First of all, thanks for all of the feedback. the impetus behind this decision was a simple one: i recently decided to “cut”. i upped my cardio considerably and, subsequently, dropped a total of about 10 lbs. much to my dismay.
However, was the fact that an unacceptable amount of this 10 lb. total was muscle mass. i thought about this at great length and, after some soul-searching, decided to simply remove cardio from the equation to try to regain the lost muscle and, possibly, gain some new muscle.
I basically came to the conclusion that the reason i’ve always done cardio (and the reason i recently increased it) is because i’ve been afraid of getting fat. the results of this experiment will show me how valuable cardio truly is in staying lean (a topic that, as you all know, is quite debatable.)
[quote]joe shumsky wrote:
First of all, thanks for all of the feedback. the impetus behind this decision was a simple one: i recently decided to “cut”. i upped my cardio considerably and, subsequently, dropped a total of about 10 lbs. much to my dismay.
However, was the fact that an unacceptable amount of this 10 lb. total was muscle mass. i thought about this at great length and, after some soul-searching, decided to simply remove cardio from the equation to try to regain the lost muscle and, possibly, gain some new muscle.
I basically came to the conclusion that the reason i’ve always done cardio (and the reason i recently increased it) is because i’ve been afraid of getting fat. the results of this experiment will show me how valuable cardio truly is in staying lean (a topic that, as you all know, is quite debatable.) [/quote]
were you lifting heavy enough? The body doesn’t need that muscle you had if you were not lifting heavy. Anyway, all is not lost. You would gain that muscle back quickly when you do decide to “bulk”. Also check your calorie intake, nutrition, etc.
i really don’t understand what anyone on this sight talks about considering bulking and cutting. I think you use bulking as an excuse to just stuff your face, however “Clean” your diet is, and use the term “cutting” just to sound cool. Last time I checked, its possible to lose fat and build muscle at the same time.
It just doesn’t happen as quickly as going all out, eating 3500 calories a day and seeing the scale go up just for the sake of seeing it go up. If you have proper post work out and a proper diet, you can shed fat while at least maintaing and gaining lean muscle while soley lifting weights. And a session or two of cardio isn’t going to cause you to lose muscle mass, assuming your idea of cardio isn’t running a marathon. Pick up basketball or some type of sport is easy enough. But like i said, its not a must for losing fat. Keep your calories in check! Just tweaking a diet a little bit is all you need to do.
And if you disagree with your diet being the most important part of your physique then you have missed the boat on what all the coaches on the sight have said.
but this is for people trying to get into the teen ranges of body fat percentage. if you are going for single digits, you have to bust your balls on something.
[quote]ttombobadly wrote:
i really don’t understand what anyone on this sight talks about considering bulking and cutting. I think you use bulking as an excuse to just stuff your face, however “Clean” your diet is, and use the term “cutting” just to sound cool. Last time I checked, its possible to lose fat and build muscle at the same time. It just doesn’t happen as quickly as going all out, eating 3500 calories a day and seeing the scale go up just for the sake of seeing it go up. If you have proper post work out and a proper diet, you can shed fat while at least maintaing and gaining lean muscle while soley lifting weights. And a session or two of cardio isn’t going to cause you to lose muscle mass, assuming your idea of cardio isn’t running a marathon. Pick up basketball or some type of sport is easy enough. But like i said, its not a must for losing fat. Keep your calories in check! Just tweaking a diet a little bit is all you need to do. And if you disagree with your diet being the most important part of your physique then you have missed the boat on what all the coaches on the sight have said.
but this is for people trying to get into the teen ranges of body fat percentage. if you are going for single digits, you have to bust your balls on something. [/quote]
You think 3500kcal is a lot? That IS my reduced diet. Used to be 7000.
You think 3500kcal is a lot? That IS my reduced diet. Used to be 7000.
You’re 6’4", only 200 pounds, have only been lifting for 7 months, and you were eating 7,000 calories a day?
That doesn’t even make sense.
For what it’s worth, I’ve been eating a little over 5000 kcals a day lately, and it seems to be helping me. I’m 5’8" and 190 btw. [/quote]
You have significantly more muscle than a guy at 6 4 and only 200 pounds. More muscle = more calories needed. Not to mention you’re eating almost 2000 calories less than him.
