WI Crippler

Ok, I think the time has come for me to quit trying to cardio all my excess weight off. I keep trying to start off slow with the cardio, and then I end up 2 weeks later, doing all sorts of cardio and I start to look thin, an not like a lean or more defined thin, but just thinner, with no gains in strength or muscularity, even though I do some weight training.

So this time around, I am thinking I will go the weight training route and try to increase my muscular size, which as I have read, helps you burn fat faster than doing cardio. My goal is to get up to 250lbs, but cut my body fat % to 8%. I think 6'3" and 250lbs is a decent size for a guy to be.

Does anybody have any advice as far as nutrition? Excersise routines? Supplements(no steroids or HGH)?

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Zyphlin

I wouldn't cut cardio out completely. What I would say though is just to give yourself a short bit, and stick to that short bit, while letting the weight training be the part you ramp up.

Do maybe 5-10 minutes of cardio. It will help get your muscles warm, get your heart beating, and in the long run can help a bit with metabalism. The weight training is the way to go though, as in the long term it will help you burn more fat, not only for the obvious reason of muscle build up, but also an unusual thing that most people tend to take for granted.....Cardio tends to spur on hunger in most people far more than weight lifting does, and as such a lot of people are more likely to eat greater amounts of food after a hard cardio workout than say a weight lifting one, thus often negating the gains they just had. Its one of the little tricks that those that push for weight lifting to lose weight point out.

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WI Crippler

I think that was my problem before. I focused too much on trying to attain a certain weight, and tried to cardio my way there. I would go for about 2-3 weeks at it strong, and while I would lose weight, there would be no discernable gains in strength, or improvement in physical appearance. And then came the crash off my diet as I refueled my body. Those crashes were never pretty, except for the local donut shop and McDonalds restaraunt who profited nicely.

Goldenboy219

Its kinda hard to cut body fat % as well as increase muscle mass... So, i would advise you to go in stages. These stages are primarily centered on nutritional intake.

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WI Crippler

Ok, care to explain them?

drb14

Really? Doesn't the anaerobic nature of weightlifting burn almost all fat (and little muscle), while allowing the person to get stronger/maintain strength and mass?

Obviously one wouldn't put on as much muscle while dieting as they would without, but food intake being equal, I would think it entirely possible to increase muscle mass and strength while cutting fat.

I've done it(I think, at any rate), even if the muscle build up is slower than if I were ONLY trying to build muscle.

Goldenboy219

What you have been referring to is the anabolic state, as opposed to a semi-catabolic/metabolic state.

When you do excess cardio, you break down carbohydrate stores much too quickly to replace them. Now this isnt a rule of thumb, because people are different. But, once your carb stores are depleted, your body tends to transition into a metabolic rate, although it is in many cases semi-catabolic. There are other factors in this situation, but if your talking about gaining muscle mass, this would be what you care about.

To become anabolic, which is what you described as your goal, you need to constantly be repairing muscle tissue. Rebuilding muscle tissue primarily relies on resistance training, although its only an aspect, it is a large aspect none the less. The other aspect is your nutritional intake. This would also include sleep, believe it or not.

One of the main keys to naturally maintain anabolism is to increase your protein intake, as well as your fat intake. Yes, to efficiently build muscle, your body requires fat. Fat contains 9kcal/gm, and so provides the highest amount of true energy per gram of any substance that you can take in. Because i dont think your a power lifter, or competing in strong man competitions, you shouldnt let your fat intake surpass 50% of your total protein intake. For protein intake, the rule of thumb is 1g of protein/ 1lb of body weight.

Alot of the wanna be health nuts are gonna just flip their lids when i say that around 100-125g of fat per day is optimal, but pay no attention to their ramblings.

What was described above is known as the "bulking stage" It is a good idea to obtain an accurate BMI ASAP. The "cutting" stage is more complicated, and requires some algebra as well as an accurate BMI.

The rule of thumb will be M-f=LM Where LM=m +b+(individual log x M)

Where M= mass, f= fat, LM=Lean mass, m=muscle, b=bone, and your individual logarithm is a specific ratio assigned to represent organs, veins, and ligaments etc...

Now your individual log really isnt important, and to calculate requires a personal examination, which could cost 100 bucks or so to know. You really want to know how to be 250lbs as well as 9% body fat give or take, am i right? Therefore i need to know your current weight and bf%. The more accurate of a reading you have, the more accurate one can associate your proper cutting weight.

WI Crippler

Well we just re-joined the gym, and I got fit-tested. My weight was 242lbs with a bf% of 17.5% , if that tells you anything.

Goldenboy219

Nope, in order to effectively perform anaerobic exercises, proper nutritional intake is required. Which is kinda off topic here, because Cripp is talking about gaining lean muscle mass, and not implementing muscle density training. You cant expect to lose weight while maintaining a 3-5k kilocalorie diet.

The thing is, food intake cannot be equal if you are trying to primarily cut, primarily bulk, or maintain a stasis. While it is very possible to increase muscle mass along with cutting bf%, its not very efficient to do so. Even when cutting, you will lose lean muscle. The trick is to gain enough muscle to be able to afford to lose while cutting to your ideal weight/bf%...

Korimyr the Rat

Cardio is good, even when you're trying to bulk up. Biggest thing is you need the extra calories, in order to build the extra mass.

If you get your heart rate up to 80% of your recommended maximum and keep it there for a few minutes right before your weight training routine, you'll have more power for performing your exercises-- and the exercises will keep your HR in that ideal range.

I'd recommend keeping it in the 10-12% range. And if you've got any kind of musculature at all, stay away from BMI charts-- they were clearly designed for prepubescent girls.

Hell, I'm 5'7" and 230, and those charts tell me that I'm "obese"-- close to "morbidly obese"-- and I don't have much more than a little spare tire to work off.

Basic nutritional formula is that maintaining stasis requires you to eat 10 times your body weight (in pounds) in calories per day. If you want to reduce your mass, eat less than this, and if you want to increase your mass, you need to eat more. Even if you are trying to put muscle mass on to make it easier to burn fat, you're going to have to suck a temporary weight gain in order to put that muscle on.

Stick to your normal, healthy diet-- I'm assuming you're not an idiot-- while you're trying to bulk up, but increase your caloric intake to just under the amount you'd need to maintain weight. Then, whenever you hit the gym, drink a tall glass of chocolate milk before and after your exercise routine, and another at bedtime. You need the fat and sugar for energy for your workout, and milk proteins are the best for producing muscle tissue. The glass at bedtime helps you to repair muscle damage while you're sleeping.

If you want supplements, buy amino acids. Preferably, you want low-dose supplements that contain all of the necessary aminos, instead of the ones that feature high-doses of a single one. The other thing you might need is iron.

As far as your exercise routine... do a strong cardio warm-up before you get into your exercises, and then again as a cool-down afterwards. You want your heart rate at 80% of maximum, just like for prolonged cardio work, when you start your weights routine. As long as you're pretty constant at your exercises and don't take long breaks between them, you'll keep your HR in the ideal range, and keeping your metabolism at a higher rate makes it easier to build muscle, not to mention helping with fat-burning.

Then, figure out some schedule of exercises that allows you to exercise every day, but only work each muscle group every other day. Gives you time to heal from your workout, which is essential for building muscle.

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