Still fat, need muscle

xmx250 · 03-01-08, 11:52

So i've been dieting. I have some knowledge about how to do it correctly and so forth and i've managed to get down to about 190lbs. When i started about 6 months ago i was 215-220. The problem is at 190lbs i am still very fat (5'9" tall). When i look in the mirror i'm disappointed because i am starting to realize that i have very little lean body mass but i have a high body fat percentage.....

I can still grab so much fat all over my body. Chest,arms,belly,butt,legs,etc..... What i wanna do now i start putting on muscle. But i'm skeptical of how well i can put on lean muscle while losing so much fat.... I've been eating about 1800 calories a day. I try to make sure i eat more protein than i normally would.

My question is how should i go about working the muscles to encourage them to grow? I dont wanna work my legs much since i already carry big legs. I really wanna focus on the upper body.

JustinDetail · 03-01-08, 11:59

Lean muscle *is* what burns the fat. You are just misinformed. Limit the cardio, do more weights, eat clean and you'll lean out. I am a personal trainer and competitive natural bodybuilder. I've studied diet, nutrition, exercise for over 10 years now. I've never seen someone in good shape that does things like, cardio only, atkins type diets, super low calorie diets, etc. To look good, you MUST lift weights, you MUST eat a balanced, natural food diet, and you MUST be consistent.

Remember this:
Diets do NOT work. Just hearing people say the phrase "going on a diet" gives me chills. A diet is what you eat day to day. What people mean to say is "I'm going to eat a balanced diet loaded with healthy fats, quality proteins, and nutritious carbs" (like brown rice).

Good luck, it's hard, but make it your way of life and you can and will achieve your goals and live longer.

JustinDetail · 03-01-08, 12:02

Oh and you need to focus more on legs, not less. Full on squats are what up the matabolism, and spur muscle growth throughout the body. Guys that only do upper body never look good. It's all about balance. And while your legs might be big now, are they functional? Meaning, can you squat butt to the floor for sets of 12 with 2-3 plates a side? If not, the size isn't muscle and squatting will benefit you tremendously.

xmx250 · 03-01-08, 12:16

I know that lean muscle burns fat, thats why i want more of it, lol. I also dont consider what i'm doing as a diet. I just stated it that way.

I know my legs probably have no functional strength. But due to the fact that my legs are big my proportion is off a little bit. I guess i'll work them anyway, i guess squats do work muscles throughout the body.

Can you give me some tips of how many repetitions and sets i should be doing for certain muscle groups

smprince1 · 03-01-08, 12:18

I'm not a competitive body builder nor a certified personal trainer....but I know what works for me. A combination of proper diet, strength/resistance training, and cardio training. Resistance training will increase your lean muscle mass, both improving your appearance as well as increasing your metabolism. Cardio training will improve the health of your heart, lungs, and arteries while helping to burn stored body fat. Proper diet will provide the nutrients and energy to allow your body to function at its best, enhancing the results of the first two parts of the equation.

If you've only been dieting alone, you'll really get more effective results by combining all parts of the equation.

You can do it, don't give up, and believe in yourself. Good luck to you in achieving your goals.

Now...if I could just follow my own advice

JustinDetail · 03-01-08, 12:19

1-2 warmup sets per exercise, then 2-3 working sets. I'd recommend starting out for you to train all upper body on one day, then all legs, abs, calves on another. Train M, W, F and alternate upper, lower, upper, etc, etc. Once you do that for a good 3 months, you can start splitting bodyparts up. All the way to a split like I do where I train each bodypart only once a week, on a 5 day split.

JustinDetail · 03-01-08, 12:21

I think it should go without saying that you should also continue to do cardio 3-4 mornigs a week....on an empty stomach, in 15-30 min high intensity fashion, in order to increase the metabolism. Bill Philips from EAS and Muscle Media mag recommended this back in the 90's and it is absolutely phenominal at cutting bodyfat. You have the nutritional protein/meal replacement shake about 45 min after the cardio session.

Accumulator · 03-01-08, 12:21

Yep, what JustinDetail said

Especially his advice about making health/exercise/etc. a lifestyle. You don't have to become a weirdo about it, just not missing workouts will make a huge difference. Long-winded answer follows:

Gotta understand how to exercise to get the right results. To do that you really need to study the subject. You make muscles grow by overloading them so they compensate by growing bigger and stronger. Read books like The Poliquin Principles to learn how your muscles work and how to exercise them properly. Use freeweights instead of machines and remember that gravity pulls straight down. Again, learn what your muscles do and how to exercise them.

Don't worry about leg work making your legs too big. It simply won't be a problem (heh heh, nobody's gonna say "gee, your legs are too muscular"

). Hard leg work is the #1 type of weight work for most *any* desired outcome. As the saying goes, "if you want big arms, work your legs"; it's true.

Do brief but intense cardio on an empty stomach, first thing in the morning. It *will* decrease your bodyfat if you eat right (so you're not just putting fat back on). But it'll happen slowly and gradually and you have to stick with it. This will also offer great cardiovascular benefits. Working hard for 20-some minutes will do more for you than doing easy cardio for an hour the way a lot of people do it.

Don't eat/drink empty calories. Make that a lifelong daily regimen; yeah, you *will* east/drink 'em some time if your a normal human being, but it shouldn't be something you do regularly. Eat small, balanced, meals throughout the day, I shoot for maybe every three hours.

Remember that it took a while to get fat so it'll take a while to get lean. Think long-term

Get a body-composition test done and find out how much fat you're really carrying. Then get it done again at regular intervals so you can objectively track your progress. It's not expensive and most sports rehabilitation/etc. type facilities can do it.

Accumulator · 03-01-08, 12:23

Heh heh, while I was typing up that post JustinDetail & smprince1 hit a bunch of the same points

JustinDetail · 03-01-08, 12:23

I'm *literally* shocked at your post Accumulator! hehe, we even posted the same thing at the same about cardio in the morning on an empty stomach.

EDIT: oh, and good points, especially on the pol principles. I remember getting the idea to read that from Ironman Mag, one of the few mags that had some routines not meant for professional, steroidhead, bodybuilders. hehe

JustinDetail · 03-01-08, 12:28

My "diet" now....sigh

Only drink water (96oz-128oz per day)
2-3 cups cooked brown rice (the good stuff that takes 50 min to cook)
2 6-10 oz servings of lean chicken/beef/tuna a day
2-3 myoplex meal replacement packages
handfuls of natural, unsalted almonds
natural, unsalted peanut butter
2 clif bars a day
apples
bananas
broccoli
raw baby carrots

Pretty exciting huh!?

xmx250 · 03-01-08, 12:30

Thanks guys. I have the eating down pretty well. All i need to do is up the protein intake. How many grams of protein should i eat a day? i've heard 1 gram per pound of body weight, but isnt that excessive for someone like me?

So its two to three sets all i need to work a specific muscle. So i could do 8 reps 3 times and that would be good for my biceps? Should i use the heaviest weight that will allow me to fail at my 8th rep?