Ladies, help me out! purty please....

[BigRedCat]

I have been training my girl for about 6 months now and she isn't really seeing results so I want to figure what she might be doing wrong. She is 5'5" at 135 and she dosen't seem to be losing any fat. She knows not to worry about her weight as muscle will add weight however she isn't losing fat. She seems to be stuck.

I have her on the same 5x5 heavy routine as me. All basics, squats,incline DB press etc. We have only been doing sprints for cardio so that may be why we are not losing fat(I am not either ). She eats clean but I suspect not enough. What should her cals/day be for cutting? She is getting stronger but just no fat loss and I am not sure what the deal is. Her body seems resistant to lose fat. What do you ladies recommend? More cardio? Watch the diet more carefully? We have 1 cheat day a week and all the other days we eat clean-so what gives?

 

[BigRedCat]

anyone?? anyone?? .......bueller? bueller?

 

[JJFigure]

Is she keeping a diet log? That may help you figure out where the diet is going wrong (cause it's almost always diet).

My current formula for cutting is 11xbodyweight - but that's for contest cutting, not permanent fat loss. That may be too extreme for your girl initially (~1500 kcals/day). I usually start at 1900 kcals for a week or two, then drop to 1700 kcals. This usually has me losing 1 lb./week. This is the first time I've dropped to 1500 kcals, but I'm also trying to get very lean for this contest.

 

[valerie]

She may also want to try cycling her carbs. Have the higher carb days on wo days and lower carbs on non wo days. Really look closely at what see is eating. Lots of supposed "good food" is really shit . Make the food choices around fibrous carbs and lean meats. Complex carbs from oats,sweet potatoes,potatoes, you know the routine. She may need to remove wheat,or dairy products as well. Give whatever you chose to the time to work. Sprints are great. Not need to change that. Also include good fats-flaxseed oil, fish oil,etc.-Valerie

 

[vinylgroover]

Sprinting isn't going to do a great deal to tap into and break down the fat. Moderate intensity, longer cardio sessions will break down fat more effectively than higher intensity, shorter duration cardio.

Have her perform her cardio in the morning to inrease the fat burning process. Have her start out with 3 sessions per week, 30 minutes per session. Preferably on days she isn't doing weights, at a moderate intensty level and then evaluate from there whether she needs less or more and adjust accordingly.

Otherwise, increase her fiber, restructure her carb intake so that she's taking the bulk of her carbs earlier in the day and on workout days as Valerie said. Omega 3 fatty acid is good, found in salmon, tuna etc.

 

[Gladiola]

How long has she been on the same diet & exercise routine? Often just CHANGE can shake things up, try 1-2 sessions per week of the lower intensity, longer duration cardio, cycle carbs, or cycle cals (close to maintenance, 250 defecit, etc.)

Maybe shake things up with the lifting too - circuit style sometimes, lower rep other times (3-4 reps per set, 5 sets instead of 8-10).

 

[BigRedCat]

She has been on the same diet for quite awhile. I am going to switch up our routine a bit. Her diet is pretty much dead on- when she eats enough that is. It is mainly fibrous carbs and meats(we eat filet mignon all the time,chicken,tuna etc.). As for good fats we get it mostly from natural peanut butter. She dosen't eat bread at all and we drink fat free milk. We both use fitday to keep track of intake. She is a bartender and I think she has trouble fitting in meals. She brings protein shakes to work so that is good.

As for cardio: first thing in the morning- never gonna happen- she would sooner shoot herself then get up early to go do cardio. I agree about that as well- we are not morning people. She works pretty late and we work out around midnight so that is when we are able to get cardio in. I know its not the best time but its the only time we have available.

Also from my research I have found that the old do cardio for a long duration to "tap into" fat stores advice to be possibly false indeed. As I understand it that is not how fat is burned. You dont "start" burning fat after a certain duration- that is old thinking. Look at the sprinter vs. long distance runner debate- no one can deny which looks better: the sprinter- far more muscular. See here for more info on that:
http://www.davedraper.com/hiit-cardio-training.html


Anyway, I am thinking it must be a problem with diet- do you think not enough cals might cause no fat lose? The body holds it thinking its starving? I am going to advise her to start around 1800 cals a day and try cycling carbs as you guys suggested. To tell you the truth, most days I think the both of us hardly eat enough carbs. That might be a problem in itself. Thank you guys for the advice, if you have anything to add please do. I will keep ya'll updated as to her progress. I would like to see something work!!



Wazzup Vinylgroover? Cheers, Ta.

 

[JJFigure]

If you're lifting, you need to cycle in carbs at some point. I'm currently on the anabolic diet, and cycle in carbs on the weekends. This is a pretty convenient system - I eat very low carb, higher fat and protein during the week, then I eat primarily carbs on the weekend. I'll take in about 700 grams/carb between Saturday and Sunday. This is also a big enough change for your body that you keep it guessing. Can't let the old body get used to anything.

 

[JJFigure]

By low carb, I mean < 30 grams/day. My breakdown during the week is about 5% carb, 40% fat, 55% protein. Of course, I'm in a cutting cycle - little more extreme than you might do for permanent fat loss.

 

[vinylgroover]

I'm alright Big Red, how are you buddy!

Re: longer duration cardio vs. sprinting; when sprinting, the body is burning glycogen/sugar as it's main source of energy as it is anaerobic activity in nature and requires explosive bursts of energy. Therefore, the body is not tapping into the fat stores effectively in order to supply energy for the sprinting, unless of course you are performing endless sprints. But even then your body will give out when the glycogen stores have been depleted, rather than having tapped into the fat stores to any great extent, because an activity like sprinting requires glycogen/sugar.

re: the analogy between sprinters and distance runners. you will find that their bodyfat% are very similar, its just that the muscle bulk is the disparity due to the difference in training.