Dont flame me on here yet- I bet this is a discussion that has been beaten to death on this site, but I am a strength athlete (hammer throw) and looking into more of a powerlifting/bodybuilding image now that the end of my career is upon me (I’ll graduate from college in May, that is).
Anyway, We dont do a whole lot of cardio, as you can imagine- we only use 7 feet to get our throw off, but I am just carrying too much weight. At 6’3’', I think I’m too heavy at 265. I think I’d be a medium lean at like 240, and probably be my leanest around 220. I want to be around 245 by may, and then perhaps try to stay at 245 and keep burning the fat and making it muscle. For the next 5 months, do I focus more on diet or cardio? If diet, how should I eat in order to keep my energy up, but my fat burning at a high? If I go the cardio route, where do I draw the line between maximal fat loss and muscle loss?
Thanks in advance!
Hey OlyLifter,
I don’t know if I’m the qualified one to throw out an idea here, as you’re without a doubt a much better athlete than me… but I’ll try.
Christian Thibaudeau is one that comes to mind when you spell out your goals like you do. From my expirience on this site, there is a definite divide on whether to train for fat loss or to eat for fat loss. The most impressive transformation that I have seen, however, came from CT in his “The Beast Evolves” article. Once he realized that the power house that he is (and was) was actually a fat power house, he decided to change. He cleaned up his diet (though he did use Fat Fast to accelerate the results if I’m not mistaken, but not necessary for you given your goal’s ‘window’) and ate “Foods that make you look good Nekid”. He didn’t tailor his stength training toward fat loss, rather he added more energy system work in order to spend those excess calories so he wouldn’t have to cut down so drastically. He used mostly sprinting during this feat, and it worked well. There are other forms of High Intensity cardio that you could use, including HIIT on most of the gym cardio machines, sprinting, Anaerobic Circuits (renegade style), and a little HOC.
I’m not gonna tell you what to do because you know your body much better than I, but I will suggest a few articles that are near and dear to me:
High Octane Cardio by Mike Mahler
Running Man by Christian Thibaudeau
The Beast Evolves by Christian Thibaudeau
Renegade Rope Training by Coach John Davies
ANYTHING by Dr. John Berardi (for your nutritional needs)
Foods that Make you look good Nekid by ??? (Want to say Berardi, but I’m NOT sure)
On top of all of that, I just bot Gourmet Nutrition by Dr. Berardi, and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT! It’ll totally help you in your dieting region of your training.
Best of Luck
Kyle