# Realistic Natty Progress



## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

Ok Guys I am currently carrying a good bit of bodyfat id say around 25%. I am going on holiday in 2 weeks and the plan was to try and lean out before that which I now accept is never going to happen and i accept that i will be wearing a tshirt most of the holiday now lol.

However

I have Vegas booked for next september soooo when I get home from Turkey i have almost a year to play with.

My question here is realistically as a natty am I going to achieve much in a year. Bulk for 6 or 7 months then cut down with the remaining months leading up to the holiday. Bearing in mind I will need to cut before I bulk.

Im currently just under 190lbs with roughly 25%BF and standing at a massive 5"8 lol

Any thoughts would be appreciated


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## Big ape (May 5, 2011)

u can have a nice physique in a year no doubt if your willing to work for it ...


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## Boshlop (Apr 1, 2012)

so we have 10 month to sort things out. if you are 25% BF now i would work on cutting down, get to something you are happy with, 15% or something is good if you are over the average 10 stone skinny bloke. take a few month to do this, then find out how to lean bulk from there, you'll see alot more clearly how you are going and get more accurate results which will need less work and risk less muscle loss in the last month or so of trimming before holiday.

doing it this way around will let you practice and see how much you are going to bloat of how much you need to refeed to look full after cutting with out over spilling and ruining it before the holiday.


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

Big ape said:


> u can have a nice physique in a year no doubt if your willing to work for it ...


So what your saying is i actually have to go to the gym and stop eating pizza?? Im out then lol

Nah I certainly am up for working for it I was just unsure on what sort of progress I could actually make in a year wasnt sure if that was going to be long enough being natty to put on a little size but more importanly be as shredded as possible by the time we go.


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## AlexB18 (Dec 10, 2013)

Work on cutting down for now mate this is what im doing at the moment, my aim is to get to somewhere close to 10% then take it from there tbh atm im similar bf% to you but im 6"0 roughly and about 250lbs, You can accomplish a hell of a lot in a year mate you just need to stick with it and grind it out.


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## mattyhunt (Dec 12, 2013)

Coudl get some decent progress.

I was in the same situation as you about 18 months ago, 194lbs about 30% bf also standing at a lanky 5'8 and natty.

In a year I dropped to 170lbs @ 10-12%. First few months I didnt understand the nutrition side fully and was eating like 1200 cals a day. But if you put the work in you'll be happy with the results!

and you can still have the occassional pizza :thumb:


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## Big ape (May 5, 2011)

Dizzee! said:


> So what your saying is i actually have to go to the gym and stop eating pizza?? Im out then lol
> 
> Nah I certainly am up for working for it I was just unsure on what sort of progress I could actually make in a year wasnt sure if that was going to be long enough being natty to put on a little size but more importanly be as shredded as possible by the time we go.


Haha defo gonna have to go to the gym but im sure u can still squeeze the pizza in here and there :thumb:

A year is a long time ... get a solid routine on the go track your weights and aim to progress each week

start counting macros get a rough guide on what your consuming etc and adjust accordingly


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

Boshlop said:


> so we have 10 month to sort things out. if you are 25% BF now i would work on cutting down, get to something you are happy with, 15% or something is good if you are over the average 10 stone skinny bloke. take a few month to do this, then find out how to lean bulk from there, you'll see alot more clearly how you are going and get more accurate results which will need less work and risk less muscle loss in the last month or so of trimming before holiday.
> 
> doing it this way around will let you practice and see how much you are going to bloat of how much you need to refeed to look full after cutting with out over spilling and ruining it before the holiday.


Lean bulk you say. so would I be best doing that with a balanced diet over maintenance? Or maybe timed carb?

I bloat very easily! seems after every meal i feel bloated. even when im on a night out 2-3 drinks and that bloats me. I stopped drinking because of it. I only drink when Its a planned night out and lucky if thats once a month now. sometimes once every 2 months.

Going out every week hindered my progress in the past so now that im barely out i want to make the most of it.

Im not a 10 stone skinny dude but im not exactly muscular either i reckon abs showing and chest a bit tighter I would look good but want to look like that with a bit more size as well.


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

AlexB18 said:


> Work on cutting down for now mate this is what im doing at the moment, my aim is to get to somewhere close to 10% then take it from there tbh atm im similar bf% to you but im 6"0 roughly and about 250lbs, You can accomplish a hell of a lot in a year mate you just need to stick with it and grind it out.


Nice one. I think seeing someone else doing the same as you is quite encouraging cos its like well if he can do it so can I


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## IGotTekkers (Jun 6, 2012)

Steroids


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

mattyhunt said:


> Coudl get some decent progress.
> 
> I was in the same situation as you about 18 months ago, 194lbs about 30% bf also standing at a lanky 5'8 and natty.
> 
> ...


