T Nation

Training and Nutrition advice

Bodybuilding
#1

I have read as much as I could about training and nutrition and found something that has given me results so far. What can I do to improve my eating and training habits?

My goals are:

  1. Increase strength (Add 5 lbs to max bench, squat and deadlift).
  2. Gain 2 lbs of muscle.
  3. Lose at least 10 lbs of fat.

Here is my routine:

5 AM - 45 mins cardio (Only on non-weight training days)
6 AM - Oatmeal, Milk, Fruit, Egg Whites
9 AM - 2 Chicken Breasts
12 PM - 6 oz Ground Beef or Pork
3 PM - Chicken Salad
5 PM - 45 mins cardio or 45 mins full body workout
6 PM - Brown Rice, Beef\Chicken\Pork, egg whites
9 PM - Sleep

Food numbers:

Total calories: 2,200 (approx)
Protein: 190 g (Present in every meal)
Carbs: 130 g (All of my carbs are consumed either pre or post workout)
Fat: 90 g
Water: 64 - 80 oz. (Not counting water content of foods)

Body numbers (Just got them measured):
Age: 19
Height: 5’10.5"
Weight: 175 lbs
Body fat: 17%
Body type: Endomorph

I currently follow the HST program. Tomorrow will be my fifth session. I do 2 moderate cardio sessions because in the other hours of my life, I am mostly sedentary (sitting in class or working on a desk). I also take 3 vitamin and mineral supplements. 1 multi (vit a, b complex, iron), 1 g Vitamin C and 625 mg calcium. So far, I’ve lost 5 lbs (I think mostly water) in 10 days.

Is my training and diet screwed up? How can I fix it? I don’t plan on taking any protein powders, creatine, energy, or pro-steroid supplements because they’re very expensive (in my country) and I only want to try them when I hit a plateau.

#2

Well, your goals are highly slanted towards fat loss with muscle retention/slight lbm gain.

So with that in mind you should probably cut down on carbs a bit more, 130g out of a 2200 calorie diet seems a bit high for those goals. I would put the carbs down to about 100g or maybe less.

Try doing HIIT instead of steady state cardio also, burns fat much better. Regular cardio tends to fight against your LBM gaining goal.

You’ve got it pretty much figured out, just a few little tweaks and you should be going strong. I also expect you are going to up your max lifts more than that.

#3

Some ideas:

  1. Decide what u want and concentrate on one thing at a time (lose fat OR add muscle).
  2. Add a teaspoon of fish/flax/olive oil to meals 2,3,4.
  3. Add a Surge like drink for during and after training and cottage cheese + a teaspoon of olive oil before bed.
  4. Cheat at least one time a week.

Be sure not to drop your calories too much.

Good luck.

#4

Do a search for “Cheater’s Diet” in the T-mag archives. Then search for the terms “refeed” and “overfeed” here on the forum. Also, “Cheater’s Diet/EDT”, by Joel Marion, here.

This will give you another piece of the puzzle, and (the CD/EDT thread) a very powerful weapon to accomplish your goals.

#5

Thank you for the replies.

I’ll lower my carbs and hopefully I won’t get too de-energized.

I just tried the HIIT and I swear I can feel it working! Although, I believe the initial loss was only mostly water, it’s really very intense; I feel like I’m jarring my fat cells out of hibernation. I did only 15 bouts because my body couldn’t take more than that yet.

As for the cheater’s diet and having a cheat meal, I’ll give that a shot, too, and I might make it a regular thing if it works for me.