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Kettlebell Becoming athletic and less fat

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coolrunnings

Level 4 Valued Member
Hi all

I am 34 yo, 6'2, 235lbs, 27% fat

I am largely sedentary in my job

My aesthetic goals are to get six pack lean and look good (particularly in the shoulder girdle, with 'a hint of pecs', like a greek statue and not a modern bodybuilder or fitness model who is all pecs)

From a performance perspective i play soccer / football and beach volleyball and want to become fitter, faster, stronger and more powerful

I have a long background of sports and college soccer, so am no stranger to being fit and working hard... but this was 12 years ago...

My main problem is program and diet switching

Should i just do S&S plus warrior diet?

Or ETK?

I am lost...way too many options and analysis paralysis!

Thanks all
 
I’m sure if you do S and S by the time you reach “simple” and if you stick to the diet you’ll be in way better shape, have leaned out and at that point can probably adjust programming as needed.
I would say don’t marry yourself to to aesthetic goals right now, focus on getting stronger and eating well and giving yourself that SOLID baseline so that you’ve got a really good head start when you go to dial in your training. I’m basically in the same boat as you but I’m 35, 5”8 and started at 215.
 
IMayAgainKnowChris said:
I’m sure if you do S and S by the time you reach “simple” and if you stick to the diet you’ll be in way better shape, have leaned out and at that point can probably adjust programming as needed.
I would say don’t marry yourself to to aesthetic goals right now, focus on getting stronger and eating well and giving yourself that SOLID baseline so that you’ve got a really good head start when you go to dial in your training. I’m basically in the same boat as you but I’m 35, 5”8 and started at 215.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

What are your stats now?

What diet would you recommend?

My soccer season starts in 2 months and I want to be as light as possible before then...ideally 210 or so if possible!
 
Right now I’m still 35 and still 5”8. Last weigh in I was 178. Started S and S in the beginning of June so I’m only a little ways in. Started with the 16 and use the 24 daily now (unless I feel wiped out then I go back to the 16). I do a keto diet, and don’t eat my first meal til about 12 in the afternoon. It’s just what works for me. I think the diet is probably why I lost weight so fast but it’s working so I’m very happy. It’s sustainable for me. Warrior diet is pretty similar I think. I’d just commit to SOMETHING, give it a while and see how you’re doing. We get attracted to certain things for a reason so if it’s appealing to you I say go for it! S and S called out to me like a lighthouse in the night for some reason. And I’ve wanted to add stuff to it but the members on here always talk me down and let me know to just stick with it and not over complicate my programming. I’ve definitely gotten stronger in weird ways. Could do 2 pull-ups before starting now I can bang a few sets of 4-5 out pretty easily. Chest and arms and lats and traps have gotten a little more defined.
 
It’s getting harder and harder to argue some variation of low carb isn’t the best diet for health and weight loss.

zone, keto, carnivore

and then meal frequency later
 
The program you choose depends on your training goals and where you are now. If you haven't been training much, or have not been doing a specific program, S&S would be a good place to start.

About diet, many of us have had good results with some form of intermittent fasting. Warrior diet is a good alternative, 8/16 is another you could consider. Any of these are good a choice for your goal.

I personally reached my best body composition doing S&S and 8/16 intermittent fasting.

Your goal of losing 25 pounds in 2 months is very ambitious, but might be doable. The rate of loss is a bit high, which increases the loss of lean mass, but since you are just starting you will probably do fine.

If you stick with this path you will reach your goals eventually.
 
What did you do to add the superfluous bodyfat? STOP that. NOW. Not next week, next month, New Year, etc..just STOP it!

Don't drink calories, except if you use protein shakes. Other than that, don't drink calories.

Don't treat yourself unless you hit a big goal and then your view of a "treat" will probably be a bit different than it was yesterday (20+ years ago a 5'8" guy in my squadron "treated himself" up to ~280 w/ a 50+" waist)

Start slow with training and just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

If you decide the kettlebell is the tool for you, find an SFG and learn the movements. This forum is an excellent place to get good instructor feedback but there is NO substitute for hands on/immediate feedback. Period.

One of my absolute favorite training partners was 77 years old. He was vital, full of life, and strong! He did get a speeding ticket on the way to his Mom's 100th birthday....

My point is that you have 43 years 'til you are 77. Don't worry so much about two months from now. You will have lost weight, maybe that 20 lbs you want to, but you will be fitter and stronger. You will be in a better place physically and, more importantly, on your way to an even better place than that!
 
coolrunnings said:
Hi all

I am 34 yo, 6'2, 235lbs, 27% fat

I am largely sedentary in my job

My aesthetic goals are to get six pack lean and look good (particularly in the shoulder girdle, with 'a hint of pecs', like a greek statue and not a modern bodybuilder or fitness model who is all pecs)

From a performance perspective i play soccer / football and beach volleyball and want to become fitter, faster, stronger and more powerful

I have a long background of sports and college soccer, so am no stranger to being fit and working hard... but this was 12 years ago...

My main problem is program and diet switching

Should i just do S&S plus warrior diet?

Or ETK?

I am lost...way too many options and analysis paralysis!

