Skinny-Fat People and How To Fix It
| Posted in Training | Posted on 10-08-2009
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Today I’m writing about Skinny-Fat guys. Those guys have skinny arms and legs but also carry fat around their waists. And they are ectomorphs too. It appears there are two types of ectomorphs walking around. The “normal” ecto is skinny all around, but with good nutrition and training can gain muscle and look good quite easily. The biggest problem the guy has is fast metabolism. But the other type, the Skinny-Fat ecto, has the same bones structure, long limbs, short torso, but it’s tougher for him to gain muscle. His body gets overtrained easily and hormones released by it are catabolic, not anabolic hormones. Skinny-fat people have more cortisol (stress hormone) in their body which slows muscle gains and causes fat gains.
So what is a Skinny-Fat guy to do to fix it?
1. Watch your workout Volume
Volume is the amount of reps and sets you do in a workout. Too much volume will lead to overtraining and overtraining will lead to loss of muscle and no gains in strength. Definitely don’t start doing 5 sets of 10 reps and workout for 2 hours in the gym to lose the fat with lots of work. This wont help. Stick to 3 sets and 5-8 reps training. Every 6 weeks, deload and do 2 sets and 10-15 reps per exercise. This helps to not overtrain ;)
2. Watch what you eat
Eat clean. No junk food.
Concentrate on eating more proteins and cutting down a bit of carbs.
Definitely don’t go on bulking diet. Stick with Clean Bulking (500 calories over maintenance level daily from clean foods).
3. Gain weight
This might sound stupid since Skinny-Fat guy already wants to lose the fat he has, but I think it’s better to go on and train so that you’d gain muscle. Set yourself a goal. Reach it and THEN start loosing fat by taking away 500 calories of off your BMR. If you notice fat gains when eating 500 cals over maintenance then take away 200 calories from it.
4. Manage Stress
Stress is very common in life and people can’t not have it at all, but you have to try and limit it as much as you can. Avoid doing stuff you hate. Do stuff that relaxes you, do stuff that makes you happy. I don’t care if it’s knitting or collecting smurfs or playing piano. Do it as much as you can. Take up Yoga or Tai Chi if you want. This wont be easy, but the less stress, the less Cortisol hormone your body will release, which means more muscle gains, less fat gains!
Hopefully, this post will be helpful for Skinny-Fat guys. I had a few requests to write it already so I tried my best to help out.
Cheers,
Adrian
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- 36Pounds.com Beginner workout program for Skinny guys
- Interview with Strength Trainer Lee Boyce (The Guy Who Went From 185lbs to 240lbs and Helps Others Do So)
what should you do if you are a skinny fat woman
Hey Andrea,
wow…didn’t expect a woman to visit my blog. :D Thanx for that! :)
The answer depends on your goal. If it’s to lose the fat than just focus on that with watching your diet and doing cardio you like and just being active. I suggest you visit my friends blog at http://www.jcdfitness.com he can help you more ;)
Cheers,
Adrian
Hi Adrian!Great Post man really helped me!
I am skynny fat ecto with a lot of fat and do bodybuilding for 3 years!
i was only one time really skynny but when i tried to gain weight i gained verry much fat!!
Now i have stomach problems(acid reflux too little acid) and digestive problems!
i don’t know what to eat not to feel so dizzy !!
i want to ask you how to combine the foods and what kind of protein should i use??
TKS MANN!!
Hey Boogie,
unfortunately I can’t give great advice on nutrition side and digestion problems :( I don’t have that knowledge. But I know who does! Go to http://www.bodyrecomposition.com and shoot an email for that guy ;) He is great nutritionist and helpful guy.
Cheers,
Adrian
Ok heres my problem.
I think i am skinny fat, i have skinny arms skinny legs short torso high body fat (21%) But i still look skinny when i wear clothes. I have been working out for about 6 months ( went from 72 kgs to 62), my height is 5″7. I know I have a problem, but i am not sure what it is. U think I may be skinny fat? Will posting bodyshots help?
Hey Ankush,
could you post some pics of your whole body from side and front? From these pictures I can see your ribs a lil’ and that means you can’t have high fat percentage. But I could be wrong and those pics would help. You lost a lot of weight and at 5′7 and 62 kilos you shouldn’t be fat at all. Am at around the same weight and 5′8 and am far from. It would be great to see how your other body parts look.
Also, how did you know your body fat percentage? How was it measured, it may not be accurate.
That’s it for now, I will help you more when get to see the pics. I think you did good job already and you will succeed! ;)
Cheers
Hi Adrian!
I’m a 26 year old spanish boy. I’ve never exercised much and i’ve always been skinny, but now i have a fat belly. I don’t eat much meat and fish since last year. Maybe the change of my diet have caused this?
I want to start to work out but i don’t know how to do it. I’m 180cm and 67kg.
Thanks!
Hi X,
Well, you have to get gym membership and start doing my 5×5 routine. Don’t skip breakfast and don’t be afraid to eat meat. While I usually recommend to eat a ton and don’t count calories for skinny-fat guys I’d say count them. Calculate your BMR and add 500 cals to it, that’s your daily food intake. You can learn how to do it in the post about 8 rules of nutrition for skinny guys. ;) Lift weights 3 times a week every other day and do cardio 2 times a week on off days. Not necessarily in the gym, maybe just go for bike ride in the nature or boxing or something ;) You will be gaining muscle but cardio will save you a bit from fat gains. Then after 3-4 months, you will need to switch to losing weight probably. If you need more help, shoot me an email at adrian@36pounds.com.
Cheers,
Adrian
HI ADRIAN!!!!
this is a great post i am also skynny fat ecto..i have writen u before and now i also want to ask u hao is best to partition trainig..i mean how should my training look like for ex now i do like this..
monday..legs arms abs 1 set…12-15 reps
wednesday chest back sholders..1 set of 12..15 reps for each body part!!
and friday isi repeat the training from monday!!
what do u say???
i choose this kind of training because i do not overtrain i use to do HIT and it was verry harad for me..i was veeryy tired and overtrained….
now my question is ..is this training ok??if not what shoud u consider my training to look like and i also want to ask u to tell me about the execution..if it’s good to take the set to epuization or should i stop when i feel i can do one more..
TKS MAN!!
CHEERS!!
Hey Boogie,
I’d say you need to do my 5×5 workout. Why? It will challenge your all body every time you workout and burn more calories every workout, you will gain more muscle which also means more calories burnt. Not much sense isolating your arms because if you compare barbell rows to biceps curls you will see that rows will burn more cals and train two body parts not one at once (back and biceps). Workout 3 times a week and do 2 days of cardio in between (tuesday and thursday). And generally I recommend to be failing on the last reps of last two sets of five. Those two sets are the hardest ;)
Cheers
and another thing at meals is best t eat protein with fats ot carb and protein??
tks
I don’t pay attention to that man, too much hassle. Either way you need both carbs and fats. Esp. healthy fats. So don’t be counting them too much!
Cheers
Thanks Adrian for the advices they are most welcomed!!
I only want to ask you is u please to give me an example of a 5×5 training technique i mean how do i partition my muscle groupe on those 3 days per week of training?
TKS VERRY MUCH!!!
Take a look 5×5 routine I have posted on the main page. Do it and you have all taken care off ;) Hope to hear your success story mate ;)
Cheers,
Adrian