Male 5'9" 13st.

tonto24

Hi guys, I have a holiday coming up in 7 weeks. I want a 6 pack lol. I know its not gonna happen in this time frame but any tips would help.
Have been gyming 3 times a week since start of December where I weighed 14st 8lbs. By gyming I mean short high intensity strength building classes. I do very little cardio. Started an abs class last week too which is once a week on top of my 3 times a week in the gym. Also work 9-6 and commute takes half hr everyday. Gym is also 20min commute. I normally go out once a week (usually Friday) and drink vodka white.

My gym routine:
Mon: Abs class 8-9pm
Tues: Gym: 7-7:30
Weds: Gym: 7-7:30
Fri: Gym: 7-7:30

Diet: (Il be very exact and honest on what I eat and times)

WEEKDAYS

Breakfast 8:15
3 large eggs (1 yolk) mixed with half a red onion and small bit of skimmed milk cooked in microwave for few minutes. Cup of coffee with 1+1/2 spoons f sugar again with skimmed milk. Breakfast cereal bar (cutting them out now completely)

Green apple at 11 for a snack

Lunch 13:00
Brown wrap with chicken/turkey (packet Dunnes stuff), relish, half red onion, lettuce. An orange.

Green apple at 17:00.

Dinner
Mon
Home from work at 6:30. Normally have packet noodles before i go to abs class at 8. Back for 9:20ish. Have chicken fillet, mushrooms, onions, sugar snaps, broccoli, peppers cooked in wok. Soy sauce and bit of brown rice.

Tues/Weds/Fri (gym nights)
Home for 8ish roughly. Chicken fillet, mushrooms, onions, sugar snaps, broccoli, peppers cooked in shake and bake flavour bags with either 1/2 sweet potato or brown rice.

Thurs 6:30
Usually make a spaghetti bolognaise. Brown spaghetti, mince, mushrooms, onions, jar of low fat dolmio bolognaise sauce.

Weekend:
If im out Fri im def sleeping in Sat! Get up about 12. Make an omelette, 3 eggwhites 1yolk, onions mushrooms. Normally dont eat again until dinner, Could be a curry (home made).
Sun: same omelette. Usually go out for sunday carvery.

Ok im rambling on now a bit but just wanted to give an insight into my week and just looking for a bit of help and advice to lose this last bit of fat around my stomach area. Im very happy with my progress so far and the change appearance is massive. Its just these extra pounds are alot harder!!

Any views, thoughts, opinions and advice are appreciated!

mickman

"If im out Fri im def sleeping in Sat" - what does friday nights eating / drinking contain ?

runawaybishop

Your weight may not be dropping but are your clothes fitting better? Don't focus so much on what the scales say now but focus more on how things fit you. If you waist is continuing to get smaller then you are doing good.

Assuming that you have actually stalled a bit then because you've lost weight then your calorie requirements will have changed so you'll need to eat less than you did 3 months ago to continue to lose weight. Ensure you are keeping your protein high so you don't lose the muscle you have been working to put on. TBH, it looks like to have made good progress so just keep doing what you were doing.

You should have more of a gap between your first 2 gym strength days to alow your body to recover and rebuild - i.e gym mon/wed/friday but if you cant move the abs class then maybe tue/thur/sat

tonto24

mickman wrote: »

"If im out Fri im def sleeping in Sat" - what does friday nights eating / drinking contain ?

Tues/Weds/Fri (gym nights)
Home for 8ish roughly. Chicken fillet, mushrooms, onions, sugar snaps, broccoli, peppers cooked in shake and bake flavour bags with either 1/2 sweet potato or brown rice.

I normally go out once a week (usually Friday) and drink vodka white basically for the night. I avoid the nasty Mcdonalds after too.

runawaybishop wrote: »

Your weight may not be dropping but are your clothes fitting better? Don't focus so much on what the scales say now but focus more on how things fit you. If you waist is continuing to get smaller then you are doing good.