Thanks all
Click to expand...
S&S would be a great place to start along with walking. Since I've started walking 3-5 miles a day I have dropped 12 pounds over the last month. Diet can be as simple as just not eating junk. Dan John has a great article on T-Nation called Just Eat Like An Adult, really makes things diet much simpler.
 
heyholetsgo said:
It’s getting harder and harder to argue some variation of low carb isn’t the best diet for health and weight loss.

zone, keto, carnivore

and then meal frequency later
Click to expand...
I really like Peter Attia's three levers theory on diet, which states, simply, that there are three factors that we can regularly control when it comes to diet:
1. When you eat (Time restriction)
2. What you eat (Macro restriction)
3. How much you eat (Caloric restriction)

The idea being that you should pretty regularly (i.e. basically all the time) pull one lever just from a health perspective...which single lever works best for you might be down to interindividual difference. You should often pull two lever, and in extreme cases (say, you have 100+lb to lose, etc, etc) you should pull all three, but only for defined periods of time. Seems like a sensible approach and one that I've (with varying levels of compliance) used successfully myself: My nutritional framework - Peter Attia
 
coolrunnings said:
Hi all

I am 34 yo, 6'2, 235lbs, 27% fat

I am largely sedentary in my job

My aesthetic goals are to get six pack lean and look good (particularly in the shoulder girdle, with 'a hint of pecs', like a greek statue and not a modern bodybuilder or fitness model who is all pecs)

From a performance perspective i play soccer / football and beach volleyball and want to become fitter, faster, stronger and more powerful

I have a long background of sports and college soccer, so am no stranger to being fit and working hard... but this was 12 years ago...

My main problem is program and diet switching

Should i just do S&S plus warrior diet?

Or ETK?

I am lost...way too many options and analysis paralysis!

Thanks all
Click to expand...
Just wanted to say man... I’m a good example of what years of abuse to your body can produce and how quickly you can bounce back. If you look up my training log called I May Again Know Chris you can get some of my background (admittedly haven’t been entering training into the log on here though. I’m a pen and paper kinda guy). But if you take your time and read through old threads on S and S you’ll get a wealth of knowledge. Also, as you’ll hear on here, reading the book cover to cover a few times always leaves you with something you somehow seemed to overlook the last time. Stay strong man. You got this!
 
Just to balance out the low carb/keto obsession that is so prevalent here's a different approach. I've eaten this way for about 10 years and my body fat is about 10% without any thought or effort. I went from a pre-diabetic 138 lbs to a lean, excellent blood sugar, 115 in a couple months without thinking about weight loss, just eating per what is in this article

Fueling the Vegetarian (Vegan) Athlete
Joel Fuhrman and Deana M. Ferreri
 
coolrunnings said:
Hi all

I am 34 yo, 6'2, 235lbs, 27% fat

I am largely sedentary in my job

My aesthetic goals are to get six pack lean and look good (particularly in the shoulder girdle, with 'a hint of pecs', like a greek statue and not a modern bodybuilder or fitness model who is all pecs)

From a performance perspective i play soccer / football and beach volleyball and want to become fitter, faster, stronger and more powerful

I have a long background of sports and college soccer, so am no stranger to being fit and working hard... but this was 12 years ago...

My main problem is program and diet switching

Should i just do S&S plus warrior diet?

Or ETK?

I am lost...way too many options and analysis paralysis!

Thanks all
Click to expand...

The traditional route for Kettlebell Noobs like you and I is Simple & Sinister until at least Timeless Simple has been achieved. After that, one can move on to more specialist programs such as RoP.
 
heyholetsgo said:
It’s getting harder and harder to argue some variation of low carb isn’t the best diet for health and weight loss.

zone, keto, carnivore

and then meal frequency later
Click to expand...

My lifting platform performance sucks if I go full low carb / keto.

And I have reduced endurance to handle higher volumes of heavy resistance training.

If weight loss is your only goal, you might be right.

If losing fat while maintaining max athletic performance is your goal, I don't think I agree.
 
watchnerd said:
My lifting platform performance sucks if I go full low carb / keto.
Click to expand...
I just feel like crap all the time eating low carb. I've tried it several times including 9 months of full bore keto when I first found out I was pre-diabetic. Endurance goes way down, strength goes down, overall energy goes down, mood gets ugly. May be different strokes for... and all that but it sure did not work for me. I'm a high carb, gluten enriched kind of guy. I am NOT vegan or vegetarian but only eat very small amounts of grass fed etc critter and that only rarely; my main protein sources are beans/legumes, intact whole grains, nuts and seeds.
 
WhatWouldHulkDo said:
Just remember, you can't out-train the kitchen. Many of us have tried, myself included.
Click to expand...


....*and* you have to eat to grow and recover from training. It's such a fine line.


WhatWouldHulkDo said:
Do something you enjoy enough to do it consistently, whatever that may be. And get comfortable being hungry.
Click to expand...

Ugh....

Tell me about it.

Cutting to make weigh-in (2100 calories / day) right now *and* trying to hit weekly PRs to peak by Sep. 20 has made me perpetually hungry and cranky.

Good thing I go on 'staycation' next week, so I'll be able to at least sleep more.
 
GeoffreyLevens said:
I just feel like crap all the time eating low carb. I've tried it several times including 9 months of full bore keto when I first found out I was pre-diabetic.
Click to expand...

I can do full ketosis just fine if I'm doing nothing more strenuous than walking, yoga, and getting massages at a health spa.

I do best on 30% carbs, with the caveat that it's slow acting, with most of the carbs from dairy and whole grains.
 
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