OK.....
I think you're a bad comparison to him. But regardless of the carb debate, aren't we really talking calories here. In the grand scheme of things thats what matters. Sufficient protein, carb, and fat can effect diets in their own specific ways, but calorie surplus when bulking or deficit when cutting is the main goal. I chose to up them for available energy during the day.
Eat fewer calories than you require, you will lose weight.
You may find carbs energizing, but hypocaloric, while overfat and relatively insulin-resistant (we all become more insulin sensitive as we lean out) they tend to promote hunger.
Semantics. It's pretty common knowledge that without the use of anabolics, it's almost impossible to gain muscle mass while dropping body fat at the same time, unless you are an obese beginner. I wasn't suggesting he was on a bulk.
I was responding to this:
the nut said:
he has to up his carbs if he wants to build muscle.
I merely reminded you that he's cutting.
From the studies I've read about, you couldn't be more wrong. There plenty of studies cited
here. I have never read that HIIT is any more catabolic than moderate cardio. And there are a lot of articles suggest anabolic properties of HIIT, however I have not seen specific studies done. I can tell you my legs and abs have never looked better, since I started HIIT. This is why I would suggested more slow digesting carbs and fat, which research shows, will cause him to burn carbohydrate and fat for fuel, while "saving" as much muscle as possible.
My sweet, save it for the choir - I just published an article, "Daredevils are Shredded", that goes into excruciating detail on the benefits of HIIT.
I'm also a big fan of FI - I've chatted with him for years.
The studies cited aren't mentioned in the context of running a significant caloric deficit.
I wanted to know what your plan is for muscle-retention. I do HIIT while cutting and on a deficit, myself. Hell, those are my abs in my 'tar, and HIIT was part of that success.
But so was eating a shitload of protein, sufficient fats, not running too strong of a caloric deficit and oh yeah, lifting heavy assed weights four days a week in low rep, low volume workouts.
THAT was what I meant. You had him doing circuits and HIIT, which is great, but won't preserve muscle mass under the deficit he's running.
I calculated his maintenance at 2400 calories, medium level BMR plus activity for his weight. But I think when you look what I suggested compared to your suggestions, they're not that different.
I don't calculate maintenance, I track it. But MY maintenance is 2200 and I'm a middle-aged woman who weighs a buck forty soaking wet. 2400 seems low.
He's at 2200 cal / day. Go with 4 workouts / week followed by 20 mins moderate cardio. I'm put the energy output at about 200 cal/ workout, 40 - 45 mins. So that's 15,400 calories in and 800 calories out via exercise, every week. Not counting BMR thats 14,600 calories / week.
I suggested 2400 cal / day. Go with 4 circuits / week followed by 15 mins HIIT. Let's say 250 cal / workout, 30-35 mins. With the 2 one hour walks that would be approx 700 calories. That's 16,800 calories in and 1,700 calories out. Grand total of about 15,100.
Our suggestions were off by 70 calories a day, and with the energy expenditure in mine, that extra won't go to waste. I do believe once he gets going on this program he would need to up the calories to 2800 - 3000 calories, due to an increase in BMR.
How about he just eats less, keeps the protein high, keeps the fats as high and the carbs as low as he needs for satiety, trains low-rep and heavy and sees how his losses come along before we toss the whole shooting match at him, hey?
I never consider the caloric deficit due to exercise. I honestly pretend it burns NOTHING. It's easier to tweak plans that way.
We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one.
There are certainly more people who cut the way you're stating, but I'm not fan. I personally worry about a decrease in metabolism when using big calorie deficits. I prefer a moderate, if any calorie deficit and intense, metabolism increasing workouts. Reason being, when I come of diets I easily keep gains and results.
I assumed he'd been doing this diet while losing the weight he mentioned. I was looking to give him a kick start geared to attack belly fat. If that's not the case and you're just starting your original plan, then give it a shot. It's definitely one way of going about things. Whichever way you chose, I wouldn't worry about a minimal loss of muscle. Your main goal is to lose the gut. So cut now, and clean bulk in the winter, as built suggested.
Train well!
You may not be a fan, but the research disagrees with you.
L. McDonald mentions this in Rapid Fat Loss:
"Exercise and weight loss
You???ve probably heard, read or seen that you must exercise to lose weight/fat, or that
exercising will drastically improve the amount or rate of weight or fat loss. It???s important,
once again, to make a distinction between weight and fat loss, as you???ll see in a second.
People obviously can and do lose weight all the time without exercise (keeping the weight
off is a separate issue I???ll come back to below) so exercise certainly isn???t required by any
stretch. Whether or not programs that include exercise are optimal, better or more
effective is an entirely different debate.
The question I want to address here is whether or not exercise has much of an effect on
the rate of weight loss. For the most part, exercise has, at best, a small effect. Some studies
find that it increases the total weight loss slightly while most find little to no effect. As I???ll
mention below, some studies find that exercise can actually reduce the total weight loss
(note: as discussed previously in this book, not the same as fat loss)."
He goes on to suggest lifting weights to preserve LBM while running a deficit works the best. Note that he says this under the context of losing fat as quickly as possible - so even, or especially under a very strong deficit, heavy lifting provides the stimulus required to maintain muscle.
My question to you was simply to ask what you intended to add to ensure our friend here doesn't lose any more muscle than he has to.
Personally, I find it a LOT easier to just eat less than to try to exercise it off. But then, I'm a woman. In women, appetite increases with exercise intensity.
yummy...