Hello all, Iam 18 and have been lifting for 4 years now, and i feel i am at the point where i have attained an appreciable amount of mass(and unfortunately fat too). I weight 210lbs, and i would estimate right now that my body fat percentage is anywhere between 16-20% (obviously i have no actual number). Now my question is how do you guys up in the 200’s retain that amount of mass and still get ridiculously lean? Obviously i could drop weight by just not eating, but i want to preserve every ounce of muscle. What are some of your experiences?
I was considering either a Low Carb diet, or keeping my current macro nutrients ratios the same but reducing the quantity and increasing cardio? any input would be much appreciated. Thanks.
There’s no need to drop calories by much. If you’re maintaining weight right now, then just drop by about 500 cals. Obviously it depends on your metabolism, if it’s slow then quite a big drop would be needed. Just do it gradually, not all at once. If we assume the worst, that you’re 20% fat, then this means you’d need to loose around 20lbs of fat to get down to 10% bf…which would take roughly 12 weeks (it’s always quite easy to drop fat after the 10% mark).
Since you are still young, (likely) have high test levels, and it’s your first diet, it wouldn’t surprise me if you manage to gain a little muscle while loosing fat (so although the scale may not move much, your stomach will get smaller etc)…use callipers to measure the progress. It may not be until the 6th week or so before the scale starts to drop, but if the callipers are going down, you’re progressing. If you’re strength maintains, or even slightly increases, great, you’re likely maintaining muscle.
Personally, I’m a fan of HIIT. If you do the same, just start off with 20 mins HIIT done twice a week. If no fat is lost, then do a third session. Increase time per session until you’re loosing fat each week. Do all this with exercise first, and if you’re still not loosing fat each week at the “maximum cardio level”, reduce calories by 500 each week until you are. So, increase cardio first, if that fails, decrease calories - that order…
[quote]its_just_me wrote:
it’s always quite easy to drop fat after the 10% mark
[/quote]
I hope you’re being sarcastic…[/quote]
Don’t know if you understood that right; I meant it’s easier to loose fat when you’re somewhere above 10%, but harder when you get as low as 10% (generally speaking).
[quote]its_just_me wrote:
it’s always quite easy to drop fat after the 10% mark
[/quote]
I hope you’re being sarcastic…[/quote]
Don’t know if you understood that right; I meant it’s easier to loose fat when you’re somewhere above 10%, but harder when you get as low as 10% (generally speaking).[/quote]
[quote]its_just_me wrote:
it’s always quite easy to drop fat after the 10% mark
[/quote]
I hope you’re being sarcastic…[/quote]
Don’t know if you understood that right; I meant it’s easier to loose fat when you’re somewhere above 10%, but harder when you get as low as 10% (generally speaking).[/quote]
Both your posts are quite the opposite.
[/quote]
Sorry, it was a bad way of writing it
Rewritten =
“easier to loose fat AFTER the 10% mark (in other words, when you increase bodyfat PAST the 10% mark)”
[quote]its_just_me wrote:
“easier to loose fat AFTER the 10% mark (in other words, when you increase bodyfat PAST the 10% mark)”[/quote]
How exactly does one “loose” fat, and is doing so a good thing?[/quote]
You mobilize fat; therfore you could loose it. Some would say loosen and would be correct as well.
[/quote]
thanks guys, i believe have read the article on “destroying fat” by CT,has anyone tried it before? what are some of your guys experiences dropping fat on other programs? a lot of strength lost? did it take you guys months, or even years? what are some tricks you found out on how to eat well while being busy with jobs,school,etc… thanks for the input.
[quote]olympianiac wrote:
thanks guys, i believe have read the article on “destroying fat” by CT,has anyone tried it before? what are some of your guys experiences dropping fat on other programs? a lot of strength lost? did it take you guys months, or even years? what are some tricks you found out on how to eat well while being busy with jobs,school,etc… thanks for the input. [/quote]
Haven’t looked at that program yet…but, losing fat isn’t rocket science. No need to be dependant on an author to tell you exactly what to do. Obviously, pick up tips/principles along the way, but you just need to “get your feet wet” (so to speak) and get stuck in with experimenting. You just need to tweak things yourself until you’re loosing a bit each week. You need to find the calorie “sweet spot”, the right amount of cardio etc.
I wouldn’t overcomplicate things by completely changing your training for the sake of fat loss. Weight lifting is for building/maintaining muscle, cardio is for fat loss - don’t let the two get mixed up (like some authors seem to be fond of doing lol). Maybe you could do that when into the single digit bodyfat levels but you’re only needing a general recomp (nothing too difficult).
Like I said, increase cardio until fat loss happens, and stick to that for a while. Then, maybe you’ll need to lower calories…but you’ll maintain muscle much better by “burning fat off”, as opposed to “starving it off”. As long as you don’t overdo the cardio (about 3 sessions of HIIT seems to be a good max…generally speaking) - it’s when people drop calories by far too much when they tend to lose a lot of muscle.
How come when you say choose, that’s present tense, (ie the verb chose), and when you say chose, that’s past tense…and yet when you say loose and lose, they’re almost completely different words???
So…
Choose = verb chose
Loose = not fastened (not verb lose)???
Also, chose is pronounced with an “oh-z”, and choose is pronounced with an “ooze”…but that’s not done with lose and loose???
Where do I lodge my complaint about the English language?
