A little help please...

[Dave5433]

I am a physically active male and have a healthy diet, but i still cant get ripped... I do a wide variety of sports and other physical activity yet cant lose body fat. In addition to that cardio i do workouts at home with dumbbells and a pull up bar. What am I missing?

[illpinoise]

A food scale. A weight scale. And some monitoring skill.

[hardyboysare]

More info required height, weight, age and post a pic of yourself on your bodyspace.

You may have too much fat or too little muscle mass, or a combination of both.

What program are you following?

[xsquid99]

I am a physically active male and have a healthy diet, but i still cant get ripped... I do a wide variety of sports and other physical activity yet cant lose body fat. In addition to that cardio i do workouts at home with dumbbells and a pull up bar. What am I missing?

A "healthy diet" doesn't mean jack if you eat too much "healthy food".

[daviesr123]

I am a physically active male and have a healthy diet, but i still cant get ripped... I do a wide variety of sports and other physical activity yet cant lose body fat. In addition to that cardio i do workouts at home with dumbbells and a pull up bar. What am I missing?

Hello Dave5433,
Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Exercise while ignoring your diet just isn't a good weight-loss strategy. ... To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume or eat fewer calories than your body uses each day. If you don't have a caloric deficit, you will not lose weight

[OddFix]

You do workouts at home. That is what you are doing wrong. You don't have a barbell or proper equipment or anything and you expect to get shredded? Invest in a gym membership. Most people can't build a body worth a damn at home (unless they own a home gym) and if they can then it would have been much easier and cheaper to do so at the gym.

[TheUnderdog83]

You do workouts at home. That is what you are doing wrong. You don't have a barbell or proper equipment or anything and you expect to get shredded? Invest in a gym membership. Most people can't build a body worth a damn at home (unless they own a home gym) and if they can then it would have been much easier and cheaper to do so at the gym.

You’ve given this same answer in two threads, and you’re wrong. I only started lifting less than a year and a half ago and have done all my lifting at home with a bench and a squat rack. Feel free to check out my progress photos.

Diet and effort are what matter most, not where you lift.

I could’ve made better progress had I started with a proven lifting program, I didn’t start squatting or deadlifting until I was about 4 months in. I also didn’t start with proper nutrition, really only getting my macros where they need to be recently.

[Tommy W.]

You do workouts at home. That is what you are doing wrong. You don't have a barbell or proper equipment or anything and you expect to get shredded? Invest in a gym membership. Most people can't build a body worth a damn at home (unless they own a home gym) and if they can then it would have been much easier and cheaper to do so at the gym.

Totally false. The Misc forum misses you. Time to go back

[dud3adm]

Totally false. The Misc forum misses you. Time to go back

Hey man you seem like you know what you're doing and have it all figured out.

I tried messaging you but the thing is full. I was wondering, from your experience, if you'd recommend approaching bulking around 15% body fat or 10%?

I'm 5'10" 18.4% last time I checked (when I was 182 pounds). Currently 179.4 pounds. First cut but wanna know when to stop.

[Tommy W.]

Hey man you seem like you know what you're doing and have it all figured out.

I tried messaging you but the thing is full. I was wondering, from your experience, if you'd recommend approaching bulking around 15% body fat or 10%?

I'm 5'10" 18.4% last time I checked (when I was 182 pounds). Currently 179.4 pounds. First cut but wanna know when to stop.

You need to post a photo. It depends where you store your fat. A good rule of thumb is to look in the mirror naked. Does the fat bother you or does the lack of muscle bother you more? Rectify the one you dislike the most. Generally 10% isn't necessary.

I keep the messages full as I just get too many and don't have time to answer em and don't wanna seem uninterested.

[OddFix]

You’ve given this same answer in two threads, and you’re wrong. I only started lifting less than a year and a half ago and have done all my lifting at home with a bench and a squat rack. Feel free to check out my progress photos.

Your progress is indisputably great but he doesn't have a bench or a squat rack like you do/did. He has dumbbells and a pull up bar. How is he supposed to improve without a variety of weights or proper equipment? You also have to invest a lot and have space for a home gym to do your things and not everyone has that. Most people live in apartments and the weights and bar and everything can be costly. And how is he supposed to get your 1RM of 280 pounds with dumbbells? I don't think my info is necessarily false.

