Need Help!

[StackEm5526]

Ok, so I am new to the forum and new to how in depth everything is on here (good thing). I have been a D1 athlete for 5 years and just graduated and want to concentrate on getting absolutely shredded. I mean, I want to totally transform my body.

Right now I am 6' 225, with probably 12% body fat.
Bench is around 315
Squat around 465
(not sure this matters)

I think I have good genes or something because I can get big just by lifting alone (no diet, no supplements) fast. Like if I were to hit the weights hard for 2 weeks I would see a lot of results, both in ability to lift more, and muscle size. I get after it in the weight room and have great work ethic, so I am willing to do whatever it takes.

Throughout my career I have always trained for sport-specific reasons, never just to get shredded. Now that sports are over, I want to do that. My only problem is that I need to find a way to lose fat and gain lean muscle. I don't want to get too bulky. I would rather look like a UFC fighter or boxer, than a dude on the strongman competitions or even body building comps.

Now it is time to be honest about my diet:

Breakfast:
Honeynut Chereos with skim milk

-nothing in between breakfast and lunch (probably not good)

Lunch:
Turkey sandwich on wheat bread (with light mayonnaise)
Water

-occasionally something like a banana or peanuts in between meals

Dinner:
Either steak, chicken, or pork on the grill.
Mixed vegetables or some type of vegetables
Baked potato
Skim Milk


I run 2 miles (just started a week ago) every other day (might start doing it every day) at a decent pace.

I lift monday, wednesday, friday:

on all arm exercises I try to do 3 sets of 15 with very little rest.
(by the way, I get huge pumps when I lift...love it)
abs
Pushups - 3 sets till exhaustion
triceps 3 sets of 15
delts - 3 sets of 15
lunges with dumbells.

THE POINT OF THIS WHOLE THING. WHAT CAN I TAKE (OTHER THAN HGH) THAT WILL HELP ME BECOME AN ABSOLUTE ANIMAL?!?

[at1010]

hey man have you ever even used creatine products, and are you willing to use test booster and phs? whata are you looking for

[StackEm5526]

Dude I am open to whatever. I mean I don't want to take anything that is potentially hazardous, but I have tried creatine in high school but got dehydrated a lot. I sweat a **** ton man. But what is test booster and phs? I really need to cut fat and build lean muscle. So basically something that will burn my belly fat and something that builds lean muscle so I get definition with mass.

[StackEm5526]

So any input?

[youngandfree]

Ok, so I am new to the forum and new to how in depth everything is on here (good thing). I have been a D1 athlete for 5 years and just graduated and want to concentrate on getting absolutely shredded. I mean, I want to totally transform my body.

Right now I am 6' 225, with probably 12% body fat.
Bench is around 315
Squat around 465
(not sure this matters)

I think I have good genes or something because I can get big just by lifting alone (no diet, no supplements) fast. Like if I were to hit the weights hard for 2 weeks I would see a lot of results, both in ability to lift more, and muscle size. I get after it in the weight room and have great work ethic, so I am willing to do whatever it takes.

Throughout my career I have always trained for sport-specific reasons, never just to get shredded. Now that sports are over, I want to do that. My only problem is that I need to find a way to lose fat and gain lean muscle. I don't want to get too bulky. I would rather look like a UFC fighter or boxer, than a dude on the strongman competitions or even body building comps.

Now it is time to be honest about my diet:

Breakfast:
Honeynut Chereos with skim milk

-nothing in between breakfast and lunch (probably not good)

Lunch:
Turkey sandwich on wheat bread (with light mayonnaise)
Water

-occasionally something like a banana or peanuts in between meals

Dinner:
Either steak, chicken, or pork on the grill.
Mixed vegetables or some type of vegetables
Baked potato
Skim Milk


I run 2 miles (just started a week ago) every other day (might start doing it every day) at a decent pace.

I lift monday, wednesday, friday:

on all arm exercises I try to do 3 sets of 15 with very little rest.
(by the way, I get huge pumps when I lift...love it)
abs
Pushups - 3 sets till exhaustion
triceps 3 sets of 15
delts - 3 sets of 15
lunges with dumbells.

