21 year old with pear-shaped body need advice

[BicepsH47]

Hi. I'm looking for advice on how to get rid of my pear-shaped body and obtain a better looking, fit, physique.

Background: I've always been the fat kid, but surprisingly good at most sports due to my strength and speed. I started having body complex at a very young age, mostly due to my wide waist but I lost a bit weight, including a good portion of my strength. Since then I can't even count how many times i've been on a diet to lose weight. It always end up in me picking up that fat in the long run.

I've been going to the gym on and off for 4 years now. Mainly focusing on building muscle but i've done cuts aswell. I have some muscle but my bodyfat % is still too high for me to feel comfortable.
My wide waist (love handles) is probably a combination of high bodyfat and genetics.

What should I do to look less pear-shaped and more fit and muscular?

[faithbrah]

cut down if you have enough muscle, that's the only way to get rid of love handles

[BicepsH47]

cut down if you have enough muscle, that's the only way to get rid of love handles

I read somewhere that you can train particular muscle groups to make it look less worse, considering this is also a genetic issue. Does that make sense?

[CommitmentRulz]

OP, you have a high body fat content. This includes chest, stomach/love handles, and probably legs (though not shown).

What workout have you been following for the last 4 years. Your statement of "off and on" tells me likely little to no intensity or consistency. What do you currently cench, squat, deadlift?

You need to lose weight. You need to add muscle. I'd advise trying to drop SOME weight as you get REALLY cranking the weights in the gym.

[rhadam]

I read somewhere that you can train particular muscle groups to make it look less worse, considering this is also a genetic issue. Does that make sense?

That's the whole idea around lifting... you add muscle to your body to make it look better. Now, if you're speaking in regards to the persistent myth that you can train your core and suddenly the flab around your stomach disappears and you look better.. no that's not how the body works. Fat loss is systemic, and training one area of the body will not target fat loss in that area. To continue with the core example.. your core get's stronger, and you can add muscle, but if there is too much fat in that area you won't notice a difference in how it looks.

You've been given good advice here: you need to lose fat and gain muscle. Hit the gym hard, and the nutrition hard. We have a nutrition section here on the forums that has fantastic advice if you read the stickies (threads at the top of the page) where you can read up on the basics of nutrition and how to plan a diet. We also have a great workout section where you can look at professionally-written plans like Fierce 5 or Starting Strength and find a novice plan that works for you and your schedule.

[BicepsH47]

OP, you have a high body fat content. This includes chest, stomach/love handles, and probably legs (though not shown).

What workout have you been following for the last 4 years. Your statement of "off and on" tells me likely little to no intensity or consistency. What do you currently cench, squat, deadlift?

You need to lose weight. You need to add muscle. I'd advise trying to drop SOME weight as you get REALLY cranking the weights in the gym.

I'm 182 cm, 81kg/178 lbs. Deadlift = 160 kg/52 lbs | Bench = 85 kg/187 lbs | Squat = idk, maybe 110, 115 kg/242, 253 lbs.
I haven't really followed any workout program, i've gathered information about excercises and nutrition online and just worked out. Day 1: Chest. Day 2: Shoulders. Day 3: Back. Day 4: Legs. Day 5: Arms. Repeat.

What I mean with on and off is better explained as I have consistently worked out in periods. Maybe 3-6 days a week for 3-6 months straight in one period. Hope you understand better now.

[HotDogManB]

I'm 182 cm, 81kg/178 lbs. Deadlift = 160 kg/52 lbs | Bench = 85 kg/187 lbs | Squat = idk, maybe 110, 115 kg/242, 253 lbs.
I haven't really followed any workout program, i've gathered information about excercises and nutrition online and just worked out. Day 1: Chest. Day 2: Shoulders. Day 3: Back. Day 4: Legs. Day 5: Arms. Repeat.

What I mean with on and off is better explained as I have consistently worked out in periods. Maybe 3-6 days a week for 3-6 months straight in one period. Hope you understand better now.

Find a workout plan. There's an entire section for workout programs on this site.

[BicepsH47]

That's the whole idea around lifting... you add muscle to your body to make it look better. Now, if you're speaking in regards to the persistent myth that you can train your core and suddenly the flab around your stomach disappears and you look better.. no that's not how the body works. Fat loss is systemic, and training one area of the body will not target fat loss in that area. To continue with the core example.. your core get's stronger, and you can add muscle, but if there is too much fat in that area you won't notice a difference in how it looks.

