quigley
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Hi everyone,
Ive been a member of this forum for a number of years. I have a bachelor in Biomedical science and I'm studying medicine. I know physiology and bio mechanics very well.
And yet for all that I still have never been able to get anywhere near my physical conditioning goals. So I need your help
Right now I'm about 190lbs, somewhere between 18-21%bf I am guessing. I'm reasonably fit (do a fair bit of running)
I'd describe my body type as skinny fat, in that I've never had much muscle and have always found gaining muscle hard, but I've also never been a skinny ab type of guy: probably haven't been below 15%bf since I was 13 or 14. So i naturally don't gain easy, and don't lose fat all that easy either :/ My ultimate goal is to be 200lbs and 8%bf.
I've tried various programs and diets over the years. I can preach the basics very well. But for some reason I can't seem to make it all work for myself. There are various reasons I've failed over the years, some circumstantial such as being a full time students (no money for gym/food) to having limited control over food choice. Mostly it's been an inconsistency in application, a lack of consistent motivation.
Now I know no one here can make me stay motivated: But over the last year or so I have had to really apply myself, fight my habits of procrastination and distraction in order to get into medicine. My success there has given me impetus to try and apply the same effort to finally work toward achieving my physical goals. After all I don't want to be another doctor with a beer guy and skinny shoulders
So I'm set on going again, hopefully this time for some real results. My first goal is to cut to 8-10%bf and from there, to commence a long slow lean bulk adding lbm without much fat. I don't really want to ride the cut/bulk cycle wave over and over if possible. I plan to get lean, then stay lean as I slowly bulk.
Here are the current challenges to my situation which I need your advice with.
1) food: I've never been able to follow a tight meal plan. Why? I am a full time student on very limited money. My long time girlfriend is a full time student with very limited money. As such, we currently live in attatched flat to her parents place, and we eat with her family. While I can still exercise control over my diet, dinner is provided for me and I don't have the financial means to provide my own dinner every night of the week. The good news is these dinners are usually pretty healthy and have protein, and I can of course adjust the ratios of what I'm eating to suit my goal (eg grab and extra steak and leave the potatoe or whatever) So I'm in a situation where intellectually I know it'd be better to be able to control exactly how many calories I'm eating each day and the macros etc, but where this is in practical sense very difficult to achieve. What I have toyed with is planning my meals other than dinner to achieve macros and calories suiting my goal, then leave a 500-700 calorie window for dinner with a protein target.
2) Workout routine: I have never seemed to be able to gain much muscle, even whilst gaining fat and working out. I have recently suspected that maybe my body responds well to volume, as I've never had the patience or dedication to apply my volume in the gym. for example I was recently working out with a martin berkham type routine of very heavy low reps for squats, chins, deads and bench with a few accessories around them. 3 workouts a week, squats plus accessories, chins and deads plus accessories, bench plus accessories. Although i gained some strength, i just felt there wasnt enough volume there to really make any strong progress.
3) Gym: I have always struggled to afford a gym membership, so I've made a compromise in joining a 24/7 low fee gym (jetts) which has limited facilites. So far it seems i can do mostly everything except deads
With these considerations in mind, I need advice on how to cut down systematically given that one meal a day (dinner) is somewhat out of control. I find it hard to adjust macros and calories regularly like others do due to limited financial ability to chop and change the food i buy, and i also just find it a bit of a damn chore to try and recalculate macros for everything all the time. I have tired leangains and liked it, if that helps. Lost 2-3%bf on it then have been doing nothing since christmas. I need advice on workout routine.
I can say that I am ready to give it 100% within the means that I have. I know that as some factors of diet and workout are out of my control, I wont get as good results as others might. But I believe i can still get consistent results.
So please, any advice on helping me put together a plan to finally achieve my goals is much appreciated.
Also, I am 23 and I have considered implementing a prohormone at some point. I understand the physiological implications very well, and I know that given I still have alot of progress to make it may be well premature, but it is a future consideration.
thanks for reading,
nathan
Ive been a member of this forum for a number of years. I have a bachelor in Biomedical science and I'm studying medicine. I know physiology and bio mechanics very well.
