SHould I continue cardio or focus on lifting?

[nycteen90]

Heres my story, I used to be 5'8 and 217lbs. That was 6 months ago im now 194 and 5'9, Ive also gained a bit of muscle. I just ran cardio for about 30 minutes for 5 times a week. I haven't lost a pound in about a month and a half but im doing everything right, I run so much cardio, and I train hard too. Im thinking I should cut out the cardio(not completely just one or twice a week and not as long), I will hope to gain muscle since I know my cardio has interfered with my muscle growth. If I do this will I end up fat & buff? I don't want to be that way. Im still overweight, I have a belly still and some fat every were else, I wouldn't call myself obese though. How would my physique look if I concentrated more on lifting. By the way, today I went out and bought whey protein supplements, first time I ever did. Also if I do this how should I be eating? Thanks in advance!

[Saskbb]

Get your body comp. (skin fold) and than report back to us.  This will help me get a better pic of your current situation.

This can be done by a good trainner at a gym.  I see you live in nyc so you will not have a problem finding one.  It is NOT 100% accurate but it is a good starting point.

[nycteen90]

I don't have a personal trainer, and I don't know what this is.. How much protein should I have in the shake? I just had a 50g protein shake before bed. THe serving size says 60g but its 3 scoops so 1 scoops is 20g, how much should I take after my workout and how much before bed? How should I do sprints? like jog one lap on the track and then sprint one lap as fast as possible, repeat for 10 minuteS? does that sound good?

[gmflex]

lift more!!
as you gain muscle; you will lose fat...

[WOOO]

Heres my story, I used to be 5'8 and 217lbs. That was 6 months ago im now 194 and 5'9, Ive also gained a bit of muscle. I just ran cardio for about 30 minutes for 5 times a week. I haven't lost a pound in about a month and a half but im doing everything right, I run so much cardio, and I train hard too. Im thinking I should cut out the cardio(not completely just one or twice a week and not as long), I will hope to gain muscle since I know my cardio has interfered with my muscle growth. If I do this will I end up fat & buff? I don't want to be that way. Im still overweight, I have a belly still and some fat every were else, I wouldn't call myself obese though. How would my physique look if I concentrated more on lifting. By the way, today I went out and bought whey protein supplements, first time I ever did. Also if I do this how should I be eating? Thanks in advance!

just wondering.... how old are you? (looks like you're still growing)

[nycteen90]

I'm 16, gentically I probably wont grow anymore. I'm 5'9 and I am the tallest man in my family for five generations back(don't know about older than that), The second tallest is my dad at 5'7, so im pretty lucky to be this tall.

[pumpster]

Stick with the cardio, ensuring that you're giving it full intensity and try to increase intensity as often as possible, 5-6 times a week. If you're still not losing, it's likely your diet. You can use a protein supplement if you like, but overall the calories and carbs might have to go down.

IMO you should try the revised Atkins Diet for about 6 weeks while continuing the cardio 5-6 times a week, and throw in weights a few times a week. The warmer weather will also help you lose, if the diet's right and the workouts are  done consistently.

As far as duration, 30 mins. is enough. A good alternative to try is a daily 1 mile run; at first you might only be able to run part of the distance and walk the rest, but can build up to eventually run the entire distance. Running, not jogging, eventually trying to lower the time taken to do it. If your legs can take it, running is no. 1 for weight loss, IMO.

[Hayabusa]

Cardio will not slow your muscle growth. Cardio will actually enable you to add more muscle due to the increase in blood flow, the ability to eat more so IE more nutrients, and enable you to work out harder. Stick with the cardio at least 4 days a week for 30 minutes. Also if you really want to look better add an hour long slow walk at night before bed. Slow walking is a pure fat burning exercise and will not hamper your recuperative ability's. So yes keep doing the cardio.

