plateau in losing bf%

tr20sdrummer · 11-03-2008, 04:08 PM

well guys im a newb here, been reading around thru diff forums and havent really found any thing satisfactory about what im looking for...im 180-185 and at 13% bf... my diet consist of this on a typical day 1st meal-special k bar, maybe some type of fruit. 2nd meal usually subway no soda no chips. 3rd meal- protein shake bout 20 and about 4oz of meat.. GYM... 4th meal-grilled chicken breast, protein shake bout 30g. bed...i know i should get in some more meals in my day, but thats hard to do with my job and school.. i usually do cardio 3 to 4 days a wk after my work outs, and once on the weekends. what do u guys think i should change to get my body fat % down to single digits..its getting a lil frustrating.....also should i use more resistance like i do when i bench n what not rather than do high reps of sit ups crunches etc.. any info u guys can put in would greatly be appreciated.

CodyK7 · 11-03-2008, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tr20sdrummer

well guys im a newb here, been reading around thru diff forums and havent really found any thing satisfactory about what im looking for...im 180-185 and at 13% bf... my diet consist of this on a typical day 1st meal-special k bar, maybe some type of fruit. 2nd meal usually subway no soda no chips. 3rd meal- protein shake bout 20 and about 4oz of meat.. GYM... 4th meal-grilled chicken breast, protein shake bout 30g. bed...i know i should get in some more meals in my day, but thats hard to do with my job and school.. i usually do cardio 3 to 4 days a wk after my work outs, and once on the weekends. what do u guys think i should change to get my body fat % down to single digits..its getting a lil frustrating.....also should i use more resistance like i do when i bench n what not rather than do high reps of sit ups crunches etc.. any info u guys can put in would greatly be appreciated.

Getting down to single digits is extremly hard. Why do you have to be at 9% or less. What are you using to measure your bf right now?

tr20sdrummer · 11-03-2008, 05:47 PM

well my goal is to get my abs a lil more ripped up looking, and from what ive researched that means losing bf%.. im using one of those pinch deals from gnc, which prolly isnt the most accurate, but it gives me some thing to go by. would i be better off tryin to say, bulk my abs??? to get them to look more defined?

Squat2Grow · 11-03-2008, 06:03 PM

when you plateau in losing bf % what usually happens is you are intaking too many calories and need to decrease or you need to increase caloric output.

I'd also change your meal 1 to be larger than a piece of fruit and a special K bar. Get more protein in there

also yes if you bulk up your abs and then lose the bodyfat surrounding them they will be more pronounced for sure

tr20sdrummer · 11-03-2008, 06:24 PM

im currently still steadily gaining muscle, which is great, in the process of cutting down. i was thinking that since im still gaining i was getting enough protein. so do you think i should add in a shake for breakfast or??/

kycat2007 · 11-03-2008, 09:19 PM

try to eat around 180grams of protein a day

onimusha · 11-04-2008, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tr20sdrummer

well guys im a newb here, been reading around thru diff forums and havent really found any thing satisfactory about what im looking for...im 180-185 and at 13% bf... my diet consist of this on a typical day 1st meal-special k bar, maybe some type of fruit. 2nd meal usually subway no soda no chips. 3rd meal- protein shake bout 20 and about 4oz of meat.. GYM... 4th meal-grilled chicken breast, protein shake bout 30g. bed...i know i should get in some more meals in my day, but thats hard to do with my job and school.. i usually do cardio 3 to 4 days a wk after my work outs, and once on the weekends. what do u guys think i should change to get my body fat % down to single digits..its getting a lil frustrating.....also should i use more resistance like i do when i bench n what not rather than do high reps of sit ups crunches etc.. any info u guys can put in would greatly be appreciated.

Your diet needs alot of fine tuning if you really want to cut any lower...

special k bar - total processed crap replace it with steel cut oatmeal.

subway - also total crap. highly processed bread. Is it a 6 or 12 inch cause you are looking at 800-1000 calories depending on the size and type. replace it with chicken breast.

