I want my physique to look like this what kind of diet and work out program do I need to be on?

So you want lean muscle mass, huh? I personally found moderate body fat (between 8-12%) to be the key to my hairloss.

Although I doubt that Fousey went about diet and exercise in the right way. Short and sweet, I would recommend these two Youtube channels for the healthiest most efficient way to get lean.

https://www.youtube.com/user/gog9

https://www.youtube.com/user/gog9

Good luck.

There is no one diet or workout program that will get you there. You could eat a myriad of diets and do one of a hundred different workout regimes and achieve that look. Its a combination of proper muscular stimulus, nutrition and sleep (recovery), and creating the right hormonal environment with a caloric deficit at some point.

I could tell you my philosophy on training and diet if you'd like. PM me if you're interested. But at the end of the day, there are multiple roads to success in this area.

What will be common to all of them is having to be ultra disciplined about training and diet, meaning doing what you know you have to do, when you have to do it, every time, regardless of how you feel on that particular day. That kind of body is created from thousands of hard little individual choices made on weekday afternoons when you'd rather be doing anything else than busting your ass in the gym.

Also one caveat, my prior text probably made it sound as if *his* body is achievable. Its not. That's his body. Your gains will be unique to your genetic makeup and you won't look exactly like him. If we're talking proportions on the other hand, that's doable. Getting to low body fat and really building up the delts to get that wide look isn't rocket science. Depending on your own build, however, the small waist that creates that insane tapered look isn't always achievable. Be more concerned about looking YOUR best possible, not trying to get someone else's body.

Use proper form and do all the grunt work that few do. Focus on posterior delts and upper back and everything falls into place up top.

To me, there's no such thing about diet even... only eating to quench deficiencies in moderation and not. Diets are borne of a fucked up industrialized agriculture and factory farming that has people spinning on their heads with manufactured refined and sterile foods.

I doubt that hunter gathers even knew the concept of diet. They only knew survival, constant motion and eating till satiated.

Again these diet docs sell you the poison and the cure. But as we all know, the money is more in the sickness than the cure... and it sadly leaves many in health limbo indefinitely.

There's my two, three and four cents.

Thanks for the replies, I hear ya guys one approach won't work for all. I'd love to take in as much information as possible though

Like Bruce Lee said

Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own

Thanks ill drop a PM

If you want any advice from me, I am very knowledgable in bodyweight fitness which can get you lean muscle mass. (No ego, but I'm ripped and know what I'm talking about.) PM me if you want to discuss any diets or routines.

So, for an absolute beginner, what's the best routine / path to follow to get there (lean, ripped body)?

Is a gym necessary?

Roids, diet and gym.

focuspoint wrote:So, for an absolute beginner, what's the best routine / path to follow to get there (lean, ripped body)?

Is a gym necessary?

A gym is not necessary. You only need a pull-up bar and a good diet.

I think its easy to confuse advice when the goal isn't perfectly clear.

If your goal is only a "lean" and "ripped" body, no a gym is not necessary. Getting lean has to do with your diet. Sure, exercise burns calories
and there is some evidence to show that post-exercise oxygen consumption can have a small effect. But getting lean is primarily a function
of your diet. The term "ripped" is pretty much synonymous with "lean" in my book.

So to get lean, controlling calories and doing body weight exercise can get you there. The thing with body weight exercise is its probably never going to build you much size. Of course, if you haven't trained for very long (years), then body weight resistance is going to be a novel stimulus and you will surely build some muscle. Some people might respond very well to this type of work and build more than your average bear, but at some point though, you'll be performing these exercises for the sake of "getting better" at these exercises. More reps. Less rest. Etc. So it depends upon your goal. Getting better at these kinds of exercises and increasing endurance can be a goal unto itself. There are many people who feel that being able to manipulate your body (do so many pullups, or pushups, or burpees, etc.) is functionally valuable. You've got to ask yourself what you want to be capable of AND what you want to look like.

