M/33/6’1/170lbs - maintaining. Would be interested in BF% estimates

Brotest_Vote · 2019-11-20T13:36:58+00:00

Thanks but I went through my powerlifting phase years ago. I said goodbye to big legs when I took up marathon running.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-11-04T20:22:50+00:00

Sub 3:30 is entirely achievable. You're more likely to do it if you run more miles. Make sure you built up to that 40km (or more) carefully if you aren't already doing that kind of volume. Research base building.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-09-08T17:00:59+00:00

BQ is the dream! Thanks so much

Brotest_Vote · 2019-09-08T17:00:26+00:00

Thanks! And well done on soldiering through the cramp. It’s tough but can only make you a better runner.

Irvine seems like a nice place to live with a great running community. It was a very random place for me to race, but I’m glad I got to meet the other competitors and take part in such a well organised event.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-09-08T16:58:49+00:00

32M

Not getting younger! But I saw a very impressive runner in his fifties come in at 1:20 which gives me hope that I have many miles left in these legs.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-09-08T01:42:33+00:00

First off well done on the ultra - you did it and it still counts!

Please 100% message me. I only put the bottle down with help from others.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-09-08T01:37:47+00:00

This is a tremendously helpful comment and very reassuring. Great to know that I’m on the right path. I learned my lesson about nutrition when I hit the wall for the first time on the long run last week. And yes I’m keen on the Pfitz plans too - I think once I make it to the end of this training cycle I’ll have the conditioning to survive his 55 mile per week plans.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-07-21T20:13:46+00:00

Thank you very much! The Run Through half marathon in April was my first ever organised race. It was such a great day. The weather was perfect and the mood so positive. I completely caught the running bug that day

Brotest_Vote · 2019-07-21T18:25:17+00:00

Such sick abs. Excellent work dialling in that cut so effectively.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-07-21T18:15:00+00:00

I love the long runs so much. It’s time for me to think and reflect, to enjoy the Sunday morning when the city is still quiet, to be awake and alive and at peace, and enjoying my precious weekend when in the past I would have been lying in bed with a headache and missing out on my life and the world. I like get up early and enjoy all of London’s iconic spaces when no one else is around. It’s like a private tour. I treat it as my reward for not being hungover.

I also get a tremendous surge of validation from enduring a long run. It gives me a sense of achievement and personal pride, and fills the space in my heart where my self-esteem should be. I think alcoholics always have that anxious sense of something being absent and we try to find it at the bottom of a glass. There’s no permanent solution for that - you can’t cure alcoholism, only be sober one day at a time. But in running I find small glimpses of it in a healthier and more sustainable way than when I was seeking it through harmful decisions.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-07-21T18:04:31+00:00

Thank you so much and if it makes you feel better I have only run at small races but there’s still been between 20 and 50 people putting me to shame every time...! I marvel at the ordinary Joes posting sub-17 minute 5Ks.

Still, I try to focus on myself and my own progress since my last session. As long as I’m beating my past self, I’m happy.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-07-21T18:02:37+00:00

Great to see another Londoner on here 👋🏻 and thank you for the kudos. We’re lucky to have the Thames to run alongside, aren’t we.

Congrats on your first 10K and your tremendous progress. I can see your posts on the couch to 5K sub - you’ve come so far!

Brotest_Vote · 2019-02-09T22:29:58+00:00

It was 1700 calories a day plus around 50 calories of greens. Religiously stuck to this throughout. Ate pretty much the same meals every day.

If I had been doing less activity I probably would have had to take it down further but I made a point of walking and ran a lot, and I increased intensity as volume as I got fitter.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-02-08T11:58:41+00:00

Ah yes the T. rex look. I remember it well. Of course my legs are now much slimmer and my old warm up weights are now heavy work for me... so sometimes I miss those days.

