Coming up on 4 weeks of a program and I might shake things up a bit. I am currently cutting and have gotten noticeble leaner in the past 3 weeks. My diet consists of eggs, meats, chicken and nuts, with a protein shake and natural PB included throughout. About 2400 cals 94g fat 79g carbs and 240 protein. I’m 203.
I don’t care much about weight, just how lean i look. My question is on a potential peri workout change.
My current peri workout is
C-4 Extreme (no cals) Before
Gatorade (during weight workout) 80 cals 0 fat 21 g carbs 0 pro
Creatine (during 30 min cardio)
GNC AMPED Recovery Post 260 2 35 25
(taken right after 30 min cardio)
With FAT LOSS as my main goal, should I scrap the C-4 and Gatorade and switch to HOT-ROX extreme pre workout, creatine during cardio and Surge recovery post?
Noticebly leaner means I have definitely cut 2-3% body fat over these past 4 weeks. I have stayed the same weight but definitely notice more definition on my stomach…although I think I am still probably 10% body fat. I should add that over the past 6-8 months I have lost 35-40 lbs so I am adamant about continuing until I can see a solid six pack.
Plazma? It’s funny it doesn’t come up when I click on fat loss but looks like it would be used at pre and during my workout. Think I could get away with the three doses, having one before, during and after and not have the recovery drink? Only thing is it looks like I’d have to order 3 bottles of the stuff to go one month. And then use MAG-10 as my post workout.
However, I’m on a budget… and it seems like it would be 250.00 a month to do that.
OR it could be Surge Fuel and Surge Recovery for 122.00 for a months supply.
What do you think, would either be better than what I am doing now?
To answer your question, YES, I think any of those options would be better than what you are currently using. But I would always address diet and training first before worrying about supplements. Make sure your lifting workouts are intense, and that you are still going heavy and trying to get stronger each workout. And if you’re not doing Interval work for your cardio, now is the time to do so. What does your 30 minutes of cardio look like? It might be time to turn that into high intensity work.
Once you’ve addressed that, THEN it’s time to worry about your supplements. And the first thing I’d recommend is fish oil. Flameout is great. This alone, over time, will definitely help. And then, for your intra-workout nutrition, I wouldn’t go crazy. For trying to lose body fat, something like 20-25 grams of BCAA during workouts should be enough to keep you strong and recovered while not adding any significant calories.
Glutamine is another great supplement to take while dieting. I am personally using Plazma now, but at only 1 serving per workout, followed by one serving of MAG-10 post workout. And it’s going great. I am staying strong, feeling great the next day, and staying lean. I’m sure Surge could be used in a similar way.
Currently I simply do 30 min of steady state light jogging on a treadmill post weight workouts. My goal when I started this was to drop weight/body fat while doing lighter intensity workouts.
Work Outs currently look like this working either chest, quads, Hams/Low Back, Upper Back one day a week
5 x 5 Big Lift (Squat, Dead, Bench, Pull Up)
4 x 6-8 Secondary Lift (Inc Flys, Lunges, SLDL, 1 Arm Row)
3 x 8-10 Tertiary Lift ( Cable Cross, Low Row, Leg Ext, Leg Curl)
3 x MAX REP (Push Ups, Squat Jumps, Leg Raise from Mat, Straight Arm Lower)
The Idea here, is my muscles should fail during these from being previously trained.
First off, great job on transforming yourself! You’ve clearly worked hard and it shows.
Now, it also appears that your body fat levels are right around that point where you things begin to stall for most people. From MY EXPERIENCE, this has always been the point where I needed to do Interval training if I wanted to continue losing body fat. Your diet seems sound, and your workout program also appears very good, as long as you are focusing on getting stronger from workout to workout, especially in that 5x5 lift.
One thing that you might consider is doing a “A-B” system with your lifting. Basically “super-setting” push pull exercises (Pull ups with Presses, Rows with Bench, etc.). I definitely found that as an effective way to lose bodyfat while keeping strength. There’s plenty of programs on this site that explain how to program that, but a 3 day split of Chest & Back, Legs, and Shoulders & Arms is a solid plan.
But i definitely feel that the 30 minutes of cardio is the big limiting factor here. In my experience, it will only get you to a certain level, and if you want to continue to make progress, you have to advance to an interval style program. And get off the damn treadmill! It’s garbage. Sprinting, hill sprints, prowler pushes, etc. done in an intervals 2-3 times per week is the way to go now.
Now, you need to add mass if you want to see more muscles. Adding a peri workout nutrition strategy would be beneficial to you. And, as mentioned above, check your diet.
As for the work out, you are mixing philosophies. If you are doing that much work after a 5x5, then you are doing it wrong.
John Meadows has something similar. Reactive pump it’s called. Although, his set up makes more sense then what you are doing and there is actually a thought behind what he is doing.
