Stop making other Somalis who want to the gym feel their goal physic isn't attainable because YOU aren't seeing results.

Hello, I've been a bit confused when Somali guys and even some gyals say it's "hard to gain muscle" and "our genetics suck". First of all, I only know 3 Somali guys at my gym and all 3 of them are buff but ill talk about myself.

So I started going to the gym for 8 months in a lean bulk. For reference I was 133lb now I'm 150lb with 17 to 20% body fat on the taller side. Going to the gym wasn't that hard for me because I find it really fun ( I see it as an adult playground) but it was more so the eating part. I knew there was no point in going if was eating enough protein.

I went into a chronic obsession with researching food because I realized I would have to eat 150-160 grams of protein to reach my goal and consuming that much would be very hard considering I'm a woman.). I found sooner the best cost-efficient foods that were high in protein 2 of them being Somali. I ate the same five foods for 4 months I liked them so I didn't mind haha :).

I was eating 140-150 grams of protein a day 4 months in.

Things were changing fast.......

I deadass was shocked because my female peers and random women in the changing room were asking about my routine and complemented my physic.... some even think I've been going to the gym for quite some time:)

Okay to be honest I might have won A genetic lottery because this bodybuilder woman in the changing room saw me lat spreading in the mirror and asked me how my lats were so aesthetic :yloezpe: ( i don't work my lats much).


The point of this thread is just to tell other Somali folks that, who the duck cares what other Somalis say about our bad "genetics". JUST GO! Eat enough and be consistent with the programming of your following. It takes trial a lot of trial and error. Focus on yourself and stop comparing yourself to some random Russian bodybuilder on gear.

Gym culture is pretty new to Somalis. We don't have enough research on what and what doesn't work with the Somali body. Another reason why you should stop comparing yourself to randoms in the gym is that they can probably search up "best leg workouts for east Asians" or "high in protein Russian food" while you are fighting tooth and nail to find out how much protein is in a Somali food that's been passed down by generations that don't have exact measurements.

This is not to say Somali have 0 bad genetics but peeps are making it out overall everybody that can gain muscle is impossible with the Somali body.

Lastly, stop complaining because there are people in the gym with wheelchairs and disabilities who still show up. Allah SWT has blessed most of us with a normal functioning body.
 
I might have had an advantage because i always ate well growing up because I'm not too fond of sweet and salty food and hate 98 %all caffeine, especially coffee. I also did jujitsu.
 
Why is this in the men’s section lol

I’m intrigued. What were the five foods you were eating?
haha oops sorry to intrude :( i meant to put it in the regular section. I'm such a grandma I don't use social media often I thought this was the regular section :frdfvsb:

1st food: malawah and suqaar but I would eat 1 malawah and more suqqar or some days no malawah and just suqaar to keep it calorie-dense and low in carb because as I mentioned I was on a lean bulk.

2nd food: Lentil soup with any protein I could find inside my fridge could be fish or chicken. 1 cup of lentils is around 18g of protein and the fish maybe would be approximately 22g of protein. Total 40. I couldn't track the calories for this unfortunately apologies :(. Oh also in the beginning I would add potatoes for extra protein. For every 0.77 cents its 30g of protein ;)

Off topicish : My hooyo and abo really liked the soup when I gave it to them for dinner. Lentils are a good source of iron, has polyphenols, high in magnesium, and are amazing for your bones because as you might not know we lose collagen 2% of every day after we turn 28 I believe so. Making an extra batch for your Somali parents would be beneficial for them too :).

3rd food: Tuna sandwich. the guy who does the recipe was so enthusiastic. mashallah you have the watch the video
(is this how you attach a link?)

4th food: the chicken sandwich. SAME GUY'S RECIPE FROM THE TUNA SANDWICH. Might I mention he has excellent recipes for people on a lean bulk. (this is not a Pyramid scheme to get you to subscribe to the man I just really like his videos).


5th food: just eggs or greek yogurt and put protein powder in it. But you might want to have your protein later in the night but I'm on a lean bulk so...

6th food (i know you didn't ask ): at Costco they have certified halal chicken wings that have a blue label on them. Each chicken wing has 4.5g of protein in it. They come with 30 I believe. I air fry them. The "dry" rub I use is vinegar, pepper, Xawaash(yes it tastes good), and tandoori. not a must of course whatever seasonings in your house will work fine sweets!

