Question for weightlifters

[adamyesme1111]

ok I am a freshman and highschool and I have been lifting weights for a long time. I gained about 30 pounds of mass (and unfortunately fat).

So now im at 6'0" 195 and I am running significantly slower then I used to. I am now going back to try to lose weight. After I lose weight I am going to go on some kind of workout plan called a zig zag. (if you work out often you probably know what that is).

I have talked to a couple experts and done some reasearch, and it is my understanding that if you lose weight, it is hard to keep muscle as well. I am wondering how would be the best way for me to maintain my muscle as I lose about 15-20 pounds.

Some people have said to do less weight and more reps, as it doesn't give you mass but it gives you strength. I am worried that if I do go down to like 85 or 95 pounds where I can actually lift it 50-70 times, and I do that for the next month or two where I am losing weight, am I really going to be able to come back and put up 175 still?

Should I just continue working out with 155 doing 10-12 reps of that? Will that maintain my muscle...Is it even possible to maintain my muscle while I lose weight?

I would of course try to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time but I came to the conclusion that that is IMPOSSIBLE, except with the zig zag workout plan.

Any advice?

Edit: if it matters at all the weight figures I was talking about is bench pressing, I do other excercises as well but was just using that as an example

[TLusby]

ok I am a freshman and highschool and I have been lifting weights for a long time. I gained about 30 pounds of mass (and unfortunately fat).

So now im at 6'0" 195 and I am running significantly slower then I used to. I am now going back to try to lose weight. After I lose weight I am going to go on some kind of workout plan called a zig zag. (if you work out often you probably know what that is).

I have talked to a couple experts and done some reasearch, and it is my understanding that if you lose weight, it is hard to keep muscle as well. I am wondering how would be the best way for me to maintain my muscle as I lose about 15-20 pounds.

Some people have said to do less weight and more reps, as it doesn't give you mass but it gives you strength. I am worried that if I do go down to like 85 or 95 pounds where I can actually lift it 50-70 times, and I do that for the next month or two where I am losing weight, am I really going to be able to come back and put up 175 still?

Should I just continue working out with 155 doing 10-12 reps of that? Will that maintain my muscle...Is it even possible to maintain my muscle while I lose weight?

I would of course try to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time but I came to the conclusion that that is IMPOSSIBLE, except with the zig zag workout plan.

Any advice?

Just eat right and reduce your caloric intake. Lift a weight that produces 6-8 reps and continue increasing the weight week after week and yield 6-8 reps.

Also, what H.S. freashman is 27 years old?

[Zen-like Todd]

Change your diet.

[adamyesme1111]

Just eat right and reduce your caloric intake. Lift a weight that produces 6-8 reps and continue increasing the weight week after week and yield 6-8 reps.

Also, what H.S. freashman is 27 years old?

That is what I thought I could do. People seem to make it seem like you can't lose fat while maintaining muscle, because if it eats away fat then it eats way the muscle too they say?

When I made this account, it was just before I turned 13...So I was too young.

Alot of people have fake ages, get with the program

[Zen-like Todd]

That is what I thought I could do. People seem to make it seem like you can't lose fat while maintaining muscle, because if it eats away fat then it eats way the muscle too they say?

When I made this account, it was just before I turned 13...So I was too young.

Alot of people have fake ages, get with the program

If you are working out regularly and you're still overweight, it's clear you need to cut back on your calories or stop crappy food. Seriously. Eat lean protein (chicken), veggies, etc, keep working out, and you'll be very happy with the results.

[jnhay]

I guess what you mean by "zig zag" is going on a fat reducing, low calorie high cardio program, then going on a low cardio, higher calorie weightlifting program. That's what I've heard works.

I've also heard that you shouldn't lose more than 3 pounds a week because if you go over that you're probably burning too much muscle. So you can use that as a gauge to see if you're losing too much weight.

[adamyesme1111]

If you are working out regularly and you're still overweight, it's clear you need to cut back on your calories or stop crappy food. Seriously. Eat lean protein (chicken), veggies, etc, keep working out, and you'll be very happy with the results.

My goal before was to gain muscle mass, and that consists of gaining weight and eating more then your caloric intake.

I am eating chicken right now as we speak lol.

[Brad89]

My goal before was to gain muscle mass, and that consists of gaining weight and eating more then your caloric intake.

