Per the googled pics below showing people who are “ripped” I was talking to a personal trainer this afternoon who does natural body building. He told me that one of the dirty secrets with body building to the point you have a ripped, super low body fat physique is that it really is not a comfortable way to live, and while it looks great to get to that stage of super low body fat you find yourself being exhausted and starving all the time despite the muscles. He said it’s a very difficult state to maintain and it’s not all that physically pleasant to stay in that shape.
Has anyone been in that kind of shape? Is what he said true in your experience?
Never got anywhere near that level of muscular with that low amount of fat (as demonstrated in your pics), but a few years ago I did go on a pretty extreme diet and exercise regiment. I never bulked up but I did lose a lot of fat and gained some strength and started to gain definition in my abs.
It felt good where I was at, at about 160 lbs (6’0’’). To get the level of muscular definition in those pics I would have had to continue to work out and take the right supplements and lose fat… and that definitely would not have been pleasant.
I never got that bulky either, but I’ve always had very low bodyfat (about 6-7%) and the times I was working out hard and trying to gain weight, it was indeed miserable. I was spending tons of money on food, and I had to eat when I wasn’t hungry to keep the weight on.
Then I embraced the sedentary lifestyle and turned into a 12% fatass.
I’ve never been that ripped, but I’ve been pretty lean (check my photos in the gallery).
I didn’t have to starve myself to do it, and I didn’t suffer from my low BF.
Around age 19 or 20 I was approaching the on-ramp to a super ripped body. I’d been lifting weights for a while, and my muscles were growing so fast I got stretch marks. But it was obvious going from a weightlifter’s body to a bodybuilder’s meant working out more while eating nothing but salad, chicken breasts, and vitamin pills. I wasn’t interested, and as it turns out a lot of those pills weren’t really vitamins.
Once upon a time, but it wasn’t too difficult. Everybody thought I was sick. Thought I had cancer. I wasn’t that thin, but the veins were so visible and my cheeks were sunken, so it didn’t look that good in typical clothing. I found it easier to keep weight on after passing fifty.
I know plenty of guys who just have that natural physique, I guess they have the right genes for super-low body fat. They eat all sort of junk food and drink whatever they want, and still look like Bruce Lee.
I’ve never been ripped as such, but at my lowest weight/highest fitness I would sink in the pool. It was pretty sweet, and it felt good to be thin and strong. But I couldn’t eat more than 1500 calories a day and I ran for at least an hour at least 5 times a week, and I was swimming several times a week too. The exercise I quite like but I was always somewhat hungry, easily crabby and it didn’t make any real difference in the quality of my relationships to look that way. For me it was too hard to maintain.
My athletic peaks were during college where I competed in Judo and in my mid-20s when I was practically doing manual work in a mining camp. I was fit as hell, can walk straight for 10 hours, climb up ladders through several mining levels for a total vertical distance of 1,000 meters. My martial prowess wasn’t bad either. I managed to deck a bully with a punch and I was more surprised than he was.
Back then I always engaged in some activity to stay fit. And people commented on it. You bet it felt good. Get sick very seldom, injuries healed very fast.
Ah youth. A time when you thought you were immortal.
Yes-during competition time. Being that low in body fat, 3-5%, is not permanently sustainable (at least not in any healthy manner). While you do feel good in a certain cleansed, pure and driven way; you also are tired all the time (I can’t stress that enough) no matter how much you sleep. You aren’t so much hungry as you are constantly in a state of craving.
*Btw, that first pic was not a natural bodybuilder. Such a physique shown in that pic is only attainable through steroid use/abuse.
Just to be clear, there’s a big difference between being 7-10% body fat and being a bodybuilder near competition. The former is sustainable, although it requires a lot of discipline, but the latter is not.
I’ve never had any sort of torso or arm muscles, but when I was speed running, my legs were rock solid even if I wasn’t really flexing. I was hungry all the time but maybe that was due to all the mountain dew and orange juice I was drinking. I was probably at fairly low body fat, too, because I was only 20 lbs heavier than I was in high school when the coaches measured me at 4-6% [eta: this was just from a “pinch test” so probably wasn’t scientific], and I had less muscle then.
Up until about age 25, I had the body of an underwear model. Plus chest and biceps because I worked out a bit.
It got me more girls than a boy-band fan club. Good Times.
Then I quit being a cop, repossessed my travel agency that I had sold, and sat behind a desk, typing and snacking for years. I used my spinal fusion that limited my mobility somewhat as an excuse not to exercise.
