fat loss vs. muscle gains - question for ya

[twinphish]

hey there..

thanks for all the amazing info.. I'm learning tons on this board!

On previous threads, it was discussed that (aside from beginners) it isn't likely to burn fat and gain muscle at the same time, that you can only do one at a time. So my question is, since we all know that the more muscle mass you have, the more you burn fat, which should I do?

I'm doing weight training, but according to the theory, I must only be maintaining the muscle while on a cutting diet from all the protein. Should I just keep low-carb rotating to lose the majority of the fat I need before trying to gain some muscle mass? I am a fairly muscular girl already..just covered up by all the fat

I have about 50 pounds of fat or so to lose .. just started, lost 10 pounds so far.. taking it slow and steady.

thanks again in advance

 

[Temple]

http://boards.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47460

http://boards.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18137

Here are a couple of links to get you started. When you are a beginner your body will respond positively with less manipulation. An example is that a while back I talked to Iron God about carb cycling and his response was to save that for when you need it, just stick with the basic plan which is in the posted above and you will see amazing progress. Depending on how many calories you are eating now you may want to work up to that. I was doing 2500 because I was serious about putting on some mass and at the end of 12 weeks I was leaner and harder. The main thing with doing this is that you just have to keep getting back up on the horse and striving for consistency. At the end of that 12 week program we had this little deal where my DH's tool truck met a John Deere 8600 combine at roughly 60mph and my weight gym immediatly got converted to a damaged tool storage facility - it was unavoidable but now that the mess is cleaned up I am back on the horse again.
When you have 50# to lose a clean diet, some cardio and a good lifting program are going to result in fat loss and muscle gain.

 

[twinphish]

great.. thanks for your help

 

[Temple]

Lobo - do you agree that she will lose fat faster on adequate calories 2000+ with cardio and weight training? When I was shedding the most fat was when I was in that range. I started having problems when I tried to drop the cals lower than that thinking it would pull it off faster and only ended up losing muscle, feeling over trained and had to put my body through the whole adjustment period that goes with upping the calories again. Or was all that my imagination...

 

[MS]

I think it depends on where you're starting from. As a female I would not suggest bulking if you are above ~16-18% bodyfat. You will make much better long term mass gains if you cut first, then add lean mass back on post-cutting. However, you can make good quality strength gains at any level of bodyfat if you're new to weight lifting. For males I think that bulking much above ~12-14% is asking for relatively more fat gain than lean muscle gain. Of course the judicious use of AAS changes things a little

 

[twinphish]

cool.. thanks for your help

I've been eating roughtly 2000+ calories a day..still losing.. doing weights and cardio.. i'll stick to it

thank ya!

 

[rez]

r u sure?

I think it depends on where you're starting from. As a female I would not suggest bulking if you are above ~16-18% bodyfat. You will make much better long term mass gains if you cut first, then add lean mass back on post-cutting. However, you can make good quality strength gains at any level of bodyfat if you're new to weight lifting. For males I think that bulking much above ~12-14% is asking for relatively more fat gain than lean muscle gain. Of course the judicious use of AAS changes things a little

i dont know if i agree w cutting first..i think it depends on your situation. for example, when i first started training seriously ppl on this board eg phem, spatts et al told me to put on muscle before i cut because i dont weigh a lot but have a relatively high bf%.