Please Help: Need to Reduce Body Fat %

[hop2it]

Hello. I am new to AM and I really love how much great information is on this site. You guys are total experts in the field, and I need some advice.

I am trying to break into modeling. Primarily fashion, underwear, etc. My current body fat is 16.2%. I'd like to to cut that down to 10% or maybe even less.

Here's my exercise routine:
Monday: Arms/Shoulders + Abs (60 minutes)
Tuesday: Stationary Bike (45 minutes) constant heart rate of 160-180 + Abs
Wednesday: Chest/Back + Abs (60 minutes)
Thursday: Bike + Treadmill constant heart rate of 160-180 (45 minutes) + Abs
Friday: Arms/Shoulders + Abs (60 minutes)
Saturday: Chest/Back + Abs (60 minutes)
Sunday: Rest

I read up on the window of opportunity and I ingest 80g carbs / 40g whey protein immediately after each workout. I don't eat red meat or fried foods. My diet consists of protein shake w/ soy in the morning, greens/nuts/fruits/grains/fish at lunch, lean pocket in the afternoon, then i hit the gym, come home and make a protein shake w/ macaroni and cheese. i have to eat a sandwich or something a few hours after that to meet my caloric needs (I don't want to lose muscle mass, only body fat). My BMR is 1800 and my TDEE is 2900. I take 5grams of Omega 3 every day and a balanced spectravite multi-vitamin. I take 72 mg of Methylphenidate for ADHD, 400mg of caffeine daily. I'm also on albuterol and advair to control wheezing. I drink more water than necessary and drink alcohol twice a week (im a senior in college).

How do I lose significant body fat without losing significant muscle mass? I'm looking to get cut. I have an 8 pack underneath the fat I have currently. I want that to show... Any advice at all is appreciated. Should I be in a cutting phase or will that make me too slim?
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(I used the following formula to determine body fat %. Please let me know if that's inaccurate.

Factor 1: (Weight * 1.082) + 94.42
Factor 2: Waist * 4.15
LBM: Factor 1 - Factor 2
Body Fat Weight: Total Weight - LBM
Body Fat %: (BFW * 100) / Total Weight
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Stats:

Weight: 157
Height: 5'11
Chest: 37.5"
Hips: 37.5"
Waist: 32"
Torso: 20.5"
Arms: 13.5"
Body Fat %: 16.2%

THANKS GUYS!

 

[Red Dog]

Hello. I am new to AM and I really love how much great information is on this site. You guys are total experts in the field, and I need some advice.

I am trying to break into modeling. Primarily fashion, underwear, etc. My current body fat is 16.2%. I'd like to to cut that down to 10% or maybe even less.

Here's my exercise routine:
Monday: Arms/Shoulders + Abs (60 minutes)
Tuesday: Stationary Bike (45 minutes) constant heart rate of 160-180 + Abs
Wednesday: Chest/Back + Abs (60 minutes)
Thursday: Bike + Treadmill constant heart rate of 160-180 (45 minutes) + Abs
Friday: Arms/Shoulders + Abs (60 minutes)
Saturday: Chest/Back + Abs (60 minutes)
Sunday: Rest

I'll try to help you out a little bit here.

- I don't see any resistance training for the legs! If you are on the treadmill/bike T and Th, I really suggest doing some leg work F or Sa (preferably Squats, but Leg Press otherwise). The hormonal response from squats is well documented, and they can be very useful in preserving muscle tissue during a cut.

- I'm not sure what order you use for your arm routine, but if you're doing triceps before shoulders, you may not be able to use as much weight as your secondary muscles (triceps specifically) are already fatigued. If you are doing shoulders first then great, but it's something to consider if not.

- What is your resting and max heart rate? Calculate those and let me know. (I'm asking because I would never be able to sustain 170 BPM or so for 45 minutes as that is roughly 85% exertion.)

- What are the main exercises you're using for each muscle group? Also, I don't know if doing abs that often is all that helpful. It may help increase size slightly or if you are shooting for endurance then it might help (but I doubt that's your goal) -- but it won't burn fat from the abdominal area.