I’m only 5’ 7" and i have added about 15-20 pounds of muscle and lost probably 15 pounds of fat over the past two years eating on average about 2600 calories at the most and no less than about 16-1800.
I have stayed at 155 for the past two months while continuously lifting and tweaking my diet and lost another few pounds of fat. But maybe I’m wrong, I just feel like slow and steady recomposition is the way to go.
[quote]ttombobadly wrote:
I’m only 5’ 7" and i have added about 15-20 pounds of muscle and lost probably 15 pounds of fat over the past two years eating on average about 2600 calories at the most and no less than about 16-1800.
I have stayed at 155 for the past two months while continuously lifting and tweaking my diet and lost another few pounds of fat. But maybe I’m wrong, I just feel like slow and steady recomposition is the way to go. [/quote]
No offense, but if I was only 155 pounds after 2 years of training I’d be pretty pissed off…so long as I didn’t blow away first.
[quote]LiftSmart wrote:
cyph31 wrote:
200 lbs and you eat 7000 kcal !?
what the hell, are you like sprinting all day long or something ?
No, I STOPPED eating 7000 because I was gaining too much fat.
It’s 3500 now and it’s working nicely.[/quote]
How long did you do this? If your building muscle now at 3500 calories/day that would mean you were putting on 1 pound of fat every day you were eating 7000 calories. It couldn’t have taken long to figure out how (insert negative word here) your strategy was.
Well for cardio, I lost about 10lbs this month doing crossfit style workouts(5 days a week) n’ running(3miles, 4 days a week). Something about the combination of the metcon conditioning and the running really made the fat melt off.
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
LiftSmart wrote:
cyph31 wrote:
200 lbs and you eat 7000 kcal !?
what the hell, are you like sprinting all day long or something ?
No, I STOPPED eating 7000 because I was gaining too much fat.
It’s 3500 now and it’s working nicely.
How long did you do this? If your building muscle now at 3500 calories/day that would mean you were putting on 1 pound of fat every day you were eating 7000 calories. It couldn’t have taken long to figure out how (insert negative word here) your strategy was.[/quote]
The first 3-4 months, I listened to advice telling me to eat like crazy, so I did. (All of it was excellent food)
I started at 150, at 190 I had a bit of a gut. Then I decided to switch to a less intense diet because I felt the fat gain was to disproportionate to the muscle gain.
I think I’m eating more like 4500 now because I’ve changed a few things since I calculated the 3500 figure.
I’m 200 now but I have abs again.
I think finishing puberty and filling out had some part to play with the amount of muscle I have gained in this short time.
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
ttombobadly wrote:
I’m only 5’ 7" and i have added about 15-20 pounds of muscle and lost probably 15 pounds of fat over the past two years eating on average about 2600 calories at the most and no less than about 16-1800.
I have stayed at 155 for the past two months while continuously lifting and tweaking my diet and lost another few pounds of fat. But maybe I’m wrong, I just feel like slow and steady recomposition is the way to go.
No offense, but if I was only 155 pounds after 2 years of training I’d be pretty pissed off…so long as I didn’t blow away first.[/quote]
Well considering i’m not 6’ 4" , i doubt i can get away with eating 4,000 calories a day. and i’m not going to go on a bulking phase if there is ample body fat to lose. Just seems like a bad idea.
[quote]ttombobadly wrote:
Because I’m trying to get my body fat percentage around 9% and eating 4000 calories i don’t think is the way to do it. [/quote]
The point we’re making is that you shouldn’t worry about body fat %. Worry about adding muscle to your small, girly frame. At 155 pounds, you’re a very small person.
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
ttombobadly wrote:
Because I’m trying to get my body fat percentage around 9% and eating 4000 calories i don’t think is the way to do it.
The point we’re making is that you shouldn’t worry about body fat %. Worry about adding muscle to your small, girly frame. At 155 pounds, you’re a very small person.[/quote]
Exactly.
You think trying to gain muscle/lose fat at the same time is optimal? Keep dreaming.
I have some fat to lose, but it’s not so much that it’s a risk to my health and I am definitely better off putting the effort into building muscle first.