. Either be patient of change it.

This place is a great place to learn, come everyday and read a lot.

[djjohnnied]

Hey guys! some updates pics! current weight after workout and a meal is about 176, So I followed a lot of the advice you guys posted, I started a routine that has me lifting heavier and hitting muscles twice a week and played around with the diet a little bit, started carb cycling and I feel my body responds to this the best compared to other diets I have tried in terms of both fat loss and water retention. want to cut a little longer and start lean bulking !

[djjohnnied]

another updated pic guys, now officially on a bulk, lost a lot of muscle from my cut (think I dropped calories too fat, happy with my body fat though) I also have some loose skin in the abdomen because I used to be obese, have a 29.5" waist now. Btw I am natty, maybe that will change this summer, not too sure yet.

[greensoup]

good progress, what was your lifting/diet like?

and how big was your obese

[djjohnnied]

good progress, what was your lifting/diet like?

and how big was your obese

What I feel helped me out the most was in terms of diet carb cycling, carb cycling has been the one diet that has really helped me lose body fat. I tried intermittent fasting with low carb and found it did not work at all for me.

As for routine I switched to layne norton's PHAT program (best principles ever). Hitting muscles twice a week, one day heavy low volume, one day high volume and higher reps. This style of training I feel has really helped me both get stronger and put on some muscle.

I was 230 lbs. at 5'5" a few years back, have lost the fat but have a fraction of the loose skin.

[cmc]

Great progress!!

[greensoup]

please teach me how to grow 4 inches during a massive cut like you did