Its hard for us tall guys I feel we always look fatter at 5"8 when carrying bf than the midgets at 6"4 lol


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

Big ape said:


> Haha defo gonna have to go to the gym but im sure u can still squeeze the pizza in here and there :thumb:
> 
> A year is a long time ... get a solid routine on the go track your weights and aim to progress each week
> 
> start counting macros get a rough guide on what your consuming etc and adjust accordingly


Thats the thing with routines see when I start one that I think is good, Someone comes along and tells me its sh!te and I should do this and that instead.

Also the counting macros thing do you use my fitness pal for that? I fsometimes question if the macros on the foods are accurate on there


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## Boshlop (Apr 1, 2012)

Dizzee! said:


> Lean bulk you say. so would I be best doing that with a balanced diet over maintenance? Or maybe timed carb?
> 
> I bloat very easily! seems after every meal i feel bloated. even when im on a night out 2-3 drinks and that bloats me. I stopped drinking because of it. I only drink when Its a planned night out and lucky if thats once a month now. sometimes once every 2 months.
> 
> ...


the best way to do it is timed carbs, lower carbs on rest days and replace with a little less fat than carb. so diet around what you are doing, it sounds like more of a pain in the **** than it is really, its just day 1 and day 2 meals depending on training or not. atleast thats how i bulk up and it keeps me lean.

id still say 100% cut first using a maintainable diet, keto might not be easy on the long term unless you have a will of steel for a first proper diet. paul has a great post in diet about losing weight. worst thing that happens is you dont gain muscle muscle but look leaner, and leaner looks bigger


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

IGotTekkers said:


> Steroids


Away back to your caravan pikey


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

Boshlop said:


> the best way to do it is timed carbs, lower carbs on rest days and replace with a little less fat than carb. so diet around what you are doing, it sounds like more of a pain in the **** than it is really, its just day 1 and day 2 meals depending on training or not. atleast thats how i bulk up and it keeps me lean.
> 
> id still say 100% cut first using a maintainable diet, keto might not be easy on the long term unless you have a will of steel for a first proper diet. paul has a great post in diet about losing weight. worst thing that happens is you dont gain muscle muscle but look leaner, and leaner looks bigger


Treid Keto before, Done 2 weeks then had a carb day then another week and I just didnt feel like i was progressing so I just sacked it and stayed fat lol

I think Keto is quite managable though now that I found the carb free noodles lol btw Who is Paul is that the username? Im going to have a look for his post


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## Boshlop (Apr 1, 2012)

Dizzee! said:


> Treid Keto before, Done 2 weeks then had a carb day then another week and I just didnt feel like i was progressing so I just sacked it and stayed fat lol
> 
> I think Keto is quite managable though now that I found the carb free noodles lol btw Who is Paul is that the username? Im going to have a look for his post


sugar free jelly for keto, its amazing, just remember 100g of the powder is still nearly 400kcal.

if you can hack keto then give it a shot, i think its one of the best cutting diets there is despite all the claims from people who cant keep it it long enough to see benefits. with keot you progress slow at first, you lose muscle glycogen faster than fat so look fatter at first while looking thinner, then after 3-4 weeks it shine through brilliantly.

PScarb's sticky post


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## BetterThanYou (Oct 3, 2012)

in 12 months you could look like a Greek god lol if you really want to, even without drugs

some youtube transformations are absolutely insane, good motivation btw


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

Boshlop said:


> sugar free jelly for keto, its amazing, just remember 100g of the powder is still nearly 400kcal.
> 
> if you can hack keto then give it a shot, i think its one of the best cutting diets there is despite all the claims from people who cant keep it it long enough to see benefits. with keot you progress slow at first, you lose muscle glycogen faster than fat so look fatter at first while looking thinner, then after 3-4 weeks it shine through brilliantly.
> 
> PScarb's sticky post


Ah ok I will have a look at that then.

So once the holiday is done and dusted. Straight on Keto for as long as it takes to cut down then hit a lean bulk for the majority of the time until its time to cut again before Vegas?

Sound like a good plan?


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

BetterThanYou said:


> in 12 months you could look like a Greek god lol if you really want to, even without drugs
> 
> some youtube transformations are absolutely insane, good motivation btw


Yeah how do you know they are all natty though lol


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## BetterThanYou (Oct 3, 2012)

Dizzee! said:


> Yeah how do you know they are all natty though lol


I'm not claiming that they are all natty lol, I'm just saying that you can achieve a lot in 12 months even without drugs

..I'm trying to motivate here :laugh:

but I prefer drugs :lol:


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

BetterThanYou said:


> I'm not claiming that they are all natty lol, I'm just saying that you can achieve a lot in 12 months even without drugs
> 
> ..I'm trying to motivate here :laugh:
> 
> but I prefer drugs :lol:


Haha thanks. im going to watch that just now on my phone my work comp blocks youtube


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## nWo (Mar 25, 2014)

BetterThanYou said:


> in 12 months you could look like a Greek god lol if you really want to, even without drugs
> 
> some youtube transformations are absolutely insane, good motivation btw


If you're completely new to lifting (or you've lifted in the past, but long given it up and lost everything) then yeah, you can make some huge gains and possibly a massive transformation. If you're at the 1 year mark though, you'd have to be doing well to gain as much as a couple of lbs of muscle each month.


