How long does it take to beef up?

carlowplayer

have been using weights to lose the flab mainly for the last year.am down to 41 inches but my ideal is 36 inches i want to know what would be required to beef up so to speak to the best of my physical ability to get good abs/six pack.Currently i do 130kg on leg press and 65kg on my arms and upper chest.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/92499048@N08/sets
this shows where i am now

ebixa82

Focus on weight loss first, then worry about beefing up. Long way to go yet.

Paddywiggum

if your goal is to eventually see abs, then forget about what weights you're lifting and concentrate on your diet.

carlowplayer

so what length of time are we talking about two,three years?

Paddywiggum

significant weight loss is achieved through diet and exercise, with diet being paramount. have a look at some youtube videos on body transfomations, itll give you some motivation as to what is possible. set realistic goals. the buck stops with you.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Resistance training (weights) is good in combination with high intensity interval training (running, cycling, rowing etc in sprint and rest combinations). Most fat loss programs do this type of training. But as said above at your current position diet will be the biggest factor. There are a lot of diets advocated on the forum but basically they all boil down to eating less than your need each day.

I think although it is all diet that's a passive thing. Its eating less and making better food choices. I understand myself that when your in the zone of changing your lifestyle you want to actively do things like exercise.

The best advice is if you can muster up a few spare euros, pay a personal trainer to do a program for you and diet plan. I think the price of personal training and gym memberships is now at a level where it makes most sense to get some proper professional personalized advice, you see all the time people doing their own thing getting bogged down without results.

By the way...congrats on the weight loss so far.

youtube!

I have lost 2/12 stone in 9 months by concentrating on diet and cardio,very little weights.

There is an old saying that is perfectly true and that is "Abs are made in the kitchen and not in the gym".

What worked really well for me was a combination of low carb , jogging and above all else intermittent fasting, 5 days normal 2 days only 600 cals, when I combined all three my weight lierally melted off.

I have to get down by another stone and then I will concentrate on gym work,probably kettlebells. Just what worked for me.

Paddywiggum

@youtube fair play! great results! I.F. is very good

carlowplayer

is one hour cardio plus weights advisable at this point or two hours cardio plus weights im not sure because i dont want to eat into the muscle and undo my work

Tigger

carlowplayer wrote: »

is one hour cardio plus weights advisable at this point or two hours cardio plus weights im not sure because i dont want to eat into the muscle and undo my work

You need to eat less than you burn
Cardio burns but if you didn't eat it in the first place then You don't need to burn it
Start counting calories on a spreadsheet
Eat lots of protien and veg within the amount of calories you can have ( not potatoes) and fruit ( not bananas)
And lift heavy compound weight exercises that get heavier each session to maintain muscle mass

Google stronglifts or starting strength.
Also are you smoking in the fitness forum ?

Paddywiggum

carlowplayer wrote: »

is one hour cardio plus weights advisable at this point or two hours cardio plus weights im not sure because i dont want to eat into the muscle and undo my work

if you dont reduce your bodyfat then your 'work' will be undone anyway, as no one will be able to see it. its a change in your diet that will give you the progress youre looking for not extra cardio

carlowplayer

.currently i have protein shakes made from low fat milk and 100g protwin powder(which provides at least 75g protein).

currently i have to eat every day
porridge for breakfast fruit as snacks(grapes/oranges) and meal which is usually chicken or beef in plum sauce with rice. is this good or do i need to make changes

Paddywiggum

start here, make a proper diet your no.1 priority and you wont look back

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055157091

ebixa82

You need to lose A LOT of weight. Don't be worrying about weights etc. just yet.
The first thing you need to address is your weight. Weight loss is 80% diet.

You need to use up more calories than you consume.

Plum sauce and rice is a very unhealthy combination.

Read the stickies and grab a basic understanding of nutrition and how to eat healthily. Do some cardio work like running. You've a long way to go before worrying about toning up etc.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

ebixa82 wrote: »

You need to lose A LOT of weight. Don't be worrying about weights etc. just yet.
The first thing you need to address is your weight. Weight loss is 80% diet.

You need to use up more calories than you consume.

Plum sauce and rice is a very unhealthy combination.

Read the stickies and grab a basic understanding of nutrition and how to eat healthily. Do some cardio work like running. You've a long way to go before worrying about toning up etc.

Ah now, that's simply not correct. The dude is overweight but not that bad. Resistance training will increase lean mass and greatly improve fat loss with a calorie controlled diet.

If the chaps final goal is to gain muscle then he should gain muscle. Every fat loss boot camp, personal trainer and TV program about loosing weight has the experts recommending resistance training from day one.

ebixa82

Paula Sparse Kiwi wrote: »

Ah now, that's simply not correct. The dude is overweight but not that bad. Resistance training will increase lean mass and greatly improve fat loss with a calorie controlled diet.

If the chaps final goal is to gain muscle then he should gain muscle. Every fat loss boot camp, personal trainer and TV program about loosing weight has the experts recommending resistance training from day one.

Of course he's not morbidly obese or anything. And resistance training will help at any stage, but shouldn't diet be his number one priority at this stage?

