Skinny Arms and Fat Belly :(

[Velnos]

Here's the ultimate goal I'd like to achieve from working out, 16 inch arms and a 32 inch waist. Is that very hard? I don't really care to get huge, I just hate that my arms are so skinny (14") yet I have a 36 inch waist.

I have read so many different opinions on this and now I am thoroughly confused! Is it just absolutely impossible to build a little muscle while also losing some fat? Do I have to go into a "bulking" phase where I eat 4,000 calories a day to put on some muscle and then cut? I already have a good bit of fat on my face and belly and I'd rather not gain more.

I just want modest gains like the ones I mentioned above.

Stats

Height: 6'
Age: 31
Weight: 215 lbs
Arm Circumference: 14 inches
Waist: 36"
Level: Lifted weights for about three months in the past year and quit.
Gym Access: Full access
Diet Access: Whatever it takes
Supplement Access: Whatever it takes (can't go to jail though, lol)

Do I just need to give up on my dream of more muscle and just focus on cardio and fat loss at the moment?

Thanks guys.

(I attached a picture from a couple of months ago, it's in the 4th message of this thread) I put on about 5 lbs of more fat since then.

[ajj0034]

just do compound movements with cardio on your off days and you will do wonderful. look up bill starrs 5x5

[jb4476]

Do I just need to give up on my dream of more muscle and just focus on cardio and fat loss at the moment?

No.

You are in the very unfortunate situation of being "skinny-fat", that is to say, you have a high BF, but are small and lack musculature. The best way to correct this is always to gain a lot of muscle FIRST. Your objective is to improve your physique. If you start cutting from where you are now, you will go from skinny-fat to just...skinny. But you won't look better. Also, it will be very hard. Low muscle mass=snails-pace metabolism. The process of "cutting" is normally done to reveal muscle gained on a bulking phase. But you don't have a lot to reveal by cutting. Best bet is to go on a serious bulking phase. Cardio is fine, just overcompensate in caloric terms. Lift heavy, eat a lot, sleep a lot. That's the best advice I can give. Pick a beginner's program like SS and don't mess with it.

[Velnos]

Ok, just to make sure we are all on the same page, I posted a recent picture. This was taken about 3 months ago and all that has really changed is that I put on a bit more fat in the belly. (About 5 more lbs since picture was taken)

BTW, I did follow similar advice last year. I ate healthy about 4,000 calories a day and lifted heavy 4 days week, mostly compounds lifts.

BUT! (There's always a but of course) I reached a point where I really don't wanna gain more face and belly fat and I am still not happy my arm gains. Only my arms suck! I was very happy with my gains in my lower body, back, shoulders and chest!

Does this change anything much? Do I just need to suck it and bulk more or can I start losing some fat and still improve my arms?

(Thank you very much for the quick replies guys)

[gomez26]

Contrary to what the parrots here may attack you with, it is possible to gain muscle on just arms (u may as well throw shoulders in there as well). Thing is there will be a limit to how quickly ( & how much) u can develop them before u need to start hitting your torso, but to gain 2 inches is doable. Since your arms/shoulders are skinny rel to your torso, its a reasonable goal to have.

Do shoulder & arms 3 times a week. Do 3 sets of shoulder presses, 3 sets of upright rows (shoulder width grip), 3 sets of bent over laterals, 5 sets of triceps exercise (e.g. skull crushers, dips etc), 5 sets of bicep curls of your choice. Go for 10 reps same weight each set. Last rep of last set should be close to failure. Rest 60 to 90 sec b/w sets (personal preference). Try & add weight to the bar over time (say every few weeks or so). This should start you of & should be good for 6 to 9 months. After that you can experiment with other approaches. If you decide not to do shoulders you can up the arm sets to 6 or even 7 - depends how well you recover/progress.

Re calories, start to eat a little under maintenance. Aim to gradually lose about 20lbs in 6 months. Dont worry about bulk & cut, just a gradual approach to restore balance. After that eat just a tad over maintenance to gain muscle. Since you are training only a small fraction of your whole body, you wont need a large surplus.

[Gr8Ape]

I was skinny fat when I started, you CAN lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.

[Engineer_Guy]

I was skinny fat when I started, you CAN lose fat and gain muscle at the same time.

Just want to comment on this. Just because your body fat % goes down doesn't mean you're actually burning fat. People can gain muscle without putting on much fat and due a newbie's very fast gains they can lower their body fat %.

Odds are he's not going to burn fat while bulking because to actually burn fat you need to make your body need to burn that fat with a calorie deficit.

[gomez26]

Just want to comment on this. Just because your body fat % goes down doesn't mean you're actually burning fat. People can gain muscle without putting on much fat and due a newbie's very fast gains they can lower their body fat %.

Odds are he's not going to burn fat while bulking because to actually burn fat you need to make your body need to burn that fat with a calorie deficit.

Someone who for example weighs 200lbs & has 20% bf (40lbs of fat) would need to gain 67lbs of pure muscle (final weight 267) before their bf% drops to a semi-decent 15% while keeping the same fat.

Its true what you are saying, but in practice most people that do body re-comps do lose some fat. If you are carrying excess flab it is losable while gaining muscle - up to a point. Once you get down to around 10% its no longer possible. Everything has reasonable limits. Doesnt mean u can get huge while getting ripped though.

[thedrivenone]

You're in my boat, dude. It sucks to be skinny-fat.

Simply get stronger and get in better shape. Increase your poundage & endurance, eat a few hundred calories over maintanence, watch your carb amount and the type, too. Eat plenty of protein.

