appearance in sports

Other Sports
1

Hello, I need some opinions.

I know that appearance should be well at the bottom of the list, and that technique, ability, endurance and strength are much more important. But sometimes I fall into the temptation, where I wish i had a six pack, or have that “ripped” or “defined” look.

http://www.righttoplay.com/contentimages/adam_kreek.jpg

maybe like that ^.

Before I get too deep here are my stats.

age - 15
weight - 133
height - 5’5"
bf% - no clue

I am a high school rower, and I am doing 4 long endurance rows, 3 weight sessions and 2 runs a week. I have, and have always carried a bit of a gut. I was chubby all my life, then got skinny, and now since I am the smallest guy on my team I want to gain some strength + size. The rest of my body looks ok to me, but i dont like the gut, and sometimes I think it even slows me down in rowing because im carrying some exxtra fat.

My question is what should i do about it? Do you think I should …

-A- Not worry about it, keep up with my training and keep a clean diet, and over time and as I age naturally fill out and gain muscle & lose fat

-B- Take action, try and lose weight with good possibility of losing strength, even though I am 15 pounds under lwt cut off

-C- Forget about look, gain some weight and get right up at 145 (weight cut off) so that I have every possible pound of pressure to put in

sorry about all this, I guess sometimes i get all caught up in looks. I’ve never really looked good all my life. I am as fit as i’ve ever been, but i still have a gut, and unwanted bf%.

anyways, your oppinions are wanted.

thanks alot

2

post your diet, you could be doing something to defeat yourself even if your diet seems very clean. i’ve found that even the time of day you eat certain foods can have a big effect on what bf% turns out to be. i beat a body composition plateau, gained strength, and lowered bf% by re-evaluating what i thought was a great diet.

there are a lot of threads here about lowering bf while maintaining strength, i would do a search as well.

3

there are a lot of threads here about lowering bf while maintaining strength, i would do a search as well

If body fat decreases and strength stays the same…power increases from the improved ratio. There are other benefits being lean and diet is most of the issue here.

4

Here is my diet, it is fairly clean, but i guess it might need work. I try to eat 5 meals a day.’

Meal 1 - Peanut Butter on white bread,8oz 1% milk,1 bananna,8oz Orange Juice

Meal 2 - 3 slices of Fat Free Chicken, lettuce, bun, 8oz milk, bowl of white rice

Meal 3 - PWO shake (2 scoops whey, 8oz milk, 1 bananna)

Meal 4 - Chicken Salad ( Chicken Breast cut up into pieces, and tossed in a salad with light cesar dressing )

Meal 5 - usually something small, maybe a power bar.

Before Bed - usually 1 or 2 glasses of milk.

hope you can help, maybe it needs to be sratched, or maybe some of it needs to be moved around.

and i will search for threads on lowering bf%

NOTE : I need to find an alternative to white bread, im not a bagel fan

5

And I will usually have a cheat meal every 1-2 weeks. I did a search for
“LOWERING BF” and i only got two other threads, in which they said to cut out simple sugars. Anyone care to dig up the information for me?

thanks again

6

peanut butter and white bread…sounds like a belly combo! Macronutrient splitting might be smart…

7

U might be intolerant and have problems digesting milk - my bf dropped considerably when I cut out milk - I was only drinking fat free too

overall diet looks good - u need more good fats tho ( flax oil / fish oil / omega 3 eggs )

separate & eat ur carbs early for fuel / fats later in the day to encourage fat burning ( but remember to have one meal that includes good fats and carbs together to ensure u don’t burn off the fat that u need for healthy maintenance )

8

I would change the white bread, bun (if it’s white) & white rice to whole grain bread/bun & brown rice.
the glycemic index is lower & was a huge help for me to lower BF with no real pain…

9

How much lifting do you do? That’s a big part of getting lean for me.

10

changing to wheat as much as possible and trying to eat starchy bread stuff in the mornings will help a lot.

where are your fruits :confused:

personally i would find an alternative to the powerbars and cut back on the milk, but clemson knows more about this than i do.

11

WAY more meat and fruit.

12

I am changing to whole wheat this week. As for meat and fruit …

My lunch will usually rotate between -

  • 3 slices of Chicken, Lettuce, Whole wheat bread
  • Tuna or Salmon Sandwhichs
  • Roast beef on a kaider ( roast beef is 19protein, 2fat, 0carb )
  • Ravioli or Spaghetti
  • Eggs

My dinner can vary from

  • chicken salad
  • pork chops & brown rice
  • Pasta
  • Pork Roast
  • Roast Beef

And for fruit, I guess I forgot to write it down as much. I eat 3 banannas, 2 apples, and an orange … and usually have cucumbers, and carrots for veggies.

13

I weighed myself this morning, I am 132, 5’5-6", 15yo. Someone mentioned that lowering bf% would increases my power/weight ratio and would really help, but lightweight cut off is 145. Should I continue to eat properly, (eg. whole wheat bread, low saturated fats, lots of protein, meat, fruits, no carbs 3 hours before bed) and since we are back on the water, we row 6 times a week (2hrs), and do 1-2 strength weightlifting sessions a week and my bf% should lower?

Another thing, should i weigh myself once a week, and try to lower it by a pound a week?

I want to be the best i can be, so would trying to drop bf% help me?

thanks

14

At your age it would be dangerous to start messing with your fat %s. You are still growing. The training will take care of the body fat. You need to keep up your normal diet IF it is healthy, but not to deliberately cut out ALL fat. Talk to your coach. Also since your are active and young you are more than likely to end up with a favourable power to weight ratio.