Unfortunate genetic coctail

[runninghope]

Unfortunate genetic coctail

Height 180cm, current weight 84kg (5.9 feet, 180 pounds). I havent lifted in 3 years, had lower back surgery (spinal fusion) about 15 years ago, right now i am on a diet to get rid of fat. My goal is basketball playerlooks/strength/stamina, i want to look decent in a T-shirt. Its pretty straight forward, but there are 2 areas that are making it really hard for me. First its my love handles. You can see they are huge. Right now i am fat, but even when i have 6 pack, those love handles will barely be any smaller. Another problem is my long and thin neck. Even at my current weight, it makes me look weak in a T-shirt. And when i have less fat, its so bad that people actualy ask me if i am ill (like a cancer patient). I would have to probably get to competition level low body fat to get rid of love handles and by that time my neck would be like a pencil thick. I added some pics of me now and from back then when i was in a "good enough for me" shape. Below i will add some additional info for those who care to read it. But for now i need advice to get to the point where i look good and fit in a t-shirt (and not someone in stage 4 cancer with huge love handles).


EDIT: Due to my low post count i cant upload or attach images. If someone could do it for me it would be great.

MORE INFO: Due to my back injury i barely do any work for my feet, butt and lower back. Heavy weighted deadlift is out of the question, its what added to my back injury. Legs i opt for 1 legged weighted squat and uphill running. My butt is a mystery. It appears that i have 0 muscle in that area, its flabby to the point when it actualy jumps when i walk. Not to be completely negative, i appear to have really good biceps genetics. When i train biceps it grows incredibly fast and looks really good in a tight t-shirt. My back is also decent, with weighted pullups i had a nice v-shape. My shoulders and traps are really back sadly, which in combination with visible love handles ruins the overall look.

[faithbrah]

you'll get rid of the love handles eventually. maybe 15% bf is not enough (for me it's not), but there's only one way to find out, right?

train hard, lose about 2 kg per month and re-evaluate in a few months. you can post pics on your bodyspace, or use imgur and link the folder here

[TolerantLactose]

First its my love handles. You can see they are huge. Right now i am fat, but even when i have 6 pack, those love handles will barely be any smaller.

[x] Doubt

[SuffolkPunch]

You are just fatter than you think, 84kg is on the large side for your height. Don't use genetics as an excuse otherwise you may as well give up now since you can't change them. But everyone can make a positive difference if they put the work in. You just might need to be a lot lighter than you think to get lean (or spend years putting on muscle to make up the difference)

[runninghope]

Thanks for the replies, yeah, im doing my best to not get on the excuse train. I know i need to drop at least 10kg but its really bothering me that this way i will look like a ghost when im dressed. My good friend is about as tall as me. He has 65kg (143 pounds) and he never did any sports or lifting in his life. Hes basicaly a geek. When we both wear a t-shirt or long shirt, it will appear he has more weight than me due to his "normal" neck. And considering i have 20kg more than him, thats just ridiculous. But not to get negative, i think i will go down to 75kg and then just bulk back to 85kg, trying to keep it as clean as possible. I know that fat can't be lost by training the said body part (like, lose fat on belly to just go crazy on abs) but its still amazing that the part that i most neglected (lower back, side abs) has the most fat.

I cannot upload images or post any link because i have fewer than 50 posts. If someone can send me a private message, i can send him a link to the photo album so he can post it instead of me.

[air2fakie]

Dude you seriously need to get rid of the whiny, defeatist attitude... that kind of outlook on getting into shape ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy. No one who thinks like that ever gives a true effort.

[paulinkansas]

Do what's best for you. I was literally the smallest guy in college on a campus of 20,000 students. I was 17 and weighed 136 pounds. Now I'm 54 and a feeble little 54 year old guy. Look at my avatar. I studied advanced number crunching in graduate school. I do sales and marketing, nothing to do with number crunching. I can't throw a football, baseball or a basketball. But I can shoot a shotgun better than 99.9 percent of the general population. Serious. Figure out what's best for you.

[TolerantLactose]

Thanks for the replies, yeah, im doing my best to not get on the excuse train.

Yet you've crammed an impressive number of excuses in your 2 posts. If you fail, it's because you're looking for reasons to fail.

[RapidFail]

See Jeff Nippard and Bony to Beastly for neck training tips. Agreed you'll just have to get leaner if you want to lose the love handles - doing that slowly while doing direct neck training could be the solution you need.

[runninghope]

See Jeff Nippard and Bony to Beastly for neck training tips. Agreed you'll just have to get leaner if you want to lose the love handles - doing that slowly while doing direct neck training could be the solution you need.

Thanks, great site, i will check it out. Do you have any advice how to get around the fact that i cant do heavy deadlifts and squats ? With legs its easier, 1 legged weighted squats. But for lower back i have no idea other than superman's

[paulinkansas]

Do you have any advice how to get around the fact that i cant do heavy deadlifts and squats ?

I can't do heavy "anything". My rep range for each set is between 12 to 24 reps. When I'm up in the 20 range, my form breaks down. When I can do 24 reps with proper form I go back to 12 reps and increase the weight. I'm not saying this will work for you, but it worked for me.