Its all 70 percent diet when it comes to getting BF really low. I am at 9 percent shooting for 6 percent and here is a sample of my diet if you really want to go at it hardcore

meal 1 - 6 egg whites
meal 2 - 1 chicken breast, 2 cups of veggies, 15grams of salsa
meal 3 - protein shake
meal 4 - 2 chicken breast, 2 cups of veggies, 15grams of salsa

that comes in at a little under 1500 calories a day. mind you i slowly dropped calories by 100 every week and am on the last 3 weeks of a cut.

tr20sdrummer · 11-04-2008, 01:15 PM

i usually get a 6 inch turkey...another alternative i have to subway is a bbq place that has a great smoked chicken, which is like half a chicken, but im not sure about the calories etc, in that one... ive never been fat or over weight really, but my abs look like they have a lil cellulite around them which drives me crazy, other than that the rest of my body is blossoming very nicely..ive worked out a lot in the past but i have never put forth this much effort and time into improving my body, so thats why the abs are driving me crazy lol..also, would it benefit me more to change my cardio from running 3 miles in about 25-30min, to more of a sprint? like doing suicides on the basketball court?

mridgley · 11-04-2008, 01:32 PM

I have also heard that in order to get resl defined abs - you must do weighted ab work. Are you doing the standard crunchs etc...or do you add weight?

tr20sdrummer · 11-04-2008, 01:45 PM

i have been doing a lot of leg raises and sit ups crunches, twist crunches, and oblique crunches on a decline bench. once a week ill get on the machine and do crunches and add some weight... do u guys think i should add in some weighted leg raises for lower part of my abs???

RooRooTJ · 11-04-2008, 01:57 PM

Cardio is also going to be needed to be done, but you do need to ge tyour diet in check. The diet is 90 % of your abs coming out. I would try to get at least 5 meals during the day or even 6. Try to keep you protein around 200 and carbs around 200, and fat around 50. If you eat too few calories you are going to put your body into starvation mode and you are going to plateu. try some like this

Meal 1- 4 eggs whites, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of oatmeal
Meal 2 - Protein shake
Meal 3 - Chicken and brown rice or sweet potato
Meal 4 - Protein shake
Meal 5 - lean beef/fish/chicken, veggies

Also try to do 20-30 minutes or cardio every morning before breakfast or after your workout. It will come off if you follow this.

jimsmith9999 · 11-04-2008, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tr20sdrummer

i have been doing a lot of leg raises and sit ups crunches, twist crunches, and oblique crunches on a decline bench. once a week ill get on the machine and do crunches and add some weight... do u guys think i should add in some weighted leg raises for lower part of my abs???

Getting that low is all about the diet, and yours isn't very good. You're going to have to clean it up a lot (and that means cooking your own meals). Eat oats and eggs, cook chicken and beef, eat lots of green veggies, and eat healthy fats. Nail your pre and post workout nutrition.

For lifts, focus on compound lifts, forget the ab work and isolation stuff, or at least keep it to a minimum.

tr20sdrummer · 11-04-2008, 06:23 PM

what kina veggies do u guys recommend? and whats the best way to cook them? i mean do u guys buy canned veggies, fresh and cut your own?? also, can over training possibly put my body in starvation mode or create a problem with my goal??? one more question...i have lose skin/fat/whatever on my back...does that mean i need to bulk my back more???

onimusha · 11-04-2008, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tr20sdrummer

what kina veggies do u guys recommend? and whats the best way to cook them? i mean do u guys buy canned veggies, fresh and cut your own?? also, can over training possibly put my body in starvation mode or create a problem with my goal??? one more question...i have lose skin/fat/whatever on my back...does that mean i need to bulk my back more???

all veggies are good veggies. I usually eat alot of broccoli or buy a premade salad and mix in tuna. I say eat the veggies you like the most to make the diet the easiest on you.

soapmaker77 · 11-04-2008, 08:54 PM

try cutting carbs down to about 30-40 a day and upping up the fats. its hard to do but your body will respond to such a drastic shift and you will lose weight

SVT_Lightning · 11-04-2008, 09:03 PM

For veggies, go to Sam's Club/Cosco/BJ's and buy the 4lb bag of broccoli. That and asparagus are going to be your best bets for vegetables. They are the most fibrous and nutrient-rich. Hopefully you'll get over the nasty smelling urine that the asparagus produces haha.

For cooking them, go to Wal-Mart or something a buy a vegetable steamer. It's a plastic container with a slide-on lid. That's what I have and man that is easily my favorite way to cook my veggies. You'll want to take in veggies with almost every meal.

