How do I reduce bodyfat with minimal muscle loss?

[mothra]

Hi all,

Being new to the boards (and new to weight training all over again, after having followed a semi-disciplined routine for 9 months a few years ago), a bulking phase is imminent.

My stats:

Height - 6 3
Weight - 178
BF% - ~15 (i'm guessing)
Age - 22

My weight is a little deceptive because I do have small wrists, ankles, etc.

First things first though, I don't want to bulk up without first being somewhat lean. Of course, I want to keep the small amount of muscle I do have right now (heh), and make sure that the weight I do lose is almost entirely fat.

Any recommendations on a good diet/routine? I've done some research, and so far, one of the few consistencies I've found is that I should probably incorporate about 1g protein/lb bodyweight into my diet...other than that, I want to be careful not to fall victim to a "fad" diet.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mjollnir]

There will be as many opinions out there as there are people, so I would go to the folks who have achieved both visible and long-term results.

The man who finally got my ear, and definitely could show his results over the long term is Clarence Bass, at www.cbass.com, author of the Ripped series. Well worth the look.

At your age I was your height and weight. I am now 34 and weigh between 225-230 at a yearly avg. of 9% fat.

Train hard.

 

[diamonddiceclay]

keto diet

 

[Natural_Teen]

Im a little younger than you at 17 but i just went through the same trouble. So i worked with a personal trainer to get a diet that enabled me to loose bf and retain/build muscle. In two months i lost 8 lbs of body fat and remained at the same weight, so i packed on 8 lbs of muscle. The calorie split that he gave me (p/c/f) was 40-30-30. or something to that extent. I was at 17 % bf im now at 10-11% damn it feels good. anyway take a look at my diet.

6am: 25-40 minutes cardio (hr<140)

7am: 6 eggwhites/1 yoke, 2 pcs wheat toast, 1tbs pb

10am: 6 oz chicken, 1.4c brown rice

1pm: 6 oz chicken, 1.25c brown rice, .5c vegatable

4pm: protein shake with 40-30-30 calorie split

7pm: 6 oz lean meat, 1.5c sald and 4 tbs of low/no fat dressing

10pm: 1c cereal, .5c skim milk

Hope this helps yea out

 

[Onenameleft]

You're still pretty new, so I wouldn't think a ketogenic diet would be called for unless you just want to do that. A good balanced diet (40/30/30 is good) with your calories around 2000 a day is probably good. Make sure you are doing cardio at least 4 days a week, and lift heavy. As long as you are getting stronger, you're ok. If you feel yourself getting consistantly weaker in any lifts, then you may be losing muscle and you should up the calories some. Like Mjollnir said, there's a million ways to do it, and you just need to find something you can live with that works for you. At your level, and with what you're wanting to do, something like the Bill Phillips plan might work great for you. Good luck.

 

[mothra]

Thanks for the good advice so far all.

I'm meeting with a personal trainer tomorrow so that he can at least get me started on an appropriate diet (I have no problem with the will power of following a diet, just with coming up with one that will meet my needs ) and probably offer suggestions for improving my routine (well, I don't really even /have/ a routine right now beyond just showing up and deciding on what exercises I wanna do!).

Also, I'm studying Arnold's Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. As many people do on the boards, I'll keep ya posted on how things come along.

 

[b007]

AST's MAX-OT is an awesome routine. Give it a shot -

http://www.ast-ss.com/max-ot/max-ot_intro.htm

 

[Murman]

Hello mothra

Keep us posted on what the train gives you for a diet and your workout.

 

[MarkFlC5]

I always assume the people who ask questions are NOT taking roids. With that said, I agree with the fact that you do seem too new for any KETO Diet. Detecting loss of stregth, as one of the other members mentions is the most important thing here but no strength gains doesn't necessarily mean you are losing muscle either. 40-30-30, which is what a few are suggesting, is fairly good advice. Being as young as you are, your body should be fairly forgiving to about anything you do, unless you have a high propensity to put weight on which is my main point here - Genetics.

I would get atleast 1 gm per 100 lb bodyweight of protein. However, IMO, you shouldn't get too hung up on protein and go overboard. If you have the genetics, you'll know right away if you have the ability to pack on muscle quickly. After that its splitting hairs IMO. And thats what professional bodybuilders have to do in order to win - split hairs. So until you are in that category, train each muscle group hard 2 times a week (be carefull, overtraining is easy to do without roids) do cardio 4-5 times a week, and maintain a strict diet which means cut down on the sugar and junk food. Try and have some protein with every meal. I can't substantiate the science behind protein with every meal but it can't hurt to do this. Finally, at least 3 meals a day. I know many bodybuilders advocate 5 or 6 and that would be fine also but I think the important thing before you learn how to make progress is you should know what might hinder the progress and 2 meals or less a day just might do that and the risk isn't worth it. Good luck.

 

[mlomker]

Also, I'm studying Arnold's Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding. As many people do on the boards, I'll keep ya posted on how things come along.

I just started reading it last night as well. After thumbing through and reading the introduction I am very impressed. I've read 1/2 dozen books in the last month trying to absorb as much as possible. He hasn't said anything that I disagree with yet.