the final 2%

[PsychoWorkerOuter]

I'm currently weighing in at 179lbs @ 6.7% body fat, last time I checked. My diet is pristine. I eat several small meals a day, between 6-8 and every 2-3 hrs. Roughly, 30g-40g of good fats/150-175g of good carbs/150g-170g protein, daily. I've accomplished quite the feat and I don't take it for granted. But I'm having a hard time losing that last 2%. That extra puffy, spongy, barely noticeable, but still annoying, flab. I lift in the midday 5x a week for an hour then do HIIT for 20mins and abs after that. Then in the after noon 4x a week I do Krav Maga for an hour and occasionally BJJ for another hour. So needless to say, I'm very active and exercise quite frequently. But I do on the other hand, drink. Which is the one thing I haven't ceased to continue. Maybe thats it? Any thoughts, anyone?

Thanks.

 

[mikebzt]

Yea.. Most people would kill to be 6.7% so you are not going to get much sympathy here.
stop the drinking

 

[Burpees]

Yea.. Most people would kill to be 6.7% so you are not going to get much sympathy here.
stop the drinking

not at 179lbs

 

[DaveTSI]

how often do you drink?

alcohol has a huge effect on fatloss and muscle gains

 

[Nelson Montana]

179 at 6%. That's pretty lean bro. Doubtful you'll be able to get lower than that for more than a short while.

You can do 3 things though.

Stop drinking.

Get lipo.

Grow more muscle.

 

[Crysis6]

Yea, and every little bit counts when you are down to 6.7%. Since I stopped drinking so much the fat has been really coming off.. I drink now maybe once every 2 weeks.. no beer tho

 

[LftHndPwrHouse]

I doubt you can call 6.7%..puffy, flabby, or spongy. Are you on any AAS or are you doing this natural.
At 6% drinking is probably your biggest set back. It dehydrates your muscles while causing your body to crave and store sugar. Even Bracardi and diet though there is no carbs the alcohol is damaging at your BF%

 

[PsychoWorkerOuter]

All natural. Went from 205lbs back in November to 179lbs, currently. And yes I'm quite the drinker... Thursday-Sunday, heavier on Friday and Saturday.

I think I did answer my own question. KILL THE ALCOHOL!

Thanks, everyone.

 

[khemix]

What did you measure your bf % by? Please tell me it wasn't one of those hand machines....

I've been between 5 and 8 % all my life and am having a hard time imagining puffy, flabby, or spongey, at this bf. My guess is that your bf is higher than you think. That or perhaps your holding just a bit of water.

Though I gotta say bro...you're rediculously active. All that would wear my ass out so bad lol.

How tall are you?

(PS. Just saw that you're a drinker. You're likely holding a load of water from it. Stop the drinking, up your water intake by 1/3, and check into some otc water pills.)

 

[xrsist]

i would also up protein

 

[1999TL]

I thought you were supposed to separate workouts and HIIT b/c it uses the same glycogen stores? Essentially, you'd be depleted after a workout, and doing HIIT right after a workout would make you go catabolic. Any thoughts anybody?

 

[PsychoWorkerOuter]

Well for consistency purposes I've used the same mechanism for measuring bf% from beginning to end. Back in march I was around 10% and just recently I hit 6.7 maybe closer to 7%. Either way, I used a digital caliper. Not the hand gripping electric ones. The reading and calculations are digital but the calipers are the same ol' grab-the-flab and squeeze, type. So, you might be correct I, maybe a little higher than its telling me. Then again, as mentioned before I am a drinker. I might just give that a try... no more drinks as of today.

Damn thats gonna be tough!

 

[PsychoWorkerOuter]

I thought you were supposed to separate workouts and HIIT b/c it uses the same glycogen stores? Essentially, you'd be depleted after a workout, and doing HIIT right after a workout would make you go catabolic. Any thoughts anybody?

Perhaps but I've read otherwise. I'm no scientist so correct me if I'm wrong. This is what I've picked up...

The best time to do cardio is after you lift heavy weights. Performing your cardio workout after training with weights, is the most ideal time to burn fat. The reasoning behind this thinking is that during your weight training workout you are using glucose, and stored glycogen, as fuel for energy. Glucose and glycogen are sugars, and sugars are carbs. You want to use carbs as fuel for your training ideally, to sustain you throughout the workout. After you are done training, your glucose and glycogen levels are obviously depleted, thus making this the perfect time to perform your cardio, and to use stored fat as fuel. At this time, if you are on a high protein diet, as most bodybuilders are, or should be, the body will burn fat as fuel, to help get you through the cardio session. Now, you don't want to extend this more than 15-20mins, specially if performing HIIT. If the process is prolonged, the resulting catabolism is very damaging to the body and causes excessive tissue breakdown.

 

[enacer420nj]

Just curious how tall are you? Lets see some pics

 

[1999TL]

Perhaps but I've read otherwise. I'm no scientist so correct me if I'm wrong. This is what I've picked up...

The best time to do cardio is after you lift heavy weights. Performing your cardio workout after training with weights, is the most ideal time to burn fat. The reasoning behind this thinking is that during your weight training workout you are using glucose, and stored glycogen, as fuel for energy. Glucose and glycogen are sugars, and sugars are carbs. You want to use carbs as fuel for your training ideally, to sustain you throughout the workout. After you are done training, your glucose and glycogen levels are obviously depleted, thus making this the perfect time to perform your cardio, and to use stored fat as fuel. At this time, if you are on a high protein diet, as most bodybuilders are, or should be, the body will burn fat as fuel, to help get you through the cardio session. Now, you don't want to extend this more than 15-20mins, specially if performing HIIT. If the process is prolonged, the resulting catabolism is very damaging to the body and causes excessive tissue breakdown.

