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Hi All, First time posting here. So I have found myself in a bit of a dilemma. I am almost 23 years old, currently weigh 86.1KG or 190LB for some of you and I am around 178CM or 5'10'' probably at 18 - 20% Body fat now. My relationship with the gym has been very complicated I have been on and off with it since I was 17, I would stop going to gym when I was happy with how I looked in the mirror and this has been going on for the last 5 - 6 years. So, I kind of know my ins and outs with it. I have had a good physique before around 10-12% bodyfat, but I recently let myself go for over 9 months now. I am looking for a quick fix to get my old physique back of which I had lost most of my strength and gained subsiquent amount of fat around my torso and legs. I just recently took up playing football/soccer 2 - 3 times a week and just got a gym membership again. What is the most efficient way to lose fat and build muscle simultaneously, I have done it plenty of times where I let myself go and I have this thing called beginners luck or what some people may refer it to as muscles memory. What sort of program should I follow, as in strength (3 - 6 reps) or hypertrophy (6 - 12 reps) or (endurance 12 - 15 reps), I used to just mix them up or have phases where I implement hypertrophy for the first 6 weeks and then do a lower rep hypertrophy around 6 reps to maintain my strength or muscle. Please kindly recommend what you think would be the most efficient way to reach my goals which is to get back down to 80KG and be around 10% Bodyfat. On a side note, I am a hard gainer for my chest it seems to grow really slow in comparision to other body parts of mine what would you recommend for this case. Also, would it be okay if I skip some leg days considering I play football 2 - 3 times a week and would like to have lean legs. PS - My body type is 63% Endomorph and 37% Mesomorph, so I tend to gain muscle easier than losing fat. Thank you and have a nice day. Many Thanks, Curiousconner

Hi, I am 6foot (1.82m) and 168pounds (76kg). I live in the Southern hemisphere and just like game of thrones winter is coming. I have been training for roughly a year now and have grown quite stronger with basic equipment and body weight training (From benching 66pounds (30kg) to benching roughly 200pounds (90kg)) all thanks to nerd fitness! Now I am at a cross roads for you see, I am still quite small and lean, even though I have become stronger. The platform has been laid and I have decided to do my first ever BULK.... which in turn led to a LOT of questions. Most of these questions I searched on the internet, however in some cases the answer was a bit ambiguous. This leads me to why I am here: I am pleading to some of the bigger gentlemen (and ladies I suppose) of nerd fitness to help me with a few questions on eating big, eating clean and bulking up. So I am just going to jump right into my questions -Bulking obviously means eating a surplus of calories. I am not used to eating a lot. Is it normal to sometimes have to eat even if I am not hungry in order to meet my calorie needs for the day? -Is a clean bulk really THAT much better than a "dirty" bulk? -I want to put on roughly 26pounds (12kg) what is a healthy time in which to do this? How long does it usually take? -How much time will I need to "lean up" again after my bulk? -I do heavy lifting 6 days a week now (Chest & arms, Legs & Core, Shoulders & Back, rest, repeat) Is this a sufficient training regime? -I take whey protein with milk right after each session. Is any other supplements necessary? Would you recommend any other supps? And lastly ANY advice on bulking (and later cutting) would be much appreciated! Please, Share your wisdom with me! (Lastly lastly: I am very dedicated, so if someone told me I had to only drink raw eggs for the rest of my bulk I would be willing and able to do this... obviously this won't be necessary, but you get what I mean) Thanks for helping my skinny ass!

Hi, guys! Hope the weekend is treating you all well! I have a question: How do you know how much you're supposed to weight? I'm 5'7". In high school I weighed about 185 lbs, and I was fairly fit. Not built, just fit. Right now I'm 26, same height, and last time I weighed myself I was 207 (down from 215 woohoo!). How do I know how much I'm supposed to weigh? I'm also interested in building my upper body muscle (or I guess everywhere on my body), and I know muscle weighs more than fat. Tips? Also, I'm doing the beginner's body weight workout. Is this a good step in the right direction if I want to build a bit more muscle? I'm not trying to be Leonidas. More like LeeSin or Ezio or Jackie Chan.