The guy you posted in your video is, without a doubt, weight training. If you want to add mass - in addition to just getting lean and cut - you'll need some access to weights sufficient enough to get the proper response from your muscles. At first, that won't be a whole hell of a lot. You could get yourself a set of dumbbells (a 5-35 lb. set) and just train at home. That'll take you a ways at first. I always recommend people from the get-go to start training with a bar, because there is a learning curve in which you must acquire the athletic skill necessary to start safely moving a weighted bar through the air, and many times people don't have the space or the money to start buying olympic weights & bar. But the big moves that are gonna change your body the most are done with a bar (squat, deadlift, cleans). You can get some weight and train at home, it will get you so far. Eventually though you'll need weights and a space where you can start lifting the right way, with sufficiently heavy weights. More than likely that will require a squat/bench cage and a type of flooring capable of handling weights being dropped on it. Most people are going to need a gym for that.

So to sum up, you can train exclusively with body weight. Its going to get you good at body weight movements. It will help lean you out (along with diet), but you'll eventually hit a wall where you'll be limited on how much muscle mass you'll add with these style of workout (aka, you'll be training to get better at those movements, not to get bigger or stronger). Starting with a body weight routine could be useful to help you start building that initial foundation of strength that will facilitate the transition into heavier resistance training. But at some point its going to stop changing how you look and stop adding lean mass, and you'll be training to take your pull up total to 50 instead of 40. Again, some people are all about that challenge, and getting really good at that sort of thing. Other people are more concerned about total strength and muscle gain.

If the latter is you, you'll need some weights at some point if you want to continue to add muscle. Although you could get a set of dumbbells and train at home (hell you could use five gallon buckets full of water if you want),,, I would advise anyone interested in starting to weight train to begin training with a bar as early as possible. And learn how to do it safely. The sooner you're able to learn how to properly do the big movements (squat, deadlift, bench, clean & overhead press), the greater the changes you'll see in your body, strength, and performance.

As an example, take a look at the bodies of men who are doing the type of activities you're talking about.

A gymnast who is primarily moving his own body weight through space:

He looks great. Shredded and his muscular definition is insane. If that's the look you want, train that way, with the caveat in mind that just because you do that person's training, does not mean you are going to look like that person. The length and width of his muscles are because of his unique genetics, and we can't forget that he probably gravitated toward gymnastics BECAUSE his body was naturally built for excelling at that activity. But you can see the type of musculature and body fat levels you get with that kind of training anyway.

Now, take a look at somebody who is weight training specifically for muscle gain:


Or the guy in the center (below), Rich Froning. Although he's a crossfitter, he comes to mind as what a naturally well-muscled male body can look like.

Gates,

Now you're stepping onto my territory and I love it. You definitely know your stuff and I am not disagreeing with you, but you can certainly add size with just bodyweight. Look at bar brothers, barstarzz, or any of the sort on youtube. The guys can get insane size.

I hate crossfit now. It was good when it stayed in the Marines and Navy.

An interview from the king himself: http://www.simplyshredded.com/exclusive-zyzz-interview.html

Also a very controversial character, so some may eye roll that I am posting this. However, I've done the routine in that interview and put on a lot of size. It is a huge workload so only run this while you are bulking, and receiving your eight hours of sleep or this routines gonna fry you. The guy was not natural, but he did acquire a lot of size even before taking, and you have to take into account what he was working with as his starting point. If you're a beginner, which it sounds like, try an upper/lower 4 days a week routine. Beginners generally don't have to spend an entire day on 1-2 muscle groups they can hit them all and still make good gains.

As for educational material, the Buff Dudes youtube channel consistently puts out both entertaining and extremely informative videos on making gains. Good luck, let me know if you need anything more.

SonofOdin wrote:An interview from the king himself: http://www.simplyshredded.com/exclusive-zyzz-interview.html

Also a very controversial character, so some may eye roll that I am posting this. However, I've done the routine in that interview and put on a lot of size. It is a huge workload so only run this while you are bulking, and receiving your eight hours of sleep or this routines gonna fry you. The guy was not natural, but he did acquire a lot of size even before taking, and you have to take into account what he was working with as his starting point. If you're a beginner, which it sounds like, try an upper/lower 4 days a week routine. Beginners generally don't have to spend an entire day on 1-2 muscle groups they can hit them all and still make good gains.

