Hey guys, I need some advice. Ive been working out for about a year now, I started out at 145-150lbs, and now I am up to 165-170 lbs. Should I start my cut now? Keep in mind that I am also only 5’4 so 170 is alot of weight to be carrying for someone my height. My goal is to gain strength and mass, but I think that im carrying around probably too much body fat right now. Also, whenever I do begin my cut should I decrease/stop usage of protein/creatine?
Pictures say more then words could ever say…
protein you need more when you cut. creatine i dunno since i dont use it.
however if you are gonna bulk again there is little point to cutting now.
you need body fat anyway in order to be strong.
So cutting would only be ideal when I reach an ideal strength/size? Any way I could work on losing some belly fat without hindering gains?
if you cut now and reached say 8% body fat, you’d gain back the fat pretty fast, unless you did heck of a lot of cardio and stuff. your body isnt meant to be at such a low body fat. fat is energy and it makes little sense for the body to stay with low energy reserves on purpose.
you cant choose where you’ll lose fat from. usually guys lose the love handles last.
if i were you i’d just reach the lean body mass i’d want first and then cut. unless you want to be like 230 pounds of lean mass then thats a different story.
personally im at ~102kgs right now and will keep eating till 115-120 so i can have 90-95kgs of lean body mass.
then i can diet down to 105-110
The bulking/cutting concept has its draw backs, looking like a fat tub of lard for long periods of time.
If you are unhappy with your current level of body fat then cut. When you cut you will need an ample amount of protein intake while there is no need for you to stop or limit your creatine intake, in fact it will increase your work capacity increasing the quality of your workouts while cutting.
Even a simple two week cut won’t effect your strength or lean mass levels while getting rid of a little bit of fat.
The major problem with waiting until you get the amount of lean mass and strength you want is that you are fat, and possibly over estimate your lean mass. During that more drastic cut you will lose a substantial amount of lean mass and strength.
My new theory is to get lean, then slowly get bigger all while keep body fat in check.
Just a suggestion. If you are putting on weight but too much fat, cut your calories a bit. If you are still putting on weight but it does not look like fat, stay there (eventually you will need more calories to gain). This might help you lean as you put on some muscle (some can do this, some cannot).
Consider your end goal.
There is little to no need to put on retarded amounts of fat when trying to get bigger or stronger. Tons of amateur and pro level athletes get farking strong and maintain 10-15% bf levels year round.
Just clean up your diet and get some interval energy systems work in there and you will lean up while still gaining strength/size.
By clean up your diet I mean keep carbs low GI/GL and after training only and protein/fat the rest of the time. If you are porking up then you are seriously overestimating the amount of carbs you need from non veggie sources.
-chris
[quote]Zagman wrote:
My new theory is to get lean, then slowly get bigger all while keep body fat in check.[/quote]
And that’s just what I’m doing man.
I cut from 195 to 179, now I’m building back up.
I think that its great, I’m lean and as I add weight, I’m going to stay lean. That way, I will always look good naked.
If you want to be lean, cut. If yo uwanna be big; eat more and forget about fat/carbs.
[quote]lordstorm88 wrote:
protein you need more when you cut. creatine i dunno since i dont use it.
however if you are gonna bulk again there is little point to cutting now.
you need body fat anyway in order to be strong. [/quote]
sorry im gonna have to disagree . . you DO NOT need fat in order to be strong
this guy from a recent article looks strong to me. . ?
OP. ‘bulking’ is over rated and then ‘cutting’ phases are then done arseways with 1. too much calorie restriction and 2. training programmes change because ‘oh im eating less and losing weight so i must lift lighter and do alot less volume’ and most trainee’s end up losing most/if not all the muscle they put on in the bulking phase. . . eat plenty and clean and keep lifting and there’s no reason why anyone (who cares how they look) should ever be over 10 % IMHO
they are fat and lack the discipline required to eat clean all the time. cut up twice a year and take some pics of themselves to make them feel better when they’re eating cake the rest of the year.
[quote]bryan.kav wrote:
lordstorm88 wrote:
protein you need more when you cut. creatine i dunno since i dont use it.
however if you are gonna bulk again there is little point to cutting now.
you need body fat anyway in order to be strong.
sorry im gonna have to disagree . . you DO NOT need fat in order to be strong
this guy from a recent article looks strong to me. . ?
OP. ‘bulking’ is over rated and then ‘cutting’ phases are then done arseways with 1. too much calorie restriction and 2. training programmes change because ‘oh im eating less and losing weight so i must lift lighter and do alot less volume’ and most trainee’s end up losing most/if not all the muscle they put on in the bulking phase. . . eat plenty and clean and keep lifting and there’s no reason why anyone (who cares how they look) should ever be over 10 % IMHO
[/quote]
Yup. He’s right! I’ve been leaning up for the past 10 months and only gotten stronger. Impossible? Nope. Fact. Make sure you lift heavy, eat clean every 2-3 hours, and don’t be afraid of cardio. Say no to twinkies and do high intensity cardio and you shouldn’t need to get fat to put on muscle… Oh yeah and drink a shit load of water.
good stuff someone whos not a donkey . . they are fat and lack the discipline required to eat clean all the time. cut up twice a year and take some pics of themselves to make them feel better when they’re eating cake the rest of the year.
[quote]bryan.kav wrote:
good stuff someone whos not a donkey . . they are fat and lack the discipline required to eat clean all the time. cut up twice a year and take some pics of themselves to make them feel better when they’re eating cake the rest of the year. [/quote]
LOL sounds about right. And if you want advice on cardio you won’t hate train Muay Thai, if you have the jaw. You will be 10% BF in no time…
EDIT:
http://www.T-Nation.com/article/bodybuilding/nutrition_for_newbies_part_1&cr=
http://www.T-Nation.com/article/bodybuilding/nutrition_for_newbies_part_2&cr=
And you’ll be glad if you buy this book…
I appreciate all the info from all of you guys, I think ill try to throw in some cardio on my off days to help shed some fat. would some HIIT be an effective choice? Nutrition is probably the biggest factor, I definetly will have to work on that. I’ll try to get a pic up sometime as long as I can get a hold of a digital camera.
[quote]buckeye22 wrote:
I appreciate all the info from all of you guys, I think ill try to throw in some cardio on my off days to help shed some fat. would some HIIT be an effective choice? Nutrition is probably the biggest factor, I definetly will have to work on that. I’ll try to get a pic up sometime as long as I can get a hold of a digital camera. [/quote]
HIIT would be a great choice. Or you could do some steady state in the morning before breakfast or right after the weight session. Keep in mind that cardio is not going to specifically “shed fat” it is going to increase your daily caloric expenditure due to activity. You’ll have to find a balance of nutrition and intake with your activity to still gain, but keep the fat in check.
So postworkout cardio is okay? I thought I had read somewhere before that cardio after a workout would hinder that day’s workout? Again I appreciate all the help, much better response rate from you guys than at bb.com
So postworkout cardio is okay? I thought I had read somewhere before that cardio after a workout would hinder that day’s workout? Again I appreciate all the help, much better response rate from you guys than at bb.com
So it is okay to so some postworkout cardio? I remember hearing or reading about how you were not supposed to do that?
i wouldnt advocate it usually but a high intensity short bout of HIIT wouldnt hurt at the end of a session once your not on a treadmill picking your nose for an hour
oh forgot the smiley 