Been a mostly silent viewer for quite some time now but felt like posting a comment today. Your content is insanely inspiring, watching your journey helps keep me on track whenever that nasty amygdala starts playing up. I'm currently at about 160 lbs @ 5'10, my heaviest I've been. I'm definitely what you describe in the video: someone with a low appetite. I've been athletic and fit all my life but never managed to pack the muscle until about two years ago after I started eating right and it changed my life, in massive part due to content like yours. Massive thanks for that Alex!
MASSIVE underated tip, go on bike rides. At least in the spring / summer. When all you do is go to the gym and live inside in the fall / winter months it is actually pretty cool to go around your nehborhood looking at all the scenery. Plus, its actually fun. Rather than "2 HoUrS oN tHe TrEaDmILl" 2 hours alone can easily get your "1800 cal" diet to ~ 2300 - 2600
I came up with a strategy I liked on my last cut. Instead of planning out an extremely restrictive diet, I rather banked a ton of busy work in months leading up. So instead of small sad meals, I was eating just a little less and doing things like detailing my car, deep cleaning my home, organizing my garage, etc. I kinda felt like I was back at basic training where I was just getting 1hr of personal time a day; I was working from sun up to sun down. It worked though, and I accomplished a ton of stuff that really needed to be taken care of.
You mentioned something very interesting that I've found out in my work as a medical biologist. The more time you spend on your feet during the day, the less likely you are to be obese or suffer from various illness risks. In fact it's probably the most important factor there is.
I write for a living, and this is why I'm looking into getting a standing desk. Upping my everyday activity level. I'd wager it probably has benefits regarding sleep.
I still have a long way to go, but since I started my weight loss journey channel, ive now dropped 40lb 😊. Going from 500lb to 460lb in just 19 days! I never thought it would be possible to get my weight under control again, but this is really happening.. Thank you Alpha for your wisdom and inspiration! Lets keep pushing folks! 😎💪🏾
40 lbs lost in 19 days is a LOT to lose in that short period of time, which I’m sure you already know…..so my only constructive feedback is to make sure you’re not cutting your caloric intake too dramatically or following some crash diet, as neither is going to be the most healthy or sustainable way to lose weight. With that said, I’m very happy for you & your success to date, & wish you all the best on your fitness & weight loss journey ahead! Looking forward to seeing your progress as you go. 💪
I lift 4-5x a week with 2-3 cardio sessions per week (20-25 minute each of jump rope or exercise bike). I tried to cut down to around 12-13% body fat, eating 2200-2450 calories a day. It was working and I was developing more vascularity and abs were becoming more defined. However, my sleep was getting worse accompanied by the stress of college. This week, I stayed up all night. Next day I tried to sleep early at 9:30 pm but I couldn’t. Took melatonin for first time in my life and it wasn’t working as my body jolted me awake, I finally fell asleep at 2:30-3 am and woke up at 8. Next night I had extremely fragmented sleep, waking up every hour or two for total of over 8 hours and woke up starving. Then next night I stayed up again because I COULD NOT SLEEP at all, I ate 2150 something calories. I made myself a big meal at 5 am and after the meal, finally slept at 7am and woke up 3 hours later and I was feeling hungry again. So my conclusion is that stay in your healthy body fat range of 15-20%. It’s not worth being shredded even if you can do it easily.
Great work brother! Personally Swapped fancy gym for crumbling garage doing very basic callisthenics no special diet still ripped af at 50 years old !!!
Additonally to that calistanics thing, if you're training calisthenics, you'll notice any weightgain instantly so your mind keeps you from gaining weight, keeping the skills up
6'2 around 230LBS at the moment. If you don't believe me here is me at around 270 lbs (went even up to 300lbs without juice) 10 years ago m.ua-cam.com/video/yqwz3HoZqBs/v-deo.html
A thing I noticed last time I was down to single digit bodyfat was that my hunger started to disappear towards the end of the diet. It was actually pretty challenging to start gaining weight again, because I would get full way too quickly.
The thing with cardio is that whenever my strength shoot up suddenly it was hard for my heart to keep up when I upped the weight I do volume work with ( Say higher reps ). So I started doing cardio for a stronger heart, and honestly, it improved squatting for me. Cause squats wind me down like nothing else, the whole room would be spinning and I'd be out of breath fighting for air when I did a set of 3-6 reps. Plus I'm diabetic so cardio helps with the reduction of using insulin. I thought the cut looked great as well Alex, you've got a great physique and it's admirable as hell. And whilst low BF% looks quite good I think anyone for the most part does more than fine being in the 14-16% range. Might be biased cause that's where I'm shooting for in the future, but so be it.
Matt Wenning argues the same, that a lot of people’s strength is actually limited by poor conditioning. You might want to check out the videos on Wenning Warmups on Wenning Strength.
Hey mate. Greetings from Australia. Have to say, I remember finding your videos YEARS back and to be honest I couldn't stand the early content. It's really awesome how you've learned and grown into the encouraging and experienced content creator that are now. Your videos are full of realistically implementable advice for natural grinders like myself. Happy holidays bro
First part was enlightening. A few months back in my area (Ontario) we had a three month lockdown. I got into the best shape of my life while not lifting (besides the occasional set of dips in the park only when I felt guilty for how inactive I was) because I had no reason to forcefeed since I wasn't lifting and I ended up going down to around 10% if not lower body fat just eating off appetite.
This was me. Got shredded by just doing push-ups and pullups and daily walks. I feel like it was also because of not working giving me time to just relax and not be stressed. Covid payments covered food and rent and I could just read, walk my dog and socialize with my friends. An amazing year. Now that I'm back to work and have less time to hang with friends and the stress is back I'm gaining fat again.
I’m one of those rare individuals. What I will say is that although I can gain size and strength in a low body fat percentage, all of the same cons apply. I get tweaks, coldness,etc but I just don’t get hungry. 100% I endorse bulking 99% of the time. I only cut because I bulked for a year and a half straight.
Alex, thank you for providing your insight on the topic and documenting your journey of getting shredded as a natural - I definitely learned a lot from your videos on the subject, in addition to everything else you've been posting over the years. Keep up the great work! 💪
Thank you very much and I'm happy the shredded videos have been helpful, as well as the other content. Much love for your feedback & continual support!