If you are fat, 14 percent bodyfat or more, I would not recommend any calories right before bed. Have that shake about an hour and a half before bed time. Only eat enough carbs for energy. If it is a slow release protein you can have 60grams at a time, but if it is just regular protein I would recommend just one scoop taken every 3 hours.

Another suggestion try the metabolic diet. You can read up on it at www.metabolicdiet.com
You can use it to lose weight, lose fat, or add muscle mass and weight.

If you have any more questions pm me and I can give you all the info you could ever want on this subject.

In short if you are to embarrassed to take your shirt off at the swimming pool when there are hot girls around then work on getting leaner and then try to get bigger later. Don't be one of those guys who looks great in clothes, but is to fat to take there shirt off in public. I am at 12% bodyfat right now and if I gained any more fat I would not want to be seen with my shirt off.  I would say aim for 10% or under for the summer and 12 to 13% for the winter.

Hayabusa

[nycteen90]

That website you need to buy a membership to view the actual diet. I think I am no were near 10 bf more like 20% or maybe even more. I guess I dont feel comfortable taking off my shirt, I mean id go to the beach no problem but id feel kind of emarrased around girls maybe, but im not sure I havent been in that situation yet, since I never use to go to the beach, I will this summer though. I was hoping buffing up a bit before summer would make me look better without a shirt, no? Most of my fat is concentrated to my torso and belly, my arms look ok even though they're pretty small.

[Cold]

doing less cardio is not gonna make you fat. it's the wrong diet that will make you fat. ask yourself what you want to accomplish first. summer is almost here. do u want to get lean or do you want to bulk? if you want to get a bit leaner, then keep doing the same amount of cardio u've been doing, but adjust the protein to carb ratio, and perhaps take a close look at ur overall caloric intake and decrease slightly if necessary. do ur cardio, but weight train HEAVY. keep them compound and attack that weight with anger as if your girlfriend cheated on you.

[Hayabusa]

Yes that site may require a membership but if you want I can help you work out a diet to get you were you want to be. If you are truly close to 20% bodyfat you need to get that down, alot. I would never recommend going that high unless you are in a sport that requires you to be very large. IE linebacker, super heavy weight powerlifter, super heavy weight wrestler, etc.

What you need to do is first hone your diet. Pick one that is right for you. They all work for some people but they don't all work for all people. Once you get your diet straight get your cardio in order. Do at least 45 minutes a day at least 5 days a week. Aim for a heart rate of around 140 for the entire time. If you really want to lose the fat fast do as I said and take a long walk, and hour or more, everynight on top of your cardio. If you live near the beach take long walks on the beach. Make it fun. Take your girlfriend with you.

To keep your muscle mass and maybe even add some more in the process lift hard and heavy 5 days a week. I prefer breaking it down like this. Legs, Chest, back, rest, shoulders, arms, rest. Do abs everyday, do calves at least every other day if not everyday. Do compound exercises with as much weight as you can handle in a pyramid 15,12,10,8,6(reps). Pick about 3 exercises for each bodypart except arms and then maybe 2.

Getting bigger muscles at 20% bodyfat will only make you look better in clothes. When you get to a point that you are proud to take your shirt off start upping the calories until you start adding muscle. If you are truly 20% bodyfat at 217 pounds, 16 years old, and 5'9" than you are truly genetically gifted for bodybuilding. That means at 16 you would be 173.6 pounds of lean weight. You could compete at 5% bodyfat with a weight of about 182pounds, as a teenager none the less. If you continue training hard and add 10 pounds of lean weight you could still compete in the teen class when you are 19 at roughly 220 pounds. If you continue and add just 5 pounds a year after that by the time you are 25 you could compete at 242 pounds at around 3% bodyfat at 5'9". In other words a genetic monster.

Get in touch with me PM and we will get you started.

Hayabusa

[youandme]

^^^ Good avdvise Hayabusa!!

You want to add the weights to keep muscle, and once you have added the weights now, watch the fat melt off. You will be pushing your body and not feeding it, it will "hurt" a few days but level off.

