Not realising how much hard dedication it takes to bodybuild

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I am about 5ft8 and 167-170 lbs at the moment however a lot of my extra weight is probably caused by the antidepressants I am taking and drinking beer once a week. One of my friends who is obese at a height of 5ft11 tells me that I need to bodybuild.


Now I workout moderately 3-5 days a week but you think my friend perhaps does not realise how many years of dedication and time it takes to significantly bulk up from bodybuilding? You can cheat of course and take steroids but I am strongly against it.

Bodybuilding requires a huge degree of commitment. Your friend must be joking or fail to understand how much work it takes.

How long have you been working out for? It takes about 3 months to start building visible muscle.

I have been working out since 2019 but probably not doing it correctly enough to build muscle.

Have you tried cycling? I hated exercise bikes but cycling I would do in any weather because it keeps ones interest because while cycling, one is going places and is not in a boring fixed place.

(Do not drink alcohol and go cycling as a bicycle is classed as a vehicle so comes under the same drink and drive regulations as any other vehicle).

BUT cycling is a really good way to both lose weight and to build up leg muscles and surprizingly distance work is better at gaining muscles than straining as it is the constand and varied cycling over a distance that really gets one fit and builds up the leg muscles. (Get a touring bike or a hybrid that have a wide range of gears and are designed to carry weight. Avoid impractical bikes).

According to this calculator online a normal person like me who does not do extreme weightligting needs to get down 140 pounds to achieve 15 percent body fat.

Official figures do not take some personal qualities into account. What I mean by this is that some people are naturally larger boned than others and for those people to weigh the same they will be too thin and therefore risk going down with every passing virus because their bodies will not have the natural fat reserve to cope with things when they arrive and people don't realize this when theygo on crash dieting and though they are thin, they look awful healthwize.
The number one way to get healthy is frequent but gentle exercise until ones body becomes gradually used to it where one can then increase to medium and heavier exercise forms.... Always go into it gradually starting by short duration exercises in a day and maybe one day a week before one gradually increases the duratation and the frequency. This is the best approach be it walking, cycling, swimming or anything else.

It also requires a ton of protein which is hard to get on a budget. I would enjoy training most days with a few days break inbetween but it wrecks your body if you cant supply it sufficient sustenance to repair.

If you really want to lose weight cardio exercise is probably better than weightlifting. Try running, lots of walking, cycling (as someone else suggested). Probably need to modify your diet as well and cut down the number of calories you are eating.

I remember once I got down to 150 pounds at my height of 5ft8 by doing more running/cycling. My friends made a lot of remarks about my weight labelling me “skinny”.

Also during lockdown I weighed around 158 lbs at my lowest and when my dad saw a photo of me at the time he remarked that I looked skinny as well.

If you circuit train and only do one set per exercise you actually get more results for your effort than if you work like a mule. When you get old you will probably have to do it that way anyway out of necessity.

I am just stating the obvious. How someone trains is up to them. I know this probably makes no sense to anyone but we all individually decide how we want to train.

Muscle definition makes a big difference and it's also easy to gain muscle the smaller you are.

Even if you're skinny, if you have some muscle under you it'll shine through a lot better than someone larger with more body fat, even if that person is stronger and actually has the larger muscles.

And yeah it takes a lot of time and effort. I haven't tried to body build but have tried to gain muscle and it takes time but eventually you start to see it.

I weigh 170 lbs at the moment. Probably have some fat to lose.

Bodybuilding mostly comes down to doing the basics consistently over years. Eating an appropriate amount of calories. Eating enough protein. Lifting heavier weights over time. Giving your muscles enough time to rest in between sets and days.

The people you see with athletic physiques have been training for 5+ years. Don't be disappointed if it's been a year and you still aren't chiseled.

So in other words I am better of just trying to keep slim/not fat because it’s easier in general than dedicated bodybuilding.

I guess it depends on what your goals are.

If you want to lose some weight and tone up muscles some, and get a little better definition adding some weightlifting to your cardio would definitely help. I started doing weights again a few months ago. I can't do cardio for 90 minutes to 2 hours because I don't have the stamina for it (unless you define cardio as walking or cycling outside). I can do cardio for 20-30 minutes and weightlifting for another 90 minutes or so. So I am burning calories with weights that I probably wouldn't otherwise be doing.

I try to combine the weights with other things I would be doing anyways. I have some weights at home so I do some lifting while watching TV. Beats sitting on my butt watching TV. I listen to podcasts or sports broadcasts while at the gym. That is stuff I might be doing anyways, so I am getting some additional exercise in. Last week I was in the airport waiting for a flight. Walked around the airport when I could, then had to wait at the gate to board. Had some bands with me so I got them out and did a quick Deltoid workout while waiting for my group to board. Great way to kill 15 minutes or so.

If you want to really bulk up and build serious muscle, then yes, you will need to lift a lot and really watch your diet. I don't eat much protein so I will never build serious muscle. Still, weights can be a good addition to any workout. I have bettered my muscle definition and built some upper body muscle compared to a few months ago.