The Official Gym & Fitness Thread

Im on a see food diet...I see food and I eat it

 

I thought I could slide that in there unnoticed. I don't think @tacopaulo has been here long enough to see the struggles that come with me cutting, but it won't take him long to realize I'm probably the worst cutter on the planet.

 

Okay so I am trying to slim down and just focus on some weight loss, figured i'd consult the experts ..

i've been in and out of the gym and I have a workout plan, but it deals with lifting and I just feel that's not the exact best for weight loss.

Would I be better off just going for run/jogs in the early morning and at night everyday?

What do you guys think?

 

Sup Swank, you traitor (jk)

You want to aim for fat loss, not weight loss. If you just do cardio, you'll end up losing some muscle too. Bodybuilding, strength training will help you keep some muscles during your fat loss. Even if it's just 3x a week and some cardio. Eat enough protein and healthy fats and you're good!

 

Haha I apologize, does it count if I say I miss the tacoma a little bit?
And okay, so fat loss is what I'm aiming for. So I need to do a mix of cardio and some lifting at the gym (3x approx. a week)?
Protein and healthy fats throws me for a curveball though. I usually just do baked/grilled chicken

 

this x 32453467478

Example:



That's a marathon runner on the left...very low bodyfat, but very little muscle. On the right is a sprinter who lifts weights and does short burst cardio (HIIT). I dunno about you, but I know which one I prefer

Generally, if you see a person who only does cardio, they're never tone. They're skinny, but not tone. Muscle tone comes from lifting weights...and it burns fat!

Check this list out. It's my go-to when people want a clean foods list:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=107266371

 

You could try a 5x5 program that only requires you to go 3x a week. Then do cardio as much as you can. Baked and grilled chicken are fine. Eating lots of protein could be hard so you can buy a tub of whey protein for a supplement. For fats I eat almonds, avocado, peanut butter, olive oil etc. you can research more healthy fats I'm sure.

 

Bro foods lol. My fats come from ranch dressing & mayonnaise.





That's probably why I'm fat

 

Actually I eat a lot of shit foods during my cut. I'm just trying to do the right thing here lol.

 

If you don't wanna do a 5x5, you could do a traditional 3 day split:

chest and tri's
back and bi's
legs and shoudlers

5x5 is amazing for getting strong though, but not the most ideal for hypertrophy

 

Yeah, it's usually much easier to tell folks to eat "healthy", opposed to diving into the whole macro, calories in/calories out conversation.

 

Yea my macros are usually on point but my micros.... When i was cutting last summer I was eating around 55 to 60 fats and basically I used all of them on McDonald's or Chipotle everyday. By night time I had no more fats left to eat...

 

Thanks for the link! I'll definitely use that.

5x5 program? I'll need to google that haha. Yeah i've seen the whey protein, would it be good to get some of that to offset the cardio i'm assuming?

Yeah my current workout is broke into those, so i'm guessing he really knows his shit and set me up right.

 

I try to hit my micros, too, but I'm not religious about it like I am with macros. Last year, I got really big into it and was eating salads and all kinds of shit, but I don't worry about it too much anymore. I eat about 70% clean, 30% dirty to stay sane.

5x5 focuses on doing 5 sets of 5 reps of the basic lifts: squats, deadlifts, bench, overhead press, and deadlifts. Most people do 3 days a week and pic 3 of the 5 exercises each day. It's really good for getting strong, but if you are wanting to just look good naked, it's not the most ideal plan. You can still do all those lifts on a traditional split as well, which is what I do.

 

going to whole foods to get ostrich after reading that. I wonder what it tastes like

 

The easiest answer is burn more than you eat. Figure out what your goal is, write that shit down and do something about it every single day until you reach it then set another. Mine is to drop another 30 lbs maintain for a few months then cut about 20 more, have surgery to remove my excess skin, then bulk the hell way up clean

 

I'd say go with the split Zach recommended. 5x5 is mostly compound exercises to help you get strong.

Yea I'd say I'm around 70/30 too as far as eating dirty. A lot of people use iifym as an excuse to eat like shit all the time though.

 

Oh okay, makes sense now. Doesn't seem too bad. Thanks for the help!

Thanks for the input! Will do this as well.

 

16/8 Intermittent Fasting might do ya some good too

 

I was going to suggest HIIT. I used to do it a lot when I was trying to get my body fat super low (I got to <7% but then I got cold...) If you have a gym that is spacious and not very busy you can easily do circuits with HIIT. Just keep a treadmill running at like 10speed and go do a set of something then walk over jump back on for 45sec and then go do another set. Much harder to do when Peggy Powerwalker comes in with her walkman on her hip ready to listen to her books on tape while she holds on to the rails on speed 2.

I loved the 5x5. http://stronglifts.com/5x5/
That's the website where you can read and watch some vids. I think the guy is ukranian? idk...They have an app too that makes it super easy to track. But like everyone else said, it would be if you want to get strong. You would definitely see toning benefits though...