Quote:
Originally Posted by gthal
Here's my advice. Start with a moderate calorie deficit... say 20% under TDEE. You need to be deliberate and track it accurately using something like MyFitnessPal or something like that. I'm super diligent in tracking. Figure out your TDEE and macros using something like this.... http://www.muscleforlife.com/weight-loss-calculator
Up your protein intake. I weigh 175lbs and I'm taking in 200+g of protein when I'm dieting down. For two reasons... higher protein (really more than I need) to preserve muscle, effective nitrogen balance and also the thermogenic impact of protein as it is the hardest macro nutrient for your body to process so it's calorie efficient, so to speak.
Continue heavy lifting and focus on compound exercises (squats, deadlifts, bench, etc) as your main exercises. Add HIIT to your routine. I do 5 days of weights and add 2 to 3 sessions (30 minutes) of cardio. Long, steady state cardio (jogging, etc) is bad for muscle retention. HIIT is much better. Lots of articles (LOTS) on the link above on this topic.
I find I don't lose any strength (and therefore likely little to no muscle) and I am able to lose weight quickly. Once I get to my goal, I reverse diet (add 200 calories a week) until I get back to my maintenance level TDEE. For me, I maintain around 2,600 calories, bulk around 2,800 to 3,000 calories and cut around 2,100 calories if I'm working out 4 to 5 hours a week. Works really well for me.
I went from 29% BF to 8% BF doing this. I then bulked to around 10% - 12% BF and then cut again to 8% BF in a very short period again. I'll continue this cycle until I'm happy with my lean muscle and then I'll simply continue working out and eat around my TDEE to maintain an 8% to 9% BF level.
Some useful reading...
http://www.muscleforlife.com/high-in...nd-weight-loss
http://www.muscleforlife.com/build-muscle-lose-fat
Lots of different views on all of this but what I wrote above worked amazingly well for me and it's pretty basic, common sense stuff. |
First of all thank you for the well thought out response. Secondly you are absolutely right about the common sense part. Most of what you advised are things I've either heard from others or basics I've found researching. For me it comes down to actually counting my calories which I dreaded, but if I want to reach my goals it's a must. I will admit I need to add a little more HIIT to my workouts for sure, but I have a decent amount in right now.