4 videos in 3 days is crazy. Keep up the great work! Quick feedback though: could you include the acronyms in your captions, regardless of how well known it may be (or even include it in the description)? For example, I don’t know what TDE means (3:45).
as someone that has been on the larger side for a good chunk of my life, i have a above average appetite so cutting down for me is naturally harder. Even with consuming lots of greens, proteins, sparkling water and etc there is a certain point where it just takes a toll (never been shredded but getting to the lean state is tougher for me). for me personally i have a step count of at least 12,000 per day and 1-3 runs per week on top of lifting and calisthenics. even then cutting below a etc weight range just gets rough. great video as always alex
@@chavez349 hey man currently am at 72 kg at around 2100-2200, when i get down 68-66 its usually around 1850-1950 protein i keep at 160-170 grams, keep in my mind im at 167 cm(around alex's height iirc) and ive now got an active job so this number used to be lower(cals)
Love everything about this vid. I might be one of the guys who can get shredded with ease, when I dieted down to 152 (5’8) even with my newbie gains still not maxed yet it was wild how easy it was the whole way through. Low appetite really is the key, I don’t like eating alot of food. I can bulk without issue when it’s time but I do mostly dislike it, I have to remind myself to eat sometimes even when dieting let alone bulking 😂
Your body has adapted to utilizing energy more efficiently. To put is simply, you have good genetics. Although, that won't last indefinitely. The best clue to what how you will look later on in life is your parents. Although its not an exact science since you are a combination of the two. Still, you should definitely see the dominate traits you get from your folks.
I'm one of those guys. The blessing is that it's easy to stay shredded and the curse is it's hard af to put on the muscle (Becase I have to force feed).
I've always speculated this. I just never went on to investigate because I mean I couldn't believe myself that other men eat such small portions of food. But makes so much sense
I just have to keep sticking to it, keep adjusting and experimenting. It takes time. I see all of you made it, but I long to see myself achieve it t just for myself. The challenge of it keeps me hungry!
Alex I wanted to tell you I put on 20 pounds in 3 months after binge watching your channel and i mostly wanna thank you for making awesome no bs motivation. That's why I show your channel to my friends. Love the content bro, specially the anti drugging aspects, we need way more of that on UA-cam.
Currently dieting went from 350 to 230 everything was fine until I tried to get into the 220s immediately felt terrible super hungry now strength in the gym sigh this video really helped me out.
Been watching your channel for many years now, would just like to thank you for your solid advice and wish you and your family all the best this Christmas period
Thank you Alex. I really needed an answer to this, cause guy like David Goggins, FitnessFAQs, Micha Schultz, and other really inspire me with their level of conditioning.
5:45 Ethier he has an arm pump or he holds a lot of his fat on his arms which is cool because they still look full and round even though his mid section is shredded
Even if I eat less I still stay around the same size and weight, but that doesn't stop me from trying to lose body fat(size) I still give it my all. While Chasing muscle growth So I can get stronger.
For me is natural to lean down. I have a hard time bulking. I work 8 hours standing, walk 20k steps on average according to my watch, workout 4 times every 6 days, have sex quite often and along with being above intermediate in muscle nass, I eat a lot and stay lean with ease. Now being shredded is another story and for us, regular lifters who don't get paid for looking good, I don't see even one reason to go below 10% body fat. But still thankful for the content if one decides to go that path.
Im bulking right now (no calorie counting, cutting diet to satiation and not saying no when offered to go out/grandma/some treats), still have an acceptable condition when i look at myself in the mirror and im quite happy.. i always strenght trained and program hopped in a deficit in the past to be strong and looking like a insta model, enough. Im currently running 3U 2L with cardio sprinkled here and there everyday in form of cycling n walking. I have the same exact metabolism as you Alex, did the cardio everyday in the past same period as you, except im a lot weaker but have some good muscle due to all the volume i have accumulated. I can relate so frikin much
Bro, holy sh**!! I had to double take at that RDL clip, that's inspiring right there. On the topic of the vid, I just want to share an anecdote. I switched to a raw, mostly fruit-based diet. Ate until satisfied, no tracking, and lost 40lbs this summer. I imagine a good portion of this weight was water, but there was definitely fat loss. No tracking, eating as much as I could/wanted, and strength loss was exactly relative to BW lost. Interest experiment that I recommend trying, and the carbs kept workouts intense.
I still have a long way to go, but I just went from 500lb to 460lb in 19 days. I’m doing a combination of OMAD and a few days dry fasting each week. Thank you you so much Alpha for helping to educate and inspire us! I never thought it would be possible to get my weight under control again, but so far it’s working unbelievably well.. Watch this space! 💪🏾
So true, i have friends that are shredded year round yet claim they eat 5000 cals a day. When we go out to eat they cant finish their food and i tell them they just ate about 500 cals of their meal yet cant finish more food and they then sit there in denial when I tell them they’re probably eating 1500 cals a day like my sister
This is real stuff. I am someone with a high genetic bf set point and a slow metabolism so while I gain muscle pretty easy it is hard to lose weight and I always feel depleted at a certain low percentage. Best way to feel satiated is low calorie dense foods and a lot of water.
When I started lifting around middle school age I ate a lot of Mom's leftovers, and grew from the second smallest in my class to solidly average in both height and weight. I still eat a lot better when I train. When my responsibilities require me to sit too much I lose my appetite. I'm pretty lean at 5'8" 180. The biggest I got was 198, my pulse and blood pressure were too low, and it did not feel good to me. At 180 my pulse and BP are back up into a good range, and I can run fast again. I appreciate the realism and truth in your posts. I'd add that staying with this process keeps the hormones in pretty good supply and balance despite aging. Lifting for decades increases, then preserves, the ability to produce anabolic hormones in the body. It seems to me at 63 that people who don't train and people train but abuse hormones will both lose their endocrine health. The trainee who eschews exogenous hormones does not need them because their body itself is adapted to keep making them.
Forget the middle school experience.That was largely a product of genetics and actually had very little with anything you did. You contribution only begins after nature stop its construction and your modifications can begin.
@@krane15 Please describe my genetics and what I did. Also please explain how other kids with inadequate appetites do rapidly gain appetite, size, and strength by not training and not eating enough.
Alex, awesome video bro! I'm Aesthetic Genetic and i am a fellow natural upcoming bodybuilder! I am this hardgainer you are speaking of and i have been training for 11 years naturally now
It's pretty easy for me to get shredded and stay there if I stay low carb in my diet, but I generally have way less energy and strength. Also get bouts of feeling fainty if I stand up too fast lol
My bike trainer showed up today. I mostly got it to keep up my fitness in the off-season, but I think it'll be nice to see how easy it is to drop some weight without really changing my diet. I think it's going to be a lot of hours on the bike, though :)
7:30 - Really hit home. I'm constantly fatigued, maybe I'm doing something wrong, but progressive overload accumulates a lot of fatigue! Like I feel systemic fatigue!
