Going a new direction with my workout. Ideas please.

[BiggerNstronger]

I am a bit discouraged right now guys/gals, I dont seem to be going anywhere. I have been trying to do the impossible (without gear)...I have been dieting and trying to lose weight (lost 17lbs. so far) and GAIN strength. Aint happening. I was doing well for a while but I have hit "the wall". I have to try to lose the power-lifter mentallity for a few months and concentrate on losing more body fat. OK, here is my problem/question: How do I INCREASE lean body mass while burning fat? Is this realistic/possible? I know that I need to lose about 30lbs of fat to get down where I would like to be. Here is my workout right now: Lifting 3-4 days a week, cardio 4-5 days a week (minimum of 40mins each time), my diet is OK (not super-strict). As of today I am cutting off creatine as well. To honestly put things in perspective I DO know that I have been making progress (lost 3 inches off my waste...gotten lots of compliments on increased muscle size/definition) but it seems like I have stalled so Im changing focus a bit. ANY and all ideas are welcome. Come on experts...let me have it. Thanks, Big.

 

[Doublebase]

I am not a "super expert". I have some questions first. You lost 17lbs, thats great. How long did it take for you to lose that? What type of exercises are you doing? How many calories do you eat every day?

 

[Yanick]

if you want to keep making gains in strength you will need to mini cycles of cutting bulking, IMO. prolonged dieting leads to muscle/strength losses (~5weeks), so cycling 4-5 weeks of cutting with 2-3 weeks of slightly above maint. should help with cutting BF while still progressing your lifts.

 

[DOMS]

You could try P/RR/S. I'm going to start on the following Monday.

 

[BiggerNstronger]

I am not a "super expert". I have some questions first. You lost 17lbs, thats great. How long did it take for you to lose that? What type of exercises are you doing? How many calories do you eat every day?

It took me about 2 1/2months to lose 17lbs WHILE I was lifting hard/heavy 4 days a week. Excercises? For cardio I warm up on a bike and then do at least 25mins of Eliptical/Stepper/or high incline treadmill. Lifting...you name it I do it or have tried it. Right now I am doing the push/pull split with one day a week of legs. Calories? Thats a hard one because I dont really count them. For breakfast I have been having a protein shake, a banana and a couple of homemade lowfat sugar free muffins. Lunch is usually pretty basic like a turkey sammich, tuna salad or something like that. Supper is also usually a lower fat meal eating earlier than later.

 

[Doublebase]

It took me about 2 1/2months to lose 17lbs WHILE I was lifting hard/heavy 4 days a week. Excercises? For cardio I warm up on a bike and then do at least 25mins of Eliptical/Stepper/or high incline treadmill. Lifting...you name it I do it or have tried it. Right now I am doing the push/pull split with one day a week of legs. Calories? Thats a hard one because I dont really count them. For breakfast I have been having a protein shake, a banana and a couple of homemade lowfat sugar free muffins. Lunch is usually pretty basic like a turkey sammich, tuna salad or something like that. Supper is also usually a lower fat meal eating earlier than later.

Sammich huh... I guess your eating bread then. You should pay most attention to your diet. Working out is the easy part. IMO that is.

 

[BiggerNstronger]

Sammich huh... I guess your eating bread then. You should pay most attention to your diet. Working out is the easy part. IMO that is.

Im not eating alot of breads, but I dont buy into that whole NO carb craze either. Mine are controlled carbs, no sugars. Your right about the working out being the easy part. To be honest, my diet had been so bad that I can probably get away with NOT being super-strict now. What wrong with a sammich here or there? For my size I am probably not taking in ENOUGH calories right now.

 

[tjwes]

Are you only eating 3 x a day?

If so............ that`s a major part of the problem!

 

[BiggerNstronger]

Are you only eating 3 x a day?

If so............ that`s a major part of the problem!

No, not necessarily. I eat a mid-morning snack usually, and anther protein drink between lunch and supper.