[runninghope]

I wanted to do this but with a range of 12 - 15. Meaning i lift until i can do 15 reps, then increase until i can lift 12, then wait till i can do 15 again, increase weight ... but it made me feel bad because many years when i was training it was a big no no - they said, powerlifting 3-5x, bodybuilding 8-12x, losing fat 15+. Meaning im afraid if i do 15-20x reps, i wont build muscle. But your pic clearly shows that is not the case, right ?

[EliKoehn]

I wanted to do this but with a range of 12 - 15. Meaning i lift until i can do 15 reps, then increase until i can lift 12, then wait till i can do 15 again, increase weight ... but it made me feel bad because many years when i was training it was a big no no - they said, powerlifting 3-5x, bodybuilding 8-12x, losing fat 15+. Meaning im afraid if i do 15-20x reps, i wont build muscle. But your pic clearly shows that is not the case, right ?

That's kind of a misconception about the rep ranges being dichotomized in this way. I'd stay somewhere between 5-10 per set for a while, but if you were to do high rep stuff right off the bat, it would still be profitable, just less ideal for a beginner or novice.

[sunsean]

You're 5'9 and 180lb. And haven't lifted in 3 years. That is a fairly heavy weight for that height. I'm also 5'9 and in my avi I weigh about 163-165lb. So if you haven't been lifting weights, and you weigh 180lb, what do you think all that weight consists of, muscle or fat?

As said above, you are carrying more fat than you think. Real talk, you probably need to lose a good 30lb to get lean-ish. That is going off the assumption that you have little muscle mass as you haven't been lifting. And believe it or not - you don't have to squat and deadlift. I achieved my physique with very little squatting and deadlifting. I would do it for a few weeks here and there, but mostly just focused on upper body moves and running. Squatting and deadlifting are great don't get me wrong, but not necessary for results or a decent body.

[runninghope]

Havent replied in a while. You are absolutely right. I went checking some photos from last summer where i went crazy on running and i went from 90 to 75kg in 2 months (198 to 165 pounds) and even there i still had plenty of fat to lose. So however i turn it, i will need to lose the fat and then bulk. The only problem, like i said is, that now is summer. I look great now at 75kg, wearing sports clothes and shoes, i look like a basketball player. But when winter comes with those thick jackets we wear, i look absolutely ridiculous. I have long legs, long arms and long neck with that head on the smaller side. I am not kiddin, even at 80kg i had people ask me if i am ill (like cancer ill) because jacket will make me look like a baloon and then there will be those pencil sticks looking out of it. I really think i will need to go hard on my neck cause thats the thing that ruins my looks the most symmetry wise. When i look at the person, like a sports guy, i never look at the arms or legs, i always look at the waistline and neck and then depending on that ratio i will define the person sporty strong or weak.

Not to get to long, first goal get to 75, then bulk and go heavy on the neck. I envy some people with nice necks, i remember some guys from highschool who were super ripped but super tiny looking at arms and legs, but then they had that mike tyson neck looking out their shirt so u would think they must be like 90kg when they were dressed even though in reality they were 65kg.

[TolerantLactose]

sporty

Term used by people who've never played a sport. Maybe that's the issue?

[air2fakie]

Term used by people who've never played a sport. Maybe that's the issue?

Maybe if you were a sports guy you'd understand.

like a sports guy

[TolerantLactose]

Maybe if you were a sports guy you'd understand.

I like sports. When I was young, I played sports often.

[sunsean]

Havent replied in a while. You are absolutely right. I went checking some photos from last summer where i went crazy on running and i went from 90 to 75kg in 2 months (198 to 165 pounds) and even there i still had plenty of fat to lose. So however i turn it, i will need to lose the fat and then bulk. The only problem, like i said is, that now is summer. I look great now at 75kg, wearing sports clothes and shoes, i look like a basketball player. But when winter comes with those thick jackets we wear, i look absolutely ridiculous. I have long legs, long arms and long neck with that head on the smaller side. I am not kiddin, even at 80kg i had people ask me if i am ill (like cancer ill) because jacket will make me look like a baloon and then there will be those pencil sticks looking out of it. I really think i will need to go hard on my neck cause thats the thing that ruins my looks the most symmetry wise. When i look at the person, like a sports guy, i never look at the arms or legs, i always look at the waistline and neck and then depending on that ratio i will define the person sporty strong or weak.

Not to get to long, first goal get to 75, then bulk and go heavy on the neck. I envy some people with nice necks, i remember some guys from highschool who were super ripped but super tiny looking at arms and legs, but then they had that mike tyson neck looking out their shirt so u would think they must be like 90kg when they were dressed even though in reality they were 65kg.

People have different bone structures and physiques, some people have skinner wrists etc just genetically. It may be an indication of a person's genetics, but not of their training or "sportiness."

My advice is don't focus on something silly like your neck. Pick a good routine like Fierce 5, something that works your whole body with progressive overload, and do that for a while. If you want to look good aesthetically (e.g. sporty), you need to put the work in and give it time. Build the foundation first, then reveal it with fat loss. Don't focus on extremities like arms and neck, do the heavy compounds and it will give you a fuller thicker look all over.