Progress

**theatrain** · January 15th, 2008, 04:25 AM

I have been working out on and off since 11th grade, 10th grade I was 185lbs 23% body fat, I was a chunker. Now I am 170lbs, 17% body fat (according to my own measurements which could be very inaccurate as I do not have the same calipers we used in high school (I recently graduated) anyhow, I used my own hand held calipers and I got 17% body fat, you tell me what you think I am?

also, give me suggestions. I know the abs do not show well (a very light 4pack on my good days) but I have come to realize abs are not everything and they will come in due time.

I also have this picture from 6 months ago, I think the body fat was lower, but lately
I have been concentrating on adding mass. I will slim back down before summer I guess.
How am I doing so far?

First picture is demeber 07
Second picture is June 07

**sleepyles** · January 15th, 2008, 08:16 AM

Hey dude, it looks like you made very good progress. Just keep doing what you are doing. Abs will come in due time, but if you are bulking up right now, keep on doing it. I am in my cutting phase right now as in the winter time I like bulking up. Then when January hits, I start cutting, for yes summer time.

The only suggestion I can make from the pics is, your shoulders and arms seem good, but your chest looks "a little bit" small, but still, great progress. Also for the abs, how often do you work out on your lower body? A lot of people work out the upper body a lot but don't realize that the lower body aids in lowering bf and showing those abs. But you are still young, you have tons of time to develop a great physique, not saying what you have right now isn't great.

Keep up the great work bro!

**theatrain** · January 15th, 2008, 11:00 AM

Thanks!

Yeah, I definitley do not neglect lower body, and as for chest I agree. Its a hard spot for me to gain mass which is why I have been looking into creatine lately just to see if that helps add mass to my chest.

My only concern right now is keeping my bf fairly low while I add weight

**tidalwave** · January 15th, 2008, 11:24 AM

Great job on your arms, traps, and delts!

Echoing what sleepyles said, lower body work should help all around and may even help put mass on your chest.

Maybe try a different rep scheme for your chest to see if you can stimulate some growth.. e.g. if you're doing 3 sets of 10 reps now, try increasing the weight and doing 4 sets of 7, etc. For me, I think my chest has responded better when I concentrate on the full range of motion and the time under tension. Also, when doing chest exercises, really concentrate on the squeeze at the end of the movement to force more blood (and whatever supplements you're taking) into the middle of the pecs.

Your bf looks below 17% to me, but I wouldn't hesitate to post up your abs routine/schedule. Even if you're bulking, you can get your abs into fantastic shape/size so that you'll be able to see them much faster once you start cutting.

How's your lat development? It's a bit hard to see in those two pics. I ask not only because of the v-taper aesthetic, but because they're large muscles and thus can accelerate your fat loss when cutting.

Keep it up, man!

**theatrain** · January 15th, 2008, 11:39 AM

I have changed my chest routine to a little more of a extreme workout and what I have found is that it leaves me sore the next day. I have been concentrating my squeezee while doing my exercises, and I have been concentrating on good form not too worried about high amount of weight.

Lats are developing pretty well, I've also noticed a huge difference in my weight lifted on back exercises. Its gone up a lot in the last 3 weeks, bent over barbell rows did the trick

I also do not do any cardio, I've had no problems lately with having too much fat on me. I don't really mind what I do have, but d you think I should do a day or two of cardio? I want to target fat and not sacrifice my calories I'm using to gain lean mass, would a 45min walk do this? I hear after 20min of cardio you start to burn mostly fat rather than calories/carbs.

**sleepyles** · January 15th, 2008, 11:48 AM

That's good to hear. If you don't do any cardio, I would start of doing small spirts of cardio in the beginning like a brisk walk for 30-40 mins. As your legs become acustom to the brisk walking, then start doing light jogging, etc. Increasing the intensity as progress and difficulty is made.

I feel that after 20 minutes of cardio your body does start to burn more of the fat stores than the calories/ carbs consumed. But the best time if you don't do any cardio in my opinion would be first thing in the morning, since you have no meals in you, your body would use up the fat stores for energy.

But I think you should start integrating some type of cardio into your routine, and it would help with cardiovascular fitness as well as when cutting.