I am eating chicken right now as we speak lol.

Don't eat after 7 or 8(I can't remember which). And don't drink. I know you're a freshman in highschool, but kids are starting early these days.

[jnhay]

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/drjoe7.htm

Read that if you want. It seems like it can help.

http://www.intense-workout.com/weight_loss.html

That too.

All the articles I've read on HIIT mention how it helps retain muscle better. Also, do more weight at 6-8 reps like Lusby says. It probably is a nice way to gauge your progress or regress in the program too. If you are lifting more weight, or not much less, than you can't be doing that much damage.

ok I am a freshman and highschool and I have been lifting weights for a long time

Terrible sentence by the way. Damn it, good edit.

[jthor99]

As long as your do a heavy dose of cardio after your workout routine you should start to drop weight. I have been keeping my workout routine basically the same since January 1st. I usually do a warm up set and then follow that by 10, 8, 6, and I also try to change my reps every other week to always keep me muscles guessing.

Before I started this I was at the highest weight of my life at 180. I then decided that I needed to incorpate some type of cardio into my workout plan. I played baseball in college so I was certainly remember how bad running was. I have stuck to the same routine, but just followed my routine with ATLEAST 45 mins of cardio after. Its not fun, but in the past month I have lost 10lbs, and my goal is to lose 20 by the end of May.

I also watch what I eat, and only allow myself to cheat one night out of the week. And basically my cheating is going out for happy hour with a few of my buddies to throw back a few brews.

I hope this helps

[Touchdown Redskins]

Definitely lift as hard as you normally would. To retain as much muscle as possible, you need to lift harder than you would while in your bulking phase. The HIIT is also a very good suggestion. Change your diet a ton.

[GibbsFactor]

Why are you worried about weight? The mirror should be your scale.

[ZoEd]

I agree with the HIIT training approach as well. At your age you probably don't have too much input as to what mom puts on the table so it may be difficult but you could try a KETO type diet. Plenty of resources on bodybuilding.com to research. Keto worked for me, I kept my overall strength and size but lost 11 pounds in 3 weeks and I've been able to maintain that pretty easily.

Key to the Keto I did was like this 60/30/10 breakdown. 60% of your calories from fat, 30% from protein and 10% from carbs. Now to keep your body from breaking down the protein and using if for energy you take about 10 to 30 grams of glucose right before your post workout protein. This gives you an insulin spike for post workout recovery and allows your body to use the protein for its intended purpose, protein synthesis which helps you keep your mass. This is a very basic explanation on how the whole process works. Like I said, BB.com has a ton of material for you to read over. They even have a forum under nutrition dedicated to Keto diets.

[SS29]

All the above is good advice, but I would supplement your diet with 2 servings of glutamine to protect your muscle. Don't worry, it's not synthetic - it's a naturally occurring BCAA. It just helps with muscle retention when your body begins to cannibalize its own mass for energy consumption.

It won't do anything else except aid muscle recovery and protect atrophy.

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Dude, if you want to be fast and lose weight, run. Run with good posture, mix up speeds within a given session. Running is the best exercise there is. It excersizes everything from your forehead muscles to your forearm muscles. Your body circulation will go through the roof, making your lifting better. Also, look for B vitamins in your diet. They are energy/metabolism vitamins. I don't like loading up on them, so instead of supplements here are some foods with B Vitamins:

* liver, heart and kidney

* chicken

* beef

* fish: tuna, salmon

* milk

* eggs

* leaf vegetables

* broccoli

* tomatoes

* carrots

* dates

* sweet potatoes

* asparagus

* avocados

* nuts

* whole grain products

* legumes

* saltbush seeds

* mushrooms

You can also find an overload of B Vitamins in energy drinks. A little can of Red Bull, for instance, has 225% B6 and I believe around 140% B12. I don't recommend those because my experience with loading B Vitamins has made them have a huge crashing effect. The more I drank, the less the buzz would last. So I will drink them from time to time to make me all giddy and happy.

Lifting less or more as far as weight and reps go will decide the structure of your muscles. Don't let fat get in the way of what 'kind of strong' you want to be. Just remember that Sean Taylor was lean and Landry is a muscle bound freak, both of them were built the way they thought was best for their style of play.

