T Nation

Cutting Down My Love Handles

Beginners
#1

I’ve been lifting for about a year now, only serious for the last 6 months or so (4-5 workouts a week). I’ve bulked up pretty quickly and jumped from 180lbs to 202. I’m now at the point where I’d like to start cutting the fat and specifically target my love handles. Does anyone have any suggestions as the best way to burn baby burn (especially love handle area) without worrying about losing muscle mass that i’ve gained? I want to continue to get stronger on my lifts. I’m committed to nutrition and working out, but I need some help in the knowledge department.

Here are my #'s (6 months ago I was 180lbs and max bench 135)

26 years old
6’ even
202 lbs
Bench 225x1
Squat 315x5
Dead Lift 365x1
Shoulder Press 155x3

#2

The only ‘goal’ you stated was wanting to get stronger, so I’ll comment on that.

First things first: that’s a lousy goal. Too general. How much do you want to squat? And when do you want to get there? Get specific.

Keep eating. Really. So, you spend a couple of years carrying around some extra fat, who cares? When you are ready to get lean (I’d say at least 225 at your height), you’ll actually look somewhat impressive at 10% bf.

Another thing to remember is that you have to hold your bodyweight at that higher poundage for a while (at least a couple months) to avoid losing too much muscle when you cut.

#3

Spot reduction of fat is impossible. You either go on a diet to get lean. Or. Clean up your diet to cut down the amount of fat you put on while still trying to gain. Or. Continue eating enough to make the strength gains you want.

Whatever choice you make you’ll need to do some reading. This place has hundreds of articles, on everything.

No one spoon feed info.

#4

Thanks for your replies guys. I definitely find this website very resourceful and useful. My old lifting partner turned me on to it. I’ll continue reading around.