Need advise on getting ripped and slightly big

[Bond007]

Hello. I'm brand new to this site and to forums in general. But recently found them to be very useful source of information, better than company contacts. Anyway. Quick rundown on myself and what I need help with.

I'm 35 yr old male and 6ft tall, and though the year, I went from 216 lb and 24% BF to 177-180 lb with 17% BF. For this, I did 2-3 days 20 mts. Cardio and 3 days of weight lifting. Mostly followed ???Body for Life??? training system. I always weighed my stats with Tonita scale, so whether it's accurate or not, I've been consistent with it and my measuring date/time. For the past few months, I feel like I'm in a rut and stuck at this level. It even caused me to get de-motivated and I've slacked off for the past two weeks. But now I'm getting back on the horse, and hope with your help, I'll get to my goal.

My goal was to loose weight and get ripped first, before I change my routine and get bulked up slightly, treat them exclusively. I got close, but like I said, got stuck. I???m wondering if I should change my routine and diet to start building more muscle, but I???m afraid of gaining more fat weight, or change my routine to get even leaner before switching up to weight gain. I???m not a hard gainer by any stretch of imagination, but I gain fat. At 35, this game is definitely tougher than it was at 25, and I have more aches and pains.

What???s the secret of body builders to get big and have less than 6% body fat and be shredded like that, is it diet, exercise, all of the above. I will appreciate any feedback anyone can give me on this.

 

[Marat]

All of the above.

I'm familiar with Body For Life and I feel that they are a better protocol than most of the material that is available. However, to make better progress, you are going to need to dial in your diet beyond what is expected from Body For Life.

Specifically, you need to track your calories.

Read the link in my signature. Check out the 'do it yourself' diet. That'll get you going in the right direction.

By the way, keep in mind that if you'd like to increase your muscle mass, you will increase your fat mass as well.

 

[Bond007]

Need help getting big without the fat

By the way, keep in mind that if you'd like to increase your muscle mass, you will increase your fat mass as well.[/QUOTE]

Thank you for that, but I'm still kind of confused as to how many calories would be right for me and how do the body builders get so big without gaining fat mass?

 

[Built]

They don't. You've just never seen an off-contest bodybuilder.

 

[Bond007]

So in order for me to have abs like you have on your picture, I should maintain my 5 days workout routine and just eat even less, or differently? At one point I was on 1300 calorie diet where I lost 13 lb and about 1.6% BF, and I'm 6ft. If I loose any more weight, I will look unhealthy. How do I get rid of that extra couple of inches of fat around my lower abdomen, or my extended/bloated looking stomach? I don't want a body builder body, but to put it in perspective, may be similar to LL Cool J. http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/images/icons/icon16.gif

 

[Elisa]

Train harder, eat differently .. 1300 is an absurdly low number of calories to be eating for a guy your size all your going to do at that amount is lose muscle which really isn't what your aiming for im guessing.

 

[Built]

Please read the link in my sig on getting started.