@@KM-04 just do like one week where u go way easier but where u still move weight. Ur numbers shouldn’t drop that much and if they do drop a little ur still gonna be getting rid of a bunch of accumilative fatigue so u can increase the weight faster after the deload and u will have given ur tendons, joints and all that a break aswell
My natrual body fat seems to be low almost no matter what, during one period I ate at McDonalds and Burger king every day and ate A LOT, and became a little chubby around the waist, but I just ate a little less for like 2 weeks and was shredded again, with no noticble muscle or strength loss, I problaly even progressed, I stay shredded eating 3000-3500 kcal a day and I am 6 foot 1 at 185 pounds, I don't have any trouble gaining muscle either, or eating enough, and I don't do cardio what the f is right with me
Loved the video and your channel! You're really inspiring and I love your approach to fitness. As a naturally "hardgainer" these are the things I notice I do without thinking about it that probably play a huge role in keeping me skinny (even when I'm trying to bulk 🙃) Ways I feel full: I eat a lot of protein/fiber in my meals, I mainly just drink water because I don't like carbonated things or caffeine, and I tend to eat repetitive/boring foods so I'm not usually eating a lot of high calorie sauces/dips/spreads or having fancy treat foods. Ways I increase NEAT: I can be pretty fidgety and have a lot of nervous energy, I work at a coffeeshop so I'm often on my feet for hours on end, I hate sitting down for more than 30-45 minutes at a time. I guess what I'm saying is that "naturally thin" or "naturally thick" is often a combination of eating more/less than you think and moving more/less than you think. If you have a hard time staying lean maybe consider adding in a couple of these habits until they become second nature and also consider whether or not you're an emotional eater. Food to me is just a chore to get done so I can go about my day, but some people eat for a much wider variety of reasons (boredom, stress, feeling like they have to finish their plate/food they don't really love, just because it's "time to eat", etc.) and I'm sure that makes it a lot harder to keep weight off.
I agree with your points for sure but to drop in my anecdotal evidence, I’ve been tracking my calories/macros religiously for years, work a sedentary job and before this year, barely ever did cardio (recently added it in for health benefits). Earlier this year was the leanest I’ve ever been at 172.5 lbs lowest weigh in (6’ tall) and 9% body fat going by Dexa. The lowest my calories got to was 2400 for only two weeks, with most of the diet being at 2600-3000/day. Comparing myself to everyone else I know that lifts, it’s way higher. I think my metabolism is just naturally higher and I have high NEET (I do notice myself fidgeting/moving around a lot). It’s also SUPER hard for me to get above ~17-18% body fat at over 4200 cal/day. Not a bad trade off but I’ll never know what it’s like to be the HUGE dude haha
I’ve been on a Diet of Raw Meat, Raw Eggs & Raw Milk, with Honey, fruit, Vegetable Juice & Cream for the past year or so. Been the Most Rewarding year as far as dieting is concerned. I never Crave Junk food & I’m satiated whenever I eat. Most of us Over eat & turn to the wrong foods because the stuff we are eating is Void of Nutrients that our Bodies are looking for. So we consume more More More, and it gives us a drug like effect which gives the illusion of Satiation,. But in reality we’re not getting hardly any nutrients from it at all.
I'm the hardgainer archetype, and it's always confused me the way people talk about how they eat a fuck ton of food and don't gain weight. If youre not gaining any weight, youre objectively not eating above maintenance. I know the reason I don't gain weight is because I don't eat that much, I just don't get very hungry. I think it's not that uncommon.
Sweet spot for me to shred and gain muscle is 1600-1800 total calories per day with low carb coming mostly from oat or sweet potato. When I feel drained I eat something to get myself back up. This takes about a year to year and half strict to meet my goals.
Not sure if anyone will see this but after stating soccer I definitely noticed that the time between sets started to go down and gains are still going good
I used to be a skinny guy with zero appetite. Forced fed myself over the years to build some muscle. But that process increased my appetite to the extent that I now find it hard to cut
When I did roofing full time, my work capacity was great. These days, when I went on vacation and had things to do the past 3 weeks, going back to the gym kicked my ass. I have to stay moving or I a hit slump for a week. Now, granted I'm not a big cardio guy so maybe a week or more off affects me more than some.
Can attest to the appetite. My maintenance is 2000 cals at 5'7 and yes I don't have tons of muscle but im practically shredded year round, not because i want to but its where i feel the best and my appetite isnt that big. eating a lot is easy to me but if i were to not count calories and eat based on appetite i'd be losing weight on a daily basis
imo once you get to intermediate strength standards and 2-3 years of hypertrophy work under the belt it's easier to lean down and stay lean. Whereas shredding as a beginner makes you look like a twig, that myofibrillar tissue really helps.
As someone who actually has never been "shredded" - probably only around 15%, I'd say metabolism. I couldn't eat enough at the time to sustain my muscle mass (I lost mass due to "overtraining") and felt fatigued. That being said having too high a metabolism from the start will make it harder for you to get the muscles in the first place. By the way you should make a distinction between being shredded with little muscle mass and being shredded with great muscle mass. Two totally different discussions. Go bro science :P At that time I ran about 40 miles a week and went to the gym three times a week. On the whole topic of being a little "fucked up in the brain" I think you're right. I'm looking into adhd at the moment (I probably have it) and people with adhd are prone to developing addiction due to needing stimulants to slow down the brain/focus it. Exercise has the same function to an adhd brain, and the endorphines from it are addictive as well. Very inspiring content.
I still have a long way to go, but I just went from 500lb to 460lb in 19 days. I’m doing a combination of OMAD and a few days dry fasting each week. Thank you you so much Alpha for helping to educate and inspire us! I never thought it would be possible to get my weight under control again, but so far it’s working unbelievably well.. Watch this space! 😎
Same with me I have a huge appetite that’s if I don’t weigh everything I always over eat and that’s why I’m never lean untill I start counting and even when I count I end up eating more Calories from one day slip off
Duuuude, that's such a good quote. Are you familiar with people like Dr Klaper, too, or maybe Dr Gregor, Dr McDougal, so on? Awesome video dude (and yes, I'm commenting before the end, hah). You've really motivated me to get a better handle over my calories and counting protein, too. I've found Hench Herbivore's videos really helpful, too; his meal prep content are great. Glad to hear you're into Bald Omni-Man, too.