As for educational material, the Buff Dudes youtube channel consistently puts out both entertaining and extremely informative videos on making gains. Good luck, let me know if you need anything more.

Aziz Shavershian's stack consisted of Clenbuterol, Tren Ace, Test Prop and T3. I'll assume that is what weakened his heart and shortened his life at 22yo, but it's anyone's guess.

You can find more really groovy advice at bodybuilding.com (the equivalent of hairlosstalk.com) where Zyzz often posted. He also posted on 4chan for a brief period.

On Zyzz's stack, you'll get big really fast without doing much exercise. And then your androgen receptors become dependent on that stack (and shuts down production) for a long time, if not the rest of your life. Your balls shrink to peas and your androgen levels will hit rock bottom like Flex Wheeler, for instance. You will become less of a man, just like those who take finasteride.

When Flex Wheeler had low testosterone levels
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcyvfHsszV4

And Youtube fitness guys not on juice are the exception, not the rule. The below guy is the one you should be emulating..... 100% natural - like me, btw. And I get accused of being on HGH and steroids enough at the gym.

He's gotten big by understanding body kinesiology, progressive overload and possessing impeccable form.  He's one of the few on youtube that demonstrate a proper face pull, for instance, which are imperative for building upper body mass and broad shoulders. He also has really good genetics.

https://www.youtube.com/user/DamienPatrickTrainer

Another good channel to have proper form seared into muscle memory is Athleanx, btw.

SonofOdin wrote:An interview from the king himself: http://www.simplyshredded.com/exclusive-zyzz-interview.html

Also a very controversial character, so some may eye roll that I am posting this. However, I've done the routine in that interview and put on a lot of size. It is a huge workload so only run this while you are bulking, and receiving your eight hours of sleep or this routines gonna fry you. The guy was not natural, but he did acquire a lot of size even before taking, and you have to take into account what he was working with as his starting point. If you're a beginner, which it sounds like, try an upper/lower 4 days a week routine. Beginners generally don't have to spend an entire day on 1-2 muscle groups they can hit them all and still make good gains.

As for educational material, the Buff Dudes youtube channel consistently puts out both entertaining and extremely informative videos on making gains. Good luck, let me know if you need anything more.

Isn't that the guy that died a few years ago while he was in Thailand buying cheap steroids?

not that hard, imo. It depend on what route you want to go, lean bulk or dirty bulk. Tracking your macros is key, the hardest part is in the kitchen not the gym. Lift heavy, a lot of compound movement and do drop set twice a month. Check out bodybuilding forum for work out program.

I am happy to share what has worked for me... Just to give you an idea of my current physique, I have about 18" arms with a 48-49" chest at a body fat level of about 15-16%. I am currently dieting to lean out some more and will probably try to get down to maybe 12%. I am no IFBB Pro or anything, but I do lift and am bigger/stronger than the average guy.
One of the biggest things I learned in recent years from my sister in-law (a Physical Therapist) is that muscle needs to be trained every 48 hours to achieve optimal hypertrophy. She explained that this is based on actual scientific research. Until that point, I was doing the standard once a week body part training system with heavy weight. After this revelation, I found this program online -

http://hypertrophyspecific.com/hst_index.html

Here is some research I feel is quite good also and base my training around this sort of thinking -

http://borgefagerli.com/the-optimal-program/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17326698
http://n.ethz.ch/~aguayod/download/The%20Influence%20of%20Frequency,Intensity,%20Volume%20and%20Mode%20of%20Strength%20Trainirg%20on%20Whole%20Muscle%20Cross-SectionaAl%20rea%20in%20Humans.pdf