Assuming that you have actually stalled a bit then because you've lost weight then your calorie requirements will have changed so you'll need to eat less than you did 3 months ago to continue to lose weight. Ensure you are keeping your protein high so you don't lose the muscle you have been working to put on. TBH, it looks like to have made good progress so just keep doing what you were doing.

You should have more of a gap between your first 2 gym strength days to alow your body to recover and rebuild - i.e gym mon/wed/friday but if you cant move the abs class then maybe tue/thur/sat

Clothes are fitting much better, and basically had to buy a new wardrobe and was happy to do so. But when the shirt comes off the fat around stomach area, chest/breast area is still fairly large and noticeable. Protein intake has always been fairly good and am now taking kinetica whey protein after each gym session. The abs session is a monday eve class only im afraid, and each gym session is diff i.e. tues: chest and back, weds: legs, fri: arms and shoulders.

Is their anything specific I can do to help lose that belly fat faster? Special supplements? Abs belt? Special exercise etc.?

Alf Veedersane

tonto24 wrote: »

Is their anything specific I can do to help lose that belly fat faster? Special supplements? Abs belt? Special exercise etc.?

No. There's nothing you can do about where the fat comes off. Continuing as you are, or even tweaking to further improve, will see the belly fat come off in time.

There is no quick fix.

runawaybishop

tonto24 wrote: »

Clothes are fitting much better, and basically had to buy a new wardrobe and was happy to do so. But when the shirt comes off the fat around stomach area, chest/breast area is still fairly large and noticeable. Protein intake has always been fairly good and am now taking kinetica whey protein after each gym session. The abs session is a monday eve class only im afraid, and each gym session is diff i.e. tues: chest and back, weds: legs, fri: arms and shoulders.

Is their anything specific I can do to help lose that belly fat faster? Special supplements? Abs belt? Special exercise etc.?

The stomach and chest are commonly the last place for the fat to go, give it time and it will come off.
Fair enough with the gym sessions if you are doing a split, you should be alright but just watch your recovery.

There are no special supplements or exercise, its not possible to spot reduce fat. It'll all come off eventually.

Take a look at myprotein/bulkpowders/gonutrition - they have good value and good quality protein powders.

TBH i don't really have any advice to give you, you seem to be doing fairly well and making good progress. I doubt the weight went on you in 5 months so you just need to give it time.

tonto24

runawaybishop wrote: »

The stomach and chest are commonly the last place for the fat to go, give it time and it will come off.
Fair enough with the gym sessions if you are doing a split, you should be alright but just watch your recovery.

There are no special supplements or exercise, its not possible to spot reduce fat. It'll all come off eventually.

Take a look at myprotein/bulkpowders/gonutrition - they have good value and good quality protein powders.

TBH i don't really have any advice to give you, you seem to be doing fairly well and making good progress. I doubt the weight went on you in 5 months so you just need to give it time.

Thanks Runaway, it most certainly didnt!! You seem to know what your talking about so may i ask you about other supplements? Should I be taking creatine, pre work out, amino or? I do take protein after each session but that is at the moment.

runawaybishop

tonto24 wrote: »

Thanks Runaway, it most certainly didnt!! You seem to know what your talking about so may i ask you about other supplements? Should I be taking creatine, pre work out, amino or? I do take protein after each session but that is at the moment.

Creatine is cheap and widely considered effective and safe. Apart from creatine the only supplement you may need is whey, but ideally you should get your protein from meat/dairy/fish etc. If you are getting enough protein into you then you don't need any aminos really and a strong cup of coffee before a workout would do you fine. Your main diet is what you really should be focusing on, get that right and it'll all fall into place.

tonto24

runawaybishop wrote: »

Creatine is cheap and widely considered effective and safe. Apart from creatine the only supplement you may need is whey, but ideally you should get your protein from meat/dairy/fish etc. If you are getting enough protein into you then you don't need any aminos really and a strong cup of coffee before a workout would do you fine. Your main diet is what you really should be focusing on, get that right and it'll all fall into place.