I read up on the window of opportunity and I ingest 80g carbs / 40g whey protein immediately after each workout. I don't eat red meat or fried foods. My diet consists of protein shake w/ soy in the morning, greens/nuts/fruits/grains/fish at lunch, lean pocket in the afternoon, then i hit the gym, come home and make a protein shake w/ macaroni and cheese. i have to eat a sandwich or something a few hours after that to meet my caloric needs (I don't want to lose muscle mass, only body fat). My BMR is 1800 and my TDEE is 2900. I take 5grams of Omega 3 every day and a balanced spectravite multi-vitamin. I take 72 mg of Methylphenidate for ADHD, 400mg of caffeine daily. I'm also on albuterol and advair to control wheezing. I drink more water than necessary and drink alcohol twice a week (im a senior in college).

- Here is where I'm not a ton of help. I don't respond well to high or even moderate carb diets, so someone who responds to that kind of diet might be more informative. If, however, you wanted a different approach, I have had success with low-carb diets and carb-cycling (like the Anabolic Diet or CKD or something similar). If you're interested in this kind of diet then there are tons of threads on it around here as well as articles from google and on t-nation -- I can help you with that if you decide it interests you.

- What kind of carbs are you taking postWO? WMS or Dex or whole food? On a cut, I shy away from the simple sugars postWo.

- I can tell you right now that unless you're eating mac & cheese once a week on a designated cheat day, it's gonna sabotage your cut You want your total caloric intake to be at least 500 calories less than your expenditure in order to lose weight. Since I don't know the macros and calorie content of what you're eating, I can't confirm that it is -- but you can!

- Alcohol will blunt any fat loss until it is removed from your system. I drink probably once every 10 days and it's almost always on my refeed. Stay away from it as much as you can as it is counter-productive!

How do I lose significant body fat without losing significant muscle mass? I'm looking to get cut. I have an 8 pack underneath the fat I have currently. I want that to show... Any advice at all is appreciated. Should I be in a cutting phase or will that make me too slim?

- Before I get further into this, if you are 5'11 and 157 at 16% BF, you're most likely going to weigh less than 140 lbs when you reach your goal. That doesn't leave a lot of room for muscle on your frame! If this is what you're after then that is totally fine, I am just making sure you realize.

- Weight training, IMO, is extremely helpful (and you're doing that). You won't become "too slim" unless you do a crash diet or go about cutting in such a way that your body utilizes muscle tissue for fuel instead of your fat stores. Again, I don't know much about losing fat while carbs a major part of the diet. If you can't give up the carbs (it's not easy) then just wait and hopefully someone knowledgeable about that style of cutting will help you out.

- I am running a cut log right now actually if you'd like to check it out -- Invalid Link Removed-- and browse other threads of those who are cutting to see what they're doing, what works and what doesn't (use the search feature or just look through the threads in the weight loss forum). Update those questions and we'll see if we can't get you moving in the right direction.

 

[D3vildog]

If you wanna save muscle when on a cut, just like Red Dog said.... You need those squats for the testosterone which well help you save muscle. Other than that I think Red Dog got what i can cover, i just wanted to emphasize Resistance on the Legs!

Good Post Red!

Stay Moto Hop!

 

[hop2it]

Hey Red Dog and D3vildog,

So I ****ed up my body fat % measurement. I retook all my measurements for waist, hips, forearms, wrist, weight, etc. I've run three different models and they have yielded: 6.7%, 8.4%, 11%, which averages out to 8.7%. This is a much more reasonable number than 16%. I thought that was a little high for a guy like me.

Red Dog:if i want to get down to 5% does that mean I need to lose 6 pounds of body fat? Also, you wanted to know my resting/max heart rates. They are 76/190 respectively.

Anywho, I still feel like I need to lose fat, so I'm gonna take your advice and ditch the Macaroni & Cheese (or at least eat half the box instead of the entire box after a workout).

I'll get back to you about the types of exercises I'm doing. But if I want my abs to get larger what advice do you have ?

 

[BodyWizard]

The only macro breakdown you offer is "80/40", carb to pro. What's your actual macro breakdown? And while you're at it, your actual calorie intake, please.

If you're really eating boxed macaroni-&-cheez & complaining about how you can't cut, please stop immediately. The mac+cheez, I mean.

I have to wonder what's up w/ you, though: 160# @ 5'11"??? Less than 9% BF?

I see why you worry about losing muscle: you don't have any to lose.

I really think the best way to lower your BF% is not to cut, but to builk. I suspect @ 5'11" your frame would look good with an extra 20# of lean mass. Given that you spend roughly 6 hours a week exercising, I'd say your weights & exercises are not geared toward building muscle. I'm really curious why you workout so much to stay so small

Dude, seriously: I@ 160, you should be extremely lean - what's your waist, 29"? I'd love to know your other measurements, too. Taking a wlid guess, I'd guess that 160 for you is about like 180 for me; if so, you might be amazed how much better an extra ten lean would look and feel on you.