After switching training styles, I found the best results ever came and I have been bodybuilding for nearly 25 years. I no longer listen to the mainstream magazines or celebrity Bodybuilders. It has been said that a lot of them are on the "juice" anyway and therefore train completely different to how a "natural" would. I have been astounded at how many guys are taking something in this sport. Guys that you would never even think would be on stuff and you don't have to be a hulk either.
I currently lift 3 times a week (whole body workouts) with an extra Saturday morning workout thrown in for lagging body parts. Works a treat! I have done 5-6 day whole body workouts before, but found this to be too harsh on me and I think it resulted in burn out.
In my opinion, if you are new to lifting... I would just stick with the compounds like bench press, shoulder press, rows and squats. For a number of years, I just had a simple set of dumbbells and plates from Sears with a simple Gold's Gym bench. Basic, basic, basic set up. I would rely on doing one arm rows, one arm bench and shoulder presses. I did not have a fancy set up or even a gym membership. I grew though! Biggest thing is that you have to be consistent and remain consistent. I used to rely solely on heavy weights, but after injuries I ended up giving the real heavy stuff away.
I would not bother doing isolation exercises until you have a couple of years of lifting under your belt. This defies what the Jay Cutler and Phil Heath articles say...
Another thing to understand is that muscle growth comes relatively fast if you are new to lifting and as the years go by, the "gains" come slower and slower. Having realistic expectations is so important to avoid disappointment and discouragement. A lot of these guys in the magazines are more than likely "enhanced" and if you stay away from steroids like I do, then the expectation of having a physique like those in the magazines is just not possible. It takes time to build a good physique and a lot of hard work. In the end it is worth it in my opinion. As we age, muscle wastes away. It is better to have some and use it to help with longevity.
This is all just my opinion, based on what has worked for me. I agree that everyone is different, but there are certain laws of physiology that apply to everyone and when you work within those laws you achieve the results. Will your results be the same as mine? Who knows. We all have different genetics and all you can do is work with what you have been given to work with. I am probably near the size of Frank Zane at his peak, but I am not a shadow to what he was with his condition and low body fat/symmetry etc.
Hope this helps...

Any advice for guys who are a little older to lose that godforsaken last few lbs of ultra-stubborn fat (love handles/stomach)?  I'm 34 and it's such an annoying difference from my 20s when I could easily cut with a bit of HIIT and a clean diet.  

I've done carb cycling before and it does work but for me it still couldn't get rid of the last few lbs.  I've read Lyle McDonald's stuff and it's good but seems rather geared to bodybuilding contests and people wanting to get huge, which isn't really my cup of tea.

What kind of body fat percentage are you at now and what is your goal?

Personally, I feel it just comes down to calories. I find that when I work out my TDEE and then create a deficit, the weight just has to come off. Obviously don't make the deficit too large where your body freaks out.

I also had some success with the 5:2 IF diet for a while. I am in my early 40's now and the weight still comes off.

Do burpees and jump rope a lot. Change your diet to mainly produce and good meat like chicken. Guarantee you'll drop quick.

Growdamnit,

I knew your ears would be ringing as soon as I got close to that line, so I made sure to choose my words carefully.

I won't contend someone can add size with body weight type exercises. To me, there is a process which will add muscle (within limits) to any person's frame so long as they provide the right components. It wouldn't matter if that resistance came from weights, from their bodies, from lifting a truck tire, or throwing around playground equipment. If you force your muscles through their range of motion against a resistance which overloads that muscle, and you allow that adaptive response to occur while providing sufficient levels of energy and amino acids for recovery, that muscle will grow.

The OP posed the question about whether or not a gym would be required, and I believe that depends on his goals. Eventually, even doing body weight exercises the nervous system is going to adapt quickly to the movements themselves. It won't be but a few weeks before strength will increase and the movements will become easier. Now, as this happens those moves won't represent the same overload stimulus. There won't be as much micro damage at the tissue level nor will there be the perceived psychological stress either.

Now I believe wholeheartedly - especially for someone who is at a young "training age" - the muscle building response could be pretty good since the muscles arent going to be used to training as much. And you could get a great looking body with this method. But at some point, you are simply going to become too strong to see continuous gains with body weight. The moves just won't stress you enough. Improving in them won't be a matter of generating *more force*, but just going for longer periods of time (more reps). That's not going to continue to add muscle, just increase your metabolic endurance. Volume versus load. (Unless you start weighting yourself with chains and what not).