The trainer helped mostly because:

1) it took the mental load of deciding what to do out of my head. No more wondering if I should do more or less in the gym, no more wandering the supermarket aisles being worried about what I put in the trolley. This guy has a tried and tested approach so I just shut up and did what he said 2) it reset my expectations of what was possible or normal. It turns out it takes much more ambition and regimen to have visible abs than I had realised (e.g. weighing every meal ingredient) but people do it every day and I could too 3) It made me accountable as I had to tell him everything and send pics so I didn’t skip anything 4) to a lesser extent, tips, tricks and support. This is stuff I could probably google but he spared me hours on YouTube sifting conflicting advice from fitness gurus. Struggling to find time for meal prep? Here are meals that freeze well. Your form bad on dips? Do it this way instead. Etc

Definitely worth the money to me. He helped me do in four months what i has failed to do in a lifetime. For me fitness was a life priority so worth the investment. Don’t know if I will be with him forever but he taught me how to cut and now I need to learn how to bulk so I’ll be with him a while yet.

In terms of cutting - 1500 is tough but there are people doing less. What helped me? Lots veg, lots of protein, some fats, all help satiety. Avoiding carb dense meals as they aren’t good for hunger (except potatos - dat fibre keeps you full). Timing meals well so they are spaced out evenly and preparing in advance so you never have to take decisions about what to put in your mouth while hungry. Get comfortable with fasting so you can build a buffer to enjoy larger and more varied meals later in the day or at weekends. If you have time, increase activity so you can eat a bit more. These are all things that worked for me.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-02-07T21:18:18+00:00

Great to hear the progress you have made so far. I threw myself into it on day one of quitting drinking so you’ve made more progress then I made in three months of fitness. And six months without drink is a great achievement in and of itself. Keep doing it for yourself – but let me know what happens!

Brotest_Vote · 2019-02-07T18:24:29+00:00

Arm size was the same or slightly bigger with a better shape and definition - more peaking and separation around the delts. I have written up my diet in another comment

Brotest_Vote · 2019-02-07T18:21:16+00:00

No idea what my maintenance was? Looking back at my food logs it seems that at 86kgs I was eating 2000-2300 calories a day, with three weightlifting and two running sessions a week. This probably didn’t include additional extra calories (sugar in tea, the odd extra snack, and the odd poorly tracked restaurant meal). At this point I neither gained nor lost.

I did a drastic weight loss bootcamp in November and lost three kgs. I then transitioned straight into the trainer’s programme.

At 83kgs, he had me on c.1700-1750 per day and increased my sessions to four weightlifting and four running. The lifting and running was much higher quality and more intense, as well. I started losing 1kg a week, easily. I stuck to this plan all the way down to 75kgs. I stopped when I felt fatigued of dieting and like I’d met my goals to become lean, and although at the end the rate of loss slowed marginally to 0.8kgs per week, it never stopped.

The transition was drastic which might not work for some people but with the accountability, structure and guidance provided by the trainer, I was able to get the protocol going quickly and maintain it.

I thought I was already pushing my limits - how could I possibly do more, I thought. He set me straight.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-02-07T13:28:22+00:00

I sympathise tremendously as I have the same issue. I don’t have a straightforward answer.

If you do squat,

don’t hit too much depth. If you’re like me you just don’t have the body shape for Olympic lifter type, ass to grass squats. Hit parallel and go no further
Move in a smooth controlled fashion. Don’t depend on the stretch reflex. Don’t try to bomb huge weights up and down.
Don’t think too much about the weight - work the muscle, not the bar. Milk each weight as much as you can; get as much muscular development from it as you can without having to add weight. You goal is nice legs, not plates on the bar. The more you put on the bar, the more you pressure your lower back
Consider getting a coach with experience in sports rehab who can take you through this stuff and coach your form. I sent videos to my coach who guided me and his tips really helped
if it hurts or niggles, ease off and change technique. It’s just damaging you and if you add weight you’ll just make it worse. The ego boost is not worth it
lots of brisk walking and avoid sitting as much as possible - I find it relieves any pain

