[quote]bloodVeins wrote:
Early attempts at cutting have resulted in fat slowly disappearing along with some significant muscle loss, hence my hesitation at introducing cardio and cutting down.
my biggest challenge will be figuring out how to minimize muscle loss during a cutting phase.
[/quote]
there is an alternative to these extremes of bulking and cutting. but first, let’s review:
too many kcals, too little activity = excessive fat gain
too few kcals, too much cardio = loss of fat and muscle.
as implied, the middle ground combines increasing your caloric expenditure (lifting heavy weights, less rest time between sets, high intensity cardio)…
…while also making damn sure you’re eating enough to support your increased LBM’s metabolic needs.
[quote]PGJ wrote:
The key is High Intensity, short duration cardio AND a lifting program that actually makes you sweat and breathe hard the whole time. Lift hard, take a short break (nothing over 60 seconds) then lift again (even if you’re still out of breath). Keep that pace up for 60 minutes and you will seriously get your metabolism going.
I know everyone’s got a program that is foolproof, but I did the Body-for-Life program and it made a huge difference. A great eating program that will change your eating habits and a kick-ass workout routine based on max-effort/low rep lifting followed immediately by high rep burnouts that will have you gasping for air and your muscles screaming. [/quote]
PGJ, Thanks again for your suggestions.
I’m currently doing FBT and I’m enjoying this. The first session everyweek is similar to what you’re describing above with short rest periods and heavy weights. The other 2 sessions varies. Should I continue with this or think about doing a 10x3 type lifting pgm? I’ll also be introducing cardio twice a week.
Appreciate any suggestions.
[quote]chillain wrote:
too many kcals, too little activity = excessive fat gain
too few kcals, too much cardio = loss of fat and muscle.
as implied, the middle ground combines increasing your caloric expenditure (lifting heavy weights, less rest time between sets, high intensity cardio)…
…while also making damn sure you’re eating enough to support your increased LBM’s metabolic needs.
[/quote]
Thanks for that mate, I think I’m going to maintain the amount of calories I’m taking and increase my activity levels with Cardio being introduced, I was thinking twice a week for 2-3 weeks and then re-evaluate my training pgm after that.
The muscle loss I was talking about earlier may have been due to a miscalculation of how much food I needed to eat to support a lot of weights and cardio.
Thanks again.
bV