23 year old, former long distance runner trying to get ripped.

[KomLazer]

What's up everyone. I am a 5'8", 23 year old male. I ran cross country and track for my university and graduated in May 2014. I was always in shape and had decent muscle tone while running, but nothing spectacular obviously. After graduating I got super lazy and stopped running and played soccer instead on my free time. I didn't lift at all since I didn't have access to a gym nor the money to sign up for one. Luckily I landed a career in my field early December 2014. I decided to get a gym membership and started lifting early January 2015. I decided to go with Wendler's 5/3/1 and so far I really like it. My 1RM's used for the calculations are as follows.

Deadlift: 275 lb
Squat: 245 lb
Bench: 175 lb
Standing Military Press: 115 lb

When I was testing my 1 rep maxes, I was weighing around 145lb. While in college, my race weight hovered between 135-140 depending on the mileage. I am currently on my second cycle of the program. I started taking creatine when I began the program and recently I have been protein pulsing as well. Currently I weigh 155lb.

As far as weight goes, I have no idea what I want to weigh, nor do I really care...as long as I look bigger and defined. My goal is to have a beach body by the time May-June comes around. I have attached pictures of me from my running days as well as before I started lifting and current pics.

I'll keep this up to date as my body transforms(hopefully) over the next few months. If anybody has some input as to how I can keep my fat levels down that would be greatly appreciated. The shirtless picture of me running was when I was at my peak during the summer before school start. I was running 80 miles a week and working manual labor everyday. The fat on my body tends to go straight to my stomach, (dumb genetics), how can I combat this problem without running a million miles a week? I've been drinking about a gallon of water every day, eating chicken and pasta, etc. Maybe I'm going overboard on the pasta?

[lanco123]

Welcome,

You didn't really ask any questions, but I'm assuming you want input from people on how to get bigger/ripped from your current state. Your 'current' picture is showing some flags of some excess fat gain. No doubt you are getting stronger, but I would probably recommend slowing down on the weight gain by cutting back on some cals and/or sharpening your diet if you aren't doing so already. From where you were at your leanest, you could have packed on some lean muscle and remained extremely lean while doing so if your diet/training was in check. But regardless, you can always overcome where you're currently at with proper diet/training NOW. Are you tracking cals/macros?

[KomLazer]

Welcome,

You didn't really ask any questions, but I'm assuming you want input from people on how to get bigger/ripped from your current state. Your 'current' picture is showing some flags of some excess fat gain. No doubt you are getting stronger, but I would probably recommend slowing down on the weight gain by cutting back on some cals and/or sharpening your diet if you aren't doing so already. From where you were at your leanest, you could have packed on some lean muscle and remained extremely lean while doing so if your diet/training was in check. But regardless, you can always overcome where you're currently at with proper diet/training NOW. Are you tracking cals/macros?

Hey Lanco123, thanks for the response. I forgot to add questions into my post, it's fixed now. I definitely notice the fat gain, especially around my stomach area. I am consuming about 130 grams of protein and roughly 200grams of carbs everyday. When I was at my leanest, in the running picture, I was 7.6% bodyfat, but I was also running 80+ miles a week. What would be a good carb intake for me? I tend to gain fat mainly on my stomach and it's really annoying. I can't see my abs unless I get super lean, but I've only ever seemed to accomplish that look through running. I'm lifting 4 times a week, and doing core 3 times a week.

[lanco123]

Hey Lanco123, thanks for the response. I forgot to add questions into my post, it's fixed now. I definitely notice the fat gain, especially around my stomach area. I am consuming about 130 grams of protein and roughly 200grams of carbs everyday. When I was at my leanest, in the running picture, I was 7.6% bodyfat, but I was also running 80+ miles a week. What would be a good carb intake for me? I tend to gain fat mainly on my stomach and it's really annoying. I can't see my abs unless I get super lean, but I've only ever seemed to accomplish that look through running. I'm lifting 4 times a week, and doing core 3 times a week.

No problem man. I would seriously recommend going over to the nutrition section and reading the stickies on basic nutrition when bodybuilding. It has a TON of good information in there that you simply have to get a good handle on before you dive into this too much, or you will waste your time. Don't be intimidated by it. Don't make it more complicated than what it is. Basically you have to figure out what your TDEE is and then eat at a SLIGHT surplus in cals (while still meeting your other macro needs) all while on a proven program. This, simply, will yield results if done correctly. To specifically answer your question, at this point you shouldn't be chasing abs anyways (you need to add overall mass first). To do so you should be getting at least 1g protein/lb of bodyweight (some say 1g/lb of lean mass, but many, including myself have had good results at 1g/lb of bodyweight), .4-.5 g fat/lb of bodyweight and then fill in the rest of your diet with good carb sources. There should be no "200 grams of carbs" limit for the day, for example. The more carbs the better, as long as they fit in your macro needs. Seriously, go read over the nutrition section stickies. They will help you immensely. Ask questions afterward if need be.

[CrystalB2011]

Nice work

[KomLazer]

Hey everyone, I basically just finished my 4th month on 531 as this week will be the de-load week. I recalculated my maxes based off of the reps after month two.
My training maxes for this month are as follows:

Bench 195
Squat 290
Deadlift 300
SMP 130

For week 3 I did the following:

SMP 5x100lb, 3x110lb, 3x125lb
Dead Lift 5x225, 3x255, 2x285
Bench 5x145, 3x165, 2x185
Squat 5x220, 3x245, 3x275

I'm finding the 3rd weeks more and more challenging. I could do more reps on DL but I find my grip dying out on me. Might pick up some wrist straps.

I was on point with my diet for the past 2 months but have been lazy for the past 2ish weeks. Will slap myself into the routine here soon.