I just feel I fall into the category of this. The best I can muster is like 20% body fat at 220 lbs 5'11. Waist size 34. And I dead lift up to 400 lbs and am pretty strong. But I just can't get rid of the extra flab. Oh well better than I was.
"Life is like a box of Krispy Kreme donuts".
Seems like you're fine to me.
It's just as impossible for some people to be "buff" as it is for some people to be anything. No shame in any of it.
If I gave a *beep* what loose acquaintances or strangers thought about me, I'd have wilted long ago.
I think it depends on how far one is willing to let their life be defined by their workout / nutrition plans.
I am in the same boat as you are, but if I were willing to give up all alcohol, pizza, burritos, chicken wings, ice cream, etc even in moderation, I'm sure my physique would improve.
It seems like it requires 100% dedication as if your whole life is a a strict regimen. I don't see how people do it. I think genetics must come to play.
"Life is like a box of Krispy Kreme donuts".
as if your whole life is a a strict regimen.
That's it in a nutshell.
Actors and actresses buff up for the roles of their lifetimes. It requires mental and physical discipline. Olympians have to do so for the one chance every four years.
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Est modus in rebus sunt certi denique fines quos ultra citraque nequit consistere rectum Goldilocks
Dead lifting 400 @ 220 lbs isn't really that impressive. No offense.
shareI think genetics does play a large part in it as well, not just sacrifice and routine. Due to a severe back injury, I lacked activity for a while and ballooned up. 2 months ago I got fed up and decided I wanted my old shape back and started working out at home. I cut out sodas completely, but other than that my diet didn't change. Tons of bread, pasta, pizza, ribs, fried chicken, etc. even fast food. Still lost 57 lbs in a month and a half, my arms are toned and I have a 4 pack, and at 32 years old Im only 4 lbs higher than my high school weight. Eating like I do, I shouldn't have been able to accomplish that, so I think it was my mothers genes. The most she ever weighed was 112 and that's while she was pregnant with my sister, yet she could out eat any person I've met.
shareI'm sure that genetics play a large part in how easy it is or is or not for most people to become buff, though the definition of what is "buff" might also be different for some people.
I was commenting more on the impossibility factor. Unless someone has some serious malady or physical handicap, I don't think it is impossible for anybody to become buff. Some people might just require 100% dedication to that goal, at the expense of everything else. But still possible.
lower and lower bf% is just about maintenance of clean diet alongside the training.
you're at 12%bf and want 9? permanently skim some excess from the top... want to go from 9 to 6? gotta maintain a even stricter diet etc etc etc. id recommend seeing a pt or nutritionist that can make food work for you in maintaining the fat you want to keep