How long for me to go from ~25% BF down to 12%? (Current pics inside)

[qurtrn10]

Hey all.  I've read on here for awhile, and now that I've made getter a better body a priority, you guys are where I'm going to first for advice.

Current Stats:
28 yrs old
5'10"
190 lbs
~25% body fat

Goals / Plan:
Goal - to stay around 200lbs, but at 12% body fat to start.

Current plan -
Gym 5 nights a week after work - 1 hour on the Stepmill, then weights:
  Day 1-Dumbell Curls/Overhand EZ Curl Bar Curls/Tricep Dips/Rope Pulls/Forearm Curls
  Day 2-Leg Press/Leg Extensions/Leg Curls/Glute kickback machine
  Day 3-Bench Press/Incline Press/Decline Press/Flys/Reverse Flys
  Day 4-Dumbell Laterals/Dumbell Front Raises/Dumbell Rows
  Day 5-Ab Crunch Machine/Leg Lifts

2 Days off each week - Go jogging at the park - 2.5 miles (Right now I can do 1.25 miles non stop, then walk the second half back to the car)

Nutrition -
  Eggs
  Chicken Breast
  Tuna Fish
  Bananas
  Sweet Potatoes
  Fresh Fruit
  Orange Juice
  Milk
  Water
  2 shakes a day (Protein powder and creatine)
    and that's about all I buy.

Current Pics




As a reference, this was me ~6-7 years ago.  I'd like to get this lean, but back then I was around 130lbs.  I want to be that lean around 200lbs now.


Thanks for all the help, and please go easy on me
William

[Dballn247]

Well at least you posted it on the training board instead of the G&O.....































































Welcome to Thunderdome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JasonH]

Your diet and training program seems pretty sound - I think you could do it in about 8-10 weeks without sacrificing much muscle - personally I wouldn't do the jogging; just a fast walk would be fine for cardio or maybe swimming. Keep lifting heavy in the gym and make sure you're getting in enough protein. Props for having the guts to post pics and good luck.

[buffdnet]

squat deads overheadpresses until your violently shaking
tooth pick errr legs collapse into the cage.
your training is to easy

[smaul]

You do realize that your lean weight now is about 143 pounds.  At 12% you would be about 160 pounds.  So if you want to be around 190 pounds at 12% you'd need to put on about 30 pounds of muscle.  Very, very unlikely for this to be possible as a natural imo.

Your program looks alright, you're going to need to train very hard, and eat very well to obtain the results you're after.  Train heavy, with compound movements, and try to eat relatively clean and high protein.  Good luck and post pics of your progress!

[Bobby]

Your diet and training program seems pretty sound - I think you could do it in about 8-10 weeks without sacrificing much muscle - personally I wouldn't do the jogging; just a fast walk would be fine for cardio or maybe swimming. Keep lifting heavy in the gym and make sure you're getting in enough protein. Props for having the guts to post pics and good luck.

you think he can lose all that fat in 8-10 weeks!?!? i would guess 20 weeks

[benz]

WELCOME BROTHER

[JasonH]

you think he can lose all that fat in 8-10 weeks!?!? i would guess 20 weeks

I would say it's perfectly reasonable. Bear in mind that he's trying to go from 25% to 12%. It's not like he's trying to acheive contest shape and go for 6 or 7% here - 12% isn't exactly shredded for a male at his age.

[big man]

you think he can lose all that fat in 8-10 weeks!?!? i would guess 20 weeks

I agree I think it would take longer. 4-5 months. Goes by quick though.

[webcake]

I agree I think it would take longer. 4-5 months. Goes by quick though.

x2

No way he will do it in 8-10 weeks. 25% down to 12% is a fairly big drop, 12% isn't ripped, but it's still a substantial reduction........it's gonna take some time.

[leonp1981]

Current plan -
Gym 5 nights a week after work - 1 hour on the Stepmill, then weights:
  Day 1-Dumbell Curls/Overhand EZ Curl Bar Curls/Tricep Dips/Rope Pulls/Forearm Curls
  Day 2-Leg Press/Leg Extensions/Leg Curls/Glute kickback machine
  Day 3-Bench Press/Incline Press/Decline Press/Flys/Reverse Flys
  Day 4-Dumbell Laterals/Dumbell Front Raises/Dumbell Rows
  Day 5-Ab Crunch Machine/Leg Lifts

I'd make a few changes to this:
1.  I'd do your cardio after your weights session.  If you're wanting to be around 200lbs at 12%, you're gonna need to gain some muscle, which will be hard to do when you're not lifting heavy due to being already fatigued from the cardio.
2.  You don't appear to be training back in that routine?   You also haven't got many of the basic compound movements in there either.
3.  I'd also move the order of the workouts around slightly, so that you're getting sufficient recovery time.

