Hi everyone,
I am hoping someone can help as I have hit a wall and I’m not sure what to do next! I have been going to the gym for about 6 months now and I don’t seem to be making any results. details are as follows:
: M
Age: 36
Weight: 95kg
Height: 180cm
Train: 3 times per week (gym or martial arts – boxing / cardio etc.)
Goal: get down to around 85kg (if I can) and just be fit, healthy, happy with body.
I use MyFitnessPal to track calories and food, and I use Endomondo to track training to work out calories burned for each session.
I worked out BMR and it was 1,924 calories per day, so I set myself a limit of 1500 calories per day so I could hopefully lose anything up to a kilo over a week to 2 weeks.
routine at the gym is usually as follows:
Mon – Chest, back, shoulders
Wed – Legs, arms, core
Fri – Stretching, core, some cardio
I usually have a 10 min warm up on an Elliptical machine, then hit the weights for around 30-40 mins. I train first thing in the morning around 5:30am before breakfast and then break up eating throughout the day into 6 meals.
If I can’t get to the gym then I do an evening session that involves 10 x 1 minute rounds of sparring, skipping rope, cycle machine, heavy bag work, pushups and situps in a circuit.
I also take some supplements. Protein shakes for lean muscle, BCAA’s for recovery etc. and Mega Fat Metaboliser to (hopefully) target the fat burn.
issues / concerns are as follows:
1. While I can see muscles getting bigger in some areas, I am not seeing the fat (mostly from waist but generally I have a layer all over!) disappearing, so when I look in the mirror it just looks like I’m bulking and not getting defined / lean
2. I know that muscles weigh heavier than fat, but when I weigh myself I’ve been stuck on 94-95kg for ages now and just not moving, which is getting me down as I’m working really hard but not really seeing the improvements I want to see
3. I honestly don’t know if the calories and % split of nutrition is correct and if I need to change it. I am currently on 60% carbs, 15% fat and 25% protein, which I’m usually very close to hitting and I only go over calories maybe once or twice a week when I’m really starving from training
Any thoughts, advice, feedback on situation would be greatly appreciated as I honestly don’t know if I’m doing any of this right now.
Thanks in advance,
Tony
Hit a wall and need advice to progress
Moderators: Boss Man, cassiegose
Re: Hit a wall and need advice to progress
Hi Tony, good to talk to you.
As for the 1,500 calorie limit, don't do that, as the BMR, (Basal Metabolic Rate), is the amount of calories required per day to maintain a healthy metabolism, so eating below that is not desirable in mind.
Adult men need 2,000 calories a day when sedentary and in your case I'd add anywhere between 200-500 more per day when exercising.
Ditch the fat burner, they're just absolute tripe and a total waste of money. Herbal ones do next to nothing in opinion and synthetic ones can be bad I:E: Hydroxycut hardcore killing people.
Plus the fact how can you prove they actually work, unless you lived your life exactly as you did before diet and exercise and then just took the pills, as then you'd have isolated the effects.
By incorporating such things into an initial or ongoing regime of exercise and / or diet, you've got virtually no chance of proving what they will do, but you'll be wasting you're money it's a 99.99% certainty.
As for muscle weighing more than fat, it's that old chestnut and is not correct, but there is some justification for people saying it, which I forget, something to do with the density of both or some such thing.
1lb of anything weighs as much as 1lb of anything else. 1lb of lard would weigh as much as 1lb of skinless chicken, one being a fat source, the other fat free, as a close comparison to the fat and muscle comparison.
Macros are way off. Excess carbs convert to fat so 60% is not the answer. Cut carbs and increase fats, as less carbs for energy will result in the body hopefully trying to source more secondary energy which is fat.
I'd suggest one of the 3 following macro ratios
Protein / Carbs / Fats
33% / 33% / 33%
35% / 30% / 35%
40% / 30% / 30%
As for the 1,500 calorie limit, don't do that, as the BMR, (Basal Metabolic Rate), is the amount of calories required per day to maintain a healthy metabolism, so eating below that is not desirable in mind.
Adult men need 2,000 calories a day when sedentary and in your case I'd add anywhere between 200-500 more per day when exercising.
Ditch the fat burner, they're just absolute tripe and a total waste of money. Herbal ones do next to nothing in opinion and synthetic ones can be bad I:E: Hydroxycut hardcore killing people.
