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05-17-2011, 11:58 PM #1Junior Member
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How can I preserve muscle while cutting?
Ok, Idk which sub forum this should be posted but it's basically a question regarding a few different things.
Basically, I tried cutting with a good cutting diet and only ended up losing muscle and getting weaker at the gym. My diet consisted of high protein, high EFA, and low carbs. I was having a total of about 250-300 grams of protein, about 60-80 grams of EFA, and about 70-90 grams of carbs. I did it for 2 weeks only because I was losing muscle and getting weak extremely fast.
My bf% is about 17% right now, my weight is 177, height 5'9, and I'm 22. I can successfully gain muscle and strength following the heavy calorie diet, and the compound workout program with minor isolation.
My question is how can I cut? I am currently trying to keep my calories, only lower carbs a small bit and increase EFA and protein to compensate and add cardio. But I keep hearing unless I make my body calorie deficit I wont lose any bodyfat no matter how much cardio I do...it's depressing...lol
My bodytype is mesomorph surprisingly...yet I still can't keep muscle mass if I cut.
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05-18-2011, 12:14 AM #2
yea should be in the diet forum....im no expert on cutting but ive done it a time or two. First your always going to lose some muscle and strength. Second though it seems you went too radical too fast on cutting out calories. I find the longer I take to lose the weight the more muscle and strength is preserved. Yes you need a calorie deficet, but it sounds like you where eating allot and than cut out 1000 or more calories a day suddenly. You should probably start around your normal carb intake each day and then tapper that down by 25-50 carbs per day each week.
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05-18-2011, 12:20 AM #3Junior Member
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Yeah I guess I went too insane, I went from around 2800-3000 calories a day to around 1900-2000. But I noticed almost no fat loss and my weight on the scale went from 177 to 170 in those 2 weeks. That scared me so I stopped...lol
I guess I'll try lowering my carbs a little. Ah sometimes I feel like saying to hell with it and not care about the lost muscle and strength but then what's the point of lowering bodyfat and having no muscle to show...-_-
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05-18-2011, 12:25 AM #4
youll always lose allot in the first week or two because allot of water goes. I loose up to 12 lbs my first week and then only 1-2 lbs from than on out. also two weeks is too short to really notice any fat loss. Finally lock the scale in the closet....you want to lose fat? THat means your losing body mass and that equals weighing less. Jump into the diet section and start reading around because I am definitly not as experienced as other guys when it comes to dieting....I bulk year round.
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05-18-2011, 04:36 AM #5
are you doing cardio? get in the diet section post up your current diet, add some fasted Am cardio, build it up slowly, start at what you can just about do and take it from there, it takes time but you will get there.
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05-18-2011, 05:22 AM #6
are you natural or running AAS during this cut?
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05-20-2011, 09:32 PM #7Junior Member
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I'm not running anything. I'm doing cardio after my workouts, which I do 4 days a week, for 20 minutes on the bike, I'm not too used to doing cardio. I can try jogging instead eventually, but I seem to be burning good amounts of calories on the bike. I do it on the fat burning zone for my age I read somewhere here that it was anywhere between 140-160.
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05-20-2011, 09:33 PM #8Junior Member
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Oh and I tried fasted AM cardio once, it was a mess lol....besides I'm too scared of losing muscle to let myself starve when I wake up.
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05-20-2011, 09:42 PM #9Staff ~ HRT Optimization Specialist
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05-20-2011, 10:28 PM #10Junior Member
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When your BF gets up there you are going to burn muscle with the fat. My advice is get your BF down and keep it down regardless if you cycle you'll retain more muscle.
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05-20-2011, 10:37 PM #11
20 min of cardio 4 days a week will probably not put a noticable dent in your bf%.....you need to work up to at least 45min 5-6 days a week. Fasted is best like said take aminos before and after and youll preserve muscle
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05-20-2011, 10:43 PM #12
Look into ketogenic cycling...
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05-21-2011, 12:15 PM #13Junior Member
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Hmm, I think I'll give the aminos a try and do fasted cardio. Should I take them in pills or in liquid? And how much do you think I should take? Specified serving size or more?
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05-21-2011, 01:08 PM #14Junior Member
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Does 20 min on a bike count as cardio? Train hard and follow a strict diet and you will trim down. Then worry about building back up with lean mass. Running sprints or stairs always helps.
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05-21-2011, 01:14 PM #15Junior Member
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Keep your cardio HR below 140bpm or you will burn muscle and fat.
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05-21-2011, 07:01 PM #16
^^^^^Where did you hear this? Don't take any more advise from whoever told you that.
Losing weight, until you get to a fairly low BF%, is a simple matter of calories in - calories out. According to what you posted above, you're only taking in about 1700 - 2000 cals and your carbs are way too low to be at that much of a calorie deficit. That's not nearly enough energy to sustain your muscle mass, especially without a re-feed day to replenish muscle glycogen. If you lose more than 2 lbs a week, you're being counterproductive as you're losing LBM and BF at the same rate. I'm sure you don't want to be 20lbs lighter at the same BF%.
