Thanks for the wonderful replies! You guys have definitely inspired me to alter my diet. In the past 5 years I’ve always followed similar diets when trying to shed body fat and it has been grilled into my brain. I’m so glad I have finally been able to see another light. BasicallY I have decided to add more fat into my diet while reducing carbs. I am actually quite excited to be able to add more fat to my diet because of the foods that I can now eat. Right now giving up carbs seems easy, but maybe after a couple weeks it’ll get hard
Franks,
It’s obvious your dedicated. But, >consider that maybe your time would >be better spent working on other >areas of your life rather than 6 days >a week at the gym. While dieting, >this is a lot of volume, probably. >I’d have to know what you were doing >to tell you - yes there are all >different schools of though about >volume, but it sounds like you just >might be working overtime.
This may very well be true, but I don’t go crazy in the gym for each of the 6 days. I like to split my muscle groups a lot… for example I do biceps and triceps on seperate days. I actually do every single muscle group on seperate days because I feel as though I can focus more on the muscle that way. I think this limits the volume per day. I try to hit every muscle group once per week. Do you still think this is overtime? I was always under the impression that when dieting, one should not reduce the amount of training in the gym?
Another question is… I train EXACTLY the same way I do when bulking when dieting. I still try to lift as much weight as psosible and do progressive sets of increasing sets. My rationale is that I am so afraid to lose strength and LBM so each day I try to make sure I still can lift as much as I did the previous week for that muscle group. Is this a bad idea?
Read Joel Marion’s “ripped rugged and dense” article. It will explain how you should train while dieting. I had more success with low reps while dieting than anything else.
How long have you been training “EXACTLY the same way”? If its been over 8 weeks you should think about a program change. Definitly check out the Joel’s article.
I notice a big difference on my leanness when I do HIIT (sprints). HIIT will definitly get the metabolism up.
This may very well be true, but I >don’t go crazy in the gym for each of >the 6 days. I like to split my muscle >groups a lot… for example I do biceps >and triceps on seperate days. I >actually do every single muscle group >on seperate days because I feel as >though I can focus more on the muscle >that way. I think this limits the
I’m speaking only from my experience, but I’m not sure I’d want to spend a lot of time working out the “outer” muscles when I’m trying to drop bf%. Yes, those muscles get hit hard but they aren’t going to be as significant in contributing to any metabolic boosts.
As JasonL mentions, reading Joel M’s article will clarify a lot of this, and checking out his revised version of his 5x5 will be of tremendous benefit. At the same time, you don’t have to do his split, but you do want to find one that isn’t going to overtax your lower back (this seems to happen more in hypo-caloric states). You also might be benefitting more from placing cardio or GPP work in place of every other day of weight-training. A 1-on-1-off split in the weightroom can be very useful if you are dieting. The cardio should be helpful in recovery to an extent. Additionally, you might want to consider throwing legs on first. I’ve gotten my best results using a split for 6 weeks that was hip dominant - upper body - quad dominant. This was with no cardio and a diet fairly similar to t-dawg. Additionally, I never worked to failure during this time, yet continued to gain strength in all lifts. I tried to keep my sets around 5-8 the first 3 weeks, and would drop the reps to 3-5 for the second three. Obviously, sets and reps varied but that was what I was using for the most important exercises. It worked for me, but it might not work for you.
strength and LBM so each day I try to >make sure I still can lift as much as >I did the previous week for that >muscle group. Is this a bad idea?
No, not at all. I would definitely not want to lose strength while dieting, particularly if you aren’t married to the idea of bodybuilding in any competitive sense. Joel M. said this in his RR&D article and it summarized that situation well: “Clearly, this is not optimal.” I would double check my intensities and working activities. Their is nothing wrong with high intensity (relative to a 1RM), but as far as how far you push it during the workout you can run into some problems when you are dieting. Basically, read Joel’s article, maybe check out some of Pavel’s stuff, and look into some of Coach Davies articles - all of these guys have fantastic ideas and everyone has gotten results with one of them.
Ok, with all the advice I have been receiving, here is how I’ve modified my diet.
Old Diet:
200g - Protein
30g - Fat
350g - Carbs
New Diet:
250g - Protein
70g - Fat
200g - Carbs
Total calories remains around 2500 daily. I am a 190 pound man so according to the formulas, i need about 3000 calories (190 * 16, 16 since I have slow metabolism).
So I realize this is NOT completely the T-Dawg diet, mainly cuz I still have too many carbs. I am afraid to lower my carbs to 100 suddenly so I am going to ease into it.
Questions:
Will I see progress despite the 200g of carbs?
I am still 500 calories under my daily requirements, so progress should still be made anyway right?
It just won’t be AS effective since I may not truly enter ketosis due to the higher carbs?
Perhaps the higher carbs might actually help me preserve LBM and actually help me put on some more muscle during this diet?
I try to have most (80%) of all the carbs I eat during the day prior to 3PM. The remainder of the day carbs only come from the post-workout meal. Would this help?