Thanks for all the advice! Iv been told today that I should be running flat out and that will get rid of the excess fat!

runawaybishop

tonto24 wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice! Iv been told today that I should be running flat out and that will get rid of the excess fat!

It will in the same way that doing any exercise will get rid of fat, but there are far more efficient ways of getting rid of it. Strength work is better than cardio at reducing fat and retaining muscle.

mufcboy1999

Your main goal here is fat loss so to be honest if you're serious about getting in the best shape you can possibly be in you'll need to add cardio to your training.

Yes fat loss is possible with strength training but by adding at least 30 to 40 minutes of moderate intensity/interval cardio 3 to 5x per week on top of it will be way more beneficial to your goal, trust me.

What will get you to where you need to be is your training and a calorie deficit diet but getting 6 pack ab's requires a diet that is a lot more strict than the one you've detailed above so you'll have to clean it up a lot more if you're serious about that one, in others words no friday nights out for a while no sugar with your coffee or sugar snaps etc unless you happen to be juicing you won't get away with it.

Good luck

runawaybishop

mufcboy1999 wrote: »

Your main goal here is fat loss so to be honest if you're serious about getting in the best shape you can possibly be in you'll need to add cardio to your training.

Yes fat loss is possible with strength training but by adding at least 30 to 40 minutes of moderate intensity/interval cardio 3 to 5x per week on top of it will be way more beneficial to your goal, trust me.

This is incorrect, strength work will burn more fat and retain more muscle than cardio. Take a google at the penn state study.

mufcboy1999

runawaybishop wrote: »

This is incorrect, strength work will burn more fat and retain more muscle than cardio. Take a google at the penn state study.

I do strength training myself and from my own personal experience if you want 6 pack abs naturally within a short time frame without any aid of some kind you need to do your cardio on top of your strength training to maximise your fat burning.

I never said fat burning can't occur doing strength training alone but combined with cardio it's a lot more beneficial, It's bound to be your burning more calories. Also meeting your daily protein intake will ensure minimum muscle loss.

There's so many myths and study's in health fitness from men in white coats telling you how the body responds to a certain way of training etc but in truth the only way to know what works is through trial and error by doing it yourself.

runawaybishop

mufcboy1999 wrote: »

I do strength training myself and from my own personal experience if you want 6 pack abs naturally within a short time frame without any aid of some kind you need to do your cardio on top of your strength training to maximise your fat burning.

I never said fat burning can't occur doing strength training alone but combined with cardio it's a lot more beneficial, It's bound to be your burning more calories. Also meeting your daily protein intake will ensure minimum muscle loss.

There's so many myths and study's in health fitness from men in white coats telling you how the body responds to a certain way of training etc but in truth the only way to know what works is through trial and error by doing it yourself.

Meeting your protein amounts and doing cardio instead of strength work will result in muscle wastage, it will not ensure minimum loss as stimulus must be applied. You can combine cardio and strength work if you wish, but if you have limited time then your focus should be on strength work.

Trying things out yourself is absolutely not the only way to know what works, don't be ridiculous.

mufcboy1999

runawaybishop wrote: »

Meeting your protein amounts and doing cardio instead of strength work will result in muscle wastage, it will not ensure minimum loss as stimulus must be applied. You can combine cardio and strength work if you wish, but if you have limited time then your focus should be on strength work.

Trying things out yourself is absolutely not the only way to know what works, don't be ridiculous.

Where did I say to do cardio instead of strength training ? Where are you getting this from...

I've clearly said strength training combined with cardio is better for fat loss, are you trying to say a combination of both isn't because of a study?

The poster is looking to attain a 6 pack now most of the biggest and strongest men on the planet all apply cardio to their training in order to reach the required level of body fat to achieve a 6 pack.

runawaybishop

mufcboy1999 wrote: »

Where did I say to do cardio instead of strength training ? Where are you getting this from...

I've clearly said strength training combined with cardio is better for fat loss, are you trying to say a combination of both isn't because of a study?

