I know HOT-ROX isn’t the best supplement to take if you’re bulking and want to minimize fat gain (in fact I’ve heard just about all of you say Alpha Male is the supp for that goal).
I have the genetics to get big–putting on size has always been easy for me (I’m 22 and I can’t remember the last time I weighed less than 200 pounds). Not just muscle, however; I eat as clean as I can and still have about 17-18% body fat.
Most of my lifting life has been for hypertrophy and the desire to look good naked, but if I can’t lose this fat, I can’t look good naked, no matter how much muscle I have.
Most of you by now are thinking, “So just go on a cutting phase”–and I would agree with you, but there’s more to this than just fat loss.
As many of you know, muscle size and strength don’t always correspond. I’ve come to the decision recently that, for as much muscle as I have, I should be lifting a lot more. I recently stopped half-way into another hypertrophy program to start focusing on just strength training.
On most days, I weigh about 235. My max one-rep bench press? 225. I not only feel weak, but ridiculously weak. I started thinking about it a few weeks ago, and I’ve never been able to bench press my body weight. Hence the strength training.
So what does all this have to do with you guys and HOT-ROX? Let me describe my exercise program to you first.
I’m following the strength training programs out of “The New Rules of Lifting” by Lou Schuler, which just happens to be endorsed by TC. Strength I, which has 4 heavy lifting days per week, two upper and two lower body, consisting of the basics, squats day 1, bench press and rows day 2, deadlifts day 3, and pull-ups and military presses day 4.
In addition to that, after reading CT’s recent article on fat loss, I added sprints to the end of the lower body days and about 15-20 minutes of steady state cardio on lower body days, which shouldn’t be enough to jeopardize muscle.
As far as supplements, I use Alpha Male, REZ-V, Biotest’s BCAA’s (3-5 4 pill servings/day depending on if I’m training or not), and CytoGainer for pre- and post-workout nutrition.
So, finally, here are my goals: I want to get stronger and lose fat while maintaining as much muscle as possible–but since we know muscle mass and strength don’t necessarily go hand in hand, I don’t mind losing some muscle if I can still get stronger. So here’s where my question comes in…
Have any of you successfully increased strength while using HOT-ROX to lose fat? If not, tell me what you’ve done to raise strength while losing fat.
TB