Like he said make it fun after cardio hit it hard and fast liek a circuit drop set superset then pack up and roll, dont spend too much time in there, like the lollgaggers, who have been dieting for 10 years + and work the jaw muscle best.

[MidniteRambo]

I don't have a personal trainer, and I don't know what this is.. How much protein should I have in the shake? I just had a 50g protein shake before bed. THe serving size says 60g but its 3 scoops so 1 scoops is 20g, how much should I take after my workout and how much before bed? How should I do sprints? like jog one lap on the track and then sprint one lap as fast as possible, repeat for 10 minuteS? does that sound good?

50g is "whey" too much, 30g max (you'll end up excreting the balance), plus it shouldn't be whey, try a slower dissolving protein (milk/egg based) and swallow 3 flax capsules to slow down the absorption.  If you wake up during the middle of the night, have another pre-made and waiting for you and repeat with the flax capsules again.

[blondmusclhunk]

Definately get your body fat tested.  If your not gaining muscle are you working out correctly? Send me what your doing for work outs id be interested in seeing.  You can reach a plateau sometimes but that can be overcome.  Also the rule for protein is 1-1.5 grams per pound of body weight. Send me what your doing for workouts and eating and ill give you some input.

[nycteen90]

You got me wrong, Im probably around 20% bf at 192 lbs. Maybe even more if you consider me to be a genetic monster since im really not, im actually pretty week. I have 14 inch arms, which is pretty small especially considering I have some fat on me. I already spent $35 on a big jar of whey, now you're telling me to throw it out? Tell em whats the best way to consume this as I spent money on it already. I thought the reason I wasnt gaining muscle was because I was running hard. moderate-intense cardio for 35 minutes at the least sometimes for 1.5 hours.

[kicker]

Yes that site may require a membership but if you want I can help you work out a diet to get you were you want to be. If you are truly close to 20% bodyfat you need to get that down, alot. I would never recommend going that high unless you are in a sport that requires you to be very large. IE linebacker, super heavy weight powerlifter, super heavy weight wrestler, etc.

What you need to do is first hone your diet. Pick one that is right for you. They all work for some people but they don't all work for all people. Once you get your diet straight get your cardio in order. Do at least 45 minutes a day at least 5 days a week. Aim for a heart rate of around 140 for the entire time. If you really want to lose the fat fast do as I said and take a long walk, and hour or more, everynight on top of your cardio. If you live near the beach take long walks on the beach. Make it fun. Take your girlfriend with you.

To keep your muscle mass and maybe even add some more in the process lift hard and heavy 5 days a week. I prefer breaking it down like this. Legs, Chest, back, rest, shoulders, arms, rest. Do abs everyday, do calves at least every other day if not everyday. Do compound exercises with as much weight as you can handle in a pyramid 15,12,10,8,6(reps). Pick about 3 exercises for each bodypart except arms and then maybe 2.

Getting bigger muscles at 20% bodyfat will only make you look better in clothes. When you get to a point that you are proud to take your shirt off start upping the calories until you start adding muscle. If you are truly 20% bodyfat at 217 pounds, 16 years old, and 5'9" than you are truly genetically gifted for bodybuilding. That means at 16 you would be 173.6 pounds of lean weight. You could compete at 5% bodyfat with a weight of about 182pounds, as a teenager none the less. If you continue training hard and add 10 pounds of lean weight you could still compete in the teen class when you are 19 at roughly 220 pounds. If you continue and add just 5 pounds a year after that by the time you are 25 you could compete at 242 pounds at around 3% bodyfat at 5'9". In other words a genetic monster.

Get in touch with me PM and we will get you started.

Hayabusa

Is it in fact possible to accrue muscle mass while dieting and increasing cardio?  I'd also like to shed some fat for the summer...I'm at around 15% and would like to get to around 10% in about 6 weeks. Yu seem to have a good understanding in this area and would appreciate any insights on the best way to go about this as well the "metabolic diet" system.