Ikr? Yup I follow all of them and bought all the books! Happy the videos have been helpful, and Hench Herbivore is without a doubt a great resource for plant based bodybuilding. Cheers brother!
On the activity segment: I eat like dogshit most days but I've still been losing weight because I work in a warehouse packing furniture into 50 foot trucks all night. Down to 187 from 210 a year ago.
Hey Alex, congrats on this crazy transformation! I have an off-topic question if it's ok. What's your opinion on the ExRx standards for intermediates? How come they have that much a difference from your standards? Thanks! (I weigh 150lbs closing on their intermediate standards)
I did 46 days of drinking only fruit juice and went from 93kg bulked to 68kg 3.8% bf(scale measurment, probabbly not correct exactly) but i couldve seen veins on my calfs and quads. I did it because i wanted to detox my bowls from all the meats and i loved it and cointued to live only on fruits for 2 years. I lost a lot of muscle mass and switched to running. Point is that you can live on low body fat year around but not gonna carry that amounth of muscle mass.
I'm exactly what Alex is talking about here, my appetite is tiny and I've always been lean, when im bulking I hate Christmas time as I lose weight as I can't maintain with the calories I eat bulking if its not oats and weight gained shakes I'm losing weight.
It's a simple but sometimes surprising reality that people who stay shredded easily can do that for the same reason skinny people who don't monitor their health are skinny...low appetite. The next time you're around a skinny guy you know with a "crazy metabolism" watch how much they actually consume throughout a day. The amount of times I see people like this say "I forgot to eat" is staggering.
Hey Alex, do you believe that getting shredded can get rid of deep tissue fat accumulation caused by being an obese child? And, after that, change the abs look when slowly bulking after
I was 355 at my heaviest so when I get lean lean, it looks a little different. But I get striations in my shoulders and the vascularity is very similar to those who are single digit lean. So while I still have fat around my mid section, I feel as though the rest of my body get extremely shredded. My depression sky rockets and my everyday motivation suffers. But it's a process.
Reporting in as naturally skinny guy. Started at 20 5'6 115lbs. Ended up around 170, touched 185 once. Way I gained weight and started getting kinda fat was from eating psycho shit like pints of ben n jerrys daily. I'm 27 now, time to deal with cholesterol etc, and weight is falling off once I stopped eating such calorie dense food on a regular basis.
I'm in the middle of a cut now. Down to 2800 cal, 1hr 40mins daily cardio plus 1hr 20min weights. I'm a person with a big appetite...I'm envious of those dudes that have miniscule appetites! Because of my love of food, I always try and use cardio rather than calorie restriction..until the inevitable moment where cardio doesn't cut it. Catch 22 being that all the cardio increases appetite! Ergh.
Ya, I really struggle with appetite. I've never been above 15% bf in my life, sitting around 12% most the time (86kg 177cm). I've been trying to force feed last couple months. Sometimes I'll hit 88kg, but then a few days later I am back down to 85-86kg. I feel perfectly fine at 10-12% bf, but really want to gain weight so that I can set some strength PBs
The best and easiest way to get shredded is simply staying relatively lean all year round. Do clean lean bulks and when you notice a bit of fat gain do a 2 or 3 week mini cut. When you cut for summer of whatever occasion it will be 10x easier to get shredded because you won't have as much body fat to lose, and you won't need to drastically drop cals or do copius amounts of cardio. The leaner you are year round, the lower your bodyfat set point will adjust to (within reason).
Great insights brother
Thank you Daniel!
As always Daniel recognizing the real ones
Yo Daniel collab with Alphadestiny.😁
Damn Daniel back at it again
@@AlexLeonidas please do one on how to build mass with bodyweight and bfr training
Been a mostly silent viewer for quite some time now but felt like posting a comment today. Your content is insanely inspiring, watching your journey helps keep me on track whenever that nasty amygdala starts playing up. I'm currently at about 160 lbs @ 5'10, my heaviest I've been. I'm definitely what you describe in the video: someone with a low appetite. I've been athletic and fit all my life but never managed to pack the muscle until about two years ago after I started eating right and it changed my life, in massive part due to content like yours. Massive thanks for that Alex!
Much love Joey and thanks for sharing this!!
I'm 5"7 and 58 at my heaviest and getting bigger and better:)
I'm 5'10 @ 176 , I have good muscle but not as lean around 18% BF
Someone wants something in there mouth
@Green Mosaic I saw your dad polish my snorkel yesterday and the other day
Seeing footage of you shredded gives me so much hope as a natty lifter- you’re an inspiration
MASSIVE underated tip,
go on bike rides. At least in the spring / summer. When all you do is go to the gym and live inside in the fall / winter months it is actually pretty cool to go around your nehborhood looking at all the scenery. Plus, its actually fun. Rather than "2 HoUrS oN tHe TrEaDmILl"
2 hours alone can easily get your "1800 cal" diet to ~ 2300 - 2600
I came up with a strategy I liked on my last cut. Instead of planning out an extremely restrictive diet, I rather banked a ton of busy work in months leading up. So instead of small sad meals, I was eating just a little less and doing things like detailing my car, deep cleaning my home, organizing my garage, etc. I kinda felt like I was back at basic training where I was just getting 1hr of personal time a day; I was working from sun up to sun down. It worked though, and I accomplished a ton of stuff that really needed to be taken care of.
yea totally agree, being busy all the time really help
Distracting yourself from food is a great idea! 👍
You mentioned something very interesting that I've found out in my work as a medical biologist. The more time you spend on your feet during the day, the less likely you are to be obese or suffer from various illness risks. In fact it's probably the most important factor there is.
@G m Lmao, nice.
I write for a living, and this is why I'm looking into getting a standing desk. Upping my everyday activity level. I'd wager it probably has benefits regarding sleep.
Alex has inspired me in so many ways throughout the years. He’s a legend. Forever thankful boss.