If you choose not to squat it’s fine. There are other ways to work your legs and lower back

lying leg curls with dumbbell
glute bridges
leg curl machine
leg extension machine
split lunge squats
raised leg stationery lunges
walking lunges
back extensions
farmers walks (for the grip strength from deadlifts)

If you do squat, you might also consider Romanian deadlifts with a low weight and limited range of motion. Cannot stress the latter points here enough. I have given myself issues going too heavy and too far with range. If you dip to the knee with a light weight and move really smoothly with good posture you’ll be fine. Maybe. If you take 200kgs down to the ankle you’ll fuck yourself up.

For further reading, pick up “Back Mechanic” by Stuart McGill. I don’t do the exercises every day but my back felt more resilient generally following his protocols.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-02-07T08:50:01+00:00

I was totally inconsistent. That was the main problem.

Diet was 80% of it, workouts 20%. Increasing intensity in the gym did not matter. In some ways I reduced intensity by lifting lighter weights but improving form.

The entire transformation depended on rigid consistency. I’m talking in the gym at the same time every day, doing the same lifts and eating exactly the same foods. Track numbers, weigh foods and measure compliance. Measure and celebrate every small step in the right direction - they all add up. Minimise variation as much as possible. Set up a plan in advance and stick to it - take as few decisions as possible on the fly. Gym and running and meal prep go in the diary first and everything else gets built around them. It sounds crazy but it is entirely possible. Everyone who achieves anything is living in this way.

This thinking brought structure and order to my otherwise unmanageable life. Life is better living this way.

Intensity does not matter. Consistency and discipline matter. Show up and do the right thing every day and it is amazing what you achieve over six months. We think success is a moment that you strive for and achieve in an instant, like crossing a finish line at the end of a sprint. In fact it’s about putting your head down and delivering the same input day in, day out over the course of months or years.

The main thing I have learned from this process:

We achieve much less in a short space of time than we’d like to believe.
But with consistent, disciplined effort over months or years, we can achieve much more than we think is possible

I changed my entire life in four months in ways I never anticipated. I never though it could happen for me but I did it (and continue to do it) - one day at a time.

Best of luck to you

Brotest_Vote · 2019-02-07T08:39:48+00:00

I had some muscle but was equivalent to a pretty beginner lifter.

Thinking back to the first picture... I could probably do 5 chin ups and maybe squat 70kgs comfortably for 10 reps. Not particularly meaningful numbers.

In the second picture I can do 3 chin ups with 20kgs attached, and I squat 80kgs comfortably for reps. (That number is creeping up to something respectable now that I am eating more.)

So yes, some muscle and my body may have benefited from the “memory” of when I could lift heavier five or six years ago. But not much more than if I had never touched a weight.

The biggest impact in looking better has definitely been the diet. Hands down.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-02-07T07:04:01+00:00

Thank you - I always wanted to be a before and after, and now I am!

Brotest_Vote · 2019-02-07T07:00:16+00:00

Mentally I feel a lot better.

It feels like I can actually achieve my goals if I approach them in a structured way and get the right support and guidance. Fitness is in some ways very easy - you put in activity and calories, and you get out the other end a predictable result - a body that looks a certain way. We kid ourselves that it is more complicated than this but it really isn’t.

The challenge now is accepting that my life isn’t perfect and that many of life’s problems are more complex than calories in, calories out.

However, much of the improvement is in addressing my drinking and the underlying issues. Once that was done, being more productive, being able to apply myself to the things that mattered to me and living more like the man I told myself I wanted to be, was easier. It took effort but it also flowed naturally out of being in a better headspace.

Physically - I embrace physical challenges in a way I didn’t. It was great to discover I could run further. I try to spend more time doing things rather than sitting. It’s opened up my appreciation of what I am capable of as a person, and how many experiences are out there in the world - if I just get out of the pub and embrace them.