[Hayabusa]

Yes if you have your diet honed to perfection along with a perfect workout regimen it is indeed possible to gain SOME muscle mass while dieting. Your weight lifting will have to be very hard including sets that range from light 12 reps all the way down to maybe even 5. If you are 15% bodyfat and are not trying to get ready for a contest or make weight for some reason than I wouldn't recommend going very low on your calories. I would keep your protein levels very high 2 grams per pound, carb levels between 30 to 60g Monday Thur Friday with carb loading on weekends, and just adjust your fat intake to raise or lower your calorie levels. If you can maintain your weight at say 3600 calories I might cut them down to 3500 and up your aerobics to 45 minutes 4 times a week. Remember that if you gain muscle, but don't add any fat your overall body composition will improve.

If you are in your first year of real lifting I would say you could even improve your body composition, lower bodyfat, by actually very slightly increasing your calories over maintenance. Not much mind you but lets say 50 a day, all from protein. Switching to the metabolic diet will take care of the body composition alone. Remember basically a very short version is during the week you only take in 30 g carbs a day. On weekends you basically eat all the carbs you want. You take your body weight and multiply by 2 to come up with your protein levels. Now you take your maintenance calorie level and subtract the amount of calories from protein and carbs from that and that is how much fat you eat. On the weekends when you carb load you subtract the fat and add carbs so you stay at the same calorie level. If after being on this diet for 3 weeks you find you have no energy during the week to train you slowly add in carbs until you find the level your body is happy with. For some it may be 60g, others 120g. If you have to add carbs you just subtract fat. If you find that you are not leaning up with this you very slowly subtract calories in the form of fat until you start to see the results you want.

This same diet can be used to bulk up without adding gobs of fat like you would on a usual bulking cycle. You just take the weight you want to be and multiply that by 25. This is the calorie level you are aiming for. You still keep carbs at the 30g level during the week and just up the protein and fat levels. On weekends again you carb load. When you get to your goal weight or 10% bodyfat or for some non competitive lifters 15% bodyfat you cut back to your maintains levels.

I typed this fast and it is very brief way to describe a very complex diet. If you don't understand something just hit me back and I will try to answer your question. This diet works for those people that the no carb diet doesn't work for because it takes into account different body types, and people being different. Some people just cant live on 30g of carbs and this diet lets your body figure out what is ideal.

Hayabusa

[Hayabusa]

You got me wrong, Im probably around 20% bf at 192 lbs. Maybe even more if you consider me to be a genetic monster since im really not, im actually pretty week. I have 14 inch arms, which is pretty small especially considering I have some fat on me. I already spent $35 on a big jar of whey, now you're telling me to throw it out? Tell em whats the best way to consume this as I spent money on it already. I thought the reason I wasnt gaining muscle was because I was running hard. moderate-intense cardio for 35 minutes at the least sometimes for 1.5 hours.

Oh yes there is nothing wrong with the protien you have. Take 30 grams every 3 hours. If you eat something that has protein in it you dont need the protein drink. Aim for 2 grams per pound of body weight a day. Try not to take in any calories right before bed. Take your last protein drink about an hour before bed. When you get to a point where you are trying to gain weight again then take one right before bed, and anytime you wake up in the middle of the night.

Hayabusa

[4thAD]

Hey man check out this thread! It has alot of info on short 16 minute high intensity cardio! Also google Max OT and navigate to max ot cardio!

http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=69146.msg1029776#msg1029776

[WOOO]

I'm 16, gentically I probably wont grow anymore. I'm 5'9 and I am the tallest man in my family for five generations back(don't know about older than that), The second tallest is my dad at 5'7, so im pretty lucky to be this tall.

That's fine... but don't stress out, at 16 you still have tons of growing to do... maybe not up, but you will continue to fill in, tighten up, etc... give yourself time to grow and keep doing both cardio and weights.