Staying lean year around without abusing drugs

[swim15]

I realize some people just have crazy metabolisms for those of you who have succeeded in this, any tips?

I'm a competitor but want to stay semi lean in the offseason 8-9%.

I've tried just adding cardio and increasing weight training intensity. My main problem is that the cardio seems to exponentially increase my appetite compared to the calories expended which also proves an issue precontest.

Trying to do this without giving myself and eating disorder or making myself nuts although after some research a lot of it seems to come down to individual leptin thresholds. A leptin mimetic like Ghrelin mimetics would be so amazing.

 

[pesty4077]

You need a good DIET all year. You can easily stay lean if on HRT and low dose GH. I can get shredded on 100 to 150 MG of test and 2 IUs of GH per day. I just won't be as big if I took more.

 

[Idra]

I'd advise not eating in a caloric surplus.

 

[ProMuscle1986]

The diet has to be super clean all year. You can probably afford 1 cheat meal once a week or every other week. The benefits to that is the longer you diet and stay lean, the tighter your skin will get and you will get into better shape when you do shows if you do them.

 

[swim15]

Yes, clearly it's all diet related. I should have specified that I have just been wondering how guys do it without constantly starving? Ultimately it has a lot to do with personal metabolism obviously but trying to find the balance between not being stupid hungry and fighting cravings/binges constantly but not over eating is what is getting me

 

[ProMuscle1986]

Yes, clearly it's all diet related. I should have specified that I have just been wondering how guys do it without constantly starving? Ultimately it has a lot to do with personal metabolism obviously but trying to find the balance between not being stupid hungry and fighting cravings/binges constantly but not over eating is what is getting me

You have to find foods that you can consume minimal amounts of that keep you full. I find sweet potatoes keep me full. So I can eat 5oz sweet potatoes with 4 of my 6 meals. The other two meals have no carbs and maybe 4-5 grams of fat. I hardly ever get hungry. Water consumption is a big thing as well. the more water I drink the fuller I stay the less I worry about food.

 

[ZOFO1973]

The diet has to be super clean all year. You can probably afford 1 cheat meal once a week or every other week. The benefits to that is the longer you diet and stay lean, the tighter your skin will get and you will get into better shape when you do shows if you do them.

The point you made about skin staying tighter is so true and becomes very important as you get older. 40+ guys know what im talking about.
10-12% is as high as I let myself get offseason.

 

[nothuman]

Yes, clearly it's all diet related. I should have specified that I have just been wondering how guys do it without constantly starving? Ultimately it has a lot to do with personal metabolism obviously but trying to find the balance between not being stupid hungry and fighting cravings/binges constantly but not over eating is what is getting me

Been trying to find the answer to this myself. I'm always starving. I make veggie shakes with every meal so the fiber fills me up.

 

[swim15]

Been trying to find the answer to this myself. I'm always starving. I make veggie shakes with every meal so the fiber fills me up.

Yea I hear that and, to the other poster, that's what I've been trying to find. I drink around 2 gallons of liquids a day, some of which is green tea or coffee to help curb appetite as well.

Right now all my diet is consisting of is chicken breast with one lean ground beef meal for protein, broccoli/green beans/spinach for veggies, a couple whole eggs, and oat bran for carbs as it's been the most filling so far. Also a little unsweet almond milk here and there as its the most satisfying fat to me personally and you get a lot of bang for your buck. 6 meals a day and about 3200 Cals at 220lbs and ~9% body fat.

Still feel like I've never eaten all day at any given point except for maybe the 15min after meals. Gotta be a way to do this

 

[Stewie]

Clean diet, occasional I.F (5-6 times per month+/-), fasted cardio 5-6 days a week, physiological levels of hormones FT4, FT3, IGF-1, testosterone, estradiol, DHEA-S, ect, ect and good quality of sleep.

That's it in a nutshell of what I do year round.

 

[Swifto]

Clean diet, occasional I.F (5-6 times per month+/-), fasted cardio 5-6 days a week, physiological levels of hormones FT4, FT3, IGF-1, testosterone, estradiol, DHEA-S, ect, ect and good quality of sleep.

That's it in a nutshell of what I do year round.

How long do you fast for?

Is it a total fast or intake of amino's still?

 

[Chode Logan]

I like how you said "semi lean" but then said 9%. 9% is fucking lean! Not stage ready but lean.


My body just wants to be fat, it sucks. Alwaaays hungry and my brain constantly tries to pursuade me to stick food in my face that I shouldnt.

3200 cals isn't extremely low. If you can stay at 9% on that I'd say your metabolism is pretty damned good.

 

[Love_to_Bodybuild]

sleeps - making sure at least 7-8 hours and when body needs it 9 hours

undisturbed sleep, no animals waking you up, put a delta sleep cd on repeat, if your other wakes you up, might need to get another bed or fold out couch to sleep on

temp needs to be no higher than 70 degrees. it varies for some people, for myself its probably 68 im guessing (no not 69 lol)

 

[rippedyearround]

Check Out Andreas Cahling. He's 63 or so and he's been ripped for decades.

Find clean food that you actually like. None of this "can of tuna and handful of almonds" - that isn't sustainable.

Learning to cook has been the largest influence in my ability to stay lean year round.

 

[massive9]

You need a good DIET all year. You can easily stay lean if on HRT and low dose GH. I can get shredded on 100 to 150 MG of test and 2 IUs of GH per day. I just won't be as big if I took more.

Are you doing regular cardio too? Interesting as I aim to do just that, low dose test and GH.

 

[pesty4077]

Are you doing regular cardio too? Interesting as I aim to do just that, low dose test and GH.

For getting super lean or show shape, I have to do cardio. I can get down to very lean with out it. The main reason I do the cardio, so I never have to cut calories. Let me see if I can pull a picture up with no cardio. I got a little leaner then this over the summer with no cardio. This is a 55 year old body too.

 

[snowpatrol]

Since I switched to mountaindog training 7x/wk, I can 'maintain' 8-10% bf on about 3500cals without cardio, but I have a pretty healthy appetite these days and that definitely doesn't leave me feeling 'full' most of the time

I'm guessing if I pulled some carbs from my intraWO drink and spread them over the rest of the day I might feel fuller, but the likely downside would be no longer wanting to, or possibly being able to train as often without soreness...

Other people mentioned it already, but I think a big part is choosing mostly whole foods that keep you fuller, longer per macro/calorie cost...

Two of my meals had oats and casein, but more recently switched one to cream of rice with isolate (preWO) which is ok because I don't really get hungry while I'm in the gym

Three have rice or sweet potatoes, a good amount of cruciferous vegetables and very lean meat (rinsed extra lean beef, chicken breast, ground turkey or fish)

One has very few carbs (last meal of the day) and one is liquid (intraWO)

 

[massive9]

Awesome shape for your age pesty

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

[Stewie]

How long do you fast for?

Is it a total fast or intake of amino's still?

With the intermittent fasting is around 18 hours. My fasted cardio is usually around 8 hours.

Neither of these two will I use EAA or BCAA. Strictly fasted, other than a cup of coffee.

 

[Ocean cool]

I like intermittent Fasting. I find it really strip off the fat without much effort.