The OP didn't mention anything about diet in the opening post, but did mention a 6 pack. I just feel he needs to get his priorities right.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

These thread always descend into a "diet you fool" answer. Diets are so passive, exercise is active, its taking control, its a thing you do that make you feel better. Always too quick to tell people to forget about training (or do training that is uninteresting to them) and concentrate on diet. Playing to what interests you is more sustainable. Diet focus, places too much emphasis on your mass and not your composition.

ebixa82

Paula Sparse Kiwi wrote: »

These thread always descend into a "diet you fool" answer. Diets are so passive, exercise is active, its taking control, its a thing you do that make you feel better. Always too quick to tell people to forget about training (or do training that is uninteresting to them) and concentrate on diet. Playing to what interests you is more sustainable. Diet focus, places too much emphasis on your mass and not your composition.

The simple fact of the matter is that too lose weight, which he needs to do, he must expend more calories than he consumes.

No amount of weights will give him a six pack whilst he has a big belly covering it.

Of course a combination of diet, weights and cardio is the best formula.

And when I say diet I mean more sustainable, long term healthy eating, not some crash course fad.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

I agree and disagree, and I will use my own case as an example.

Feb 2012 - 110kg, 42 inch waist, fat as fu*k 34% BF, couldn't run, tired. Was an athlete in college but no exercise in 10 years. Much fatter than the OP here.
Feb 2012 - 85kg, 34 inch waist, strong as fu*k, sub 20% BF (so over 5 stone in fat lost with lean mass gains) with visible abs, can run non stop for an hour before I get bored, lifting good numbers, getting better. My clothes dont know me, I look like a child dressing up in daddy s clothes. Huray for me :rolleyes:

I trained with weights, little cardio bar some short HIIT mostly rowing never more than 10 minutes, eat all around me, cant eat enough and frequently enough. Any plateaux I hit were solved by eating more. No supplements, the changes I made were alochol and processed foods, carb restriction. Training involves little rest periods between sets, this introduces a cardio element into the weights. I rarely spend more than 45-60 minutes in the gym but I do go 4-5 times a week, and bust my balls when I am there.

Now if somebody had said to fat fitzgeme in 2012, diet you pig and forget about lifting. Go for a long run, I would no doubt have given up. Instead trainers asked me what my goals were and tailored a program that would get me to where I envisaged myself, and exercises that interested me and made me think I was working toward my goal.

To simplify all this down to move more and eat less, is to deny that people are different in motivation and genetics. The immediate pointing of posters to the stickies on diet may be valid but could be unhelpful as its not something the poster is ready to hear yet.

The OP does look like he is smoking a fag in the first photo

Paddywiggum

Paula Sparse Kiwi wrote: »

These thread always descend into a "diet you fool" answer. Diets are so passive, exercise is active, its taking control, its a thing you do that make you feel better. Always too quick to tell people to forget about training (or do training that is uninteresting to them) and concentrate on diet. Playing to what interests you is more sustainable. Diet focus, places too much emphasis on your mass and not your composition.

that would be because in the vast majority of cases dieting IS the answer. the OP wants to get a six pack. this will require him to get to a min of 12% bodyfat and probably lower. I can tell you that there is nothing 'passive' about getting to that %. It takes a lot of dedication and control.

noone is suggesting he stop resistance training, just make diet his priority.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Paddywiggum wrote: »

that would be because in the vast majority of cases dieting IS the answer. the OP wants to get a six pack. this will require him to get to a min of 12% bodyfat and probably lower. I can tell you that there is nothing 'passive' about getting to that %. It takes a lot of dedication and control.

noone is suggesting he stop resistance training, just make diet his priority.

Not true, people differ.

Paddywiggum

as attractive as Iggy is, id love to see a pic of a male with 6pack @ 25% bodyfat.

Paddywiggum

Paula Sparse Kiwi wrote: »

Not true, people differ.

hey what happened to your post with pic of iggy pop??:pac:

Dtp79

ebixa82 wrote: »

Of course he's not morbidly obese or anything. And resistance training will help at any stage, but shouldn't diet be his number one priority at this stage?

The OP didn't mention anything about diet in the opening post, but did mention a 6 pack. I just feel he needs to get his priorities right.

Can't get a six pack without dieting!!

ebixa82

Dtp79 wrote: »

Can't get a six pack without dieting!!

Yes, that's what I said.

Dtp79

ebixa82 wrote: »

Yes, that's what I said.

I know

btkm8unsl0w5r4

ebixa82 wrote: »

You need to lose A LOT of weight. Don't be worrying about weights etc. just yet.
The first thing you need to address is your weight. Weight loss is 80% diet.

You need to use up more calories than you consume.

Plum sauce and rice is a very unhealthy combination.

Read the stickies and grab a basic understanding of nutrition and how to eat healthily. Do some cardio work like running. You've a long way to go before worrying about toning up etc.

No these were your encouraging words.

Some fat bastard at 25%, 6 pack....no...visable abs yes.

ebixa82

Paula Sparse Kiwi wrote: »

No these were your encouraging words.

Some fat bastard at 25%, 6 pack....no...visable abs yes.

Sorry, what am I meant to be looking at here?

