Zin

OK here is the deal, please give honest opinions,

I am 21, 6'2", 205lbs at 8% bodyfat confirmed by caliper test. My roomate also has a mad expensive bodyfat scale that says I am 7% so i think this is the general area that I am in.

My problem was that 2 years ago I was 280lbs at god knows what body fat %. I have made signifigant progress in cutting fat and gaining muscle but by all accounts where I am now should have me looking fairly ripped...the problem is I am definitly not. I have religiously followed a healthy cutting/bulking diet as well as workouts every day for more than 2 years. A friend said that I may be screwed beyond help because when I was really fat my skin was super stretched and there were a lot of capillaries, etc to carry bloodflow to the fat deposits. What I seem to have left is loose skin and some mushyness around my midsection which I can only assume is what he is talking about. I do not have the visible abs except for the top two and I generally look I dont know any other word to describe it but "saggy". The pics in my gallery were from the end of summer at the end of my cut.

My question is has my skin done all the tightening it is going to do or is there any way for me to become "ripped". I am willing to look into many options if there are any except for surgery because well, there is no way i can afford it.

Please give honest opinions so I can either get started doing something to help this problem or get started accepting that my previous lifestyle has screwed me beyond repair...

TJ Cline

Your skin will adapt...............280 is not that fat.and at 21 your skin still has a great ability to stretch or shrink.

Mudge

What are your other stats? I'm tall also, and even though my definition is coming in everywhere else the abs are the most stubborn area for me.

Kinesiology Vote @ Top 25 Deads Comp Bench
Motivation Bench form MaxCalc Charles Poliquin
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. Lao-Tzu
I don't know any sources so don't ask - thanks

Platinum

I'm 18,. so I'm a few years younger than you and I just finished a cut a few weeks ago down from 103.5kg to 93.5kg at 7%. Even despite my low bodyfat, I still only have a 'four pack', so to speak. I have included ab work and abs are very well trained, but genetics has dictated that I can only build a four pack. That's just the way I find it. Abs come up last for me. I lose the lovehandles, get great definition across my back, quad separation, but still no six pack. That's just my story. Like Foreman said, I'm sure your skin will adapt. If no, there are surgical procedures which can be done to remove things like that.

Zin

not sure of too many other stats... I went from a 48 waist to 32 now, main lifts are 260 max bench, 300 squats for six reps, 275 deads for six reps, 155 standing military press for six reps.

Its not like i have much more fat to lose at 8% bodyfat, its just I dont know whether or not I will ever get that "tight" or "ripped" look even if I can get down to 5-6% bodyfat the next time I do a cut.

lnvanry

Zin there is large difference IMO b/t 8%-5%. I sit at 7-10% year round. 5% and below is competition ready...Very dedicated dieting...very dedicating. Those last natural fat pounds are the hardest to get rid of and most stubborn.

Platinum

I hear ya!

myCATpowerlifts

It will go away with time, doesn't look like fat really.
When my friend first lost a lot of weight (about 50 lbs, but he's only 5'6" so that's a lot to him), he had saggy skin around his stomach, that made it look like he didn't even workout.
But it has gone away quite abit, and looks almost like a 6-pack now. So just give it some time. Keep doing a good job!