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Lacrosse season officially started, daily practices 2-3 hours(lots of running), and I will be lifting pretty much every weekday. If I want to lose body fat and retain muscle while maintaining enough energy for practices how should I eat? Low-carb? Or eat a ton of food, but more carbs toward the morning and periworkout nutrition only?
Weight: 180 lbs
Height: 5’9"
If you’re 180 at 15%, you’re carrying 153 pounds of lean mass. If your goal is 180 at 8%, you’d need to gain ~13 pounds of lean mass. Gaining that much muscle in 4 weeks would be very, very difficult, probably impossible, even with a full on bulking diet of 3000+ calories. With the amount of cardio you’re doing, the diet you suggested would decimate your muscles.
Basically your goal is physically impossible in 4 weeks. You’re trying to cut when you should really be bulking.
I figured…well I need to shave off some fat, maybe staying at 180 lbs is unrealistic but i’d like to cut down but still keep my 153 pounds of lean body mass. Maybe just go on a low carb as in only for breakfast and post workout etc…but theres usually rice and bread in my diet so I dont know if i should cut down on that.
basically is there anything i can do to lose fat but retain muscle.
Well, if you REALLY want to stay lean while bulking, you could follow an Anabolic Diet. This diet isnt magic thougj, youll still put on fat if youre eating above maintenance, just not as much water weight in my experience. You also wont put on as much muscle, so you need to assess your priorities. I work well on high fat low carb, but no two people are the same. You could also do a TKD diet to get carbs during the workout period to fuel the cardio youll be doing for lax. When i played, i found that the best players were a blend of strong, quick and agile. Maybe just focus on getting strong for a few months. It takes time. In fact, it takes WATlY more time to gain weight (tge right kind) tgan it takes to lose it.
PS what position do you play
im midfield and im going for fogo for my varsity team, tryouts are in a month which is why im trying to lose some fat right before…its like having lead in your pockets while you run
[quote]Borolax wrote:
basically is there anything i can do to lose fat but retain muscle.[/quote]
Look into carb cycling. You can definitely lose a decent amount of fat and spare all of your muscle in 4 weeks.
If thats you in your avatar, you really should NOT lose any weight. But if you feel that you must, you could also play around with the pulse feast/fast/IF/whatever. Basically you eat nothing all day then gorge at night, keeping your total daily cals around maintenance or lower, or even higher…There are a lot of cool protocols out there, but in the end, it all comes down to dedication and time. Like CT always says, our bodies become an emotional issue, and we do too much/too little all at once. Remember that slow and steady wins the race. Five years down the line you could be exactly where you are if you decide to bulk then cut every few months, or you could be a strong, lean beast. It’s up to you. And if you can, I’d advise hiring a coach. Good luck
Why in the world are you running so much distance? Lose the endurance running, add in sprints.
the thing with carb cycling is…i dont really have any low days…
hlss- haha thats not me, its a lacrosse icon. thanks for the advice but im in highschool haha.
liquid- hey man your from tlf ahahah. im running distance bc my runtime back from injury was like 15 minute 2-miles, and i asked some ppl and my dad and if i run for 20 minutes a day 6 days a week for 2 months i can get it down to 13:30. but my team has team runs twice a week so ill be going to those for sprints/agilities
Yes, I’m on TLF as well. Sprints, interval sprints, and hill sprints are going to serve you much better on the lacrosse field then distance running. You’re not running distance or a consistent speed on the field, nor should you in your training.
As far as your nutrition goes, I’d worry about putting on size. If you cut now you’re going to end up much smaller. The season will end up leaning you out due to the increased activity. There is a huge difference on the field physically between someone that is 160 and someone that is 180. The 160 lb kid is going to be a rag doll out there even though he may be less bodyfat.
Focus on increasing your strength, eating clean, and putting on some more size. Do this and most likely you’ll end up peaking physically in terms of strength and leaness when it matters most, playoff time.
Where are you from and what does fogo mean? How old are you?
I played.
I would do 2 mile runs for time twice a week. gotta get that down around 10minutes.
Also go to your track and to a two lap warm up. then do 4 - 1 lap sprints, walk half a lap and repeat, then do 4 half lap sprint, walk quater lap and repeat. that will total 2 miles also. do the sprints 2-3 times a week.
Keep your diet clean right now and the weight will drop just from the workouts your doing. Dont stress dropping weight from diet. More important to keep the muscle on at this point.
FOGO means Face off Get off. It’s a specialized middie position where the middie does the face off, and then comes immediately off if the faceoff is lost allowing a specialized defensive middie to come on.
Again, endurance running (mile+) for lacrosse is just stupid.
Never heard of that before. LOL Was called a Faceoff Specialist. Must be a Southern thing.
[quote]Borolax wrote:
basically is there anything i can do to lose fat but retain muscle.[/quote]
Good question. Where have I heard it before? Oh yes, every member on TNation, except every one of your posts indicates an unwillingness to read up on nutrition and training on your own.
[quote]jskrabac wrote:
[quote]Borolax wrote:
basically is there anything i can do to lose fat but retain muscle.[/quote]
Good question. Where have I heard it before? Oh yes, every member on TNation, except every one of your posts indicates an unwillingness to read up on nutrition and training on your own. [/quote]
Your cooooooooooool. I’ve probably read more than half the articles on this site, I posted because it’s not everyday you find a person that has to run and train pretty much everyday for atleast 1-3 hours to make the varsity run time of 13:30, find a way to lose some fat, and stay in top physical condition. Obviously, I was just seeking some help from some people that knew a little bit more than me. have a nice day 
bwbski- haha im from jersey…the armpit of america atm. hotbed lacrosse area tho. honestly the endurance running is to shave off time…i needed to go from 15:00 2 mile to 13:30 2 mile in a matter of 2 months to make varisty so that has top priority now. im starting spritning/agilities next week after midterms.
so basically what im going to do is just tighten up my diet follow general clean bulk guidelines, big breakfast carbs protein then medium sized meals protein completely restrict junkfood, more veggies/fruits, smaller dinner and peri-workout carbs. so i guess its sorta low-carb in a way.
Just so you know the 3 hotbeds of lacrosse are long island, upstate ny and baltimore area. your right about the armpit thingy. lol.
NJ has come along though
bump. I have a new question, didnt feel like making a new thread so I changed the original.