So that's why I was careful to discuss his goals. If he wants to get lean and relatively well-muscled, I'd say body weight is a good option. But if the weight lifter size is what he's after, then he's got to lift like a weight lifter at some point. Maybe not for a while, but at some point.

Now I have seen all of those youtube channels. And I've thought all along, these guys aren't only training that way. They have to be also using weights at certain times. But even still, the cirque du soleil shit they're doing on those bars is also more of a muscular stimulus than most people are gonna get in a typical body weight routine. Suspending their bodies in air the way they do requires full body effort with some pretty intense forces. That's a lot different strength-wise than doing burpees or pushups or air squats. When we refer to a body weight exercise (say a squat for example) we are using that term to mean we are squatting freely with no weight, but we *are not* actually squatting our body's weight. If we weigh 200 lbs, and we do an air squat, we aren't actually squatting 200 lbs. Specifically there isn't a 200 lb perpendicular force acting downward on us like there would be if we had a 200 lb loaded bar on our backs. But those guys are literally lifting their whole bodies off the ground and suspending them in air. SO they're getting this unique kind of isometric stimulus with *literal* body weight resistance in probably the 200 lb range. That's way different than your average body weight routine. Thing is, those guys didn't get strong enough to do those types of things without weight training to begin with (I'd bet money)!

Zyzz got a look that was never meant for his body to achieve naturally. He looked like a greek god because he used a cheat code. You start kicking up andogens to that level and slabbing muscle on a frame as long and tapered as his, its going to look outstanding.

He got famous for that, and for just being a troll in general and fucking with people. He took that gym bro personality and parodied it, blowing it way out of proportion and having a ball doing it. He got a mix of people who recognized the parody, and douches who didn't, to become his fans.

I can see why people liked him. He kind of did for bodybuilding (to a much lesser extent, and only in internet circles) what the golden age lifters did for a while, which was to make lifting and getting shredded cool for people who didn't care about lifting to start with.

All that said, he was not a good example for any beginning lifter to follow. His steroid use was ridiculous and mismanaged. His cycles were ridiculous. And its likely that he died young because of it. While it was novel that he got his body to do what it did, it was not safe or responsible, and for the few years that he got to experience a body he should never have had, it ended his life early.

Gates,

I know many climbers who never lifted a weight prior to climbing and body weight fitness, but they are shredded with muscle. I understand what you're saying, but one can get big at home with just a pull-up bar and super high intensity workouts. Not enough? Add a weight vest and start doing one arm pull-ups and pistol squats.

Lots if interesting info and perspectives, I like it. Now I posted a thread on here a few months ago (with no replies) I think I have a mild case of Ulnar Nerve Entrapment in both elbows (nerve caught behind elbow) Its not pain at, it just so happens when I sleep and keep my elbows bent for 30 minutes they begin to get the tinging feeling and get numb (bottom half of arm and ring and pinky finger get numb) I'm not a big doctor person and don't want to get surgery, I have been doing calisthenics at home for 4 months with out a problem. I feel like it has gotten better though slowly, I want to work out through this? any suggestions? I read people working out through this and I had it for almost a year and work out on and off. There are stretches to untrap the nerve I do, which has helped somewhat ( haven't done it consistently)

Renky wrote:What kind of body fat percentage are you at now and what is your goal?

Personally, I feel it just comes down to calories. I find that when I work out my TDEE and then create a deficit, the weight just has to come off. Obviously don't make the deficit too large where your body freaks out.

I also had some success with the 5:2 IF diet for a while. I am in my early 40's now and the weight still comes off.

I'm not sure of exact BF% but I'm 5'11 and around 160lb with an average frame. Perhaps 20% at worst? For now my goal is simply to get lean, it's an unhealthy area to store fat and also looks bad. Strength gains are nice and all but I don't have max mass as a particular goal. I like HIIT and would prefer to include that instead of pure weights.

Agree most excess fat goes ok with calorie control + IF. But the band of fat above my hips is very resistant. I can get my upper abs to show, even my ribs and hip bones can be visible but the stubborn part sticks around.

You will keep that muffin top until you lose fat everywhere. It is not a matter of working out your lower abs no matter how much you hear it. Just jumprope, do burpees, eat right, and sleep.