I guess that would be ok, if you were just working out for 45 mins, then doing 15 mins of HIIT so cortisol levels would be in check.

 

[PsychoWorkerOuter]

6',1"

June '07 205lbs/bodt fat % (unknown)

Early December '07

Late December '07

April '08 body fat 8%-9.5%

May '08

June '08 - current. 179lbs/body fat 6.7%-6.9%

 

[Greatercow]

time to put on some mass

 

[PsychoWorkerOuter]

time to put on some mass

in the process.. any recommendations?

 

[Ralph_Wiggum]

6',1"

June '07 205lbs/bodt fat % (unknown)

Early December '07

Late December '07

April '08 body fat 8%-9.5%

May '08

June '08 - current. 179lbs/body fat 6.7%-6.9%

GREAT progress. It must have made BJJ training a tad bit easier I'd guess.

Here's some things to try: 1. temporarily reduce sodium for 4-5 days. 2. temporarily reduce carbs (or eliminate all sources completely) for 4-5 days.
3. take a diuretic supplement for an experiment ONLY.

Reducing carbs might be a difficult thing for you to do b/c you eat so many meals a day, which will require you to be very OCD with meal selection b/c of how much your calories are partitioned throughout the day. I also wouldn't recommend it for a long term solution since you are training in MA, and low/no carb would obviously impede on your performance and recovery from MA, weight, and HIIT training. The whole point of my recommendations is to see how much of that 'spoungy' effect that you feel is due to water retention, the amount of which varies from individual to individual. I'm guessing you will be happy with the results seeing as you are very lean.

Where to go from here:

If you do notice a difference after reducing water: and gets you to where you want to be, then save the above practices for when you want to 'peak', and then for everyday living/training you can increase your carbs and adjust your diet to be more healthy and feasible for a more comfortable lifestyle.

If you don't see a difference from the carb/sodium reduction: quite simply, either you may be higher in bf than you think, or that is just how disproportionate your body distributes its fat. Unfortunately, the navel area seems to be the #1 problem area of this kind in men and women from what I see just looking around.

 

[DaveTSI]

6',1"

June '07 205lbs/bodt fat % (unknown)

Early December '07

Late December '07

April '08 body fat 8%-9.5%

May '08

June '08 - current. 179lbs/body fat 6.7%-6.9%

ok so this is a body BUILDING forum, so ill ask you why are you trying to lose even more weight, 6'1" 180 is pretty lanky bro. IMO you should be trying to add mass, up to 220-230 range then if you want try shedding some fat. Muscle incinerates fat, and you dont have much of it. And you are no were near 6-7% in that last picture.

Is your goal to just be lean as possible or are you trying to build a muscular physique?

 

[PsychoWorkerOuter]

ok so this is a body BUILDING forum, so ill ask you why are you trying to lose even more weight, 6'1" 180 is pretty lanky bro. IMO you should be trying to add mass, up to 220-230 range then if you want try shedding some fat. Muscle incinerates fat, and you dont have much of it. And you are no were near 6-7% in that last picture.

Is your goal to just be lean as possible or are you trying to build a muscular physique?

Well I may be posting in the wrong area but my goal is to be more lean and athletic, than a bulky muscular physique. But you're right putting on more muscle might help incinerate the remaining fat.

 

[DaveTSI]

Well I may be posting in the wrong area but my goal is to be more lean and athletic, than a bulky muscular physique. But you're right putting on more muscle might help incinerate the remaining fat.

i gotcha

it would be easier to get leaner if you carried more lbm. but to each his own. like the others said i would do this...

first cut out the drinking, once every couple weeks in moderation fine, but getting absolutely shit faced isnt. Worst thing you can do imo. Add more protein to your diet. lower your sodium intake, drink atleast 1 gallon of water a day. and try one of the fat burners from one of the sponsors here, they are great products and combined with your activity level and diet you would see results without a doubt.

 

[halfcenturian]

You got a little beer belly goin' there, sport. No offense... But you're skinny.
EAT young man, EAT! And lay off the sauce.

 

[10001110101]

there is zero purpose in getting any leaner, in fact you'll be hurting your body to go lower than 6% it is unsustainable, you'll have less energy, feel worse. once you get below 7-8% bf it's actually unhealthy. at this point add about 10-15 pounds lbm and i think you'll be exactly where you want to be, you'll look more ripped with more LBM. it's interesting a lot of times you see someone get on gear and even though they don't lose any fat they look leaner b/c the muscle is so developed. interesting more still is someone on gear can develop abdominals that will be visible through 12-15% bf, not recommending gear to you or anything but i'm jsut saying, that extra lbm is what's needed to develop your physique, not more bf loss, besides you will look sick in the face, emaciated.

 

[1999TL]

screw the cutting. gain some mass.

 

[ASC]

screw the cutting. gain some mass.

Best way to say it. 180 for 6' 1 is low. even 200 is just decent. trust me. dont be scared of 200. If you have a low bf, you will look so much better and more cut up. Tall people can hit 220and not look 'too big'. Its a curse and a blessing. Everyone wants to be tall but its such a bitch trying to look big. You need to at least hit 200 just to start of with something.

 

[PsychoWorkerOuter]

Cool. Thanks everyone.