This.
Pushups are a solid move, especially if you’re not using barbells right now.
Don’t forget narrow pushups for some more tricep and Pike Pushups (face down, ass up) for your shoulders.
If you want to loose fat, not muscles, I would plan for a Not Aggressive cut. Go slow and steady, don’t rush. You don’t want to drop calories really fast, kill your energy, flatten your muscles and deplete yourself.
Start with a mild defecit, like the minimum to loose fat. And keep the weights up and training serious to keep your muscles.
Then, as your cut drags on you can make your defecit slightly bigger to keep up the weight loss. Instead of dropping super low right away and leaving yourself no where to go.
Save the light weights for a couple months into your cut. Keep up the heavy weights until you get too tired/sucked out to mess with them. Then switch to lighter weights/higher reps. You should be able to make some progress because of the “newness” of those weights/rep ranges, even though you’re starting to get tired.
Keep up the solid work!
3 Likes
Thanks man. I originally thought about cutting aggressively because I cut fat really easily and quickly, but i also gain it quickly. I suppose it becomes a never ending cycle sometimes because it’s easy to lose discipline when bulking. I will go with the approach you recommended for sure. Also, how much cardio would you recommend? A couple months ago, I was running about 20 miles a week at a fast pace (for me at least) of 7:20 a mile. I stopped because I noticed a big decline in muscle mass. Maybe interval sprints would be better, I’m thinking but I’m not sure. My goal is really just sub 10% bf and 18 inch arms and proportion. Thanks for your thoughts.
1 Like
20 miles, 7:30. That’s like 2.5-3 hours of cardio a week. That seems like a good amount, but running is too tough for me. I’d get crushed by that and lose muscles too.
You may need to start with an easier form of cardio, and get accoustomed to the work load for awhile. Then you can crank up the intensity.
I’m kinda busy lately, so my “Cardio” is stroller pushing while walking the dogs. I get like three 12 minutes sessions a day. By the end of the week it adds up and doesn’t take much out of me. But I’d need to get in better shape to be able get much from running or sprints.
1 Like
I think impact makes a huge difference in how much cardio takes from you. 3 hours of riding a bike is not as difficult, recovery-wise, as 3 hours of running
That’s true. Running can bite you in the ass if you get into it too quickly.
Haha, those strolll rides. I’m very familiar as i have a 80 lb 4 year old and a 30 lb 1.5 year old. I take my kids for walks where my 4 year old is on his bike, i got my younger one on a carrier and i got my 90lb dog on a leash. My dogs a terrible walker, so i end up dragging him half of the time. I never had much recovery issues when I was running. 7:20 pace is good pace for me, but very manageable as my best 5k around 3 months was around 6:30 pace per mile. I think I’ll probably run 10 miles a week to limit muscle loss and just watch the diet closely.
2 Likes
Unless it’s hill climbs
2 Likes
Either way, really. Running uphill doesn’t wreck my knees the same, but biking uphill is worse than flat