@nowhereman I’d do a few things, first off, I’d do less time in the gym. I’m almost 54 and I spend 3 days a week in the gym, usually an hour or less each time. Those are lifting days, I walk on the off days, just outside, casually while listening to podcasts. Secondly, use an app that tracks calories. You don’t look like you’re keeping track of it. Lastly, make sure you are getting good sleep. Sleep is underrated, especially as we age. I’m in the best shape of my life.
If you’re not tracking calories, your body isn’t going to change much. You need a calorie deficit to get leaner or a surplus to drive muscle growth. Thought from your pictures I don’t think you should be in a surplus.
After that you need to be eating somewhere between .7g to 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight or you’re wasting effort training and wasting gains.
What and how you’re eating is more important than how you’re training.
@nowhereman Diet diet diet. Also, do you drink? One of my close friends has a strikingly similar body type to you. He’s been doing CrossFit for years, lifts very heavy, like strong man stuff. It wasn’t until he cut the booze entirely that all of a sudden, all the inflammation around his muscles melted off. He got a six pack in like 2 weeks. It was always there. Just hiding beneath a layer of fat. His stomach before looks almost identical to your pics.
But also, diet. Consider a clean diet - nothing processed.
@nowhereman Try this for a month and half and see if you see a difference. Changing up the workout once in a while can help with body composition. Weighted dips, pull ups and goblet squats. 3 sets of the 8 for the dips and pull ups. 2x8 for squats, 1 at to failure. Start with no weights until you can 3x8, then add a few pounds. Just these exercises everyday or every other day. Give it a month and see if you see body changes, keep it going if you like what you are seeing.
@nowhereman 100% diet related. Download the app Macrofactor. It was developed by the people at Stronger by Science and Jeff Nippard along with some others but it coaches you on how many calories to eat, etc. and it is adherence neutral. Just log whatever you eat, even if you over eat for the day and it will adjust your plan for you weekly over time. It might seem repetitive for some but find a few dishes that are a decent variety that you can rotate through that you enjoy. For instance I have like a “go-to” variety of certain dishes, like lean ground beef, eggs, and rice, and I can season that 5 different ways so I never get tired of it. You can do the same thing with chicken or seafood dishes, etc. you can prep a pound or more at a time and then get 3-4 meals out of it. I have a few go-to meals that add up to around 500 calories and are higher protein, so usually I always have a healthy meal prepped and ready to go. And it works, I have followed some of those same programs you have and have lost and kept off 160 lbs in the process (3 years since peak weight).
@nowhereman So basically start with 0.25 cup (dry) of rice, usually I make 1 cup at a time in my rice cooker and instead of water I use chicken bone broth or beef bone broth (1.25-1.5 cups) for some extra protein in the rice. Then for the meat, my go-to is just a packet of like McCormick Au Jus seasoning. It’s usually used to make gravy, but I just dump it on to the meat the last minute or two of cooking, and it makes the meat so savory and good tasting IMO, plus it’s like an all in one seasoning packet so it’s easy. I use 93/7 ground beef so it’s low fat higher in protein than your average ground chuck per quarter pound or so serving I usually eat. Or I’ll use a different seasoning packet like taco, or chipotle pepper or another kind. Then I’ll either fry or scramble an egg or two, or if I am going lower fat even just use egg whites. Sometimes when I make the taco bowls instead of eggs I add plain, low fat Greek yogurt and low fat Mexican cheese and hot sauce for the extra protein and the yogurt tastes just like sour cream. The trick there is obviously you have to be aware of the oil/butter/spray or whatever you use on your pans when you cook the ground beef and the eggs. A little butter or ghee is what I use, just make sure to account for it. And any other ingredients and sauces you add.
