For me, the easiest way to lower my BMI and gain muscle definition is to cut out all my calories from my drinks. I have to make things easy, or I won't do them. There are many books written on the subject, but for starters take a look at the TCU Guide to Sport's Nutrition.Īnd since I'm lazy. So, what you're really talking about when you're talking about getting ripped, is what you're eating. The key is the BMI, in order to have very little fat padding the exterior of the muscle. When most people talk about being ripped, they mean having a very low Body Mass Index (BMI) to accentuate and define well toned/shaped muscles. Remember that getting 'ripped' is different than gaining strength, being healthy, or other fitness goals. Summer is far away though and in the past I have been able to lose fat quickly once I fixed my diet so I'm not worried (yet ). I do have to switch to a cleaner diet as the holidays have meant indulging in too much sweets and pasta ( :-\). What I have learned is that I ate too little before and didn't really push myself to my limits. I do have gained some muscle, especially on the shoulders and chest but I have also gained some belly fat which is ok at the moment. Nothing fancy, just 6 BW exercises, 20-40 reps, done without resting between sets. I'm mostly exhausted already so I hardly can complete it but it feels like I'm pumping my muscle more than without it so I'm keeping it. Besides, it will let my joints rest, which really begins to matter after 30.Ĭlick to expand.Yeah, I hear some strange noise from time to time coming from the knee when squatting.that's why I am not sure I can lift more than I am and was looking at BW exercises as an alternative/addition to my workouts.Īnyway, I've been training the last month with a reduced number of exercises (5 instead of 7-8), 3x8 or until failure, not increasing the weight but focusing on execution, and have added a quick BW routine made of pushups, situps, crunches etc. January is BW month for me anyway- I'm letting all the resolutioners start and fail at their "I'm going to get in shape this year" resolution, and returning to weights when the crowds are gone. My chest is well-formed and hard though, which is good. I haven't seen my chest grow as in the past this sucks but the doc says no pressing exercises, and the results of my surgery matter to me more than a big chest. I don't expect my abs to grow, a six-pack is made by diet so BW abs is fine by me. I was in the military so the importance of high numbers in the BW exercises is burned into my brain. For BW, I do a few supersets of pushups and situps, usually in sets of 30-50, depending on my energy level that day. The only muscles that can be worked more frequently and at higher reps are the calves and forearms, which can also be worked to failure because they are used to a high workload and recover quickly. A good rep/set set up is 3x8 or 4x8 for most muscle groups. Limit your workouts to less than an hour, at an hour you become catabolic. Don't workout to failure (too stressful on the CNS). The trick to gaining weight for hardgainers is a high calorie, high protein diet, and work each muscle only once every 7-8 days. Once you build the muscle, even if you stop lifting for years and deflate, you can gain it back quickly because of fascia stretching. 20 lbs.) since the summer, but much of it was just fascia stretching (muscle memory from times in the past where I had size). I've put on a substantial amount of weight (apx. Therefore I was thinking, for somebody that doesn't want to become huge but just have an aesthetically appealing body, ripped, wouldn't be better to switch to bodyweight exercises and/or add a few of them at each workout? Would I get better results towards my objective with those or will I just shed some fat without gaining any muscle? I never planned to be huge, I have pretty much reached the amount of muscles I'd wanted when I started exercising, but it's frustrating to train for weeks without gaining anything. With just 2 dumbbells the number of exercises is pretty much limited so I fear the body has just grown accustomed to them and the current weights and isn't challenged enough to grow. I change exercises and/or do them more slowly from time to time but I'm not growing anymore. I have been doing a 3-day split routine with good results (I gained some muscles, dropped around 10kg of fat over various months) but I regularly hit a plateau due to the lack of more weight (and I don't have the space for a rack so I can't try squatting with 100kg, for instance). Therefore, I am limited on the weight I can put on the dumbbells. I know a gym would be much better but for various reasons I can't frequent one. A bit of background first: I train at home, have a bench and 2 dumbbells.
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