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I need some suggestions on how to lose body fat and not lose strength. My body fat is not high, but I am trying to define myself to the point to where my abs show high definition without flexing. But, at the same time, I am not wanting to lose any strength. Any suggestions?
First off, have a very sound diet and cardio plan in order. Then to keep strength, do high reps w/ med wieght. Not as much as bulking but more maintenance cycle wieghts. I just posted elsewhere about negatives, and Ive been doing those on my cutting phase so those are good for keeping strength.
Check out the cutting sticky in the diet forum. Also, any cardio should be done at 60-70% of MHR for 25-45 mins as to not use muscle as fuel. That should help you. Also, work your @ss off in the gym even though you are depriving your carbs. The only way to get cut is to work hard and deliver what your body needs at the time it needs it. PWO is VERY important.
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Originally Posted by Soldier of Misfortune
Disagree completely- want to keep strength, lift heavy. Medium weights don't do $hit other than keep your tone.
Negatives will add strength, but I would not recommend them when you are cuttting because you are doing damage and need to be sure you have the nutrients around for recovery.
Just my humble opinion, stolen from R. Coleman in FLEX.
I completely agree, I don't see the point for your excersizes to revolve around high-rep / low-weight sets. Sure, you are cutting, but you always want to stimulate muscle to a max near or max capacity.
Negatives will not make your muscles "cut" , it's a old myth which is becoming exstinct. They can actually negatively impact your recovery and growth.
Stick to the high intensity cardio and clean diet. Make sure you are constantly altering things up to keep your body guessing.
Also, reaquant yourself with one of the best cutters = WATER
Amen to that!Quote:
Originally Posted by birsling
At some point along the line there will be a tradeoff between stregth and leanness. You have to decide for yourself, how lean do you need to be and then work on improving your strength from there. Lift heavy with low reps for pure strength, ther's no debate about that.
That's right. You gonna have to give something up to get what you want. In this case it might be some strength. Try to minimize it.
Good Luck
ps. There's no bench press on the beach!!
your strength can actually go up if you are shredding pure fat. my bench went up 20lbs as i lost 12lbs.... i think it has to do with the friction your muscles face with the fat.
I've always read that you should stay as heavy as form allows when cutting. Also, you can do HIIT when cutting and not lost all that much muscle. If you up your protein and glutamine intake, you can do HIIT for 3-4 days per week and still lose about the same amount of fat. I met someone who is working on getting an article published where the mean amount of muscle lost doing 3 days of HIIT was only one pound of muscle per 15 lbs of fat. I'm willing to lose a little muscle to avoid the longer cardio sessions. Besides, the sprinting will come in handy if you have to flee from a room after a bodybuilder lets a whey-fart loose.