Stench Blossoms

ebixa82 wrote: »

Sorry, what am I meant to be looking at here?

A bad picture of somebody who may or may not have abs.

Paddywiggum

can i put a pic of my ass up on here? just for the craic like

Gummy Panda

Paddywiggum wrote: »

can i put a pic of my ass up on here? just for the craic like

No it will just encourage Hanley to post his

the drifter

Gummy Panda wrote: »

No it will just encourage Hanley to post his

and a scientific explanation of why his is in his opinion better!

Stench Blossoms

We should have a 'show me your abs' thread.

carlowplayer

Feb 2012 - 110kg, 42 inch waist, fat as fu*k 34% BF, couldn't run, tired. Was an athlete in college but no exercise in 10 years. Much fatter than the OP here.
Feb 2012 - 85kg, 34 inch waist, strong as fu*k, sub 20% BF (so over 5 stone in fat lost with lean mass gains) with visible abs, can run non stop for an hour before I get bored, lifting good numbers, getting better. My clothes dont know me, I look like a child dressing up in daddy s clothes. Huray for me

I trained with weights, little cardio bar some short HIIT mostly rowing never more than 10 minutes, eat all around me, cant eat enough and frequently enough. Any plateaux I hit were solved by eating more. No supplements, the changes I made were alochol and processed foods, carb restriction. Training involves little rest periods between sets, this introduces a cardio element into the weights. I rarely spend more than 45-60 minutes in the gym but I do go 4-5 times a week, and bust my balls when I am there.

Now if somebody had said to fat fitzgeme in 2012, diet you pig and forget about lifting. Go for a long run, I would no doubt have given up. Instead trainers asked me what my goals were and tailored a program that would get me to where I envisaged myself, and exercises that interested me and made me think I was working toward my goal.

To simplify all this down to move more and eat less, is to deny that people are different in motivation and genetics. The immediate pointing of posters to the stickies on diet may be valid but could be unhelpful as its not something the poster is ready to hear yet.

start here, make a proper diet your no.1 priority and you wont look back

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showt...p?t=2055157091

yeah pretty have lost nearly six seven inches in the last year.trust me was in was much worse shape than I am now last year.
am now up to about maybe one to two hours of cardio plus weight training at least three times a week. I know diet is important ive been trying to get that in order thats the only crux. i dont have chicken with plum sauce and rice EVERY night id say three out of seven days usually its something like lemon sole or salmon or beef shanks with vegetables.Only once a month do I have junk food of sorts ie a burger or
hopefully that diet thread should help with the last of the areas that needs to be sorted.

ebixa82

carlowplayer wrote: »

yeah pretty have lost nearly six seven inches in the last year.trust me was in was much worse shape than I am now last year.
am now up to about maybe one to two hours of cardio plus weight training at least three times a week. I know diet is important ive been trying to get that in order thats the only crux. i dont have chicken with plum sauce and rice EVERY night id say three out of seven days usually its something like lemon sole or salmon or beef shanks with vegetables.Only once a month do I have junk food of sorts ie a burger or
hopefully that diet thread should help with the last of the areas that needs to be sorted.

Can you post up a typical day's diet-breakfast, lunch, dinner and (importantly) any snacks you have in between.

Having plum sauce and rice 3 out of 7 nights a week is way too often. It's something that you would get in a take away, so I would personally consider that junk food.

martomcg

ebixa82 wrote: »

Can you post up a typical day's diet-breakfast, lunch, dinner and (importantly) any snacks you have in between.

Having plum sauce and rice 3 out of 7 nights a week is way too often. It's something that you would get in a take away, so I would personally consider that junk food.

Definately agree with the above!

But sample diet means nothing without posting quantities of food consumed.

My guess is your getting way too many carbohydrates with the rice your eating.

If your gonna take your diet seriously you need to start weighing your rice/pasta/potatoe and eating an appropriate amount.

When i got my diet in order I realised i was actually eating nearly 2x the amount of pasta/rice in a meal that I should have been.

Scuba Ste

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

We should have a 'show me your abs' thread.

Great idea. You go first.

Stench Blossoms

Scuba Ste wrote: »

Great idea. You go first.

I will, when I get them.

Paddywiggum

Im gonna get the ball rolling here and stick up a pic of my calves......

Paddywiggum

i want people to be honest with me and tell me what they think, dont hold back folks

TheBellJar

Paula Sparse Kiwi wrote: »

These thread always descend into a "diet you fool" answer. Diets are so passive, exercise is active, its taking control, its a thing you do that make you feel better. Always too quick to tell people to forget about training (or do training that is uninteresting to them) and concentrate on diet. .

+1. Have just read this thread and this post really stood out.

Whilst I get that a good diet is key, people forget how important the psychological aspect of weight loss is too. If you're really busting your ass and seeing results in the gym then it makes you a whole lot more motivated when it comes to keeping your diet clean. Likewise if you've leaned up via your diet then you feel more confident when it comes to exercise.

DL Saint

Paddywiggum wrote: »

i want people to be honest with me and tell me what they think, dont hold back folks

Gastrocnemius looks well, soleus could be bigger