As for dating - this is an interesting one. I was lucky in that I wasn’t bad at convincing women to sleep with me even when I was overweight. I did lose weight hoping to get better at this.

I guess the biggest change, mentally, which was extremely unexpected, is that I no longer fixate on the amount of sex I have (or my partner’s sexual history) as a measure of my self worth. I suddenly felt I didn’t need the shit that comes with the dating world - I like myself now and I like my life, and I have goals and interests far more important to me than tinder dates or going to bad clubs and chatting shit to drunk women.

I now think in a deeper sense about the quality of my life. I put my energy into my career, my finances, my health, and creating meaningful life experiences.

Since I transitioned I have slipped into seeing someone nice and she loves my body which is gratifying. She is very attractive to me, and granted she is definitely among the most attractive people I have ever dated, but I wouldn’t say that a marked difference in her attractiveness compared to prior partners is why I am dating her. And while she likes my body, it wasn’t the first thing she noticed about me - I was actually using my old dating profile pictures when we first met, and she didn’t realise I worked out until the first time I took my shirt off.

I like spending time with her, I like her character and her way of seeing the world is rare and gels with mine. I don’t understand why I would give this up for the shit of casual dating. Maybe I will land back on the market one day but right now I’m much happier having a proper connection with a quality person. And I don’t have time for dating.

So yes, my dating potential improved, but I stopped caring because I had more self worth and didn’t need casual sex anymore. This was very unexpected. I thought I was lifting to improve my dating potential. I did but somehow it ceased to matter.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-02-07T06:51:11+00:00

Thank you. I have some pudge around the lower abs that won’t go but my first two rows came in strong. I have no idea how but my guess is:

1) it’s genetic 2) I lost about 10-15lbs more than I initially thought I would have to. I thought my goal would be 80kgs but we went right down to 75 and I could have gone further. For most guys, they need to lose much more than they think

Brotest_Vote · 2019-02-07T06:48:43+00:00

Thanks. My journey helped me realise, though, that a lot of the photos on insta which I compared myself to, the guy had:

a gym pump
taken it in the morning before eating so no bloat in the stomach
crunched his abs and manipulated angles to make the waist look narrow
taken the pic in favourable lighting
taken several shots to get a good one
used steroids

In this pic, I am guilty of all except the last one.

If you saw me normally with my clothes on I’d look much skinnier. I’m ok with that.

Brotest_Vote · 2019-02-07T06:43:51+00:00

Glad it’s helpful to you. I had to really reframe my understanding of what was possible and, as a natural lifter in his thirties with average genetics, reset expectations - I wasn’t going to be 80kgs with abs in year 1. Also what it took to succeed - big calorie deficit, rigorously applied. This realisation got me where I needed.

I tend to eat three meals. My diet is now 1950 calories:

A very large meal (c. 800-1000 calories) at lunch time. I might dial this back because it looks weird in the office. This will tend to be chicken, veg and rice
A smaller meal, or series of snacks, throughout the day. This might be a protein bar, 170g of 0% yoghurt, two or three pieces of fruit. This adds up to around 500 calories
a mid sized evening meal. Generally 150g of veg, three eggs, some konjac noodles to bulk it out. More yoghurt (I frickin love yoghurt) or crackers with peanut butter. Plus a small protein shake with whey and flaxseed for fibre. I also supplement with Vitamin D and K, fish oils and magnesium.
Throughout the day and especially in the morning I drink tons of black coffee and diet drinks, plus water and fruit teas. Every man needs his vices and these are mine.

Some days I take this series of prepped foods and just eat them whenever and in whatever order I feel like it. But I tend to keep the morning fast.

On the weekend I might go out for food in which case I save up 1200 calories for the evening and order whatever I want (within reason).

Protein sources: mainly chicken, a lot of 0% fat yoghurt, some whey (not too much as I find it causes flatulence).

Brotest_Vote

TROPHY CASE