I still stand by with what I said. People need to get over their fear of going to a gym. Yes, diet and effort matter the most but most people are not going to put in the effort at home because it is just not a very inspiring place when it comes to most things. At home you have bed, a couch, TV. You have a chance to relax and not put in the work and a lot of people might get drawn to that.

Either way, he should at the very least get a bench and a squat rack, like you did. I'm not against home gyms but I think that the difference in MOTIVATION between going to a gym, looking at everyone and wanting to look like that in an environment where everyone works out VS being at home and trying to pump iron is much much different.

[TheUnderdog83]

Your progress is indisputably great but he doesn't have a bench or a squat rack like you do/did. He has dumbbells and a pull up bar. How is he supposed to improve without a variety of weights or proper equipment? You also have to invest a lot and have space for a home gym to do your things and not everyone has that. Most people live in apartments and the weights and bar and everything can be costly. And how is he supposed to get your 1RM of 280 pounds with dumbbells? I don't think my info is necessarily false.

I still stand by with what I said. People need to get over their fear of going to a gym. Yes, diet and effort matter the most but most people are not going to put in the effort at home because it is just not a very inspiring place when it comes to most things. At home you have bed, a couch, TV. You have a chance to relax and not put in the work and a lot of people might get drawn to that.

Either way, he should at the very least get a bench and a squat rack, like you did. I'm not against home gyms but I think that the difference in MOTIVATION between going to a gym, looking at everyone and wanting to look like that in an environment where everyone works out VS being at home and trying to pump iron is much much different.

I agree a pull-up bar and dumbbells aren’t enough to transform somebody’s body. I also recognize not everybody has the space or money to invest in a bench, squat rack, and the weights. All in it was about $1,100 for me. Had I joined a gym I likely would’ve paid around that amount over the last year and a half anyway. What I disagree with is your originals statements of -

You do workouts at home. That is what you are doing wrong. Most people can't build a body worth a damn at home

That blanket statement just simply isn’t true. A more specified answer like you just gave today would’ve been more appropriate and accurate.

[dud3adm]

You need to post a photo. It depends where you store your fat. A good rule of thumb is to look in the mirror naked. Does the fat bother you or does the lack of muscle bother you more? Rectify the one you dislike the most. Generally 10% isn't necessary.

I keep the messages full as I just get too many and don't have time to answer em and don't wanna seem uninterested.

Thank you for taking your time to reply, Mr. Tom.

Well tbh my main goal was to lose weight then I saw all the body transformations and it became an obsession. I'm fairly happy with my progress so far but I want more(attached picture)
A couple of abs are showing when I'm hungry.

When I did some reading on bulking, ppl said that If you wanna keep the abs while bulking you gotta go for the 9~10% (once you hit 15% you do a mini cut). Was that your approach?

Just trying to figure out a mindset of someone that's most likely gone through this. Thanks again bud

Edit: Barely lost strength during the cut. Only 2kg down on bench so I still have the muscle before the cut

[Tommy W.]

Thank you for taking your time to reply, Mr. Tom.

Well tbh my main goal was to lose weight then I saw all the body transformations and it became an obsession. I'm fairly happy with my progress so far but I want more(attached picture)
A couple of abs are showing when I'm hungry.

When I did some reading on bulking, ppl said that If you wanna keep the abs while bulking you gotta go for the 9~10% (once you hit 15% you do a mini cut). Was that your approach?

Just trying to figure out a mindset of someone that's most likely gone through this. Thanks again bud

Edit: Barely lost strength during the cut. Only 2kg down on bench so I still have the muscle before the cut

First off you probably won't keep abs, at least defined ones while adding mass. I'd concentrate on dropping 10 more lbs of fat and then see where you're at. It looks like you have a good amount of muscle. Start there.

[dud3adm]

First off you probably won't keep abs, at least defined ones while adding mass. I'd concentrate on dropping 10 more lbs of fat and then see where you're at. It looks like you have a good amount of muscle. Start there.

Lovely. Thanks a lot

[samfit7]

Track and measure your fat. Being ignorant, we usually consume in a calorie surplus. Track your diet with Apps like fitness pal, measure your food. After a few months, you will be pro in diet management.