IMO, the best way to lose BF while sparing muscle mass is to eat at or slightly below your TDEE or maintenance cals while doing 6 - 10 hrs of cardio per week. Your muscle mass needs fuel to sustain itself, so keep calories as high as possible while creating a calorie deficit via intense cardio everyday or even twice a day if possible. 20 min on a bike is essentially worthless and IMO is irrelevant.
Everyone is different, but I like to do 1 hr a.m. med intensity cardio after a protein shake or just BCAA's depending on current BF%. That way you're burning a ton of cals in a somewhat depleted state while having the rest of the day to feed the needs of your LBM.
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05-21-2011, 07:30 PM #17Junior Member
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Don't start counting your cardio time until your heart rate hits 120bpm.
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05-22-2011, 08:49 PM #18Junior Member
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Keep your cardio HR below 140bpm or you will burn muscle and fat.
^^^^^Where did you hear this? Don't take any more advise from whoever told you that.
Losing weight, until you get to a fairly low BF%, is a simple matter of calories in - calories out. According to what you posted above, you're only taking in about 1700 - 2000 cals and your carbs are way too low to be at that much of a calorie deficit. That's not nearly enough energy to sustain your muscle mass, especially without a re-feed day to replenish muscle glycogen. If you lose more than 2 lbs a week, you're being counterproductive as you're losing LBM and BF at the same rate. I'm sure you don't want to be 20lbs lighter at the same BF%.
IMO, the best way to lose BF while sparing muscle mass is to eat at or slightly below your TDEE or maintenance cals while doing 6 - 10 hrs of cardio per week. Your muscle mass needs fuel to sustain itself, so keep calories as high as possible while creating a calorie deficit via intense cardio everyday or even twice a day if possible. 20 min on a bike is essentially worthless and IMO is irrelevant.
Everyone is different, but I like to do 1 hr a.m. med intensity cardio after a protein shake or just BCAA's depending on current BF%. That way you're burning a ton of cals in a somewhat depleted state while having the rest of the day to feed the needs of your LBM.
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05-22-2011, 08:57 PM #19
If anything it's the opposite, when you have an abundance of bodyfat your body is much less likely to break down muscle tissue for energy.
Please stop with the false blanket statements. On leg day or even back day my HR is pretty close to 140 or above the entire session, does this mean I am burning away muscle during my workout too?
I am pretty sure your body starts burning calories prior to your heart rate getting to 120. Judging by your posts I am guessing you have bought into the fallacy that the only effective way to get lean is by staying in the "fat burning zone"
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05-23-2011, 02:12 AM #20Junior Member
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On the first response believe what you want what I said is true but like I said...
On the second response, do you work legs or back 5 days a week, I don't think so?
On the third response if you jump on an elliptical and start counting from the minute you start you may be on it 20 minutes but you aren't burning fat for 20 minutes on top of that 20 minutes is a joke.
Also the best way to stay lean is diet although incorporating low impact cardio is still a plus. I'm 37 and been running cycles ( to many to remember) on and off since about 18 so you do it your way and I'll do it mine its worked so far. We can agree to disagree.Last edited by sdmlsu1; 05-23-2011 at 02:43 AM.
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05-23-2011, 03:57 AM #21
Get ripped in one week, huh ?
Sounds like you'r placing your confidence in some "get huge and ripped fast" advertisement, my friend.
FireGuy is right, on a leg day my heart's beating like i was in a marathon.
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05-23-2011, 04:56 AM #22
My recommendations
Keep your PWO cardio at 20mins for now but make it some kind of intervals on the treadmill or stepmill (get off the bike and work)
Add in some other cardio where you can... AM cardio is probably most convenient...
30-60 mins 4-6 x per week in the mornings on the treadmill or Stepmill.... Moderate intensity (not too low)
Take in some BCAA's and Glutamine b4 you do your AM fasted cardio....
Be consistent! Keep the diet clean
Good luck
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I always felt splitting my cardio and weights at different times helped with my muscle and strength tremendously. I would not recommend doing cardio after weights due to my own experience cutting weight.
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05-23-2011, 05:49 AM #24Junior Member
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05-23-2011, 06:03 AM #25Junior Member
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Your maintenance cals will have to be figured out through trial and error. Pick a number and start, it takes time to figure it out but everyone has a different metabolism so its an individual thing. When all things are equal, strict diet. hydration etc. and your not gaining or losing much more than water weight you have it, keep in mind water will fluctuate your weight so be aware. AM cardio on an empty stomach will definitely work the best. As far as the AM aminos I'm not really sure how much it will help. I use 12 grams of Amino powder in my intraworkout drink but I run insulin pre workout. Someone else will have to comment on the AM empty stomach aminos.