THE POINT OF THIS WHOLE THING. WHAT CAN I TAKE (OTHER THAN HGH) THAT WILL HELP ME BECOME AN ABSOLUTE ANIMAL?!?

Forget about the test boosters and PH's at this point. There are plenty of things you can tweak before you ever consider putting something in your body that won't work as well unless you have the basics down.

Diet Basics: 1) You need to find your BMR, search on here for a BMR calculator. You should calculate what your maintenance calorie requirements are. That means how much to eat and maintain the same body weight. That would be a good place to start.
2) You need 1-1.5 grams of protein/lb of lean body mass. 225 at 12% BF probably 200lbs lean body mass. Shoot for 250-300g of protein a day.
3)You need 5-6 meals spaced evenly as possible throughout day. I eat every 3 hours. Take total cals and divide by 6= roughly how many cals per meal to shoot for. Take total protein for day and do the same to figure how much protein per meal. 6 meals =45-50 grams of protein per meal. Depending on how your body responds to carbs will determine the other half of the equation. Whether you want to do "traditional" type diet of 40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% fat or a ketogenic type diet. Alot of people have good success leaning out and maintaining muscle on keto diets so read up on that.
4) Drink 1-2 gallons of water a day if you don't already. You said you sweat alot and creatine made you dehydrate. Were you drinking enough water? If you don't already, start at a gallon and slowly build up, or your bladder will HATE you. Eventually you will be able to "hold" more and won't have to go pee every 20 minutes.

LIFTING: Is what you wrote your typical lifting routine? If so, change that up. You said if you hammer the gym for 2 weeks, then you make good progress. You should take advantage of that before you start taking a bunch of hormonal supps.

Look into a program that lifts 4 days a week. For cardio, you can do HIIT on non lifting days, and some low intensity after lifting days. Take at least 1 whole day off, maybe go for a walk or something, just no real exertion. Two days is even better, then if you need to bump cardio up, you can add another day. If your schedule allows, maybe lift on M,W,F,Sat. Or something similar that fits your schedule.

Focus on a 3-4 exercises, 3-4 sets per exercise per bodypart. Maybe reps in 6-12 range, pyramiding weight, either up or down for sets. EX: Bench set 1, 12 reps. Add weight, set 2 10 reps. Add weight, set 3 8 reps, add weight set 4 6 reps. Or do the reverse, heavy 6 reps, then drop weight and reps as you go.

I would do this type program and diet at maintenance cals for 2-3 weeks to start. Since your diet hasn't been greatest, you might develop some muscle as well as lose some fat by starting at square 1 so to speak. If scale weight doesn't change in 2 weeks, but you look a bit leaner, then you are on right track. It is what as known as "recomping". You can't change fat to muscle, but it is possible to burn some fat and build some muscle at same time, not drastic amounts, but enough to tell a difference. If weight goes up drastically at end of week 1 or 2, then scale total calories back 300 per day. Run that for a week and see how you react. Also the reverse is true. If at "maintenance" total, your weight drops drastically after 2 weeks, then up them 300 or so and see if it levels out. By cleaning up the diet and drinking more water, you might flush out some extra water weight the first couple days. But after a week or 2, it will be baody mass if you keep losing.

If at maintenance, your scale weight stays the same, but you have visual improvements in your body, I say to stick with it at the level until you stop seeing changes. When that happens, lower your calories by about 200-300 a day. Run that for 2 weeks and see if your body starts to respond again. You don't want to lose more than 1-2 lbs max per week to save as much muscle mass as possible.

I think you can have good results by starting with the basics, hammer the weights for 3-4 months and keep your diet clean. You didn't say what time frame you wanted to reach your goal is. If you are truly at 12%, you would only need to lose about 12-15lbs of fat to get to 6%. I don't think it is too hard to get there based on what you have given us so far. It just won't happen next week.

BTW, what sports did you play so we can have an idea what type of training you did?

If your basic training right now is different than what you wrote, tell us specifically what your routine is for the week. Hope this helps.

[at1010]

nice write up man....ya man only way to burn belly fat and be healthy and safe is deff cardio and a solid diet....