Thank you for asking me :))
 
There is no such thing as bad genetics you just need to put in effort and show consistency
ofc ;) come on you couldn't tell I was just saying that so the genetic blamers don't attack me hehe. Though I have been lifting weights with my ankles. Foot dorsiflexion and hamstrings are very underdeveloped for most people so that's been helping me recently. I also trained my hip flexors lately. What are your thoughts?
 
ofc ;) come on you couldn't tell I was just saying that so the genetic blamers don't attack me hehe. Though I have been lifting weights with my ankles. Foot dorsiflexion and hamstrings are very underdeveloped for most people so that's been helping me recently. I also trained my hip flexors lately. What are your thoughts?
I know you don't think that I left that for the genetic blamers.
As for my thoughts on training your hip flexors. sorry abaayo I can't really help on that front I only seriously started training myself at the start of this year. you are a lot more advanced then me when it comes to working out so I can't really help you on that front.
 
haha oops sorry to intrude :( i meant to put it in the regular section. I'm such a grandma I don't use social media often I thought this was the regular section :frdfvsb:

1st food: malawah and suqaar but I would eat 1 malawah and more suqqar or some days no malawah and just suqaar to keep it calorie-dense and low in carb because as I mentioned I was on a lean bulk.

2nd food: Lentil soup with any protein I could find inside my fridge could be fish or chicken. 1 cup of lentils is around 18g of protein and the fish maybe would be approximately 22g of protein. Total 40. I couldn't track the calories for this unfortunately apologies :(. Oh also in the beginning I would add potatoes for extra protein. For every 0.77 cents its 30g of protein ;)

Off topicish : My hooyo and abo really liked the soup when I gave it to them for dinner. Lentils are a good source of iron, has polyphenols, high in magnesium, and are amazing for your bones because as you might not know we lose collagen 2% of every day after we turn 28 I believe so. Making an extra batch for your Somali parents would be beneficial for them too :).

3rd food: Tuna sandwich. the guy who does the recipe was so enthusiastic. mashallah you have the watch the video
(is this how you attach a link?)

4th food: the chicken sandwich. SAME GUY'S RECIPE FROM THE TUNA SANDWICH. Might I mention he has excellent recipes for people on a lean bulk. (this is not a Pyramid scheme to get you to subscribe to the man I just really like his videos).


5th food: just eggs or greek yogurt and put protein powder in it. But you might want to have your protein later in the night but I'm on a lean bulk so...

6th food (i know you didn't ask ): at Costco they have certified halal chicken wings that have a blue label on them. Each chicken wing has 4.5g of protein in it. They come with 30 I believe. I air fry them. The "dry" rub I use is vinegar, pepper, Xawaash(yes it tastes good), and tandoori. not a must of course whatever seasonings in your house will work fine sweets!

Thank you for asking me :))
You’re welcome. Thanks for sharing! It’s nice to see people post positive things on here.

I do love lentil soup (obsessed you could say) too. Only protein I have with it is beef atm. Malawax was an old love of mine that I’m getting reacquainted with again.

Do you have an easy time gaining weight? How often were you eating in a day?

I think I reached 130 when I was being my most unhealthiest. My normal weight is 120-125.

@Sophisticate Please move this thread, abaayo. Thanks
 
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I didn't have an easy time gaining weight mainly because anytime I did go up in weight it would become water weight. So for while I ate the hardy high in protein meals at night and my protein drinks the night. I only did very light cardio; like runs in the mornings and boxer skip roping. I have to mention I have always never drunk caffeine not because of health reasons. I just hate the taste of soda, juice, and coffee. I drink water with everything so I think that really helped me get to the 15%-20% body fat percentage and get abs.

I ate 3 times a day. I would pack my lunch to school for my university classes. I ate dinner around 8:30. I use to eat the heaviest meals in lunch but was seeing that much progress so I had to quickly change that up.


I don't know what your goal is but if you tell me I might be able to help out because I have a couple of gym buddies who were losing weight and look pretty nice now :)

I was skinny fat so I was in a bit of a predicament. If I went down in weight I would become underweight because of my height but if I gained weight I would gain weight in my stomach even more.
 
I didn't have an easy time gaining weight mainly because anytime I did go up in weight it would become water weight. So for while I ate the hardy high in protein meals at night and my protein drinks the night. I only did very light cardio; like runs in the mornings and boxer skip roping. I have to mention I have always never drunk caffeine not because of health reasons. I just hate the taste of soda, juice, and coffee. I drink water with everything so I think that really helped me get to the 15%-20% body fat percentage and get abs.