I have experienced cutting for some time now and I've gotten it down to a pretty good science.

Like everyone else says, it is probably 80-90% diet to get down to a low bf%. Make sure you are at least at a 500 caloric deficit everyday and supplement that with low intensity cardio at least 5 days per week. If your results start slowing, you need increase your cardio length first. If you still aren't seeing anymore results, then bump down your calories even more.

If you want to learn a lot about nutrition, go to the Contest Prep section and read the articles at the top about cutting and what not. That's how I learned a good bit of what I know now!

Hope this helps!

tr20sdrummer · 11-04-2008, 10:25 PM

yeah this is great guys..you guys are really helping me out.. i think i have a new game plan lol...but any thing else that'll help im down to hear it haha...

C-results · 11-04-2008, 10:49 PM

Your diet does need some fine tuning. You can't target fat loss by area. Your body chooses where it wants to burn the fat. Abs and love handles are the last areas to go. You can bulk your abs to get more definition with the BF% you have, but I recommend trying hard to bulk up everywhere. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn doing anything. It helps speed up your metabolism as well. It'll take some time because you already have fairly low BF% as it is. When it comes to protein, you should be taking in 1 gram of protein for each pound of body weight. So when you start increasing in weight from muscle, you should increase your intake on protein.

tr20sdrummer · 11-05-2008, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C-results

Your diet does need some fine tuning. You can't target fat loss by area. Your body chooses where it wants to burn the fat. Abs and love handles are the last areas to go. You can bulk your abs to get more definition with the BF% you have, but I recommend trying hard to bulk up everywhere. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn doing anything. It helps speed up your metabolism as well. It'll take some time because you already have fairly low BF% as it is. When it comes to protein, you should be taking in 1 gram of protein for each pound of body weight. So when you start increasing in weight from muscle, you should increase your intake on protein.

im still going for muscle gain even though im attempting to get my bf% as low as i can to see clear defined abs....i feel i have a pretty good training routine as far as the rest of my body goes thus the reason im still seeing gains in my muscles and strength.. Another main goal is to get my back more defined as there seems to be fat or loose skin on my back...which i dont pay much attention to, but lately i looked in the mirror and have added that to my to do list.....im assuming that would come off to more intense back lifts and lowering bf right????

C-results · 11-05-2008, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tr20sdrummer

im still going for muscle gain even though im attempting to get my bf% as low as i can to see clear defined abs....i feel i have a pretty good training routine as far as the rest of my body goes thus the reason im still seeing gains in my muscles and strength.. Another main goal is to get my back more defined as there seems to be fat or loose skin on my back...which i dont pay much attention to, but lately i looked in the mirror and have added that to my to do list.....im assuming that would come off to more intense back lifts and lowering bf right????

True story..the only thing you can do is to keep training and wait for the results. It's not an overnight success story

tr20sdrummer · 11-05-2008, 01:42 PM

i started a new diet today that roorootj and some other of you guys have recommended, i can already tell a difference in the way my body feels...lol

L1GHTWEIGHTBABY · 11-05-2008, 03:15 PM

add in carbs post workout

RooRooTJ · 11-05-2008, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tr20sdrummer

i started a new diet today that roorootj and some other of you guys have recommended, i can already tell a difference in the way my body feels...lol

Good to know. You should start seeing results after a week or two. Keep us posted.

tr20sdrummer · 11-05-2008, 08:06 PM

so this is the diet i went with today and prolly will go with for a few weeks or so...1. 3 egg whites, oats, shake..2. shake...3.grilled chicken breast 2 slices of wheat bread. 4 shake...5. grilled chicken breast & veggies & shake.. i have the silver star whey from walmart which says it has 25g per scoop..i do one scoop, whether it has actual 25g i dunno lol...but i havent really felt hungry today, actually i felt pretty full, i guess with my previous diet i wasnt getting enough.. so here it starts...day one....goin for the gold!! lol...

tr20sdrummer · 11-12-2008, 03:12 PM

well week one down guys.. ive changed up my protein to optimum whey 100%, cuz a lot of ppl in the forums seem to like it a lot...hitting the weights hard..i can see a bit more definition than a week ago, although im not sure its from the diet yet or just me working my ass off in the gym lol...