DuhFee

My overall goal in the gym is to be ripped, heh I know, how orginal huh? Well, I know that to do this, I need to burn fat and build muscle. I used to be a big junk food junkie, I totally cut that crap out this summer and 10 lbs of fat dissapeared really quickly. I'm feeling great, but I'm wondering if I should go for the muscle first or the fat loss. I'm not overweight, I just have a little bit of fat I'd like to lose so I would look more defined. On the muscler side of things, I'm not as large as I'd like to be. I've read on this forum that it's hard to lose and gain at the same time, so what's best to start with?

firestorm

Well it's currently considered the off season (Fall) meaning the shirts go back on and the iron comes back out in mega doses. I suggest packing on the muscle during the fall and winter and as spring approaches you begin to up the cardio, cut extra fat and start on a more stringent diet. Now I have always been one to NOT gain much fat on the off season usually a gain of 15 lbs or so. That includes mostly muscle weight. My waist line never went up more then 1 to 1 1/2 inches at most and that was rare. My gains are usually moderate but cutting up is easier this way. Remember the more fat you gain the harder you have to diet. The harder you diet the more fat you loose but also that hard earned muscle. When you don't have to cut mega calories because you didn't gain too much fat in the off season you tend to keep most of you muscle gain. In short, do everything in moderation. Don't look to gain 30 pounds of "natural" muscle in a season. Expect more feasible gains such as June after dieting down your arms grew 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch from last june.

firestorm

One other thing, I advocate year long cardio training. Some people on here disagree with this which I find obsurd. Building muscle is NOT what it is ALL about. It is about overall health,conditioning, and muscle. What people tend to overlook or care not to think about is that the HEART is also a muscle. They forget because they can't see it. If it doesn't make them look pretty then who gives a F#$k. That my friend is immaturity at it's finest. Train the body, Rest the body. Eat healthy and cleanly throughout the year and you will see excellent gains in no time at all. Massive weight fluctuations are stressful on the heart besides all that.

oaktownboy

people here have said that doing cardio is counterproductive to putting on mass now i am so damn confused

Chuck Norris once lost his keys and couldn't remember where he put them. So he tortured himself for half an hour until he gave up their location.

firestorm

OK hang on that is true to an extent. It CAN be. It is like I said earlier about weight gain. All in moderation. As I said regarding myself. I do cardio all year long BUT when early spring comes along I UP the cardio. What I failed to mention (bad me) is to perform cardio in the fall and winter in moderation. I'm talking about training the heart moreso then loosing weight. Cardio in moderation will assist in keeping the metabolism in check and assist you in not gaining too much body fat. The majority of weight you should see should be quality muscle mass.

firestorm

You have stated that your not "fat" but not as optimal as you would like. I say, not to concern yourself at this time with cutting that excess bodyweight at this time and to just keep from gaining too much more over the winter. It will only make it more difficult to cut later. Let's say you bodyfat is at 15%. If after the winter and you do what some meatheads here say,, eat, eat and eat more, cut cardio OUT,, I can rest assure your bodyfat percentage may very well double. When spring comes have fun cutting 30% bodyfat and keeping what quality muscle you gained.

firestorm

When the meatheads make such "vague" statements as "eat, eat, and then eat more" it just makes me irate! To properly put that statement into perspective, it means to break meals down into sensable amounts and eat them 6 times a day rather then in 2 or 3 meals as the general non working out public does. This does not mean to gorge yourself with food. It is just the opposite. You should never have that I'm stuffed feeling. You want to bring in just enough nutrients,calories consisting of good proteins and carbs and low fat to keep the metabolism working all day. to do this you eat more frequent but in smaller amounts.

oaktownboy

i eat 8-9 times a day right now about every 1.5-2 hours i find that eating more gives me a hella lot of energy in the gym

Chuck Norris once lost his keys and couldn't remember where he put them. So he tortured himself for half an hour until he gave up their location.

oaktownboy

but the grocery bill is killing me

Chuck Norris once lost his keys and couldn't remember where he put them. So he tortured himself for half an hour until he gave up their location.

firestorm

hahaha I hear you there. Why don't you try some of those Meal replacements? When I'm in the groove of things (just starting that groove again by the way) I fill some of those meals with Protein shakes and such. I believe it helps that food bill a bit. You can get pretty good deals on some of the protein powders out there if you look around.

DuhFee

Thanks firestorm for all the info.

Dale Mabry

Proper cardio in the form of structuredd anaerobic intervals can lead to an increase in size and a more ideal hormonal profile. Plus chicks dig it.

If sense were common, everyone would have it.

4/2007-Current 75th Ranked most popular image 1 spot behind Prince's bulge...

Tha Don

I ate ate ate over the summer trying to bulk up

And I followed this 3 day a week weights guide, one that told me 'don't train more than 3 times a week, your not 1 of these bodybuilder, they are all on drugs' type things

I actually made hardly any muscle gains over the summer, and put on a bit of fat

I was so detirmined to bulk up over the summer and I didn't, now i'm proper depressed with my training, but I learn and move on

Now I have to do loads of cardio over autum and maybe winter to get lean again, which is not ideal as i'm gonna be lean in the winter, bulked in the summer

Tha Don

you mean like plyometrics and sprinting?

naturalguy

Don't let the weather determine your goals, decide what you want first and go for it! I never train for the girls, that is just a side benefit.

www.animalpak.com

www.universalnutrition.com

eidolon

Could this also be something like the interval setting on an aerobic bike? Is the goal to always do more in less time?

ponyboy

Well said

Today I can do what others will not so that tomorrow I will do what others cannot.

The difference between winners and losers is that winners do things that losers don't want to do.

firestorm

hahahaha great post. informitive and then a joke. I like that. "plus chicks dig it" good one.

firestorm

Thank you Ponyboy I very much appreciate that. I'm just waiting now for the Dark side to show up and attack. lol

RCfootball87

I gained 30 pounds of muscle in 8 months and I don't think my body fat went up at all, I think it went down. But I was a total newbie, and my GH levels and Test. levels are sort of threw the roof approaching age 16, or so they tell me. If he's a newbie, wouldn't it be possible?

back for the first time....

firestorm

RC,, anything is possible to an extent but you 30 is very impressive and a high standard to expect from yourself. I suggest to people to set short term goals but make them more frequent.

firestorm

Example, a guy may set a goal,, I want to be benching 315 in 3 years.
ok so now,, you set short term goals to help you reach that long term goal.
This month I want to add 10pounds to my bench for 3 reps. And every month after that setting a new reasonable goal. don't set unrealistic goals because they set you up for failure.