You've been given good advice here: you need to lose fat and gain muscle. Hit the gym hard, and the nutrition hard. We have a nutrition section here on the forums that has fantastic advice if you read the stickies (threads at the top of the page) where you can read up on the basics of nutrition and how to plan a diet. We also have a great workout section where you can look at professionally-written plans like Fierce 5 or Starting Strength and find a novice plan that works for you and your schedule.

Haha, yes I know about that myth but that's not what I meant. I meant that it's apparently a way to look less wide at the oblique area if you, for example, train your lats wider, or your shoulders. I don't know if that's true or not but it sounds like it would make sense.

And I agree that is good advice. I might appear as a big time rookie here but I actually know a decent amount about nutrition and lifting. Maybe I should stick to a workout program instead of freelancing on my own.

[BicepsH47]

Find a workout plan. There's an entire section for workout programs on this site.

Thanks. I'll definitely check one out. Anyone you would recommend me with the info i've given?

[rhadam]

Haha, yes I know about that myth but that's not what I meant. I meant that it's apparently a way to look less wide at the oblique area if you, for example, train your lats wider, or your shoulders. I don't know if that's true or not but it sounds like it would make sense.

And I agree that is good advice. I might appear as a big time rookie here but I actually know a decent amount about nutrition and lifting. Maybe I should stick to a workout program instead of freelancing on my own.

Oh. Yes. Training your delts and lats and chest while losing weight around the android region will give the "V taper" look and make your waist appear smaller. But it's a good idea to train all those body parts anyways. The goal isn't to isolate certain muscle groups to make your body appear slimmer.. the goal is to train all muscle groups and add a solid base of lean tissue.

Don't fall in to the trap of thinking you know more than you do. It's something we've all fallen in to, some people never get out of that trap.

[Luclin999]

OP

In order to get an athletic, fit physique, you need to lose over 20 pounds of fat. You also need to add about 10 pounds or more of lean mass.

Those two goals are in conflict as a person isn't normally going to gain much muscle while in a long term calorie deficit.

That said, you are relatively young, and frankly still in the "beginner" lifting range of experience so with that in mind my advice would be to cut the fat while pushing ~hard~ in the gym for the next five months.

Find your maintenance calories and establish a 500 calorie deficit. At that level it will take you about five months to get rid of most of the excess fat. Get your food macros somewhere in the range of 170g protein, 65-70g of fats and the remainder of your daily calories from carbs, protein, fats...basically whatever you feel like.

At the same time start following a good lifting program for beginners like 5x5 or fierce five to the letter. This will help you to retain the lean mass you have under the fat and based upon your age and overall lack of dedicated lifting experience, you might see a small increase in that lean mass over the course of your cutting the fat.

[BicepsH47]

Oh. Yes. Training your delts and lats and chest while losing weight around the android region will give the "V taper" look and make your waist appear smaller. But it's a good idea to train all those body parts anyways. The goal isn't to isolate certain muscle groups to make your body appear slimmer.. the goal is to train all muscle groups and add a solid base of lean tissue.

Don't fall in to the trap of thinking you know more than you do. It's something we've all fallen in to, some people never get out of that trap.

Thanks, that's really helpful.

[BicepsH47]

OP

In order to get an athletic, fit physique, you need to lose over 20 pounds of fat. You also need to add about 10 pounds or more of lean mass.

Those two goals are in conflict as a person isn't normally going to gain much muscle while in a long term calorie deficit.

That said, you are relatively young, and frankly still in the "beginner" lifting range of experience so with that in mind my advice would be to cut the fat while pushing ~hard~ in the gym for the next five months.

Find your maintenance calories and establish a 500 calorie deficit. At that level it will take you about five months to get rid of most of the excess fat. Get your food macros somewhere in the range of 170g protein, 65-70g of fats and the remainder of your daily calories from carbs, protein, fats...basically whatever you feel like.

At the same time start following a good lifting program for beginners like 5x5 or fierce five to the letter. This will help you to retain the lean mass you have under the fat and based upon your age and overall lack of dedicated lifting experience, you might see a small increase in that lean mass over the course of your cutting the fat.

Very helpful! Thanks.