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

I said:


> If you're completely new to lifting (or you've lifted in the past' date=' but long given it up and lost everything) then yeah, you can make some huge gains and possibly a massive transformation. If you're at the 1 year mark though, you'd have to be doing well to gain as much as a couple of lbs of muscle each month.[/quote']
> 
> ive lifted on and off for the past 5-6 years 3 months here then a long break then back for a month and so on, Ive never dieted seriously just ate whatever and trained. I wouldnt say ive ever really made any proper gains so I guess it would be like a blank slate.
> 
> Now ive got more motivation than ive ever had and am going to take it very seriously in the hope that i can get to the best shape as i possibly can by next september.


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## nWo (Mar 25, 2014)

Dizzee! said:


> ive lifted on and off for the past 5-6 years 3 months here then a long break then back for a month and so on, Ive never dieted seriously just ate whatever and trained. I wouldnt say ive ever really made any proper gains so I guess it would be like a blank slate.
> 
> Now ive got more motivation than ive ever had and am going to take it very seriously in the hope that i can get to the best shape as i possibly can by next september.


Yeah just have fun with it mate, see what you can do in the space of a year


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## dtlv (Jul 24, 2009)

Dizzee! said:


> Ok Guys I am currently carrying a good bit of bodyfat id say around 25%. I am going on holiday in 2 weeks and the plan was to try and lean out before that which I now accept is never going to happen and i accept that i will be wearing a tshirt most of the holiday now lol.
> 
> However
> 
> ...


In ten months a realistic target for a natural in your shape with consistent training and proper eating would be 20-25lbs of fat lost and 8-10lbs LBM gained - so you could expect to end up at around 180lbs and at 14-15%.

The end result may not sound like a spectacular set of stats, but compared to 190lbs at 25% you'd look very different indeed - much leaner and noticeably more muscular in comparison. You could possibly even exceed that, but IMO that would be a decent but possible achievement and a good target.


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

dtlv said:


> In ten months a realistic target for a natural in your shape with consistent training and proper eating would be 20-25lbs of fat lost and 8-10lbs LBM gained - so you could expect to end up at around 180lbs and at 14-15%.
> 
> The end result may not sound like a spectacular set of stats, but compared to 190lbs at 25% you'd look very different indeed - much leaner and noticeably more muscular in comparison. You could possibly even exceed that, but IMO that would be a decent but possible achievement and a good target.


Sounds like a decent target to me.Thanks thats really motivated me even more knowing this is a realistic target.

Anyone with these kinda stats already?


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## Jamieson (Jul 11, 2014)

Hi Dizzee,

10 months is more than enough time to make really good progress as a natty. For what it's worth I'm 5'9" and weigh 182lbs at 9% BF but in February this year weighed the same but at a tad under 14% so a net change in lean mass of 5%, which considering I'm nearly 44 and been training 23 years isn't bad progress and shows what can be achieved.

Key thing is to chose stick a diet/training regimen you feel confident you can stick with throughout the 10 months and be dedicated to achieving your goal.

I'm sure you'll make great progress.


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## Beats (Jun 9, 2011)

Jamieson said:


> Hi Dizzee,
> 
> 10 months is more than enough time to make really good progress as a natty. For what it's worth I'm 5'9" and weigh 182lbs at 9% BF but in February this year weighed the same but at a tad under 14% so a net change in lean mass of 5%, which considering I'm nearly 44 and been training 23 years isn't bad progress and shows what can be achieved.
> 
> ...


Nice one, I think thats the hardest part is actually finding what works for me and what doesnt but hopefully I can get that sorted as quick as possible and just get stuck in

I just really dont fancy messing around with drugs


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## Jamieson (Jul 11, 2014)

For diet i'd highly recommend IF especially the variant put forward by Martin on his Lean Gains site, which has worked wonders for me.

As for training, I do a fairly typical natty Upper/Lower split, training each body part twice a week and follow a simple 2on 2off 2on 1 off pattern that has me training Sat/Sun and Weds/Thurs.

The only difference is i do very little vol compared to most with only 1 or 2 working sets per body part and I use a relatively slow 2/8 rep cadence that accentuates the negative but still allows for 80% 1rm to be used.

Training like this I'm in the gym for only 75 mins a week all in, which is bonus and means I can train properly regardless of how busy work and family life get as I literally need 20 mins for upper body and 15 for lower.

Anyway, enough rambling from me, hope it works out well for you buddy!


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