I still have a long way to go, but since I started my weight loss journey channel, ive now dropped 40lb 😊. Going from 500lb to 460lb in just 19 days! I never thought it would be possible to get my weight under control again, but this is really happening.. Thank you Alpha for your wisdom and inspiration! Lets keep pushing folks! 😎💪🏾
You just earned my sub! 👏
Subbed also! Love your videos! 💪
New subbie here! You have my support Jamal! 👏👏🥳
40 lbs lost in 19 days is a LOT to lose in that short period of time, which I’m sure you already know…..so my only constructive feedback is to make sure you’re not cutting your caloric intake too dramatically or following some crash diet, as neither is going to be the most healthy or sustainable way to lose weight. With that said, I’m very happy for you & your success to date, & wish you all the best on your fitness & weight loss journey ahead! Looking forward to seeing your progress as you go. 💪
You inspire bro
I lift 4-5x a week with 2-3 cardio sessions per week (20-25 minute each of jump rope or exercise bike). I tried to cut down to around 12-13% body fat, eating 2200-2450 calories a day. It was working and I was developing more vascularity and abs were becoming more defined. However, my sleep was getting worse accompanied by the stress of college. This week, I stayed up all night. Next day I tried to sleep early at 9:30 pm but I couldn’t. Took melatonin for first time in my life and it wasn’t working as my body jolted me awake, I finally fell asleep at 2:30-3 am and woke up at 8. Next night I had extremely fragmented sleep, waking up every hour or two for total of over 8 hours and woke up starving. Then next night I stayed up again because I COULD NOT SLEEP at all, I ate 2150 something calories. I made myself a big meal at 5 am and after the meal, finally slept at 7am and woke up 3 hours later and I was feeling hungry again.
So my conclusion is that stay in your healthy body fat range of 15-20%. It’s not worth being shredded even if you can do it easily.
@G m nope, I don’t drink caffeine
Great work brother! Personally Swapped fancy gym for crumbling garage doing very basic callisthenics no special diet still ripped af at 50 years old !!!
Insane training on your vids garageman keep it up
No, you need a gym. That becomes exponentially more important as we get older.
Love how you’ve been shouting out smaller channels that are putting out great content keep up the good work bro
One of the best channels out here.
Helped solve my body dysmorphia and made me passionate about fitness (lifting, calisthenics, cardio, etc.)
Additonally to that calistanics thing, if you're training calisthenics, you'll notice any weightgain instantly so your mind keeps you from gaining weight, keeping the skills up
Is calisthenics easier on the joints and tendons than bodybuilding?
Thats why I have a rule to stay over 100kg constantly. My form gets better and I become strenger. We just need to stay constant.
@@zerflexer9919 100kg at what body fat percent ?
@@zerflexer9919 at what height?
6'2 around 230LBS at the moment.
If you don't believe me here is me at around 270 lbs (went even up to 300lbs without juice) 10 years ago
m.ua-cam.com/video/yqwz3HoZqBs/v-deo.html
A thing I noticed last time I was down to single digit bodyfat was that my hunger started to disappear towards the end of the diet. It was actually pretty challenging to start gaining weight again, because I would get full way too quickly.
The thing with cardio is that whenever my strength shoot up suddenly it was hard for my heart to keep up when I upped the weight I do volume work with ( Say higher reps ). So I started doing cardio for a stronger heart, and honestly, it improved squatting for me. Cause squats wind me down like nothing else, the whole room would be spinning and I'd be out of breath fighting for air when I did a set of 3-6 reps. Plus I'm diabetic so cardio helps with the reduction of using insulin.
I thought the cut looked great as well Alex, you've got a great physique and it's admirable as hell. And whilst low BF% looks quite good I think anyone for the most part does more than fine being in the 14-16% range. Might be biased cause that's where I'm shooting for in the future, but so be it.
Matt Wenning argues the same, that a lot of people’s strength is actually limited by poor conditioning. You might want to check out the videos on Wenning Warmups on Wenning Strength.
@@domepiece11 Sounds interesting, will do.
Squats make me feel the same, but I've been doing cardio consistently for a while. Although it got better this week.
Hey mate. Greetings from Australia.
Have to say, I remember finding your videos YEARS back and to be honest I couldn't stand the early content.
It's really awesome how you've learned and grown into the encouraging and experienced content creator that are now.
Your videos are full of realistically implementable advice for natural grinders like myself.
Happy holidays bro
First part was enlightening. A few months back in my area (Ontario) we had a three month lockdown. I got into the best shape of my life while not lifting (besides the occasional set of dips in the park only when I felt guilty for how inactive I was) because I had no reason to forcefeed since I wasn't lifting and I ended up going down to around 10% if not lower body fat just eating off appetite.
This was me. Got shredded by just doing push-ups and pullups and daily walks. I feel like it was also because of not working giving me time to just relax and not be stressed. Covid payments covered food and rent and I could just read, walk my dog and socialize with my friends. An amazing year. Now that I'm back to work and have less time to hang with friends and the stress is back I'm gaining fat again.
I’m one of those rare individuals. What I will say is that although I can gain size and strength in a low body fat percentage, all of the same cons apply. I get tweaks, coldness,etc but I just don’t get hungry. 100% I endorse bulking 99% of the time. I only cut because I bulked for a year and a half straight.
4:34 You're a tank bro!!
@@AlexLeonidas respect bro!
@@AlexLeonidasAlways giving shoutouts to the small yet super underrated ones. You can't get more real bro respect!!
Whoever made that art payed great attention to your insertions
True impressed with the attention to detail
Alex, thank you for providing your insight on the topic and documenting your journey of getting shredded as a natural - I definitely learned a lot from your videos on the subject, in addition to everything else you've been posting over the years. Keep up the great work! 💪
Thank you very much and I'm happy the shredded videos have been helpful, as well as the other content. Much love for your feedback & continual support!
4 videos in 3 days is crazy. Keep up the great work! Quick feedback though: could you include the acronyms in your captions, regardless of how well known it may be (or even include it in the description)? For example, I don’t know what TDE means (3:45).
TDEE, Total Daily Energy Expenditure
He said it in the video
@@summerofsais Regardless, this feedback is for future reference.
as someone that has been on the larger side for a good chunk of my life, i have a above average appetite so cutting down for me is naturally harder. Even with consuming lots of greens, proteins, sparkling water and etc there is a certain point where it just takes a toll (never been shredded but getting to the lean state is tougher for me). for me personally i have a step count of at least 12,000 per day and 1-3 runs per week on top of lifting and calisthenics. even then cutting below a etc weight range just gets rough. great video as always alex
What’s your weight and what’s your calories and protein at?
@@chavez349 hey man currently am at 72 kg at around 2100-2200, when i get down 68-66 its usually around 1850-1950 protein i keep at 160-170 grams, keep in my mind im at 167 cm(around alex's height iirc) and ive now got an active job so this number used to be lower(cals)
Love everything about this vid. I might be one of the guys who can get shredded with ease, when I dieted down to 152 (5’8) even with my newbie gains still not maxed yet it was wild how easy it was the whole way through. Low appetite really is the key, I don’t like eating alot of food. I can bulk without issue when it’s time but I do mostly dislike it, I have to remind myself to eat sometimes even when dieting let alone bulking 😂
Same here. And when I do eat a huge meal, two hours later, I’ll get all hot and sweaty and I always say, there it goes! Lol.