So, about every 3 days, my wife puts a picture of me from then in my face, and shames me towards the treadmill.:mad:
I wrestled in highschool starting at 103 freshman year, leaving school at 150 senior year. On or off season I hovered at around 3-5% body fat. It is not something I think about; I actually eat 1500-3000 calories depending on the day.
I don’t think it is physically uncomfortable…at 150lbs, 6’ tall, I can for 5 reps; squat 275lbs, deadlift 300lbs, bench 150lbs, clean 150lbs, and my favorite pullups with 50lbs strapped to my waist. So I’m not ripped…not nearly…but very physically fit.
I workout 2-4 times a week and I find it gives me more energy and motivation.
To me physical discomfort comes from either:
A. lack of stretching
B. requiring more calories than you can reasonably eat
C. requiring less calories than you reasonably want to eat
The pro’s have to make sacrifices just like anyone who wants to be in the top 5% of their field.
I think it’s different for everyone, but agree with the idea that it requires a lot of work and dedication to build/maintain.
While actual training and diet are important, it’s also a matter of genetics. Personally, I have next to no body fat, so it’s not so much trying to keep that down, but on the other end, it’s a matter of gaining lean muscle mass and balancing the diet, while consuming a large amount of calories (4,000 daily, for me). For people who naturally have bigger frames that carry more weight in fat, it’s more difficult than it is for me, in many respects, because fat takes extra effort to get rid of, on top of the above.
I know people who’ve reached something closer to the point you’ve linked, and they’ve adjusted to it. Other’s found it uncomfortable in something so simple as fitting clothing, or the rubbing which occurs from having larger diameter arms/legs. Some align with what your trainer has stated, and claim that it looks good, but isn’t very functional, in terms of overall physical/athletic ability. It can also place stress on the joints, too, a lot of times affecting the knees, but also forcing you to alter your posture. It goes on and on.
I think what your trainer is really saying, is that there is more to that lifestyle than just the outward appearance, which can be true for many things.
Yeah, I wrestled at 103 too. Weight loss was somewhat par for the course. I’d say I had to drop about 10 pounds around that time. Which is a lot for a skinny freshman.
It’s not quite what you’re describing but I imagine there are some parallels. All I can say is losing more weight than you should is miserable. Especially, when the temptation of good stares you in the face endlessly.
So some lessons can be learned but I wouldn’t recommend it.
A little off topic, but how can you be 6’0 tall and weigh 150-160 lbs and still have an oz of fat on your body?? I’m 6’0 and weigh 230 and I can’t pinch much of anything (maybe a little excess fat around my belly, but you can definitely see definition in my abs). I can’t imagine what I’d look like at 160.
Nate; I think it has to do with body frame aswell.
I’d like to add some more fuel for discussion. When you have a lot of muscle for your frame you burn calories very quickly so you have a lot of wiggle room in what you eat.
It occurs to me that a LOT of overweight people I know would benefit from heavy lifting to lose fat.
Also, some advantages of lifting heavy: dense bones, stronger connective tissue thicker/stronger heart walls, HUGE increase in libido…
Oh and eventually being able to crush an apple in your hand…thats gotta count for something
I have always been fairly ripped while not overly bulked up with muscle. Until I was 40 then I started to get a gut and love handles. A couple of years ago I went on the cancer diet* and lost it all. Now my muscle tone is back as well as my 6 pack. I much prefer being thin over thick. But I’ve never had to work at it other than having a rather physical job.
*I do not recommend cancer as a weight loss method no mater how effective.
There’s natural/healthy leaness (say under 10% BF for men, 18% for women, achieved without starving or overexercising or hormonal disruption), and then there’s bodybuilding competition lean - which is as fat-less as you can get within a few months without dying. The latter is not healthy, sustainable, or at all attractive (IMO).
I’m genetically lean and very thin, always have been, like my dad and sister, and I build and maintain muscle fairly easily. I simply don’t carry body fat on like most women do, except a bit on the hips and thighs. As a woman, for the sake of aesthetics, I wouldn’t choose to be lean, muscular and skinny if I had a choice - but I haven’t succeeded at putting on weight except as muscle mass. Though I do exercise and pay attention to my diet (which means eating a large amount of food and plenty of protein every day, because if I don’t I have digestive problems and lose weight), I look nearly identical to when I was sedentary and ate only junk and fast food.
Body fat percentage has little to do with your weight in lbs or your BMI. My ex is 6’ and 140, he’s a tall but small-framed guy with a lot of of muscular development/definition for how thin he is, and low, but not freakishly low body fat. A similar body type to my own.