Last edited by sdmlsu1; 05-23-2011 at 06:05 AM.
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05-23-2011, 06:54 AM #26
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05-23-2011, 01:58 PM #27Junior Member
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05-23-2011, 05:01 PM #28
I am not just saying this because Fireguy is staff but....
I back Fire up on everything that he has raised....
I think the expression "blanket statement" has been used and it is well used here to describe some of your posts IMHO
I recommend you take what fire is saying as the truth and look into it yourself... This is a place to learn so do not feel like a div when someone picks up on somethin you say.... No1 wants incorrect info on this board and I am sure you will agree on that
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05-23-2011, 08:02 PM #29Junior Member
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Well, I'm now doing 45 min of fasted AM cardio mon-fri on the treadmill walking but at 3.2-3.5 speed with 2.0-3.0 incline. I'm taking BCAA before and after. Is that intense enough to put a dent on my bf%?
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05-23-2011, 09:48 PM #30Junior Member
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One thing I will say is the 140 bpm as a hard strict number but I would not be banging out like 150-160 bpm etc. Agree, don't agree doesn't matter to me. I've been in the game a long time and learned from some very knowledgeable known people. Don't ask me or PM me for names because I won't say. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I realize post count is an issue here, its been hinted at anyway (no bash meant to the board). The boards I spend 99.9% of my time on most people here probably haven't heard of nor would be granted access to even if they did, also don't ask or PM me about them as well. I came here to offer my knowledge in the threads I wanted to participate in, nothing more. Just because I offer it certainly doesn't mean you have to follow it or try it. No doubt people have differing opinions on every board, so be it.
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05-23-2011, 10:44 PM #32
thank all. great posts.
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05-24-2011, 12:27 AM #33Junior Member
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I agree on the Carbs due to the glycogen. If you are doing post workout cardio the glycogen will be significantly depleted, hence burning muscle why most BBs do cardio preworkout. Also when doing AM empty stomach cardio the same thing will happen due to your over night fasting. If your running low carbs during prep/pre contest your cardio bpm will be much lower due to the carbs and low cals. Obviously not all but many use the 220-age x .65 calculation that I know when not in prep mode. During prep mode it will go lower but it just depends on what works for the individual, trial and error. I'm sure I'll get slammed for this post but like I said before, whatever. I'm sure there are plenty of articles on wgt loss that say different but I'm in to experience rather than double blind taste tests. BBs have so many different variations due to their individual body's/metabolism's its not a one size fits all but obviously you know that.
Last edited by sdmlsu1; 05-24-2011 at 12:44 AM.
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05-24-2011, 03:48 PM #34
If you look at the science and energy sources used you would actually learn that cardio after wt training burns a much higher percent of bf. Like said before you dont really enter the "fat burning zone" untill about 20 mins into your cardio session because of the energy sources required to be burned before body fat is attacked. Wt training burns these sources up first so by doing cardio after you are essentially in your "fat burning zone" the entire time. But intervals on treadmill or stairmill to me seem to be best way to burn optimal fat in 20 mins. My cardio sessions are never over 30 mins personally
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05-24-2011, 06:14 PM #35Junior Member
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That's exactly what others have told me. I think I'm gonna do both cardios, 45 min fasted in the morning and 20-30 min after weight training. Would I get even better results like that? That's about 5 hours of cardio every week if I do them both.
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05-24-2011, 06:22 PM #36
And yes fireguy is 100% right about burning fat all day long. when i said fat burning zone i was refering to the point in which fat becomes the primary energy source. Theres a point when glycogen stores have been burned through and at that time stored body fat becomes incinerated at a much higher rate
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05-24-2011, 06:25 PM #37Junior Member
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lol incinerated...
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05-24-2011, 06:53 PM #38
I will listen to anyone over FireGuy as soon as they post pics showing themselves with lower body fat than him. I love this place, but don't mind saying there is a lot of repeated bullsh*t. There are some guys here that have actual experience, and their opinion should be given more weight than a guy that has never been below 15% that is just repeating something they read or heard.
I am not calling out anyone specifically with my statement, it is meant to be universal, not just about this thread.
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05-25-2011, 12:02 PM #39
^^True about people repeating bs i hear or read but to Basically say "he who looks the best must know the most" is totally un true. Not knocking fireguy at all much much respect and props to him as he knows alot about this game but you have to think like this. Just because mike tyson can knock his coach out and whoop him in the ring doesnt meant that mike doesnt respect and learn from what they coach tells him. Some have great genes and some dont. knowlege has nothing to do with this. Me myself i have prob been over 15% bf for a few months in my life. Im def not as lean as fire guy but i always stay under 15%. I get what your saying but you cant go to the guy in the gym with the biggest arms and ask how he got them and expect that he will provide the best answer cuz his arms are the biggest. Im not a traditional athlete but i train them. Does that make me any less credable
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