T Nation

PL'ing for Strength and Weight Loss?

Beginners
#1

Hello everyone!!!

I am planning on getting back into shape. I’ve been out of the Marine Corps for about a year now and put on a lot of weight. I wasnt a gym rat in the Corps but we ran 3 times a week and calisthenics. But I have a gym at work I can use. So I’ve been thinking about doing the Westside Powerlifting Method to get as strong as possible. I work at a prison!.

But my question is: Will doing the Westside be good enough to get strong and lose weight, or can I, should I, also have a conditioning program included. I know that powerlifters tend to gain bodyfat, but what kind of cardio and diet should I incorporate to lose bodyfat and gain strength. I could care less about looking like Ronnie Coleman. Id rather be small and strong than big and weak. Thanx for any advise.

#2

Do you have weight to lose? If not, then I wouldn’t worry about a little fat gain. It will happen if you want to gain strength or mass. You should be in a caloric surplus. Light cardio can always be added if you are truly unhappy with the way that you look. If you are small, as you stated, then you most likely could stand to gain more weight.

Side note, Coleman happens to be quite big AND strong. Bodybuilders can and do move a lot of weight. A quick search of Coleman on YouTube will show you the kind of weight he moves.

#3

Westside will get you strong.

Powerlifters are not fat.
http://www.T-Nation.com/tmagnum/readTopic.do?id=699538

You might also want to clean up your diet, depending on the amount of bodyfat you can tolerate.

Have you read the beginner stickies?

#4

Im 5’8" about 240, I probobly have at least 25% BF if not 30!!. But what I was trying to find out is can you use westside and a aggresive conditioning program to lose weight together. Maybe a HIIT program?

What i meant about being little is having a high strength to weight ratio. I want to get to about 200 with 10-15%BF. I know Coleman is a beast, but I dont think he puts up the same weight as a pure powerlifter would.

Getting big will naturally increase your strength, but I want to train to increase strength which will naturally increase mass. So…will adding a HIIT program to a westside template be counterproductive???