Thread: Build Muscle or Lose Fat - what first?

Originally Posted by Enigma

I'm fast approaching 40, around 2-stone overweight and have decided to put my all into turning my body around. I used to be fit and reasonably muscled when in my twenties as I did weight training and martial arts. That's all gone now!

My question is this:

Should I aim to build muscles with heavy weights and low reps and once I've gained some muscle mass then lower the weights, up the reps and ramp-up the cardio to shred the fat?

Or should I do loads of cardio and light weights now to lose a stone or two of fat (almost all abdominal) and then start on the weights?

I'm never looking to compete or go for such levels of perfection - I just want a nice looking body that I won't feel ashamed of when on the local beaches with my kids.

All help and opinions appreciated, thanks.

the first thing you need to do is focus on your diet. the resistance training is the EASY part. for muscle building I general stick to the 6-12 rep range.

Lam,

Would you therefore suggest a fairly high Protein, low Carb diet?

And if I'm training several times a week, should Cardio and Resistance be done on seperate days?

Originally Posted by Enigma

Lam,

Would you therefore suggest a fairly high Protein, low Carb diet?

And if I'm training several times a week, should Cardio and Resistance be done on seperate days?

for the most part yes. consume the majority of carbs in the early to mid part of the day and taper your carb intake down as the day progresses. your last 2 meals of the day you might want to make carb free. try to eat at least 5-6x a day.

Originally Posted by Enigma

I'm fast approaching 40, around 2-stone overweight and have decided to put my all into turning my body around. I used to be fit and reasonably muscled when in my twenties as I did weight training and martial arts. That's all gone now!

My question is this:

Should I aim to build muscles with heavy weights and low reps and once I've gained some muscle mass then lower the weights, up the reps and ramp-up the cardio to shred the fat?

Or should I do loads of cardio and light weights now to lose a stone or two of fat (almost all abdominal) and then start on the weights?

I'm never looking to compete or go for such levels of perfection - I just want a nice looking body that I won't feel ashamed of when on the local beaches with my kids.

All help and opinions appreciated, thanks.

You do both at the same time. Lift in rep ranges around 6-12 betwen 2 and 5 times a week depending on your schedule and preferences, perform cardio in some fashion between 2 and 4 times a week, and start eating a slightly caloric deficit diet consisting of quality proteins, low GI carbs that are full of nutritious ingredients, healthy fats, and plenty of veges. Do that for 6 months and you'll be well on your way. There's a few things to figure out amongst all that, such as appropriate caloric intake, training program and such, but that's all you need for a while. It doesn't need to be complex.