cutting or building?

[kkr]

I am about 204lbs, 5' 10', and about 26 percent body fat. my goal is to be about 180lbs with huge lean arms and shoulders and little body fat. what should I do first, lower my calories (carbs) and lift heavy to burn off excess body fat or just continue to eat moderate carbs to build muscle mass and hope to convert the fat to muscle? ANY and all replies appreciated.

[blitzkriegjim]

u cant convert fat into muscle ......

it sounds to me like you just want to lean out, so i would recommend cutting first. My experience, at least, is that I can gain muscle quicker when I am leaner. Your insulin sensitivity increases and you can handle carbs better. eat clean, drop the cals SLOWLY to preserve muscle and keep dropping the cals as you continue to lose weight. There are a couple of methods of cutting so I would just check the weight loss forum and find some info there. Plan out your diet well and think things through. It's rather easy when you get it down. How experienced are you with diet and training? Also, at the bf % you are at now, you will have to go much lower than 180 to have the leannes you are wanting. But my overall recommendation is for you to cut first and then bulk. Post your diet though, either here or in another forum here.

[kkr]

my current diet is; about 2000 cal, 180g of carbs, 60g of fat, 180g of protein. supps are, whey protein, size-on, no2 black, flax seed oil.

[kkr]

will this work for my cutting goals, lower cals to 1800, carbs to 150g, keep protein at 180g and healthy fats at 60g? also 3 day workout, reps at 8, hiit 3x a week?

[jonnyjames]

You can gain muscle while losing fat. The muscle gain won't be super significant though.

When I did it I would lift and lift fairly heavy doing about 10-12 reps per set. And I would always do at least 20 minutes of cardio after workouts, but when I was doing 30-40 minutes of light cardio after workouts I lost the most fat.

Just try to keep protien high in your diet and eat as clean as you can. And try not to go too far over your mantenance calories.

Hope this helps.

[suncloud]

lower the carbs, and do full body 5x5 every other day, supersetted with one minute rest after each superset. do not consume carbs within 3 hours after working out. also do 20 minutes of cardio when you first get up on an empty stomach.

[jonnyjames]

lower the carbs, and do full body 5x5 every other day, supersetted with one minute rest after each superset. do not consume carbs within 3 hours after working out. also do 20 minutes of cardio when you first get up on an empty stomach.

Fasted cardio is a great way to burn fat!

[kkr]

so it is possible to burn off body fat and gain muscle. i've read that while lowering carbs and doing hiit, your metabolism speeds up so its hard to build muscle mass. I currently do this: mon chest and tri, tue squats and hiit, wed back and bi, thur deadlifts and hiit, fri shoulder and traps, sat leg ext and hiit, sun rest. 3 sets 7 reps each, rest 2 to 3 min between sets. can I continue this routine and just up my reps?

[suncloud]

yeah, doing 5x5 with supersets, or HIIT or full body training, your metabolism goes through the roof. basically, you're raising your bodies growth hormone output, which shuts down as soon as you take in too many carbs at once. how many carbs that is depends on your body. pre workout carbs are fairly important, and post workout protein and mono fats are important as well. its not fun, but it is a way to cut a decent amount of body fat, while gaining a small amount of muscle.

the gains in muscle won't be huge, but should be noticeable (around 2 lbs muscle per month). the benefit is you're not doing a traditional "cutting" phase, where you loose fat and muscle.

the reason people fail in this workout is they don't realize how fast you should be getting in and out of the gym. think 30 minutes as a max time. also, your pulse should be over 150 without any cardio. lastly, you have to limit carbs post workout.

combine that with an early morning run before food/juice and you'll see progress pretty quick.

[kkr]

thanks everyone. so suncloud, your basically saying that I should be doing 3 fullbody workouts a week, each doing 5 sets and 5 reps? and only up to 30 mins a day? so the other days like tue thur and sat I should do hiit?

[kkr]

also how long is the rest time between sets and exerrcises? and should I be concentrating on compound movements?

can I have a example of a superset?

[suncloud]

compliments of beallio:

http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5...ining-program/

do this every other day, so MWFSu one week, then TThSat second week.

supersets are doing one exercise, and instead of taking a break, doing another exercise. keep doing this till you're done with both exercises. thats your first one minute break. its brutal, but you'll cut and build at the same time.

this workout will boost test as well as growth hormone (which is limited by carbs) so again, as little carbs as possible after the workout. don't forget about the cardio in the mornings - you can do those every day if you'd like. also, keep us updated of your progress.

[thaOrleanyte]

hiit baby! Also drop those carbs down. Also, do some research on CKD diet. Heard i works wonders, but takes alot of discipline

[kkr]

compliments of beallio:

http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5...ining-program/

do this every other day, so MWFSu one week, then TThSat second week.

supersets are doing one exercise, and instead of taking a break, doing another exercise. keep doing this till you're done with both exercises. thats your first one minute break. its brutal, but you'll cut and build at the same time. .

what would be the rest time between sets?

[suncloud]

what would be the rest time between sets?

very minimal. 60 seconds at most, 30 seconds are better. the time it takes you to walk over to the other machine is best - at least for burning fat. i take no breaks in my supersets, but take 1 minute break before switching to another superset.

[kkr]

I think I will start the "StrongLifts" 5x5 Beginner Strength Training Program, and do some HIIT Tu Th Sa. I will lower my calories 500 cal(from Carbs) below maintainence and keep protein high and mono and poly fats @ around 60-70g. Is it really necessary to go on a diet like CKD while doing the 5x5? Or just lower the carbs like I stated b4?

[suncloud]

either or. i didn't recommend CKD or TKD diets. thats very hard to stick to.

[kkr]

thanks for all your help so far. I will update everyone of my progress.

[kkr]

Just a quick question, I wakeup at 10am ( I work 2p-10p) and workout at 11am. For my fat loss/muscle building goals when can I and cannot eat carbs?

[suncloud]

post workout till the next morning limit them or make sure they are slow digesting like wheats, legumes, etc. there's not really a limit on how many slow digesting carbs you can eat, but fast digesting ones will be disastrous for what you want.