Your body has adapted to utilizing energy more efficiently. To put is simply, you have good genetics. Although, that won't last indefinitely. The best clue to what how you will look later on in life is your parents. Although its not an exact science since you are a combination of the two. Still, you should definitely see the dominate traits you get from your folks.
I'm one of those guys. The blessing is that it's easy to stay shredded and the curse is it's hard af to put on the muscle (Becase I have to force feed).
That won't hold indefinitely. Typically by 30, it takes a nose dive. The gifted can make it to 40, and the God blessed genetics can push 50.
@@krane15 I'm most likely what you would call "God blessed" because my dad is in his mid 50s and doesn't carry any fat.
Your videos are sooooo good man
Thank you, Joshua!
Wow - This is so true - I have high TDEE and low appetite and I pretty much stay shredded but also have a tougher time gaining mass :(
It's a tradeoff.. but hey with liquid meals, selective foods, & some force feeding you'll still gain tremendous size! Just gotta give it time brother.
@@AlexLeonidas the force feeding is the hardest part when you have history of eating disorders 😅
I've always speculated this. I just never went on to investigate because I mean I couldn't believe myself that other men eat such small portions of food.
But makes so much sense
I just have to keep sticking to it, keep adjusting and experimenting. It takes time. I see all of you made it, but I long to see myself achieve it t just for myself. The challenge of it keeps me hungry!
What's your goal
Alex I wanted to tell you I put on 20 pounds in 3 months after binge watching your channel and i mostly wanna thank you for making awesome no bs motivation. That's why I show your channel to my friends. Love the content bro, specially the anti drugging aspects, we need way more of that on UA-cam.
That clip of the curlz, DAMN!
ok this gives me confidence ,because i never have a big appetite ,in fact ive been forcefeeding to gain weight the last 3 months.
Currently dieting went from 350 to 230 everything was fine until I tried to get into the 220s immediately felt terrible super hungry now strength in the gym sigh this video really helped me out.
Been watching your channel for many years now, would just like to thank you for your solid advice and wish you and your family all the best this Christmas period
Alex makes the best content when it comes to promoting non conventional lifts along with calisthenics
Thank you Alex. I really needed an answer to this, cause guy like David Goggins, FitnessFAQs, Micha Schultz, and other really inspire me with their level of conditioning.
Thank you for shedding light this bro
5:45 Ethier he has an arm pump or he holds a lot of his fat on his arms which is cool because they still look full and round even though his mid section is shredded
Even if I eat less I still stay around the same size and weight, but that doesn't stop me from trying to lose body fat(size) I still give it my all. While Chasing muscle growth So I can get stronger.
God bless you man. An excellent channel and individual. Wish you a continous success because you deserve it.
For me is natural to lean down. I have a hard time bulking. I work 8 hours standing, walk 20k steps on average according to my watch, workout 4 times every 6 days, have sex quite often and along with being above intermediate in muscle nass, I eat a lot and stay lean with ease. Now being shredded is another story and for us, regular lifters who don't get paid for looking good, I don't see even one reason to go below 10% body fat. But still thankful for the content if one decides to go that path.
Thanks to you to show us, natties, what it costs to target 8% bf.
You're really one of the most honnest guy in the "fitgame".
Im bulking right now (no calorie counting, cutting diet to satiation and not saying no when offered to go out/grandma/some treats), still have an acceptable condition when i look at myself in the mirror and im quite happy.. i always strenght trained and program hopped in a deficit in the past to be strong and looking like a insta model, enough. Im currently running 3U 2L with cardio sprinkled here and there everyday in form of cycling n walking. I have the same exact metabolism as you Alex, did the cardio everyday in the past same period as you, except im a lot weaker but have some good muscle due to all the volume i have accumulated. I can relate so frikin much
Bro, holy sh**!! I had to double take at that RDL clip, that's inspiring right there. On the topic of the vid, I just want to share an anecdote. I switched to a raw, mostly fruit-based diet. Ate until satisfied, no tracking, and lost 40lbs this summer. I imagine a good portion of this weight was water, but there was definitely fat loss. No tracking, eating as much as I could/wanted, and strength loss was exactly relative to BW lost. Interest experiment that I recommend trying, and the carbs kept workouts intense.
10:27 yo that transition was pretty cool
I still have a long way to go, but I just went from 500lb to 460lb in 19 days. I’m doing a combination of OMAD and a few days dry fasting each week. Thank you you so much Alpha for helping to educate and inspire us! I never thought it would be possible to get my weight under control again, but so far it’s working unbelievably well.. Watch this space! 💪🏾
You got this Jamal!!
Alpha destiny mentioning mpmd and bald omni man - the 3 people I watch the most on UA-cam 👍
You're a fucking inspiration to us all man. Love your straight forward and clean cut approach. Keep at it dude 💪💪
can you only do neck curls and no neck extensions?
So true, i have friends that are shredded year round yet claim they eat 5000 cals a day. When we go out to eat they cant finish their food and i tell them they just ate about 500 cals of their meal yet cant finish more food and they then sit there in denial when I tell them they’re probably eating 1500 cals a day like my sister
This is fantastic content. I do miss your Q&A’s though. It’s been a long time. 💪🏽
Not really mentioned cardio and changes to cardio overtime as well as neat and energy expenditure
Awesome video and quality information my man!
This is real stuff. I am someone with a high genetic bf set point and a slow metabolism so while I gain muscle pretty easy it is hard to lose weight and I always feel depleted at a certain low percentage. Best way to feel satiated is low calorie dense foods and a lot of water.
Great video, especially drugs part. I compete many times (no natural) and I experience the same side effects but at very low % bf
this is fantastic content . new subscriber here . nice to see what its takes to get ripped ripped from a genuine natural lifter .
When I started lifting around middle school age I ate a lot of Mom's leftovers, and grew from the second smallest in my class to solidly average in both height and weight. I still eat a lot better when I train. When my responsibilities require me to sit too much I lose my appetite. I'm pretty lean at 5'8" 180. The biggest I got was 198, my pulse and blood pressure were too low, and it did not feel good to me. At 180 my pulse and BP are back up into a good range, and I can run fast again. I appreciate the realism and truth in your posts. I'd add that staying with this process keeps the hormones in pretty good supply and balance despite aging. Lifting for decades increases, then preserves, the ability to produce anabolic hormones in the body. It seems to me at 63 that people who don't train and people train but abuse hormones will both lose their endocrine health. The trainee who eschews exogenous hormones does not need them because their body itself is adapted to keep making them.
