Advice Needed on Fat Loss

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

I wasn’t sure where to post this question. Conditioning seemed the best option.

I train for strength, but I’ve taken on the new challenge of helping my wife get lean and strong after childbirth and years of not eating or exercising properly. She’s been working hard at it for 8 months now (It’s been nearly a year since our third child was born) and she has made good progress. After starting at 160lb, she now weighs in at 135lb at 5’8" with faintly visible abdominals (15% BF according to the Accumeasure Fattrack II electronic calipers, which use the 3 site method). Recently, however, her weight loss has stalled. I expect her weight is staying at 135lb because she is gaining muscle, but any suggested improvements to the following would be appreciated:

Overview of week
Mon - dumbbell circuit followed by 20 mins jump rope
Tues - hill sprints
Wed - upper body strength, hill sprints
Thurs - REST
Fri - dumbbell circuit followed by 20 mins jump rope
Sat - REST
Sunday - lower body strength, hill sprints

Upper body strength

  1. Press ups - 3 sets of max reps with 90 secs rest between sets
  2. 1 arm rows - 2 sets of 8 with 90 secs rest between sets
  3. 1 arm press - 2 sets of 8 with 90 secs rest between sets
  4. Ab wheel rollout - 2 sets of 8 with 90 secs rest between sets
  5. Dumbbell swings and sledgehammer swings finisher. 8 x 20 secs work/10 secs rest on each.

Lower body strength

  1. Squat - 1 set of 8, then rest 120 secs and 1 set of 5
  2. Deadlift - 1 set of 5
  3. Ab wheel rollout - 2 sets of 8 with 90 secs rest between sets
  4. Dumbbell swings and sledgehammer swings finisher. 8 x 20 secs work/10 secs rest on each.

Dumbbell circuit

  1. Hammer curl 5 reps - use to set weight for circuit (currently 23lb per dumbbell)
  2. Hang clean 10 reps
  3. Forward lunge 10 reps each leg
  4. Single leg RDL 10 reps each leg
  5. 1 arm swing 10 reps each arm
  6. Push press squat 10 reps
    Rest 90 secs, then repeat circuit. No rest between exercises. Circuit completed 4 times.

Hill sprints
12 sprints up an 80 metre hill with a very slight incline. She has a sub-13 sec 100 metre time and loves to sprint.

Diet
6 am - 200g cottage cheese, 100g berries, 1 piece of fruit, 1tbsp flax
9 am - 1 scoop whey, 1tbsp omega-3 oil
12 am - 200g fish/turkey/mozzarella cheese, large green salad, 1 tbsp olive oil
3 pm - 1 scoop whey, 1 tbsp omega-3 oil
6pm - 200g steak or 3 eggs, large serving steamed green veg, 1 tbsp mixed nuts and seeds
After 6pm - green tea

Carb up on Wednesday and Sunday after strength training with 100g of carbs from sweet potatoes and roughly 50g of carbs from something sweet.

TOTALS: 50g carbs max, 170-180g protein, 50g fat. 150g extra carbs on high carb days.

Current stength levels:
Deadlift 176lbx5
Squat (just below parallel) 135lbx5
1 arm press 30lbx5
Press ups 8 reps with chest touching ground on each
1 arm rows 50lbx8

So far I’ve just said shoot for the next 10% on all your lifts, stay consistent and be patient. What about 30 mins of fasted cardio (just walking) every morning? Sets/reps changes?

Thanks in advance.

2

1068×787 119 KB

Does she want to be any lower than 15%? 15% is incredible! That is some very impressive work there! But 8 straight months of fat loss/conditioning??? There’s a reason Cosgrove’s “Warped Speed Fat Loss” is only 28 days, and a program like Chad Waterbury’s “Body of Fire” is only 12 weeks. I would with all my conviction recommend you shift gears with her and get her working on strength…and I mean STRENGTH (sets of 8 are not pure strength). Check out Jimmy Wendler’s 5-3-1.

I would also recommend a lot more fat in the diet. During my last cutting phase (I dropped 26 lbs of fat and went from 20% to 9%) my diet slowly shifted to about 50% fat, 35% protein, 15% carbs. I mean good fat…natural fats from fish, coconut milk, darker animal meats, etc. The FDA and mainstream media has us all brainwashed into thinking fat is the enemy. Our bodies need fat, and from an evolutionary perspective the more fat we take in the less our bodies need to store it. It’s also great for recovery.

For my own credibility, I’ve attached a photo of my recent transformation between Feb. 1 and July 20. It was the first time I’ve seen results like this in my life, and the huge difference was when my friend convinced me to cut grains, and get more fat in my diet. I also did it training just 3 days/week. You might be overtraining her too.

3

FWIW- I’ve seen dairy stall fat loss. Lots of sugar in milk.
It also leeches calcium from bones. Not good for the ladies.

4

[quote]Wlfdg wrote:
FWIW- I’ve seen dairy stall fat loss. Lots of sugar in milk.
It also leeches calcium from bones. Not good for the ladies.[/quote]

Second that!

5

[quote]Wlfdg wrote:
FWIW- I’ve seen dairy stall fat loss. Lots of sugar in milk.
It also leeches calcium from bones. Not good for the ladies.[/quote]

How does dairy (milk) leech calcium? I thought milk added calcium.