hi everyone - i’m currently around 210 pounds @ 5.10", My body fat % is approx 23 - 26 %, My first goal is to reach 190 pounds with hopefully a bf% of 15% or less,
Just a few questions:
what’s the best method of cardio to burn fat whilst maintain muscle ( as much as possible )?
the amount of calories/protein/carbs i should eat a day?
Is my b/f % likely to be around 15% at 190 pounds?
I currently supplement with whey protein, & have recently introduced metrx meal replacements & HOT-ROX Extreme fat strippers to help with my goals,
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Usually perform this at a 1:2 ratio, where you go fast for 30 seconds, slow for 60 seconds, and repeat for 15-20 minutes. If you are not familiar with this, I would start at 10 minutes and increase from there.
This can be performed on an ellyptical, bicycle, rower, treadmill, etc.
Depends on your timeframe. If you’re rapidly losing weight, because of a high caloric defecit, then HIIT would probably not be a great way to maintain muscle. Eat less, lift heavy, and do any non-intense cardio that you can stick with.
Second the swimming recommendation. I’ve been swimming everyday for the past couple weeks to switch things up and the results have been pretty fantastic plus you feel pretty great after as well.
Complexes are another option: http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1624757
Do a search on the Bear by John Davies too.
As far as intensity goes (by that I mean HIIT vs. Low intensity), if you’re looking to go low carb as a means of losing fat, lower intensity cardio would probably leave you feeling less shitty and with a little more fuel in the tank for your resistance workouts imho. Hope that helps
I gotta agree with the others about swimming being the one of the most effective forms of cardio since you don’t have to stress the joints…but your body will tighten up like never before once you start swimming hard(TRUST ME). Oh, and, who is that guy in your avatar 3030(Has the body I aspire to have one day).
HIIT or Tabatas for cardio. Read a few articles here. You should sweat at some point during that workout. If not, it’s not intense enough for you.
You didn’t say which diet you’re on for fat loss, if any. So it’s hard to give a good carbs/fat/protein recommendation until we know, but for now, be sure you eat at least a gram of protein per pound of body weight. That will help to maintain your muscle mass
People seem to like the Anabolic Diet for this and so do I. Look it up here. You also need to find an online caloric calculator or use FitDay.com to know how many calories you’re burning in a typical day, then start eating 200-500 calories less than that per day and work your way down when your scale stops budging.
You seem new to this fat loss thing, so using the numbers you gave us, assuming you don’t lose any muscle and lose only fat, the best you can hope for at 15% bodyfat is 175-185 lbs. Anabolic Dieters find that they actually gain muscle mass while they lost fat, so that’s more incentive for you to read on that.
I’ve already transformed my body since high school, being significantly overweight @ 224 pounds with no muscle - to my current state @ 210 with around 20% bodyfat, I currently eat approximatly 180 - 200 grms of protein per day, & around 2,000 calories, thanks for the advice - i enjoy swimming which is a bonus!
If i continue to carry on with an intense weight training regime 3 days a week & introduce a higher cardio routine with swimming for an hour 4 days a week, should i start seeing results quickly?
[quote]dantheman wrote:
would the type of cardio depend upon the extent of the caloric deficit?
For example, using a 750-1000 cal deficit I would be wiped out from Swimming, but in a small (~250 cal deficit) i’d be ok.
Thoughts?[/quote]
Nah. Most diet-downers don’t start with a 1,000 deficit. Increase your deficit as you progress while doing the same type of cardio. It shouldn’t wipe you out any worse than doing regular cardio when you’re already tired and already eating a regular diet.
[quote]Steel88 wrote:
I gotta agree with the others about swimming being the one of the most effective forms of cardio since you don’t have to stress the joints…but your body will tighten up like never before once you start swimming hard(TRUST ME). Oh, and, who is that guy in your avatar 3030(Has the body I aspire to have one day).[/quote]
I know what you mean about your body tightening up. As long as you incorporate a proper warm up and warm down and use correct form, tightness can be avoided. Swimming is great for cardio and can improve lung capacity but if you going to use swimming i suggest you try and get someone who knows what there talking about to set you up a programme, the amount of times i see people going up an down a pool for hours but its just a waist of time unless you go hard at it.
BTW the guy in the avatar is a aussi rugby play called Sonny Bill Williams, think he is 20 in that shot
[quote]Sai-Jos wrote:
If i continue to carry on with an intense weight training regime 3 days a week & introduce a higher cardio routine with swimming for an hour 4 days a week, should i start seeing results quickly?[/quote]
Like anything it depends on how much you put into it, try and get your heart rate up 170-180 and then you will be on the right track.
i suggest going for an hour 30 and spend the extra time as a warm up and warm down.
I would give you a programme but without seeing your standard its almost impossible, when you get into it a bit if you pm me some times i could prob help you out then.
Some quick advise tho NEVER use breaststroke untill you have done a good warm up because it can fook you knees up good and proper.