Losing weight, keeping muscle..

[Davyy]

I know it is an odd question, and most people say you can either do one or the other.

Here is what i'm currently doing:

Gym weight training 4 times a week, I have my reasonable amount of meals plus a protein bar after my workout and then 2 scoops of CNP whey protein in the evening.

At the end of my workout I do 30mins on the cross trainer at a slow pace and burn 350/400 calories. Is this pointless as i'm then matching what i've just lost with the protein bar which is around 400 calories?

I'm 5ft 10, around 75kg. I have a reasonable amount of muscle, quite strong - mainly chest and arms but still have a bit of a belly and waist.

How can I lose this?


All help appreciated, thankyou.

[matt_vtr_15a]

It is very possible mate, i'm doing this at the moment (cutting fat and retaining muscle)

Infact i have seen an increase in muscle whilst cutting bodyfat, call it impossible, improbable or whatever but I have... (may be down to prohormone use)

And the cardio is not a waste of time, its helping you stay in a calorie deficit and able to eat more food in the process which is only helpful for retaining muscle imo.

I carb cycle now, and make sure I am in a calorie deficit.

Personally I take a scoop of musclepharm asault before my weight training sessions, helps to fuel my workouts without being in a catabolic state.

Ensure you get plenty of bcaa's and glutamine in your diet to help support the retention of muscle... i supplement this thru a high protein, low fat, low carb whey shake... with decent bcaa and glutamine content... also has green tea extract etc. In it but taste shitttt.. not important to me though...

Healthy fats, i eat fatty fish, eggs and cook my veg iin coconut oil etc

After weight training i also do a similar amount of cardio to yourself and then smash a high protein high carb shake and get plenty of simple sugars inside my body to replenish my glycogen stores.

Try and keep cardio heart rate between 140-160bpm during cardio sessions.

Otherwise I eat really cleanly, i train early in the morning and the rest of my meals basically comprise of low fat cottage cheese before i sleep at night, eggs, meat, chicken and veg, sweet potato etc. And greek yoghurt with some whey to livin it up and help with my digestive system..But usually excluding my postworkout shake i get no more than 40g of carbs in my diet for the rest of the day! My postworkout shake has around 70g of carbs

I nail about 6 litres of water and an additional 6 cups of green tea throughout the day its all i drink except for my shakes..

Since taking it seriously my lean mass is up and my bodyfat is down... actually put on some muscle mass... looking the best shape i have all my life..

Prohormones have seriously helped me... gonna run epi, halo and tren stack soon to dry out and add some mass and vascularity for the summer...

Sorry about the shit structure of the above, wrote on my phone whilst cooking!


I also take in creatine in my shakes not surr if that is helping me retain muscle in anyway, but i seriously have lost no muscle size and gave shed a lot of fat!

[matt_vtr_15a]

Also try and workout your maintenance calories using some of your stats and then also calculate your tdee...this gives you a great base to cut or bulk...

You can find calculators via a google search or search for them on bodybuilding.com as there are some calculators on there and its a great forum in general for such information...


I try and stick to a calorie deficit of between 500-750 calories per day.


In my opinion its a safe deficit to lose fat at a steady state whilst retaining muscle...

Prioritise your protein intake and work out your requirements for your body, then fill your remaining calories with fats n carbs i personally focus on the healthy fats but if it fits your macros then you will still cut... i just prefer to avoid carbs as i cycle them to suit my workouts.


You also have the option of a ketogenic diet which i have ran before, must say though I do much prefer just carb cycling on a day to day basis and hitting carbs hard immediately after your workout...

#supplements also such as fatburners, clen etc. Are very useful tool assist a good workout/meal plan. Wouldn't really bother with anything over the counter... I have however tried warrior blaze and it does help supress my appetite a little and nakes me sweat like a piglet during cardio sessions and get me really hot!

Nothing compares to a structured diet and hard work whilst training.. you seem.to have that in place mate! Nutrition in general is the key to trying to promote fat loss...

[Davyy]

I'm new to this really, the research side of things and big words etc.. By deficit you mean losing 750kal more than you're eating?

Some people say phs are pointless and better go to straight to roids?

What phs and where from would you recommend out of interest?

[matt_vtr_15a]

Yes on rest days eat below what your body requires to maintain current lean mass and on training days make sure you take into account your cardio and weight training or your deficit will be massive and will likely hinder your goal of retaining muscle

Each to their own with pro hormones, I won't say you should or shouldn't try them as that is something you need to research yourself and weigh up the pros and cons....

Just sayin they are an option as are steroids , I assumed you had been training a while from your initial post, if not this is definitely not something to consider...

I opted for them simply for dry gains and to ease myself in with a couple of cycles to weigh up if I was prepared to run a 'proper' steroid cycle.... I personally made pleasing gains...

[Davyy]

I've been training for a year or so, but not full on, only got into it properly in last 3/4 months and now trying to shape up for holiday and sort out my diet.

Is expensive though!

[Davyy]

Do you rate lipo6 black?

[Gashman]

I'm very impressed with my gains whilst running a Ph cycle, it's my first cycle running only pro halo, lean mass has improved strength gains have been impressive.

I have seen impressive body fat % drops when stacking a thermogenic fat burner with CLA and L Carnintine.

If you don't want to go down the ph route or supplement to heavy then really tweak the diet as matt has described.

Carb cycling is very good for dropping body fat, personally I know 3 days low 1 day high, with 1 day of cheat meals ( take away, very high calorie day)

[Gashman]

As for lipo 6 I have no experience with this or no anyone who has.

Have a mate who swears by sci mx shred x, I used thermobol from maximuscle when stacked with CLA and L Carnitine. Dropped around 5% in 4 weeks.

[matt_vtr_15a]

No experience with lipo-6 myself mate, reviwws seem fairly positive though!