Forget the middle school experience.That was largely a product of genetics and actually had very little with anything you did. You contribution only begins after nature stop its construction and your modifications can begin.
@@krane15 Please describe my genetics and what I did. Also please explain how other kids with inadequate appetites do rapidly gain appetite, size, and strength by not training and not eating enough.
Alex, awesome video bro! I'm Aesthetic Genetic and i am a fellow natural upcoming bodybuilder! I am this hardgainer you are speaking of and i have been training for 11 years naturally now
It's pretty easy for me to get shredded and stay there if I stay low carb in my diet, but I generally have way less energy and strength. Also get bouts of feeling fainty if I stand up too fast lol
My bike trainer showed up today. I mostly got it to keep up my fitness in the off-season, but I think it'll be nice to see how easy it is to drop some weight without really changing my diet. I think it's going to be a lot of hours on the bike, though :)
7:30 - Really hit home. I'm constantly fatigued, maybe I'm doing something wrong, but progressive overload accumulates a lot of fatigue! Like I feel systemic fatigue!
Have u tried deloading, u need to every once in a while to get rid of that
@@obamasinladen947 Yea mate, I have! but when I do I feel I get weaker when I get back to progressive overload.
@@KM-04 just do like one week where u go way easier but where u still move weight. Ur numbers shouldn’t drop that much and if they do drop a little ur still gonna be getting rid of a bunch of accumilative fatigue so u can increase the weight faster after the deload and u will have given ur tendons, joints and all that a break aswell
Intermittent fasting i did years ago permanently got me in the habit of eating less
Puny appetite, curse and a blessing
This is one of the most useful vids I've watched on this subject. Will definitely send to my hardgainer friends that claim to eat all the time
You were talking about kinobody and his small portion sizes haha
Yep I can already tell especially when he said eating out at restaurants
Good point about the appetite. I competed for over 10 years, and never could stomach eating breakfast which helped a lot in controlling my calories.
My natrual body fat seems to be low almost no matter what, during one period I ate at McDonalds and Burger king every day and ate A LOT, and became a little chubby around the waist, but I just ate a little less for like 2 weeks and was shredded again, with no noticble muscle or strength loss, I problaly even progressed, I stay shredded eating 3000-3500 kcal a day and I am 6 foot 1 at 185 pounds, I don't have any trouble gaining muscle either, or eating enough, and I don't do cardio
what the f is right with me
Shredded genetics is a spectrum. I personally have a low appetite and can stay at a 20 BMI for years on end, but I don't build muscle well.
Great insight and perspective into lifting alex. I learned a lot from you
Loved the video and your channel! You're really inspiring and I love your approach to fitness.
As a naturally "hardgainer" these are the things I notice I do without thinking about it that probably play a huge role in keeping me skinny (even when I'm trying to bulk 🙃)
Ways I feel full: I eat a lot of protein/fiber in my meals, I mainly just drink water because I don't like carbonated things or caffeine, and I tend to eat repetitive/boring foods so I'm not usually eating a lot of high calorie sauces/dips/spreads or having fancy treat foods.
Ways I increase NEAT: I can be pretty fidgety and have a lot of nervous energy, I work at a coffeeshop so I'm often on my feet for hours on end, I hate sitting down for more than 30-45 minutes at a time.
I guess what I'm saying is that "naturally thin" or "naturally thick" is often a combination of eating more/less than you think and moving more/less than you think. If you have a hard time staying lean maybe consider adding in a couple of these habits until they become second nature and also consider whether or not you're an emotional eater. Food to me is just a chore to get done so I can go about my day, but some people eat for a much wider variety of reasons (boredom, stress, feeling like they have to finish their plate/food they don't really love, just because it's "time to eat", etc.) and I'm sure that makes it a lot harder to keep weight off.
I agree with your points for sure but to drop in my anecdotal evidence, I’ve been tracking my calories/macros religiously for years, work a sedentary job and before this year, barely ever did cardio (recently added it in for health benefits).
Earlier this year was the leanest I’ve ever been at 172.5 lbs lowest weigh in (6’ tall) and 9% body fat going by Dexa. The lowest my calories got to was 2400 for only two weeks, with most of the diet being at 2600-3000/day.
Comparing myself to everyone else I know that lifts, it’s way higher. I think my metabolism is just naturally higher and I have high NEET (I do notice myself fidgeting/moving around a lot). It’s also SUPER hard for me to get above ~17-18% body fat at over 4200 cal/day. Not a bad trade off but I’ll never know what it’s like to be the HUGE dude haha
2:00 putting Maxx Chewning on fucking blast lmao
Alex really out here looking like a Kengan Ashura character in that thumbnail lol
Hope to see MPMD and Alex collab soon, that would be great.
I’ve been on a Diet of Raw Meat, Raw Eggs & Raw Milk, with Honey, fruit, Vegetable Juice & Cream for the past year or so.
Been the Most Rewarding year as far as dieting is concerned. I never Crave Junk food & I’m satiated whenever I eat.
Most of us Over eat & turn to the wrong foods because the stuff we are eating is Void of Nutrients that our Bodies are looking for.
So we consume more More More, and it gives us a drug like effect which gives the illusion of Satiation,. But in reality we’re not getting hardly any nutrients from it at all.
It’s a blessing and a curse mannn it really does feel like force feeding. It’s so hard to maintain that amount of extra food too through months.
I'm the hardgainer archetype, and it's always confused me the way people talk about how they eat a fuck ton of food and don't gain weight. If youre not gaining any weight, youre objectively not eating above maintenance. I know the reason I don't gain weight is because I don't eat that much, I just don't get very hungry. I think it's not that uncommon.
Sweet spot for me to shred and gain muscle is 1600-1800 total calories per day with low carb coming mostly from oat or sweet potato. When I feel drained I eat something to get myself back up. This takes about a year to year and half strict to meet my goals.
Not sure if anyone will see this but after stating soccer I definitely noticed that the time between sets started to go down and gains are still going good
I used to be a skinny guy with zero appetite. Forced fed myself over the years to build some muscle. But that process increased my appetite to the extent that I now find it hard to cut
Puny appetite is a blessing and a curse. Always been very lean my whole life (never been above 155 lbs). Bulking is a nightmare lol
Opposite issue here, seems like I can never eat enough. Don't comprehend how you can look at food that you like and not want to eat more.
