2009/05/22, 01:02 AM
I am trying to lose about 15 pounds, but for sure, I wanna go from 28% body fat to 18%. But my problem is that I am trying to gain muscle here instead of just burning fat. I am sure that once I gain enough muscle, I will increase my metabolism and then, burn more fat, and also decrease my body fat faster. I heard that in order to build some lean muscle I should skip cardio. I do now have a bigger appetite from lifting weights....So how does this actually work, anyone? I do lift weight, gain muscle but I eat more and I am gaining weight...Should I really skip cardio? And if so, for how long? And if not, how my cardio should be? Thanks in advance for the help! I love you all!!!
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2009/05/22, 01:02 PM
Well, the idea is that you need to pick one goal or the other. To gain appreciable amounts of muscle mass you actually need to take in more calories than your body burns during the day. You'd skip the cardio because it burns calories. To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you take in during the day.
My suggestion is to actually work on losing weight first. That way when you do bulk-up, it will show your gains that much better. If you don't, you'll still grow, but always look soft because of the fat on top of the muscle tissue. Trust me, my arms look way better now at 17.5" and 205 lbs, than they ever did at 20" and 280 lbs.
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2009/05/22, 08:07 PM
Thanks for the help, returnofplex.
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2009/05/28, 06:02 PM
Both are contradictory ideas to be honest but its wrong to say that its not possible. You want to reduce body fat from 28% to 18% and it is possible to gain mass and get bigger while lowering your body fat %.
I know that many people say to stop cardio but if you ask me then I will still do it atleast 1 day a week for 20 min simply b'cos cardio has other benefits. However it is true that weights shud be preferred over cardio.
However there are quite a few things which are not clear from ur question. You need to ask urself that do u want to train to get bigger which in other words means bulking up or do u wanna get leaner and stronger. Your protein intake and dietary requirements will vary accordingly and so will ur training programme.
I suggest try something like tabatha training and high intensive training, supersetting etc. Do for a few weeks and see how you feel. It will not help u to get bigger but it will definitely reduce ur body fat % far quickly and make u leaner.
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2009/05/28, 06:08 PM
CARDIOvascular exercise is for the heart and lungs. The only loss is from calories burned (limited) which are replaced and water loss which is replaced. I am not saying to stop, but just pointing it out.
-------------- Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.
Ivan (GO HABS GO!)
Montreal Canada (City of Festivals)
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