Mean no offense by my questions - just curious.

 

[D3vildog]

If you wanna Get big, eat lots.. protein up. Kill the Mac and cheese. (we all make mistakes lmao) A huge part of BBin' is making sure that you have the proper diet, the lifts you do is personal. Save for staples like Squatting and (for me Benching).

Tuna just became your best friend though, along w/ chicken...

 

[Red Dog]

So I ****ed up my body fat % measurement. I retook all my measurements for waist, hips, forearms, wrist, weight, etc. I've run three different models and they have yielded: 6.7%, 8.4%, 11%, which averages out to 8.7%. This is a much more reasonable number than 16%. I thought that was a little high for a guy like me.

Red Dog:if i want to get down to 5% does that mean I need to lose 6 pounds of body fat? Also, you wanted to know my resting/max heart rates. They are 76/190 respectively.

8.7% is actually quite lean -- most athletes fall in between 6% and 11%. If you could maintain that BF level while adding lean mass, you would end up looking both more muscular and actually more cut than you would otherwise. However, 5% is just above contest-ready bodybuilders (which looks to be about 4%) and is almost impossible to keep for extended periods of time. If you are roughly 9% BF and want to reach 5% then you would need to drop about 7 lbs of PURE fat (which isn't easy at such low levels). This is where s sounds nutritional plan and training regimen become more and more critical.

Ah, the reason I asked for your resting/max heart rates is because the level at which you were saying you were working at (160-180) is actually 85-95% of your max heart rate (which is really taxing and I believe HIIT aims for a rotation between 60% and 90% per interval). My point is, I think you've either overestimated your heart rate for that period or you have exceptional endurance and capacity. No big deal either way -- I was just curious.

Anywho, I still feel like I need to lose fat, so I'm gonna take your advice and ditch the Macaroni & Cheese (or at least eat half the box instead of the entire box after a workout).

Like I started to say earlier, diet is huge here. I don't know of any diet that allows high fat + high processed carbs (unless you're on a cheat day) and eating this everyday (or frequently at all) will end up hurting you -- otherwise we'd all be eating it every day because it tastes ****ing amazing .

I would read up on and follow either a high-fat/low-carb diet, or if your body manages carbs effectively, I know there are diets out there that implement them more. Point is -- you need to have a structured and clean diet to maximize fat loss.

I'll get back to you about the types of exercises I'm doing. But if I want my abs to get larger what advice do you have ?

Sounds good. As for the abs, mine grew when I started lifting from frequent sit-ups, but squatting and deadlifting have helped them grow substantially after my progress stalled. The only direct ab work I still occasionally do is weighted leg raises (which you probably already do). The abs can benefit from stabilizing the core during heavy compound movements just as much if not more than direct ab work.

 

[hop2it]

Hi BodyWizard,
My macro breakdown hasn’t been an exact science for the last month or so. I was eating mac and cheese w/ my protein shake after the gym because I heard the insulin spike was good for muscle synthesis. What’s a better High GI carb to eat with my shake and how many grams would you recommend?
I try to get around a gram of protein per pound of LBM each day. I was shooting for 1.5 grams of carbs per pound prior to your lecture ☺, and as little fat as possible (except for unsalted nuts and stuff with lots of unsaturated fats.)
My waist is 30”, hips are 32”, torso is 20.5”, arms are 13.5”, chest is 37.5”… I have a swimmer’s V already.. and I’m not trying to be a calvin klein underwear model or anything. Im only 22 and kind of just looking for a couple years modeling for smaller brands like ginch gonch, h&m, diesel if im lucky. So you think I should gain weight huh? You might be right. Perhaps cutting now is a poor choice. I could do a bulk cycle and then cut before going to an open call. 167 isnt too heavy?


Red Dog,
You’re totally right about ~9%. I don’t need to drop to 5%, that’s kind of crazy. I think you and BodyWizard are right. I could stand to gain 10 lbs of lean mass. How much of a calorie surplus do I need to run? 500 daily? If I switch to a low carb diet won’t my insulin levels not be sufficient to stimulate growth hormone and kill cortisol post-workout? What’s the minimum amount of carbs I need post–workout with my protein shake to get insulin up?
As for the heart rate, I am on a high dosage of Ritalin plus substantial caffeine each day so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s artificially heightened during workouts.