And yet for all that I still have never been able to get anywhere near my physical conditioning goals. So I need your help
Right now I'm about 190lbs, somewhere between 18-21%bf I am guessing. I'm reasonably fit (do a fair bit of running)
I'd describe my body type as skinny fat, in that I've never had much muscle and have always found gaining muscle hard, but I've also never been a skinny ab type of guy: probably haven't been below 15%bf since I was 13 or 14. So i naturally don't gain easy, and don't lose fat all that easy either :/ My ultimate goal is to be 200lbs and 8%bf.
I've tried various programs and diets over the years. I can preach the basics very well. But for some reason I can't seem to make it all work for myself. There are various reasons I've failed over the years, some circumstantial such as being a full time students (no money for gym/food) to having limited control over food choice. Mostly it's been an inconsistency in application, a lack of consistent motivation.
Now I know no one here can make me stay motivated: But over the last year or so I have had to really apply myself, fight my habits of procrastination and distraction in order to get into medicine. My success there has given me impetus to try and apply the same effort to finally work toward achieving my physical goals. After all I don't want to be another doctor with a beer guy and skinny shoulders
So I'm set on going again, hopefully this time for some real results. My first goal is to cut to 8-10%bf and from there, to commence a long slow lean bulk adding lbm without much fat. I don't really want to ride the cut/bulk cycle wave over and over if possible. I plan to get lean, then stay lean as I slowly bulk.
Here are the current challenges to my situation which I need your advice with.
1) food: I've never been able to follow a tight meal plan. Why? I am a full time student on very limited money. My long time girlfriend is a full time student with very limited money. As such, we currently live in attatched flat to her parents place, and we eat with her family. While I can still exercise control over my diet, dinner is provided for me and I don't have the financial means to provide my own dinner every night of the week. The good news is these dinners are usually pretty healthy and have protein, and I can of course adjust the ratios of what I'm eating to suit my goal (eg grab and extra steak and leave the potatoe or whatever) So I'm in a situation where intellectually I know it'd be better to be able to control exactly how many calories I'm eating each day and the macros etc, but where this is in practical sense very difficult to achieve. What I have toyed with is planning my meals other than dinner to achieve macros and calories suiting my goal, then leave a 500-700 calorie window for dinner with a protein target.
2) Workout routine: I have never seemed to be able to gain much muscle, even whilst gaining fat and working out. I have recently suspected that maybe my body responds well to volume, as I've never had the patience or dedication to apply my volume in the gym. for example I was recently working out with a martin berkham type routine of very heavy low reps for squats, chins, deads and bench with a few accessories around them. 3 workouts a week, squats plus accessories, chins and deads plus accessories, bench plus accessories. Although i gained some strength, i just felt there wasnt enough volume there to really make any strong progress.
3) Gym: I have always struggled to afford a gym membership, so I've made a compromise in joining a 24/7 low fee gym (jetts) which has limited facilites. So far it seems i can do mostly everything except deads
With these considerations in mind, I need advice on how to cut down systematically given that one meal a day (dinner) is somewhat out of control. I find it hard to adjust macros and calories regularly like others do due to limited financial ability to chop and change the food i buy, and i also just find it a bit of a damn chore to try and recalculate macros for everything all the time. I have tired leangains and liked it, if that helps. Lost 2-3%bf on it then have been doing nothing since christmas. I need advice on workout routine.
I can say that I am ready to give it 100% within the means that I have. I know that as some factors of diet and workout are out of my control, I wont get as good results as others might. But I believe i can still get consistent results.
So please, any advice on helping me put together a plan to finally achieve my goals is much appreciated.
Also, I am 23 and I have considered implementing a prohormone at some point. I understand the physiological implications very well, and I know that given I still have alot of progress to make it may be well premature, but it is a future consideration.
thanks for reading,
nathan
