Still look “undefined” when you lose weight? Here’s why & how to fix it.
Clean + Press Programming for Bigger Shoulders, Arms, and Upper Back
https://chasingstrength.com/kettlebells/giant/
Clean + Press (and Their Variations) Programming for Bigger Shoulders, Arms, and Upper Back
https://salutis.kartra.com/page/giant-x
Double Clean + Press, Front Squat, and Snatch Programming for a Stronger, More Muscular Upper Body, and Legs and Lower Back That Won’t Quit
https://go.chasingstrength.com/kettlebell-maximorum-e/
I met Dave in July of 2000 when we moved from New Jersey to North Carolina and I started personal training at a local “health and fitness center.”
Dave was an executive who’d lost 40 pounds over the last 18 months.
Dave was the model of diligence.
He showed up at the gym - ahem - 'scuse me - the Health & Fitness Center - every day immediately after work, got changed, and did between 60 and 90 minutes of cardio - usually the elliptical, because it didn’t hurt his knees.
When finished, he’d do a machine circuit and abs - 100 reps on the Ab Roller.
Remember those?
Even though he was proud of his accomplishments (and he should’ve been)…
Dave asked me several times how to get rid of the fat roll he still had around his middle so he could see his abs.
So, I asked him what he ate.
He skipped breakfast, ate a small salad for lunch, and had a low-fat, carb-based dinner.
So I gave him the following advice:
Strength train first to build muscle.
THEN do your cardio. And cut back on that cardio. Incorporate various “Intensity Zones” each week - 1-2 high, 1-2 medium, and 1-3 low - if he insisted on doing it daily. (Yes, we had Zones back then.)
Eat 5-6 protein-based meals a day. (This was back when we “knew” small, frequent meals were “better” for burning fat. Research has since proven otherwise.)
Now, at the time, I was 27, had just done 4 years as a strength & conditioning coach at Rutgers, and was about 230 pounds, had qualified for the national championships, and had a 4-pack.
So you think Dave would’ve listened to me, right?
Nope.
Dave kept doing the thing that made him “successful” at losing 40 pounds.
And for the next 9 months or so, while I trained at that gym, Dave never changed his appearance.
Still soft and “skinny fat” - small, undefined arms and legs, pudgy middle, and some man bewbs.
Now, if you’re struggling with losing weight / fat and still not seeing any definition, hopefully you saw some of the reasons why in Dave’s story.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks for people is thinking that they’ve “tried everything.”
But they haven’t.
Here’s a simple formula you can use that works for practically everyone who uses it:
MHW + EHR + MP = LMMY
(I say “practically everyone” because no matter what, there’s still someone who misunderstands what I wrote and does his own thing. Then says, “I tried that, and it didn't work for me.” Please don’t be that guy, ok?”)
MHW = Moderately Heavy Weights
There’s a “sweet spot” for building muscle that’s as strong as it looks.
It’s approximately 70-90% of your max, where most of your weights are right around 75%.
Your reps are between 3 to 7 per set. (Typically. Although they can go a little higher - up to 9 or even 10 in some cases.)
And if you’re using RMs - Rep Maxes - that’s right around a 10RM (+/- 2 reps).
EHR = Elevated Heart Rate
Not “throbbing in your ears” elevated, but noticeably so.
This creates oxygen debt and forces your body to burn extra calories.
MP = Mild Pump
Now the pump isn’t something I normally discuss - I leave that to the realm of “pure bodybuilding”…
But a slight or mild pump - the “congestion” of blood pooling in your muscles - helps build muscle and burn fat due to the buildup of metabolites.
(Not so much that you can barely move.)
And combined, they lead to LMMY -
Leaner More Muscular You.
Especially when you slightly cut your calories and prioritize eating protein at each and every meal.
Now, please notice I said “Leaner More Muscular You” and NOT “Jacked and Shredded #BeastMode You.”
And that’s because the latter requires much more attention to detail than most guys want to engage.
How Well Does This REALLY Work?
Here’s Marc’s story.
5 years after Dave, Marc, my financial planner, started training with me. He was 6’1 and 240 pounds with a face as round and red as a tomato.
By simply showing up and training with me, using the above formula, and eating what I told him to…
Marc dropped 40 pounds in 12 weeks - got down to an even 200.
One of Marc’s favorite things was flexing his newly muscled-up arms - his “guns.”
Marc and I continued to train together until I moved to Colorado, and he got down to 185 pounds.
The last time we spoke - about 2 years ago - he was still holding steady at the same weight, and he was still proud of his biceps. I had messaged him because he popped into my Facebook feed and was at the beach with his shirt off - as a 50-something-year-old man.