Hello to everybody, I am sure you can help here with my trouble: I want to put a bit of weight on (5-7 kilos) as a part of my fitness plan. I'll be starting the beginner's workout next week (i've been doing "a mile a day") and I want to eat more calories, to help to build muscle while not loosing weight. I eat an average of 1500 cal. a day, I've been eating paleo for a year and a half now, and I was thinking I could start by adding 300 calories a day, because it would be easy to do it by simply taking a shake: coconut milk, egg yolk and some fruit. But, are 300 calories enough to start? And, could anyone suggest alternatives to shakes? I know there's the GOMAD think, I've read it in a Steve's article, but milk always makes me throw up, so it's out of question. Thank you for reading and have a nice day!

Hey guys, Doing the keto thing here, and it does of course work. However, I'm at a point where I think I need to start building some muscle. Now, I know the basic rules: 1g protein per pound of lean body mass, lift heavy, eat more calories than you burn, etc., but I'm confused about a few things. First, some one once told me that carbohydrates act as a transport mechanism to get protein into a muscle cell for repair post workout. Is that actually correct, and if so, HOW MUCH carbohydrates do you need, in general? Would a normal keto diet of, say, ~60g of carbs per day be enough, or do I need to increase my carbs by a small amount, a huge amount, or something in between? Would I need to consume them before my workout to have them active and ready in my bloodstream, or post workout to aid recovery? Additionally, does creatine as a supplement interfere with ketosis in any way? A little more information on what I'm doing here for the curious, and my thinking: I'm presently about 265, down from 305 last year on keto. However I'm noticing that things like pushups, bench, squat, situps, etc. are all really weak. My primary form of exercise right now is Krav Maga and while I punch very hard, my pushups/situps are pretty bad and I feel weak overall. This isn't ketogenic induction since I've been managing myself on keto for over a year now (I take time off every so many weeks and factor in a few cheat meals here and there). Perhaps more importantly, I just plain want more muscle mass, especially on my upper frame. I look like a goddamn T-rex - large muscular lower body, tiny arms. My game plan (so far, need to do some more research) is to do a shitload of pushups on roughly an every-other-day schedule combined with sit-ups and running to build muscle mass, get better at those pushups/sit-ups, and increase my cardiovascular endurance which is pretty weak honestly (I get winded very easily). However, I need to do this in such a way that I can build muscle mass and endurance for those exercises and cardiovascular endurance at the same time, and I recognize nutrition is key there. Basically my overall goal is to increase cardiovascular endurance, upper body muscle mass, and get better at doing large volumes of pushups/situps while losing fat if possible (I realize that probably isn't) or at least adding next to none so that it comes off easier when I switch back to a calorie deficit. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank you.

So I'm new here, hello! Love the site! I'm 5'6", about 185, body fat percentage of about 23-25%, so definitely overweight but not visibly obese. My weight distribution on my body is just weird. Had a personal trainer for a year, but realized after going through these articles that most of his guidance and advice were just plain wrong (we would do strength training, and then he'd tell me to go burn 500 calories in cardio, and apparently that was all wrong). I have slight muscle definition in my arms, and I've been told by numerous trainers and fitness specialists that I have great leg muscle definition (played hockey for a few years so my calves are massive). I also have an obnoxious "muffin top" but not a beer gut. I think my body is weird and i want to change it for every reason - strength, health, being able to find better fitting clothes for my height, raising my confidence level, all sorts of reasons. I hope this is all sufficient information. So my question. I want to lose body fat and get more bulk and muscle definition, but I can't find anything on the site that takes both into account considering what I consider to be an unusual body structure. What's my best route here? I've been on paleo for two weeks and I feel great with it, but then I read that unless I'm packing on the calories and eating all the time (including foods NOT on the paleo diet) I won't gain muscle from the strength training I do. But if I eat all this food to gain muscle mass while working out, I'm bound to put on extra fat, and I don't have the clothes for that supposedly temporary fat gain, and I don't want to buy new clothes that will soon be too big for me. Am I over thinking this? Steve went to the gym for 6 years with no real results, and I'm afraid that may be the same boat I'm in. Seems I need to she'd excess weight and THEN begin to build mass, but I don't want to lose the muscle I already have. I you read all that, then thank you. Sorry for my wordiness, I'm trying to be thorough. My current inventory: -Iron gym, with assisted strap because I can't do a single pull-up on my own, and only a couple of chin ups. -2x10lb dumb bells, 2x20 lb dumb bells -ab roller -Plenty of time So, NF community, what's a guy to do? Thank you sincerely for any help you can offer. John