[PCS]

Hello? A weightlifting thread and nobody told me about it? Okay. That's it. Where's that button. :kungfu:

[praise_gibbs]

Hey PCS,

There is a weightlifting thread in the Tailgate. You might want to check that out.

EDIT: Here is the link: http://www.extremeskins.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4995740#post4995740

[#98QBKiller]

If you just cut calories and increase your cardio and maintain the same (or close to the same) weight routine that you're currently on you should be able to drop a significant amount of body fat and keep your strength/muscle...."Super Sets" could be a good tool too. They keep your heart rate up and condition you better. I started using super sets and haven't looked back since.

[ZoEd]

Cutting calories is dangerous though. You see, for me when I cut calories I lost an assload of strength. Put the calories back in my diet and my strength went back up.

Think what you want but Atkins was on to something. That's what keto is based on. Get rid of the carbs force your body into ketosis (burning fat for energy instead of carbs) and slowly add carbs back into your diet. Most of us have trained our bodies through consumption of mass quantaties of added sugar, processed foods and ass loads of breads and starches that our body does nothing but store fat. I for one can't eat high carb foods and do enough cardio to keep the fat off. I have to force my body to burn the stored fat or else I'll just keep burning protein and carbs for energy.

Not everyone is created the same genetically. What works for some doesn't work for others.

[skinsn24]

Here at school in a nutrition and exercise class they broke it down pretty simple. (i am sure some advocates of certain diets will disagree though).

If you current body weight is X then your new body weight each day will be X+Y.

Y= Calories in - calories out.

So if you burn more than you take in X (you body weight goes down). Its really that simple.

Now to retain lean muscle mass you need to continue to use those muscles. If you go a long period of time without working a muscle it will start to fade. If you continue to use them they will retain strength for the most part, but they wont get bigger, or it would be tough.

I am not big at all and am not an advanced weightlifter at all. I simply have taken a few nutrition classes at a college level.

Eat right. By that i mean your meal should be dominated by vegtables and supplement it with a protien. If you eat lean steak you should get the amount of fat you "need" in a day. The veggies have lots of fiber which will fill you up. Yes eating like this sucks but you will get used to it.

Cardio work burns calories. Run or Swim, for 30-60 minutes minutes almost every day (or as often as you legs will allow). Make sure to keep doing muscle exercises and you will maintain most strength and drop alot of weight.

[adamyesme1111]

All the above is good advice, but I would supplement your diet with 2 servings of glutamine to protect your muscle. Don't worry, it's not synthetic - it's a naturally occurring BCAA. It just helps with muscle retention when your body begins to cannibalize its own mass for energy consumption.

It won't do anything else except aid muscle recovery and protect atrophy.

So what, I would find this at a vitamin store?

[adamyesme1111]

Dude, if you want to be fast and lose weight, run. Run with good posture, mix up speeds within a given session. Running is the best exercise there is. It excersizes everything from your forehead muscles to your forearm muscles. Your body circulation will go through the roof, making your lifting better. Also, look for B vitamins in your diet. They are energy/metabolism vitamins. I don't like loading up on them, so instead of supplements here are some foods with B Vitamins:

* liver, heart and kidney

* chicken

* beef

* fish: tuna, salmon

* milk

* eggs

* leaf vegetables

* broccoli

* tomatoes

* carrots

* dates

* sweet potatoes

* asparagus

* avocados

* nuts

* whole grain products

* legumes

* saltbush seeds

* mushrooms

You can also find an overload of B Vitamins in energy drinks. A little can of Red Bull, for instance, has 225% B6 and I believe around 140% B12. I don't recommend those because my experience with loading B Vitamins has made them have a huge crashing effect. The more I drank, the less the buzz would last. So I will drink them from time to time to make me all giddy and happy.

Lifting less or more as far as weight and reps go will decide the structure of your muscles. Don't let fat get in the way of what 'kind of strong' you want to be. Just remember that Sean Taylor was lean and Landry is a muscle bound freak, both of them were built the way they thought was best for their style of play.

I used to have those b6+b12 vitamins all the time in that propel water stuff..

[SS29]

So what, I would find this at a vitamin store?

Yes - any vitamin store will have it in either pill or powder form. I would use the powder and drink it down with juice because the sugars in juice act as a carrier to your muscles faster.

You can even find this stuff at Wal-mart if you know where to look, I think.