Alright,
I’m about 5-10lbs heavier than I want to be for when spring break comes up in ~20 days. I don’t mind hardwork and I’m following a 4-day cycle wave training program. I get 7-8 hours of rest each night and follow proper post workout nutrition. I am planning on a cutting or maintenance diet to lose the extra 5-10 lbs. I was thinking of taking hot rox to supplement my cardio and weight lifting. If anyone has any good or bad experiences please respond.
mike
Mike, Hot Rox is an awesome supp, but the diet part of things has to be dialed in, too. Realistically, if everything is perfect, you could safely lose 4.5 pounds of weight before Spring Break, most of it fat. But any more than that and you’ll be sacrificing an unacceptable amount of LBM.
Do a search on T-Mag for SwoleCat by changing the default from T-forums to T-mag and click on the “7 Days to Ultimate Leanness” article. That approach and the 4 pounds you can lose between now and then ought to give you the results for which you’re looking.
Have fun!!! (grin)
I had and have great experience with me and my GF, try to do as much activity as you can (i.e volume of aerobics) as it will burn the fat on hot-rox more then diet and lifting alone
While Hot Rox is great and will help, you must have diet in line to make progress. I would get that straight first. Then if needed use Hot Rox to get through a plateau not as a crutch.
Hot Rox is awesome and the “7 Days” article recommended above would be great for the last week. Might gain that water weight back quickly though so you may not look ripped the whole time.
Thanks for the replies guys. I know I can’t lose over about 5 lbs without really hurting my gains I have made. Right now I think my diet is decent. While I was bulking I was taking in ~4200 kcals a day in a ~33,33,33 p to f to c ratio. I was doing 2 hours of basketball practice, lifting, and my normal daily activities so that was up from about 3500 kcals which is approximately my maintenance. I try to keep P+F and P+C meals together and try to split it up into 5-7 meals a day. PWO nutrition is creatine, gatorade mix, and water in a 2:1 ratio. My diet typically looks like this:
Breakfast: either oatmeal with protein and bannana or 3 eggs, protein shake, milk
Snack: Natty pb sandwich (~4 tbspoons on whole wheat bread)
Lunch: White Rice, Tuna, Corn, possibly salsa depending on taste
Snack: Natty pb sandwich (same size as above)
Dinner: Lean ground beef (~1/2-2/3 lb)broccoli or spinach, skim milk
Bedtime Snack: 1/2 -1 cup cottage cheese and 12oz skim milk
I usually try to get ~600-700 cals per meal and over 6 meals a day that works out pretty well. Any advice on diet would be helpful as well. Currently I’m on the Tsuanmi plan, it worked last year to help put on some lean mass while bulking and i like the intensity so i’m giving it another try again. Any advice is welcome.
mike
Mike it would be a total dietary overhaul compared to what you’re doing currently, but take a look at the T-Dawg 2.0 diet.
Re your PWO nutrition, you’re definitely missing out. Read JB’s article on “Solving the Post Workout Puzzle,” I & II.
If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
So by pointing me to Berardi’s articles your saying I should consume more carbs/protein at ~64 grams of carbs and ~32 grams of protein. I could see that, it still about 2:1 but definately a bit higher than I do now. I will look into trying this over the next few weeks to see how my gains progress. Also I have ordered some hot rox and will give them a try but will taking creatine affect the use of this supp? You mentioned the t-dawg diet, do you mind if I ask why? I am just curious if you see some fundamental flaws in my diet or the like. Please let me know,
I’d also like to point out your snack food “Snack: Natty pb sandwich (~4 tbspoons on whole wheat bread” As Tampa-Terry mentioned on another thread “Adding flaxseed oil to oatmeal is your classic F+C meal. It’s a body composition no-no.” You’re basically eating a F+C meal twice per day. Hot-Rox should be at the bottom of your list of things to do right now. Much more important is dialing in your diet (# of calories per day, macronutrient breakdown of each meal, meal timing, etc.). Hot-Rox isn’t going to do much for you if you’re diet is not in order.
Mike, first off there are no flaws in your current diet. If you’re happy with your approach and it works for you, there’s nothing wrong with sticking with it. I wouldn’t be offended in the least.
T-Dawg 2.0 is a carb-restricted (but not overly low) approach that allows you extra carbs for PWO nutrition. It’s probably my favorite diet here on the forum because it gets people great results without their feeling too terribly deprived, and it’s easy to tweak/adjust. It also is based on P+F and P+C food combining principles, which we’re huge on 'round here. (grin)
PWO there are a couple of goals. You want to drop cortisol levels, enhance/increase protein synthesis and start the process of refilling glycogen stores. That 2:1 ratio of HIGH glycemic carbs to a SMALL hydrolysate protein molecule that’s easily/quickly absorbed does exactly what you want it to. PWO is the ONLY time you really want to spike insulin.
In answer to your question, you can use creatine with Hot Rox, no problem. It will not interfere with or inhibit fat loss.
If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask.
Thanks for the advice guys. I think right now I’ll tough it out by increasing my cardio level/intensity and stick with the current lifting program i’m using and see how I am in a couple weeks. I seem to gain/lose weight easily and I think with a little hard work I can lose enough to look decent for break, granted no bay watch body here. If after I get back from spring break, I don’t feel I’m where I want to be then I’ll probably look at re-arranging my diet but I might decide to try bulking again (mmm food) depending on where I am in 3-4 weeks and how my progress on my current routine has been.
mike
Sounds like a plan!
Re cardio, take a look at HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). It’s short and (not so) sweet, but, oh, so effective at creating an oxygen deficit, giving your metabolism a serious kick in the but and increasing fat oxidation for a good 12 hours afterwards.
Have a great time on your Spring Break. (grin)