I need to go a different direction or change gears for a while for the sake of my health and mental wellbeing.
I am currently using a custom diet from mountain dog which is giving me a slow recomp but I feel I need to change faster and get ‘fitter’.
I am not to concerned with powerlifting at the moment and will change my total training style (as well as do as much cardio/HIIT) as needed.
I wouldn’t even mind a bit of muscle mass (or at least retain what I have got as much as I can)
Can anyone recommend a training program (free or for purchase) that is a mix of conditioning and liftings weight that is well proven in taking overfat men and making them look respectable?
PS I have been given tool to tweak my diet for more fat loss, so I will be doing that, but I would love to be fitter as well, I understand diet is a major part of it but my goals are also about being able to move
I’d almost be willing to go to 30+% BF to get a 1600 raw total. I’ve been up to 234, totalled as much as 1250 raw, and lost a lot of fat through DIETARY changes and now am at 198, and total right at 1100. But its tough (emotionally) lifting 85-90% of the weights I did 10 years ago.
First, I think that you can easily get into the 15-18% range just by fixing diet, and make big changes in 3-4 months. But you are not asking about that. I’ll only say that if I don’t eat “sweets” and manage starches, fruit and dairy, well I’d expect that alone to take you from 30+ to <20% in 3-4 months.
The two programs that made recomp differences for me. One was big beyond belief, though I used around a 20 rep max on the first 2 days, 10 rep max on the second 2 days and 5 rep max on the third 2 days. You train for about 30-45 minutes 6 days a week. I also walked 3 miles a day.
the second was actually the Westside 4 day format, with main lifts plus 3 assistance exercises, and I did interval sprints the other 3 days a week. I completed my weight workouts in a maximum of 1 hour after the first work set. My interval sprints were actually 20 x 20 yards starts on day, 10 x 40 yards on day 2 and 4 x 100 yards on day 3, so just 400 yards, (plus some walking). I also sometimes did 20 x 10, 10 x 20 and 4 x 50 seconds on a rowing machine or airdyne.
I’m guessing your training style has been mostly super low rep? Switching to a typical 8-12 rep range bodybuilding program will help improve conditioning while also building muscle.
Id work on building up your conditioning before jumping into something strenuous like HIIT.
Sprinkle in 15-45min of cardio a few times a week. Then once you’re conditioning is improved and fat loss has slowed down swap in a session of cardio for an HIIT session.
You have a long road ahead of you. It’s best to not use every tool in your toolbox right out of the gate and wait for for a fat loss plateau before applying it.