All you guys who stay at 8-10% bf year round: How do you do it?

[PeeledMuscle]

I've been training for about 6 years now and have put on about 80lbs, which I am pretty happy with. The fact I am always in the 12-14% range frustrates me though. I've got down to 9% before after doing a paleo diet for a few weeks but as soon as I add the calories back in I seem to return to that equilibrium state of about 13%. I was skinny fat even at 135lbs so I realise I'm never going to be one of those guys who are naturally diced. I started doing 45 mins of empty stomach cardio every morning a couple of months ago and have a 5 hour carb cutoff - but I don't think this is gonna get me there. Diet wise I eat 400g of pro a day then eat fats / carbs according to hunger. What I really want to do is recomp but be able to maintain the bf % indefinitely, if you can help please chime in

It sounds like you have shut ur metabolism down.. Without knowing your baseline metabolism set up ur diet like this. whatever weight you're at currently multiply that by 15. this is ur baseline. if you cut at a good level as to preserve muscle tissue say 1.5 lbs a wk. i would cut 1.2 with diet and the other 0.3 with cardio. to cut 1.2lb a wk with diet subtract 600 cal's from ur baseline. now multiple ur weight by 1.2 this is ur amount of protein intake each day. now multiple that by 4 to get the number of cal's and remember this number.. now multiple ur baseline number by 0.2 this and divide that number by 9. this is ur amount of fat per day in grams. now subtract the cal's from fat and protein from your (baseline - 600) divide this number by 4 and that is ur amount of carbs in grams. every five pounds of body comp change these numbers need to be recalculated. and once every 10-14 days double ur carb intake and keep fat as close to zero as possible this will help keep ur leptin levels up and keep you burning fat.

while dieting timing of taking in which macros make a difference. I like to take in 15% of all carbs for breakfast. causing a insulin spike and shutting down cortisol production. then 35% of carbs 1.5hr pre workout, 20% carbs intra workout and 25% about a hour after that. that leaves 5% left to get from vegies with other meals. Protein should be spread pretty evenly with all meals and when we have these big carb meals fat should be kept to a minimum.

Hope this helps. :-D

 

[johnjuanb1]

Diet year round. You only need to get an extra thousand calories to grow. My body fat is around 5% now. Haven't had a cheat meal in 20 days. You kind of get used to the torture of the diet. Turkey/chicken breast, egg whites, whey protein, oats, steamed rice, whole wheat bagels, v-8 juice....nothing else.

 

[anabolic2k]

Intermittent fasting for me is the only form of eating I have ever used/found that enables me to stay between 6-8% year round.

1st meal at 12.30, 2nd meal 4.30pm and last meal 8.30pm. Fast for 16 hours and repeat. 3 large meals sunday-friday and eat whatever the hell I want on Saturdays.

Im now in my 40s and only do cardio for health reasons (no need for fat burning effects)

lowest I ever managed to stay at before was around 10% and that was with full time paleo type eating and early cardio 3-4times/week.

And yes I have a crappy sluggish metabolism, been chubby all my life really.

Youl find a ton of info on IF on this board or go over to leangains.com!

Stew

 

[advancedphysique]

I eat 400-500+ carbs a day, don't do any cardio and put on enough muscle over the years my body is a fat burning machine. People spend way to much time training like pansies and eating like birds to ever rev up there metabolism to do it. Train hard, eat enough to sustain you muscle and INCREASE your food intake over time - not in a McDonalds binge when you feel fashion - but in a progressive manner while keeping your bodyfat in check. As much drugs as people on here take they shouldn't be able to get fat unless they have a really garbage program/diet.

 

[Cito33189]

Unless your genetically gifted with that lean look trait then it is extremely difficult to do.

Supplements help obviously. But you cant run cutters all year around. Atleast I wouldnt recommend it. It really is diet, diet, diet. All the time, and cardio all the time. Its not easy but hey nothing is.

Ive actually reevaluated my strategy of putting on muscle or just lifting and maintaining.