I ate 3 times a day. I would pack my lunch to school for my university classes. I ate dinner around 8:30. I use to eat the heaviest meals in lunch but was seeing that much progress so I had to quickly change that up.


I don't know what your goal is but if you tell me I might be able to help out because I have a couple of gym buddies who were losing weight and look pretty nice now :)

I was skinny fat so I was in a bit of a predicament. If I went down in weight I would become underweight because of my height but if I gained weight I would gain weight in my stomach even more.
I don’t have extra fat atm that I don’t want on me alhamdulilah. Just trying to get my core strength up more while gaining weight. I forget to exercise some days as I'm not a schedule type of person but try to be do planks when I remember. My goal is to be able to defend myself better if necessary.

Currently, I exercise in my own private space. I recently lost some weight unintentionally because of fasting and getting rid of sugar in my diet. Did not notice it until I got on the scale.

Yea I will up my water intake and try to stay consistent with eating. Thank you.
 
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@nanagriffithphobe when she typed this.
 
Hello, I've been a bit confused when Somali guys and even some gyals say it's "hard to gain muscle" and "our genetics suck". First of all, I only know 3 Somali guys at my gym and all 3 of them are buff but ill talk about myself.

So I started going to the gym for 8 months in a lean bulk. For reference I was 133lb now I'm 150lb with 17 to 20% body fat on the taller side. Going to the gym wasn't that hard for me because I find it really fun ( I see it as an adult playground) but it was more so the eating part. I knew there was no point in going if was eating enough protein.

I went into a chronic obsession with researching food because I realized I would have to eat 150-160 grams of protein to reach my goal and consuming that much would be very hard considering I'm a woman.). I found sooner the best cost-efficient foods that were high in protein 2 of them being Somali. I ate the same five foods for 4 months I liked them so I didn't mind haha :).

I was eating 140-150 grams of protein a day 4 months in.

Things were changing fast.......

I deadass was shocked because my female peers and random women in the changing room were asking about my routine and complemented my physic.... some even think I've been going to the gym for quite some time:)

Okay to be honest I might have won A genetic lottery because this bodybuilder woman in the changing room saw me lat spreading in the mirror and asked me how my lats were so aesthetic :yloezpe: ( i don't work my lats much).


The point of this thread is just to tell other Somali folks that, who the duck cares what other Somalis say about our bad "genetics". JUST GO! Eat enough and be consistent with the programming of your following. It takes trial a lot of trial and error. Focus on yourself and stop comparing yourself to some random Russian bodybuilder on gear.

Gym culture is pretty new to Somalis. We don't have enough research on what and what doesn't work with the Somali body. Another reason why you should stop comparing yourself to randoms in the gym is that they can probably search up "best leg workouts for east Asians" or "high in protein Russian food" while you are fighting tooth and nail to find out how much protein is in a Somali food that's been passed down by generations that don't have exact measurements.

This is not to say Somali have 0 bad genetics but peeps are making it out overall everybody that can gain muscle is impossible with the Somali body.

Lastly, stop complaining because there are people in the gym with wheelchairs and disabilities who still show up. Allah SWT has blessed most of us with a normal functioning body.
I'm naturally very athletic and I am more muscular then i would of chosen to be majority of my life. Ive never heard that so idk where somalis have bad genetics or can't grow muscles came from besides we are from africa, not Chinese or Nepalese or any shorter , rounder people. why would anyone think we could be disadvantaged when it comes to gym?
I believe we have a advantage if anything
 
I'm naturally very athletic and I am more muscular then i would of chosen to be majority of my life. Ive never heard that so idk where somalis have bad genetics or can't grow muscles came from besides we are from africa, not Chinese or Nepalese or any shorter , rounder people. why would anyone think we could be disadvantaged when it comes to gym?
I believe we have a advantage if anything
exactly like i feel like i have we have an advantage. I don't play soccer, basketball, or running. I do martial arts but other women think I'm good at those sports even though I thought I'm bad at sports that involve a lot of cardio :ftw9nwa: You know what I think the problem is I'm not Somali American but those guys might be going through an overeating endemic because I really do believe our genes don't suck other then our calves nevertheless anyone can work through that .

All in all, I believe this ideology that spread is due to the fact the average Somali is skinny fat. When you're skinny fat its annoying in which option you want to go through in terms of dieting. Body recomp is ideal but its a long process and you have to track your macros like crazyyyy. Its also really hard to track your body fat percentage
 
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