I'm taking/logging Recompadrol right now, ****'s good for this.

[clive]

That's something I've noticed with my friends, most of them have gradually got bigger belly's and thinner arms, it seem to be a thing that happens when you get older and don't work out.
Simply paying attention to your diet and keeping at the working out should reverse this, but it's going to take time.

[Velnos]

Thanks a lot for the advice guys, I am definitely trying this:

Do shoulder & arms 3 times a week. Do 3 sets of shoulder presses, 3 sets of upright rows (shoulder width grip), 3 sets of bent over laterals, 5 sets of triceps exercise (e.g. skull crushers, dips etc), 5 sets of bicep curls of your choice.
...
Re calories, start to eat a little under maintenance. Aim to gradually lose about 20lbs in 6 months.
...
Since you are training only a small fraction of your whole body, you wont need a large surplus.

I have a couple of quick followup questions please:

1. Can I still do some cardio before or after weight-lifting?
2. Do I do the same (arm/shoulder) exercises 3 days a week? (Which is perfectly fine with me, I just wanted to double-check)

Thanks again guys.

[gomez26]

Thanks a lot for the advice guys, I am definitely trying this:



I have a couple of quick followup questions please:

1. Can I still do some cardio before or after weight-lifting?
2. Do I do the same (arm/shoulder) exercises 3 days a week? (Which is perfectly fine with me, I just wanted to double-check)

Thanks again guys.

Yeh some cardio is great to up the metabolism, just not too excessive. I'd do it after the weights.

You can do same exercises each day or vary them if you wish, or you may wanna change after a few months or so. Doesnt really matter.

In the long term it is good to vary exercises to avoid specific joint aches that may develop from overdoing only one movement. Each different exercise will stress joints/connective tissues differently (different angles of loading etc) so its a good idea to spread your workload over a few different moves long-term..

[Velnos]

Should I expect to lose a lot of muscle mass in my torso and lower body if I am running a deficit and only working out my arms? I would think that I will lose some, yeah?

[jb4476]

Should I expect to lose a lot of muscle mass in my torso and lower body if I am running a deficit and only working out my arms? I would think that I will lose some, yeah?

No, not necessarily. I mean, no more so than if you were just doing nothing and not working your torso and lower body. Just make sure you get enough protein, don't go overboard with your deficit. It would probably be best if you worked your torso and lower body as well.

[jaac662]

If anyone is reading this I really don't wanna post a new thread I am at 240lbs I'm 6 3 and according to my buddies recruiter (he did my body fat % when I took my buddy to sign paperwork ) I'm 22% bf I'm currently on a thousand calorie deficit diet which is working great ! For my arms and legs what I mean by that is that I've always had skinny arms and legs but when I get fat my belly and tatas get big lol to my point I do a solid 45-1 hour resistance training with very minimal rest in between sets (30 seconds ) my body is getting tighter but my arms and legs are starting to get really nice creases and my belly kinda just remains the same chest is smaller so all I'm asking is should I do cardio now so I don't have this beer belly look anymore ? As of right now I do a half hour of High intensity cardio on Mondays (sprints , 1 mile run , and cycling for the remaining time I have ) help (I'm a newb)

[Skinnyfat2017]

I'm 34 years old. I was skinny all my life had a small tummy & a small double chin for the past few years but in the last few months my belly turned twice as big and the bottom half of my face has swelled up suddenly.

My doctor did some tests and told me that I dont have cushin's disease.

Went to the gym for a few weeks and then quit going as I dont feel the stamina or motivated to go. I have quite narrow shoulders and my arms are 14", while my waist is 36". I sometimes feels that my head is just sinking due to the sheer weight I have in my chin and cheeks.

To make things worse I'm a chain smoker with sleep problems.

But I want to fix myself. I hate to look into the mirror these days.

For breakfast I have either bread or cereals with milk. I have lunch outside (usually rice/chicken) and for dinner again either eggs/chicken and rice. Have a lot of dry fruits all day.

Not sure if what I should be eating or should I go to the gym.

[SyncSolo]

I'm 34 years old. I was skinny all my life had a small tummy & a small double chin for the past few years but in the last few months my belly turned twice as big and the bottom half of my face has swelled up suddenly.

My doctor did some tests and told me that I dont have cushin's disease.

Went to the gym for a few weeks and then quit going as I dont feel the stamina or motivated to go. I have quite narrow shoulders and my arms are 14", while my waist is 36". I sometimes feels that my head is just sinking due to the sheer weight I have in my chin and cheeks.

To make things worse I'm a chain smoker with sleep problems.

But I want to fix myself. I hate to look into the mirror these days.

For breakfast I have either bread or cereals with milk. I have lunch outside (usually rice/chicken) and for dinner again either eggs/chicken and rice. Have a lot of dry fruits all day.

Not sure if what I should be eating or should I go to the gym.

You're eating a lot of carbs and not using the energy, so will stay fat around the middle. The answer is both diet and gym, consistently, move your ass and don't be lazy. I'm in the same boat, it's hard to stay motivated for me as I feel more tired and I'm not a ball of energy anymore like I was at half my age. My testosterone levels are probably crappy too, I might see the Dr about that soon and get my blood tested when I can be bothered.

Anyway try taking ZMA at night, that helped give me a boost, eat more protein, less sugar, diet seems ok but try cutting your portions and drink more water. Most importantly lift weights and do some cardio at least 3 times a week and stick at it!