The poster is looking to attain a 6 pack now most of the biggest and strongest men on the planet all apply cardio to their training in order to reach the required level of body fat to achieve a 6 pack.

Grand so.

GiftofGab

Do is the OP only starting abs workout? Getting 6 pack abs is a long term goal and can be extremely difficult to get short term. You would need to be doing an ab workout on a calorie surplus to grow the muscle then go on a high protein fat loss diet to shed away the excess fat covering the abs.

Definitely agree with above poster. Add cardio to your strength workout for fat loss. Do both. You can cut out cardio for bulking.

vard

GiftofGab wrote: »

Do is the OP only starting abs workout? Getting 6 pack abs is a long term goal and can be extremely difficult to get short term. You would need to be doing an ab workout on a calorie surplus to grow the muscle then go on a high protein fat loss diet to shed away the excess fat covering the abs.

Definitely agree with above poster. Add cardio to your strength workout for fat loss. Do both. You can cut out cardio for bulking.

You hardly need to do any ab workouts. It's an overused cliche at this point, but it says it all: Abs are made in the kitchen.

runawaybishop

GiftofGab wrote: »

Do is the OP only starting abs workout? Getting 6 pack abs is a long term goal and can be extremely difficult to get short term. You would need to be doing an ab workout on a calorie surplus to grow the muscle then go on a high protein fat loss diet to shed away the excess fat covering the abs.

Definitely agree with above poster. Add cardio to your strength workout for fat loss. Do both. You can cut out cardio for bulking.

You don't need to do a single ab workout, everyone has abs naturally unless you have been lying in a vegetative state. A few planks every so often is all you really need to do.

Cardio shouldn't be used as the go-to fat loss method. It is 3rd behind diet and strength work for fat loss.

GiftofGab

runawaybishop wrote: »

You don't need to do a single ab workout, everyone has abs naturally unless you have been lying in a vegetative state. A few planks every so often is all you really need to do.

Cardio shouldn't be used as the go-to fat loss method. It is 3rd behind diet and strength work for fat loss.

Correct everyone has abs. Shed enough fat and they'll be visible. Even skinny guys who dont workout nor concentrate on nutrition still have abs. Also a good workout routine will further enhance your abs. Abs are still a muscles at the end of the day. If you want to grown them further do ab exercises.

Also, I mentioned that the OP add cardio to a strength based routine while also concentrating on diet. Do them all.

Greenmachine

You should look into Deads, Bench press, Squats.
Something like 5 * 5 would probably be ideal.
Even with a calorie deficit you would see muscle gains in the short term.
More muscle also equals more fat burned.
Have you any idea of your body fat and how was it measured. As a few other have mentioned the best way to judge your progress should be with the mirror as opposed to the scales.

tonto24

Greenmachine wrote: »

You should look into Deads, Bench press, Squats.
Something like 5 * 5 would probably be ideal.
Even with a calorie deficit you would see muscle gains in the short term.
More muscle also equals more fat burned.
Have you any idea of your body fat and how was it measured. As a few other have mentioned the best way to judge your progress should be with the mirror as opposed to the scales.

Thanks for all advice guys, its much appreciated! My bodyfat is 23%. Which is nowhere near optimal. Educogym measured me with their machine!

runawaybishop

GiftofGab wrote: »

Correct everyone has abs. Shed enough fat and they'll be visible. Even skinny guys who dont workout nor concentrate on nutrition still have abs. Also a good workout routine will further enhance your abs. Abs are still a muscles at the end of the day. If you want to grown them further do ab exercises.

Also, I mentioned that the OP add cardio to a strength based routine while also concentrating on diet. Do them all.

You don't really need to do specific abs exercises though, your core will be strengthened by squats, deads, presses etc. A few minutes doing planks is all you need to do on top of this.

You don't need to add cardio to drop body fat, its not required and its nto actually that efficient. If you wish to get better at running (or whatever), or improve your cardiovascular system then by all means add cardio.