Losing Fat, Gaining Muscle

[Ekscentrix]

Alright, here's the thing. I know about losing weight and what not, it's all based on Cardio. What I need right now is some help from the people who've been through it.

I'm 18, 310lbs(+,-), and i'm 6' 6". I've been a Member of L.A.Fitness, and right now I go to Pure Fitness. I want some advice pertaining to how i go about losing FAT, and gaining more muscle. Right now I don't have the money to spend on Supplements, I just need some help making a set schedule, and knowing what it'll take to lose my FAT, and gain some muscle.

I have worked out before, so I have muscle on me, I would guess right now it's about 100lbs of fat or more.

Any help from anyone would be great.

 

[Snooker991]

Hi

Eks...,

It is not based on Cardio....Cardio is important for improving your general fitness and general well being-(and definitely should be done) but really if you think about you spend tops 10% of your day at the gym...90% of your time to lose weight lies outside the walls of Pure Fitness, or Gold's or wherever. What it is all about is altering your diet and your general habits...That means eating more meals but smaller meals, that means not eating late at night, that means drinking lots of water...COLD water. Also understanding that starvation doesn't solve anything and neither does cheating. That means being generally active througout the day. Getting up early, but getting sufficient sleep. I have read studies that with less than 5-6 hours of sleep a night over a few days your BMR can slowdown by as much as 25%. It will take some serious effort and time, and there will be times you will get discouraged. I am sure there will be others on the board that will set you straight on particular diets and exercise programs, but I for one do not have the knowledge to necessarily tell you what is best just a lot of personal experience...

Later,
Snooker

 

[Vageta]

Cardio may be great for losing "weight", it's not so great for losing fat if you're not currently on a weight training program. Cardio and diet alone with no weight training will ensure than half of what you lose is muscle. Seeing how you want to gain muscle this is the worst thing you can do. It is absolutely possible to lose fat without doing any cardio at all, from purely weight training and diet. Many will argue that you can't get "ripped" without cardio, and while some may find it hard to do so, you CAN lose a lot of fat without it especially if you are way out of shape. That being said cardio is generally recommended regardless due to general fitness and health and most people should probably do it just to help adjust their unhealthy lifestyle.

Here are a few quick points about weight loss to set you on your way.

1. Weight training sends a signal to your body to spare muscle burning and promote fat burning during a diet.

2. Cardio will burn muscle if weight training is not performed along with it.

3. Weight training and cardio even together will not promote weight loss unless your diet is in order. Meaning you are actually eating less calories than your body is burning.

4. Protein must be kept relatively high during a diet phase to ensure muscle sparing and muscle repair from the damage caused in workouts.

For someone who is that out of shape I'd suggest something simple like a 3 day a week workout regimen with 3 days of cardio on the off days. Then you'd have one day a week completely off from exercise. Some people will tell you to do 6 days of cardio right off the bat. Wrong. You shouldn't start your diet and exercise regimen with guns blazing. Your body is the ultimate adapter and if you throw everything at it in the beginning then what will you have left to do when it adapts?

Start out with 3 days of cardio, then later on add time to those sessions. When you reach a set amount of time then start adding more days. And as I said if you are that out of shape then you can actually lose bodyfat quite easily with only diet and weight training. Then you can add cardio when that starts to slow down. I lost 6mm off of my abdominal skin fold measurement this spring in a 6 week diet without any cardio. At the end of 6 weeks my weight loss started to stall so I began a light cardio addition and it started right back up again. Doing cardio from day one would have been a waste.

There is much information on this board concerning fat loss so spend some time studying diets and weight lifting routines to find what suits you best. People are willing to help you so long as you are willing to listen.

 

[Rudee34]

I know about losing weight and what not, it's all based on Cardio.

Wrong. Cardio can facilitate fat loss but in no means is it required to achieve a lean body. I seldom do cardio, opting to rely on my diet and strength training/muscle building to get me ripped. I don't even touch a Stairmaster or Treadmill until I'm at single digit bodyfat levels, and use short bouts of cardio to "refine" my physique.