Plus the fact how can you prove they actually work, unless you lived your life exactly as you did before diet and exercise and then just took the pills, as then you'd have isolated the effects.
By incorporating such things into an initial or ongoing regime of exercise and / or diet, you've got virtually no chance of proving what they will do, but you'll be wasting you're money it's a 99.99% certainty.
As for muscle weighing more than fat, it's that old chestnut and is not correct, but there is some justification for people saying it, which I forget, something to do with the density of both or some such thing.
1lb of anything weighs as much as 1lb of anything else. 1lb of lard would weigh as much as 1lb of skinless chicken, one being a fat source, the other fat free, as a close comparison to the fat and muscle comparison.
Macros are way off. Excess carbs convert to fat so 60% is not the answer. Cut carbs and increase fats, as less carbs for energy will result in the body hopefully trying to source more secondary energy which is fat.
I'd suggest one of the 3 following macro ratios
Protein / Carbs / Fats
33% / 33% / 33%
35% / 30% / 35%
40% / 30% / 30%
Re: Hit a wall and need advice to progress
Hi Bossman,
thanks for the advice and information. I am going to change ratios today and also up calories per day and see how I go over the next couple of weeks. Do you recommend around 2,000 calories for the days I'm not training and around 2,500 for the days I am training?
Also, to point 1 - is there any reason why I wouldn't be seeing the fat coming off body and starting to see more definition?
Thanks again for your help,
Tony
thanks for the advice and information. I am going to change ratios today and also up calories per day and see how I go over the next couple of weeks. Do you recommend around 2,000 calories for the days I'm not training and around 2,500 for the days I am training?
Also, to point 1 - is there any reason why I wouldn't be seeing the fat coming off body and starting to see more definition?
Thanks again for your help,
Tony
Re: Hit a wall and need advice to progress
Regarding the two calorie amounts for training and non-training days, yes those should be fine.
In regards to first point you may well be replacing some fat with muscle, therefore you may look for an initial period of time, like you're bulking and your weight stays fairly static.
However you were gaining muscle using a 60% carb ratio, so you would almost certainly have been consuming a reasonable amount of excess carbs that would convert to fat and to get definition your body would need adequate carbs for energy, or slightly inadequate carbs for energy, coupled with fat sourcing to make up for the deficit, and / or the added metabolic benefits that extra muscle can provide.
So I'd say you have bulked, because you gained muscle, but carbs were too high, so the added muscle helps to burn fat, that is just being replaced to the same or a greater extent by the fat derived from excess carbs, hence why you're not getting definition.
The new way(s) of looking at it that we discussed should hopefully redress the balance in your favour.
In regards to first point you may well be replacing some fat with muscle, therefore you may look for an initial period of time, like you're bulking and your weight stays fairly static.
However you were gaining muscle using a 60% carb ratio, so you would almost certainly have been consuming a reasonable amount of excess carbs that would convert to fat and to get definition your body would need adequate carbs for energy, or slightly inadequate carbs for energy, coupled with fat sourcing to make up for the deficit, and / or the added metabolic benefits that extra muscle can provide.
So I'd say you have bulked, because you gained muscle, but carbs were too high, so the added muscle helps to burn fat, that is just being replaced to the same or a greater extent by the fat derived from excess carbs, hence why you're not getting definition.
The new way(s) of looking at it that we discussed should hopefully redress the balance in your favour.
Re: Hit a wall and need advice to progress
Thanks Bossman, that makes perfect sense when you frame it like that!
I've started the new regime today (albeit without serious training as I'm just returning from a minor op), so I'll drop in over the next few weeks and keep you posted.
Thanks again for the advice and recommendations
)
I've started the new regime today (albeit without serious training as I'm just returning from a minor op), so I'll drop in over the next few weeks and keep you posted.
Thanks again for the advice and recommendations
)-
ClaraBear24
- STARTING OUT
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- Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2014 9:45 pm
- Location: Australia
Re: Hit a wall and need advice to progress
Perhaps your body has hit a plateau stage? How long have you been following this eating and exercise program? I had similar issue where body wouldn't burn fat and so I pushed harder and ended up injuring and fatiguing body which resulted in setting me back again. Perhaps change up your supplements, because if your body is used to it it wont work as well.