Help with training?

[Isbe]

I have been lifting for a couple of weeks. About 4 months ago I weighted about 333 pounds extremely fat and out of shape have not done much excessive due to a sugary that I had. Well I decided to do something and starved my self and did cardio for 4 months and now I am at 250 still fat but lighter. Now it is time to lift weights I have been doing so for about 2 weeks and I have read every thread on this forum. I lift weights 3 days a week and I have my nutrition under control I did that first and got that right. I was over at the nutrition part of the forum and got help now I need weight training help. For a person overweight like me is it best to not do cardio and just lift weights. I want to stay around 250 were I am at now just start to loose fat and gain lean muscle. My work out schedule goes like this

Mon
Chest, Tri's, Shoulders

Wed
Back, Bi's, Traps

Fri
Legs

I do about 3 sets of each about 6 reps with max weight and I go until failure. Am I doing the right thing for what I want to accomplish. Any tips or suggestions would be great full considering that I am a newbie at lifting and all. Thanks

 

[ALBOB]

Originally posted by Isbe I want to stay around 250 were I am at now just start to loose fat and gain lean muscle.

Gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time is just about the most difficult thing there is to do in the fitness realm. It's not impossible, but very difficult. If it were me, I'd go ahead and drop some more fat FIRST, let's say from 20-30 pounds and then try to gain back pure muscle. When you get back up to 250 again, if your diet was clean, you should have gained mostly good clean muscle. The reason behind this is that in order to lose anything you need to be in a caloric defecit then, in order to GAIN, you need to be in a caloric surplus. See what I'm getting at? It's possible to do both simultaneously but it's much easier to do them seperately.

 

[Isbe]

Would you suggest stop lifting weights and go back into starvation mode to get my weight down. What is the best method to lose the weight the healthiest? Should I continue cardio to lose weight or just weight lifting or both? Just to let you know I am about 6ft 2 and 250 just let you know my stats.

 

[ALBOB]

NO!!! NEVER go into the starvation mode, that's counterproductive to what you're trying to do. When your body senses starvation it actually STORES fat instead of burning it. Believe it or not, your body will burn muscle tissue for fuel before it burns fat. That's why you need to eat five to six meals every day, to keep yourself out of that starvation mode.

As far as exercise I'd say do both cardio and weights. The difference is which you do more of, when. When you're trying to lose body fat it's time to up the cardio. When you're building muscle you lift more weights.

The big thing to remember in all this is that the type and amount of exercise you do doesn't really get you where you want to go, it's your diet that will get you there. Exercise just helps speed the process along.

P.S. I'm 6'1" and used to be in the 255 range. I'm down to about 230 now. Another little hint: from now on, your greatest enemy in the whole world is.......................THE SCALE!!! Nobody in the world, including you, cares what you weigh. Concentrate on what you look like and what size clothes you're wearing. The mirror is your new best friend. If you want to take it one step further, take pictures of yourself every month or so and watch your progress. That's a much better indicator of how well you're progressing. It'll also keep you motivated.

 

[P-funk]

Never go back to starvation mode. And don't stop lifting weights. You need to improve your metabolism. The best way to do this is to clean your diet up and stick to a good weight training program. Starving yourself is going to lead to worse problems. Post your diet on the Diet/nutrition board. There are a lot of people here who can help you clean it up.

 

[Isbe]

Thanks for the great tips I was real unclear what I should do. My diet is really good I think I get about 180g of protein a day and I keep my carb intake down big time. I stick with brown rice allot and sweet potatoes also. I well try to consume a little less like 1200 calories a day do 6 days of cardio like I was doing and weights but go light and lots of reps. nothing big on the weights like I was doing. After all I am trying to loose fat and not muscle. I need to find that line and not cross it so I am in the same shape that I am in right now. I well also limit the whey protein shakes down I do not want to add bulk I want to take bulk away since I am still obese. I think I have a clearer pitcher of what I need to do thanks guys. If anyone has more tips for me I well be happy to hear them that is for sure this forum is the best personal trainer I have had yet.

 

[P-funk]

1200 calories a day is to low to raise your metabolism. Some people use this way of figuring out how many calories they need to cut, maintain or bulk.
body weight x 12= calories to start cutting
body weight x 15= calories to maintain
body weight x 18= calories to bulk

Also cardio can burn lean muscle mass which wont help your metabolism. Try lowering your amount of cardio and putting together a solid lifting routine that is going to increase your lean body mass.

You may want to try this out as a starting point for how many calories you should consume. Consuming to little is called starving yourself.

 

[Scotty the Body]

1200 sounds to low to me as well, like P-funk said, it will slow your metabolism down to much making loosing weight harder cause your body is storing EVERYTHING coming in.

Don't stop the training, unlike cardio, you will continue to burn calories through the day after lifting weight while calorie burn pretty much stops once the cardio stops.

I also think 6 cardio days a week is overdoing it. Make it more of a way of life and you won't get tired of it, doing it 6 times a week is going to burn you out till one day you say "fuck it" and quit altogether.