My Best "Functional" Physique

[gorillahung]

This was from my early 30's when I was still competing in powerlifting. I weighed 178 lbs. in this picture and could still bench press 365 lbs. and squat close to 500 lbs. I've never been able to get extremely huge or extremely ripped. I tended to make strength gains and have decent pound for pound strength. I think this body type came out the best for both aesthetics and strength. I had a moderate amount of abdominal development while still remaining strong. As you guys should know, it's difficult to get the best of both worlds. Bodybuilders are at their weakest when they look their best. I was training for a powerlifting meet when this picture was taken. I took second in the 181 weight class.

http://i.imgur.com/F4XzsSj.jpg

 

[muskate]

You look great. Lean muscular and athletic.

I know you are planning on doing a physique competition. Although this physique is optimal for powerlifting, it is no where near the level of conditioning needed to place even top 5 at a local bodybuilding show.

You hold your fat in your midsection. I would start training abs 2-3 days per week and use a good topical fat burner like yohiflame from n2bm.com before each cardio session to try and tone up your midsection.

The abs are the first thing the eye is drawn to on a physique. Abs win and loose shows.

 

[gorillahung]

You look great. Lean muscular and athletic.

I know you are planning on doing a physique competition. Although this physique is optimal for powerlifting, it is no where near the level of conditioning needed to place even top 5 at a local bodybuilding show.

You hold your fat in your midsection. I would start training abs 2-3 days per week and use a good topical fat burner like yohiflame from n2bm.com before each cardio session to try and tone up your midsection.

The abs are the first thing the eye is drawn to on a physique. Abs win and loose shows.

I appreciate your honesty as far as the physique contest goes. I did a trial "shave" of my chest and abdomen. I have about 15% body fat right now and unfortunately it mostlyl collects around my midsection. Removing the body hair magnifies every flaw by a factor of 10. I've already reached that trade-off point where strength and size are sacrificed in exchange for definition. I'm not sure if I'm capable of holding on to enough mass if I lose the abdominal fat. Of course I look great if I compare myself to the average 44 year old man. However, at a physique contest there won't be average men. I don't know how old you are but I'm guessing late 20's to early 30's. It gets harder to lose fat when you reach 40 and beyond. I'm not sure if I want to diet down much more if it's going to drop my max bench press down to 200 lbs. I was horrified when I shaved off my man fur on my torso. It just did not look good enough to me. I could see my upper pair of abs but the rest were coated with a layer of fat. My physique in that photo was good enough to go to the beach and get laid with girls that were 10 years younger than I was. Maybe just having a decent beach body instead of a "dad bod" should be my goal.

 

[gorillahung]

I would start training abs 2-3 days per week and use a good topical fat burner like yohiflame from n2bm.com before each cardio session to try and tone up your midsection.

The abs are the first thing the eye is drawn to on a physique. Abs win and loose shows.

What ab work would you suggest. Abs have always been something that I would just do 3 sets at the end of every workout. I typically use the weighted seated crunch machine that you just lean forward and crunch down against the resistance. I know there are a million ab exercises. What would you recommend for the number of sets, reps, and exercises? I don't do anything specific for the serratus, intercostals, or obliques. I pretty much just hit the rectus abdominus and nothing else. In my younger days I would do 6-12 sets 4 times a week but now I just do 3 sets 3-4 times a week.

 

[muskate]

What ab work would you suggest. Abs have always been something that I would just do 3 sets at the end of every workout. I typically use the weighted seated crunch machine that you just lean forward and crunch down against the resistance. I know there are a million ab exercises. What would you recommend for the number of sets, reps, and exercises? I don't do anything specific for the serratus, intercostals, or obliques. I pretty much just hit the rectus abdominus and nothing else. In my younger days I would do 6-12 sets 4 times a week but now I just do 3 sets 3-4 times a week.

I'm not trying to be a dick but it would be impossible for me to properly answer your question without analyzing your physique in depth and looking at your current training program.

It's almost like asking me the question 'what spices should i put into my cake?'
It depends on what cake you want to make, what other ingredients have already been added, who you are serving the cake to etc.

I would need to design an ab workout protocol tailored to your exact body and current training program.

I post my daily workouts in this log here -> http://www.evolutionary.org/forums/.../muskate-s-daily-training-diet-log-39074.html

You can use my ab workouts as a general template.