Question About Muscles

[newconquest]

im not even sure if this is the right section to put this inquiry in, so if its the wrong place for it...let me apologize in advance...

heres the deal...first off, me: 6'3", 215lbs, BF @16% (goal: under 10), working out for 2 years consistently, workout right now at 4 days a week, chest, back, arms, shoulders, legs...CARDIO AT TWICE A DAY (HOUR EACH TIME)!!

heres my questions: while i am cutting like this...should i be backing off my workout? will this much cardio (and it is a lot) be causing my muscles to waste? (consider that i am dramatically cutting my calories and fat intake also, 2,000 a day max)
should i be doing less work at the gym? more work at the gym?
im a little worried that because im running so much, that i am having a lot of muscle wasting, and im taking an over the counter fat burner (something called "lipo 6x") and because im cutting my diet, that when i work out and break down my muscles, that they are not building back up at all because of my diet...is it true that i am breaking down muscle from cardio and from working out along with my fat losses??

PLEASE ADVISE WHAT I SHOULD DO??? thanks for any help guys

[Cun0144]

So delete

[newconquest]

thanks for the help, ANYONE ELSE??

im really wondering what i should be doing for my lifting to lose as little muscle as possible while cutting...anyone??

would anyone suggest taking some test E that i have left over, just a little bit, maybe like 250mg/week to help maintain the muscle i have?? or would this just be a waste??

[green22]

try to keep the poundages you use at your normal weight but maybe reduce the total sets. EX. if ya do 12-14 set for quads then back off to 9. but they got to be 9 good hard sets. Start by eliminating carbs after 6pm. There is no need to completely get rid of them you need them to funtion and you are not an elite bodybuilder so a reduction will work fine. Reduce fat intake. Keep protein up high. Cardio in am on empty stomach and pwo if you like. And also I dont think you need to worry about that 2000 cal. thing. If you are working hard you will need more than that. Ive never counted calories, never had to. Some may say its a must but I dont think it is for you. You should have a good idea what you take in if you really follow a BB diet. Just simply adjust you portion size. Oh yea a lil test never hurts.

[Ajc330]

i was watching a video of a pro bodybuilder on youtube i forgot whichone it was but he was still in contest season so he had to stay extremely lean etc.. he didin't really do heavy compound movements.. like he didin't do deadlifts he would do lat pulldowns and at a moderate weight for high reps.. around 15 reps.. hope this helps

[AandF6969]

I'm of the opinion that lifting needs to stay the same (with the exception of maybe 2 weeks out from a bodybuilding show). If you grow all this muscle lifting heavy and lots of sets... and suddenly you're not lifting that way any more, what good does that muscle do your body anymore?

[topnotch]

i disagree w/ you ajc330...you can still do your main core lifts to keep them strong...i think you can do the same exact workout as always...like someone above mentioned, up your protein, lower carbs...Instead of doing a lot of cardio, trying to some things like sprints, or sled work...high intensity things like that, for short times, will help burn fat, without breaking down muslce...to preserve muscle, the most i'd run distance would be around a mile...you can do light cardio on a bicycle or walking on a treadmill for health, but to shed the fat, do sprints...

[sphincter]

keep working out same but the difference between cutting and bulking is diet and cardio... I also try a litle harder to make sure I'm lifting as heavy as I can when bulking.. when cutting I may not always have the same intensity/aggression I have when bulking.