No cardio yet? That seems like the far-and-away most obvious thing to add in if you are consistently losing fat. It will essentially guarantee further results provided you dont over do it.
If you plan on doing it again next yet, or maybe the year after, you might just do this one au natural and then next time around use HOT-ROX or Indigo 3G and see if you notice a difference. It is nice to establish a baseline first though.
Tossing in something like Hot Rox before some fasted morning cardio can certainly push the fat loss to the next level. If you havenāt been doing any cardio at all, you should absolutely start doing some if youāre serious about dropping more fat. If the only thing you change is that you add a fat burner, I wouldnāt expect anything too dramatic. Further decrease in calories and/or increase in cardio would be needed to keep things moving. Fat burner would be a cherry on top but itās a cumulative affect and doesnāt make a big difference all by itself.
IMO unless someone is already very, like less than 10%, and really closer to 7-8%, a peak type protocol isnāt going to affect the way you look and it would be better just to continue with your current plan, or do a very moderate deplete and moderate carb load just to fill you out a little bit.
Very simply less calories and/or more cardio. Slight adjustments to start, so maybe something like adding in 20min morning LISS or post training LISS, cutting 100 cals a day, try that for a week or two, maybe then add a little more cardio and cut a little more cals. Obviously consistency is key here with small adjustments like this. Jumping the gun will work for an initial period but wonāt be good for you in the long haul.
Good luck man canāt wait to see the finished package!
Good points by both, thanks. Iāve probably done 5 total cardio workouts. Although, I have done a handful of tabata/CF workouts. Canāt believe I didnāt think to start actually doing cardio. hahaha
Iāll start doing 20 minute walks or sprints in the morning. Itās finally stopped raining so I can get outside.
Iām down 18, but have another 9 to hit my goal.
I was wondering if that was the case. Iāll see how the next two weeks go, and incorporate HotRox if I feel like I need it.
Yes I do now. I went the majority of my prep without doing fasted morning cardio, only doing post weights cardio for between 20-30min depending on the day, most days it was 20min. Cardio really taxes my recovery more than most so this year I tried to do as minimal as possible, especially compared to the ludicrous amounts I did last year. I also dislike morning cardio quite a bit, I really enjoy waking up, having some coffee, eating breakfast and getting to work.
For my first show which was 4 weeks ago, I started doing the morning cardio at 4 weeks out. Since I donāt do cardio the week of the show, I did it for 3 weeks. The first week I did 20min daily, then 30min daily for two weeks. So, not a ton of time or stress there but the fat started melting off very quickly. This was in addition to the 20min post weights LISS.
Currently I am two and a half weeks out of my last show for 2017, and do 60min fast paced walk outside first thing in the morning. Itās easier on my body than the incline treadmill and doesnāt hinder recovery as much. But, after my first show I started the morning LISS again at 30min, then bumped to 45, and finally now to 60 for the last two weeks.
DISCLAIMER - I hate cardio of all forms, in the off season I donāt do any at all and manage my weight through nutrition. But, thereās no denying it works when implemented properly. Fortunately I was able to go the majority of my prep with minimal cardio and relatively high carbs until getting close to the shows.
Nice. Just my opinion, I would highly advise against morning sprints unless theyāre after breakfast. Sprints need glucose for fuel for sure, so doing them fasted wonāt lead to optimal performance, recovery, and could hurt your LBM gains/maintenance. Just my .02!
I was planning on having some fruit beforehand. Since Iām in keto still, I figured itād be a nice morning dessert that immediately gets used. ha
I think the benefits of a fat burner arenāt really in burning fat. If you can take something that suppresses appetite and gives you the motivation/energy/focus to get your work done, it can make a big difference. Not because itās actually making your body burn fat, but itās making the things you need to do to burn fat easier.
@Chris_Colucci thanks. In that case, here are some 14.5 week updates, along with my official ābeforeā pics:
Holy crap dude. Awesome work!
Thanks man! Still have a ways to go, but I was actually pretty surprised when I looked at the pics side by side like that.
Hell yeah dude! Thats already an amazing transformation. You look like a totally different person, congrats!
Wow!
Itās near the end of this challenge, so I should probably update. Firstly, I stopped actively trying to cut down in the first week of April (so Iām out, effectively). Iād given myself a cutoff of 187 lbs so Iād be within easy cut of 181 lbs, and I reached that and was starting to go a bit nuts. Upped calories slightly, and now Iām sitting between 183-184 lbs. Go figure. Feeling good, too.
Also, due disclosure, I started my cut in May 2016. This is me then, around 225 lbs.
This is me on waking at 183.5 lbs
Relaxed
Less relaxed
Great work! Definitely something to be proud of, especially since youāre still strong AF.
Thanks. Ultimate goal is 225ish lbs looking like I do now.
Likewise, except 245. Long ways to go
Iām patient 
You guys are starting to make me sweat over hereā¦ Gonna be a crowded race for the top spots I think.
Also I think I might do something similar to what powerlifting competitions do an have the competition run āunofficiallyā until June 31āst, giving anyone who really wants to push themselves another 4 weeks. Kind of like the ā4th attemptā in a power lifting meet, it doesnt count towards the total but it can still be on the record. Any thoughts?
Weāll have a few of these transformation threads under our belt by then. Haha we can post our transformationā transformations.
