T Nation

GETTING RIPPED - Tips/Discussion

Beginners
#1

Hey guys, I’m 16 years old, and for about the last 8 months I’ve been doing my own bulk program. It was kinda like 5x5, with additional isolation exercises like bicep curls, close grip bench presses, lateral raises, and some isolation body weight work on abs. I’d do 6-8 reps for these isolation exercises. I started out a measly 180 pounds and when I finished I was around 210.

I only gained 2% body fat(went from 13-15%). Knowing this, I gained approximately 25 pounds of muscle, which is pretty good for 8 months, I’d say. About a month ago, I had to stop lifting frequently for basketball season, since then, I’ve dropped 15 pounds, and so now I’m around 195 with 12% body fat. I’d like to be around 8% body fat before christmas.

This means I’d need to lose about 8 pounds of body fat and maintain all my muscle. Because of basketball, I can hardly find time to work out. I just do a full body workout every sunday, and I haven’t gained much strength or mass from doing this, as it’s mostly for matienance. As you can imagine, basketball has really helped my cardio and I’ve lost quite a bit of fat during the season.

My main question is, how can I use this very limited workout space to maximize fat loss? Nutritional tips would be really helpful, as I think this is my main issue in losing weight. Im 6 foot flat, i eat a very heavily based protein diet and try to stay away from simple carbs. Any tips on losing this extra weight and staying under 10% body fat would be greatly appreciated :smiley:

#2

Do your weight workout in the AM in you have PM basketball practises to keep all you muscle and even since your a beginner add some more. Carb cycling will easily take care of those few pounds of fat in the given timeframe. Also, the extra workouts will help greatly to lose those pounds.

#3

How heavy is your basketball workload that it does not allow you to get at least 2 or 3 sessions a week in?

I am curious as if it were skewed so heavily that it prevents you from hitting the weights, I would imagine fat loss wouldn’t be too much of an issue.

Maybe the answer lies in structuring your weekly training (basketball & weights) more effectively.

List down everything you do Monday to Sunday, with intensity and time.

#4

It’s not so much that the basketball training is heavy, it’s just that I’m limited on time. Basketball ends around 6 and I can’t just cant seem to find time to get more than 1-2 workouts in per week. I have basketball every day and of the week and usually I have games on friday and saturday, so I try not to work out within two days of these games.

Monday-Friday: 3 hours of basketball, mild intensity
Saturday: Basketball game, mild intensity
Sunday: 2 hour full body workout, as intense as possible

Do you think It’d be beneficial to get in a workout every tuesday or wednesday? I think I could find a way to make that possible if it’s an absolute necessity, I just don’t see it being all that important at this point in time.

#5

[quote]niksamaras wrote:
Do your weight workout in the AM in you have PM basketball practises to keep all you muscle and even since your a beginner add some more. [/quote]

Wish I could, but I’m in school

#6

[quote]jeverett1995 wrote:

[quote]niksamaras wrote:
Do your weight workout in the AM in you have PM basketball practises to keep all you muscle and even since your a beginner add some more. [/quote]

Wish I could, but I’m in school[/quote]

For some time, I woke up at 06:00 in order to hit the weights, then get back home, shower and go to school, but I lived in a small city so the gym was 3 minutes from my house and school was another 3 minutes. If possible, do that.

#7

not being funny, but you are ‘working out’ when youre doing basketball - use it for cardio

#8

[quote]jeverett1995 wrote:
I just do a full body workout every sunday, and I haven’t gained much strength or mass from doing this, as it’s mostly for matienance.[/quote]
Of course it is.

[quote]
As you can imagine, basketball has really helped my cardio and I’ve lost quite a bit of fat during the season.[/quote]
So just keep doing this as your workout and eat healthier.

[quote]
My main question is, how can I use this very limited workout space to maximize fat loss? Nutritional tips would be really helpful, as I think this is my main issue in losing weight. Im 6 foot flat, i eat a very heavily based protein diet and try to stay away from simple carbs. Any tips on losing this extra weight and staying under 10% body fat would be greatly appreciated.[/quote]

Losing weight is about 80% what goes into your mouth. You say above, “I eat a very healthy protein diet”, but if you are serious about losing weight you should keep a journal of everything that goes into your mouth. You will be surprised how much junk food you eat compared to what you “think” you eat.

#9

hm.

OP, you say here that you weigh 195 with 12% bf, your info says 188 and 8% bf, which one is it?

what are your numbers on the big lifts, squat, dead, bench, ohp, pullups (either max reps BW or 1RM), BB row?

how exactly did you ascertain these numbers for body fat? skinfold pinch? dunk tank? an electrical impedance device, either handheld or on a weighing scale?

also, pics would be helpful.

#10

How tall are you?

#11

as of right now im 195 12% body fat, im 6 feet 1 inch tall, and my numbers for the big lifts are as follows:

Deadlift- ~400
Squat- ~260
Bench- ~200

I don’t row much because I like doing pull ups.

As you can see my deadlift is much higher than my squat and I think that’s just because of my build. I have very long arms and legs and when i started squatting, I could only do about 175. I’ve been training my squat the most frequently out of the three, so don’t tell me I lack squats in my workout, my body just favors dead lifting. I do a heavy squat workout twice a week, usually deadlift once a week, and bench twice a week, every once in awhile i’ll do dumbell presses just because I think it gives a better full chest workout in general.

I got this body fat number using the skin pinch method. I’m definitely 12% give or take 2%.

I’m doing the Jump Manual so eating lots of protein is vital, and because I intake so much protein (probably over 300 grams a day) it’s really important that I limit my sugar/fat intake. Any tips?

#12

300g of protein?

what about carb and fat intake?

#13

300 gm of protein is still only 1200 kcal if my calcs are correct ie 4kcal per gram.

#14

[quote]big nurse wrote:
300 gm of protein is still only 1200 kcal if my calcs are correct ie 4kcal per gram.[/quote]

that’s what i’m getting at, BN.

OP, I think you need to do a search on dieting. given all the basketball you’re playing and the amount by which you’re undereating, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re losing muscle.

#15

Losing muscle might be a possibility, but at the moment I am looking to lose body fat and I realize that muscle loss could be an issue. I don’t think it is, because I eat well over 3,000 calories a day, eating around 1,500 calories of complex carbs, ~1,200 cals of protein and the rest being fat.

AFter workouts ill have a post workout snack usually consisting of cheese, milk, meat and a complex carb, and a 40 g protein shake. That night Ill have another casein shake of about 30 grams. I’m not really concerned about under eating, because I’m never hungry and my body fat % is high enough(~12) to the point that under eating probably isn’t an issue. 300 grams of protein daily is a lot for a 195 pound 16 year old

#16

it wasn’t your protein intake I was concerned about. I was concerned about your total calories for the day. most people (general population) still ascribe to the thinking that very low caloric intake will lead to fat loss. a friend of mine who just gave birth about a month ago was complaining that she wasn’t losing any weight despite regular steady state cardio. then when I asked her how many calories she ate for the day, she told me 1200 kcal. she’s 5’5", 30 years old and 169 lb. I plugged her numbers into a BMR formula and it came out to over 1600 kcal.

but it seems you’re avoiding that trap, which is good.