When I did roofing full time, my work capacity was great. These days, when I went on vacation and had things to do the past 3 weeks, going back to the gym kicked my ass. I have to stay moving or I a hit slump for a week. Now, granted I'm not a big cardio guy so maybe a week or more off affects me more than some.
Can attest to the appetite. My maintenance is 2000 cals at 5'7 and yes I don't have tons of muscle but im practically shredded year round, not because i want to but its where i feel the best and my appetite isnt that big. eating a lot is easy to me but if i were to not count calories and eat based on appetite i'd be losing weight on a daily basis
imo once you get to intermediate strength standards and 2-3 years of hypertrophy work under the belt it's easier to lean down and stay lean. Whereas shredding as a beginner makes you look like a twig, that myofibrillar tissue really helps.
As someone who actually has never been "shredded" - probably only around 15%, I'd say metabolism. I couldn't eat enough at the time to sustain my muscle mass (I lost mass due to "overtraining") and felt fatigued. That being said having too high a metabolism from the start will make it harder for you to get the muscles in the first place. By the way you should make a distinction between being shredded with little muscle mass and being shredded with great muscle mass. Two totally different discussions. Go bro science :P
At that time I ran about 40 miles a week and went to the gym three times a week.
On the whole topic of being a little "fucked up in the brain" I think you're right. I'm looking into adhd at the moment (I probably have it) and people with adhd are prone to developing addiction due to needing stimulants to slow down the brain/focus it. Exercise has the same function to an adhd brain, and the endorphines from it are addictive as well.
Very inspiring content.
I still have a long way to go, but I just went from 500lb to 460lb in 19 days. I’m doing a combination of OMAD and a few days dry fasting each week. Thank you you so much Alpha for helping to educate and inspire us! I never thought it would be possible to get my weight under control again, but so far it’s working unbelievably well.. Watch this space! 😎
Same with me I have a huge appetite that’s if I don’t weigh everything I always over eat and that’s why I’m never lean untill I start counting and even when I count I end up eating more Calories from one day slip off
Duuuude, that's such a good quote. Are you familiar with people like Dr Klaper, too, or maybe Dr Gregor, Dr McDougal, so on?
Awesome video dude (and yes, I'm commenting before the end, hah). You've really motivated me to get a better handle over my calories and counting protein, too. I've found Hench Herbivore's videos really helpful, too; his meal prep content are great. Glad to hear you're into Bald Omni-Man, too.
Ikr? Yup I follow all of them and bought all the books!
Happy the videos have been helpful, and Hench Herbivore is without a doubt a great resource for plant based bodybuilding. Cheers brother!
@@AlexLeonidas Ahhhh, that's amazing! Much respect dude!
Would love to see you guys do a collab someday. Keep up the great work, brother.
@@AlexLeonidas but hes a classic fake natty
On the activity segment: I eat like dogshit most days but I've still been losing weight because I work in a warehouse packing furniture into 50 foot trucks all night. Down to 187 from 210 a year ago.
Hey Alex, congrats on this crazy transformation! I have an off-topic question if it's ok. What's your opinion on the ExRx standards for intermediates? How come they have that much a difference from your standards? Thanks! (I weigh 150lbs closing on their intermediate standards)
My problem is continuing to eat more to hold back on binges because if I don’t eat that much I go off the rail a little
I did 46 days of drinking only fruit juice and went from 93kg bulked to 68kg 3.8% bf(scale measurment, probabbly not correct exactly) but i couldve seen veins on my calfs and quads. I did it because i wanted to detox my bowls from all the meats and i loved it and cointued to live only on fruits for 2 years. I lost a lot of muscle mass and switched to running. Point is that you can live on low body fat year around but not gonna carry that amounth of muscle mass.
I'm exactly what Alex is talking about here, my appetite is tiny and I've always been lean, when im bulking I hate Christmas time as I lose weight as I can't maintain with the calories I eat bulking if its not oats and weight gained shakes I'm losing weight.
If a 16 year old teen stalled on a 225x3 bench on linear progression can I go to conjugate? If so how can I set it up?
Yeah why not? 225x3 is solid, especially at your age! I'd run the conjugate system exactly as normally prescribed, also look into Matt Wenning's work.
@@AlexLeonidas thank you. Can you link me a video to watch to set it up?
It's a simple but sometimes surprising reality that people who stay shredded easily can do that for the same reason skinny people who don't monitor their health are skinny...low appetite. The next time you're around a skinny guy you know with a "crazy metabolism" watch how much they actually consume throughout a day. The amount of times I see people like this say "I forgot to eat" is staggering.
Exactly bro, especially the "I forgot to eat" part.
Hey Alex, do you believe that getting shredded can get rid of deep tissue fat accumulation caused by being an obese child? And, after that, change the abs look when slowly bulking after
I was 355 at my heaviest so when I get lean lean, it looks a little different. But I get striations in my shoulders and the vascularity is very similar to those who are single digit lean. So while I still have fat around my mid section, I feel as though the rest of my body get extremely shredded. My depression sky rockets and my everyday motivation suffers. But it's a process.
Reporting in as naturally skinny guy. Started at 20 5'6 115lbs. Ended up around 170, touched 185 once. Way I gained weight and started getting kinda fat was from eating psycho shit like pints of ben n jerrys daily. I'm 27 now, time to deal with cholesterol etc, and weight is falling off once I stopped eating such calorie dense food on a regular basis.
I'm in the middle of a cut now. Down to 2800 cal, 1hr 40mins daily cardio plus 1hr 20min weights. I'm a person with a big appetite...I'm envious of those dudes that have miniscule appetites! Because of my love of food, I always try and use cardio rather than calorie restriction..until the inevitable moment where cardio doesn't cut it. Catch 22 being that all the cardio increases appetite! Ergh.
Ya, I really struggle with appetite. I've never been above 15% bf in my life, sitting around 12% most the time (86kg 177cm). I've been trying to force feed last couple months. Sometimes I'll hit 88kg, but then a few days later I am back down to 85-86kg. I feel perfectly fine at 10-12% bf, but really want to gain weight so that I can set some strength PBs
The best and easiest way to get shredded is simply staying relatively lean all year round. Do clean lean bulks and when you notice a bit of fat gain do a 2 or 3 week mini cut.
When you cut for summer of whatever occasion it will be 10x easier to get shredded because you won't have as much body fat to lose, and you won't need to drastically drop cals or do copius amounts of cardio. The leaner you are year round, the lower your bodyfat set point will adjust to (within reason).