I feel a lot better eating clean all the time, with lets say a cheat meal once a week. Cardio makes me feel great to. Its hard work But I physically and mentally feel a lot better. My energy levels are great and I need much less sleep

 

[AshopRep]

Diet year round. You only need to get an extra thousand calories to grow. My body fat is around 5% now. Haven't had a cheat meal in 20 days. You kind of get used to the torture of the diet. Turkey/chicken breast, egg whites, whey protein, oats, steamed rice, whole wheat bagels, v-8 juice....nothing else.

Your shredded bra I'm eating kinda like you too. Chicken, oats, salad, veggies, peanut butter, and that's eat. We keeps it simple.

 

[adam soza]

I would say it's all about genetics. Either you have them or you don't. Drugs help. You can always eat as clean as possible and do cardio year round to help your efforts.

 

[Simpllyhuge]

What about high intensity cardio, like climbing stairs in a vest for several times a week on and empty stomach. Was thinking it would use lots of muscle which would help preserve it, as well as burning lots of calories and is serious cardio

 

[jack of all]

It's as simple as a strict diet all the time. You guys complicate stuff too much. Me personally, I do not want to stay that lean all the time. It really takes a special mind set to diet strictly for so long.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Knight9]

Most people think they are lower than they really are in terms of bf%.

What are you talking about. EVERYONE is 10% or less here .

 

[workhard2121]

I'd say diet of course and cardio, but genetics is number one.

I don't do cardio, just got lucky in the genetic department. I do have to cut back on the junk food even whole bulking. I can eat a cheat meal or two a day while bulking and show all abs and stay fairly lean, but in the end its counterproductive for me at least. When I've bulked eating cleaner I truly gain so much more muscle. Either way genetics has been key for me.

Sent from my SCH-R530U using Tapatalk 4

 

[Darb77]

Eat more and often, eat quality nutritonally dense food, do cardio, lift hard and heavy with intensity, don't eat shit food.

The End

 

[intenceman]

I think lean protein (2 lbs a day- chicken, turkey, fish) veggies (as much as you can eat), 1 serving fruit (for the enzymes and vit C), 1 serving (3/4 cup) cottage cheese (for the Taurine and calcium), plus daily cardio and resistance training 3 to 5 times a week (depending on your training style) should do it.

 

[20sam91]

Some good advice here guys. Cito I'm inclined to agree with you but it won't stop me trying. My diet is already crazy clean (cheat like once a month at most). I think the route I'm gonna take is to get lean (8%ish) and then either do short bulk / cut cycles or have a big carb cut-off. Doubt I'll grow at the same rate as I have been at 14% but I'd rather be lean year round right now

 

[anabolic2k]

Skip wrote a good piece on this over at IM -

IntenseMuscle.com - View Single Post - Staying lean and eating clean vs. EAT BIG/GET BIG!!! Settle this...

 

[20sam91]

Skip wrote a good piece on this over at IM -

IntenseMuscle.com - View Single Post - Staying lean and eating clean vs. EAT BIG/GET BIG!!! Settle this...

Great post thanks for sharing

 

[raw33man]

JJB1 got banned ? OH SHEEEZ what happened

EDIT: NVM, that official ass thread got him in trouble !!! Asses always get you int trouble kids, lol

 

[AshopRep]

JJB1 got banned ? OH SHEEEZ what happened

EDIT: NVM, that official ass thread got him in trouble !!! Asses always get you int trouble kids, lol

Who would ever have thought ass would get JJ in trouble

 

[swoletrain]

Intermittent fasting for me is the only form of eating I have ever used/found that enables me to stay between 6-8% year round.

1st meal at 12.30, 2nd meal 4.30pm and last meal 8.30pm. Fast for 16 hours and repeat. 3 large meals sunday-friday and eat whatever the hell I want on Saturdays.

Im now in my 40s and only do cardio for health reasons (no need for fat burning effects)

lowest I ever managed to stay at before was around 10% and that was with full time paleo type eating and early cardio 3-4times/week.

And yes I have a crappy sluggish metabolism, been chubby all my life really.

Youl find a ton of info on IF on this board or go over to leangains.com!

Stew

Great info! What do your 3 large meals look like during the week?

 

[Cornelius]

Diet down then once happy with leanness don't rebound.
It's not hard on paper just appetite can cause problems for most.