Everything you need to start getting in shape from today

misunderstood4

New member
Hey everyone, I know getting in shape can be daunting and you might've been putting it off for a while. Read this post and you won’t have an excuse about starting. These are the absolute basics you need. Forget everything else for now.

For those of you that are skinny fat, this post has got you covered too. If you think you might need some extra support with staying consistent with all this, check my comment below.

🥘 Step 1: Diet

Calorie target

Estimate your maintenance calories using an online TDEE calculator

https://tdeecalculator.net

If you’re skinny fat and just starting out, eat your maintenance calories daily. This will allow you to build muscle and lose fat at the same time. This is called body recomposition.

If you want to bulk eat :maintenance+250 calories

If you want to cut eat: maintenance-250 calories

Protein target

Aim for 0.7-1g per lb of your bodyweight

Eg: if you weigh 150lbs that’s 105-150g of protein

Eat this amount daily.

Nutrition tracker

Use apps like MyFitnessPal or Cronometer to log your food.

This is like keeping a diary of all the food you eat. It helps you keep track of how much calories and protein you're eating.

Modify your existing meals or find brand new meals online that let you reach your calorie and protein target on a daily basis.

🏋🏽‍♂️ Step 2: Training

Pick a consistent number of days

Figure out how many days you can sustainably go to the gym every week in the long term. Make sure you can 100% commit to this frequency every single week.

Training plan to follow

Use this plan below to train 2, 3 or 4 times per week. Just ensure to spread your workout days apart and get at least one rest day between them.

For example, if you wanted to train 3 times per week:

Monday - Workout A, Wednesday - Workout B, Friday - Workout A

Workout A

Barbell squat (quads, glutes) - 2 sets x 8-10 reps

Seated leg curl (hamstrings)- 2 sets x 10-15 reps

Incline dumbbell bench press (chest) - 2 sets x 8-10 reps

Barbell row (back) - 2 sets x 8-10 reps

Dumbbell lateral raise (shoulders) - 2 sets x 10-15 reps

Barbell curl (biceps) - 2 sets x 10-15 reps

Overhead barbell tricep extension (triceps) - 2 sets x 10-15 reps

Workout B

Lat pulldowns (back) - 2 sets x 8-10 reps

Flat barbell bench press (chest) - 2 sets x 8-10 reps

Cable lateral raise (shoulders) - 2 sets x 10-15 reps

Dumbbell curl (biceps) - 2 sets x 10-15 reps

Cable tricep pushdown (triceps) - 2 sets x 10-15 reps

Dumbbell (quad focused) lunge (quads, glutes) - 2 sets x 8-10 reps (per leg)

Stiff legged deadlift (hamstrings, lower back) - 2 sets x 8-10 reps

Progressive overload

Gradually increasing the amount of work your muscles do every week.

Each exercise in a training session, must be more challenging than the previous week.
  1. Increasing reps - Do more reps than you did last week
  2. Increasing weight - Do a higher weight than you did last week. Even small increments can significantly impact over time
  3. Improving technique - Improve your technique from last week
🔁 Step 3: Repeat

If you want to see a significant change, you NEED to be consistent. I promise you will see results if you do this consistently for at least a few months.

You don't have to start by doing everything perfectly, you just need to start somewhere and then slowly get better over time. For example, if you can't hit your protein target rn, you can start with 50% of your target, then slowly increase your protein over time.

Joining an online accountability group is one of the best ways to stay consistent with progress and figure out any roadblocks along the way.
 
Btw if you need support with staying consistent, I’ve created a group for skinny fat South Asian men that want to get in shape. This is a tight knit space where we educate and keep each other accountable. You should join our weekly accountability calls where we share ideas, review our progress together and set our short term habits. Making progress is a lot easier when you have like minded friends with the same goals.

If you’re interested in joining the boys, send me a message!
 
@misunderstood4 Just would like to add one thing to the first point. The tdee calculators are formula based on general assumptions, so use it to get a rough estimate, you can only find your true tdee by trial and error. I went on a strict diet for a month with weighing literally everything that I ate and logging in the calories, with the help of this method and observing my weight changes I was able to get a slightly accurate tdee.
 
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