So, with those changes you'd have:
Day 1: Arms - Barbell curl, Triceps dips + other movements of your choice, finish with abs.  Cardio
Day 2: Legs - Squat + other movements of your choice.  Cardio
Day 3: Chest - Bench press + other movements of your choice, finish with abs.  Cardio
Day 4: Back - Barbell/Tbar Rows + other movements of your choice.  Cardio
Day 5: Shoulders - Military press + other movements of your choice, finish with abs. Cardio

Choose whichever exercises you enjoy to complete your workouts.  When you're just starting out, it's more important to enjoy what you're doing and keep your motivation up.  1 hour of cardio every day after a workout may be too much, but see how you feel after a couple of weeks.

[Geo]

you're gonna need to gain some muscle, which will be hard to do when you're not lifting heavy due to being already fatigued from the cardio.

that's a load of worthless shit !

there's no reason why he can't lift heavy and then get his cardio in, and judging from his pics and his bodyfat percentage, his body is just waiting to be transformed if he developes a routine using basic compounds and consistant cardio...

the process is gonna slow down when he hits about 16% or so

[tonymctones]

dont worry about time man just get in the gym and start making it happen.

[leonp1981]

that's a load of worthless shit !

there's no reason why he can't lift heavy and then get his cardio in, and judging from his pics and his bodyfat percentage, his body is just waiting to be transformed if he developes a routine using basic compounds and consistant cardio...

the process is gonna slow down when he hits about 16% or so

If you read my post again, that's exactly what I said.  He should lift heavy then do cardio.  Not the other way around.  Anyone doing an hour's worth of cardio before hitting the weights will already have used up a lot of energy, which would stop them from being able to lift as heavy as they would normally.  If you're not lifting as heavy as you could, then your muscles have no reason to grow.  He'd gain more cardiovascular fitness, but very little muscle.

[Geo]

If you read my post again, that's exactly what I said.  He should lift heavy then do cardio.  Not the other way around.  Anyone doing an hour's worth of cardio before hitting the weights will already have used up a lot of energy, which would stop them from being able to lift as heavy as they would normally.  If you're not lifting as heavy as you could, then your muscles have no reason to grow.  He'd gain more cardiovascular fitness, but very little muscle.

oh !

[qurtrn10]

Thanks for all the replies - it's very appreciated.  I did try lifting first and then hitting the stepmill, but I found that everytime, I had absolutely no energy left for the cardio.  When I'm lifting, I'm going to failure every set (although the amount I lift is 1/10th what most you guys are lifting, lol).  Although in the academic sense, it would be smarter to do cardio last, it just never seemed to work for me.

And I will look at re-arranging my days for better recovery, and work in some back exercises.

At the point I'm in, should I even start reading all the pros/cons of the different types of proteins?  To begin, I assume that anything will do me good right now, and I can start to specialize more as I get closer to my goals.  I'm sure 90% of the protein stuff in sales propoganda, and the other 10% seems to contradict itself from one article to the next.  I've been taking whey protein, but I know there's a variety out there.

Thanks again,
William

[wes]

Cardio before training.(no excuses just do it this way)

Don`t start your week of training by doing arms first........ALWAYS work the bigger bodyparts early in the week,tapering down to the smaller ones.

Example:

Day 1-Legs (no cardio needed if you trained hard)
Day 2-Chest,Abs,Cardio
Day 3-Back,Traps,Cardio
Day 4-Shoulders,Abs,Cardio
Day 5-Arms,Cardio

Make these changes for better progress.

[webcake]

Cardio before training.(no excuses just do it this way)

Don`t start your week of training by doing arms first........ALWAYS work the bigger bodyparts early in the week,tapering down to the smaller ones.

Example:

Day 1-Legs (no cardio needed if you trained hard)
Day 2-Chest,Abs,Cardio
Day 3-Back,Traps,Cardio
Day 4-Shoulders,Abs,Cardio
Day 5-Arms,Cardio

Make these changes for better progress.

I prefer cardio after training.....

[Bobby]

Thanks for all the replies - it's very appreciated.  I did try lifting first and then hitting the stepmill, but I found that everytime, I had absolutely no energy left for the cardio.  When I'm lifting, I'm going to failure every set (although the amount I lift is 1/10th what most you guys are lifting, lol).  Although in the academic sense, it would be smarter to do cardio last, it just never seemed to work for me.

And I will look at re-arranging my days for better recovery, and work in some back exercises.

At the point I'm in, should I even start reading all the pros/cons of the different types of proteins?  To begin, I assume that anything will do me good right now, and I can start to specialize more as I get closer to my goals.  I'm sure 90% of the protein stuff in sales propoganda, and the other 10% seems to contradict itself from one article to the next.  I've been taking whey protein, but I know there's a variety out there.

Thanks again,
William

you shouldn't do high intensity...just do it like a fast paced walk for 35min...that's 400 calories burned