4 weeks of HIIT = results!

[CPFan]

Hello All,

I'm 28 and I've been weightlifting on and off for about 9 years now. I got into really good shape in college and was around 155 lbs at 9% bf (I'm 5'8" and small-framed). That was about 4 years ago.

I've kinda let things slide since college and that dreaded gut has started to swell up. So I decided to go on a 4 week diet and do HIIT every other morning. My ultimate goal is to get bigger, but I wanted to shed some fat first.

Here are my results of 29 days and 15 running sessions:

I ran 3 miles every other day on an empty stomach after taking 2 Ripped Fuel capsules. The park next to my house is about 1/2 mile around (rectangular). I jogged 3 sides and ran my ass off on the 4th side. I kept my HR over 180 during the run and under 150 during the jog.

My caloric intake was around 2400 calories a day. I had 5 meals a day. 3 of them were ~300 calories each and 2 of them (lunch and dinner) were ~500 calories each. I made sure to get plenty of good fat. My fat intake was around 75g a day and I ate a lot of natural peanut butter and oil based salad dressings. I drank around 110 oz of water per day. I allowed myself one pig-out meal per week (on Saturday evenings).

The end result was that I lost 7.5 lbs, an inch from my waist, and I did not lose any mass in my arms.

Just thought I'd share...

Sonny

 

[leancuisine]

my friend....
i can assure you lost a bunch of muscle too.
for 4 weeks i'd say thoser results are pretty weak given that half of the weight that you lost was muscle. so that's about 4 pounds of fat loss and 4 pounds of muscle loss. and you worked 4 "hard" weeks???
shit man......
you got ripped off!
get your money back.

 

[TheMyth]

LeanCuisine

how can you say that he lost half muscle? What do you base that on? It is possible to lose 2 lbs of fat a week if the diet, training and supplements are in tune. Give the guy some support here, he's excited and motivated to get back in shape. A comment like that can make a person feel like shit and give up what he has started, and that's not what these boards are for.

 

[CPFan]

It's all good, guys. I can take the heat.

Seriously though, I've been lean pretty much all of my life. This is the first time I've really gone on a "diet".

LeanCuisine: I'd be very curious to get some feedback from you about this program. I feel that it met my needs very well. Although I know it is not possible to lose 100% fat and 0% muscle on a diet, I am also curious about where you get your 50/50 numbers? I certainly don't feel like I lost 50% muscle and 50% fat, but maybe I'm wrong.

The weight loss is most noticeable in the ab/gut area....and that is exactly what I wanted.

I know I'll diet again in the future and if I made some mistakes this time around, I'd like to learn from them.

The only supplements I used on this diet were the Ripped Fuel (only on the days that I ran...that shit makes me seriously jittery), and Optimum Whey protein powder.

Sonny

 

[leancuisine]

LeanCuisine

how can you say that he lost half muscle? What do you base that on? It is possible to lose 2 lbs of fat a week if the diet, training and supplements are in tune. Give the guy some support here, he's excited and motivated to get back in shape. A comment like that can make a person feel like shit and give up what he has started, and that's not what these boards are for.

the myth...
first of all, i'm the first brother to support anybody in any of the boards. i respect hard work and will do my best to support any of my brothers. but i'm sorry that this guy worked his ass off for 4 weeks for those results.

first off, unless he was on AS then FOR SURE he lost a bunch of muscle. second, you claim that's it's possible to lose 2 pounds a week. possible? yes. but you better godamn make sure you eat super super clean and cardio around 7 times a week. and his 2400 cals a day IMO are a little too much. also, 15 cardio sessions in 4 weeks ain't shit!!!

so dude, why don't you dwell on that for a second or two and if my opinion doesn't make too much sense to you then maybe you should have one of the vets take a look. with me they'll agree!

ciao amigo

 

[leancuisine]

It's all good, guys. I can take the heat.

The only supplements I used on this diet were the Ripped Fuel (only on the days that I ran...that shit makes me seriously jittery), and Optimum Whey protein powder.

Sonny

dude...
i'm not flaming you so please take this as constructive crticism. i'd like to see my bros acheive top results quickly and efficiently.

the 50/50 figure i threw out there was from me and some brothers' personal experiences and in no way can be backed up by confirmed studies. it seems that if you're not on gear and on a cutting routine you will generally lose half muscle and half fat. the good thing is that once you stop the heavy cardio and lift more intensely that muscle comes right back. "muscle memory".

another point...
i think you should have doulbed your cardio sessions but cut the intensity to no more than 70% mhr. that way, you would have burned much more fat and spared more muscle.

 

[CPFan]

LeanCuisine:

It's cool, man...I appreciate the feedback. I did what I could given the restraints that I had. I probably could have worked out a little more often, but the fact is that I'm a dad to a 4 month old baby and his sleeping patterns (and hence mine) are irregular at best. He seems to sleep very well every other night and hence, my workouts were always on the morning after a good night for him. At this point in the game, every other day was feasible.

If it matters, I forgot to mention that during the last 2 weeks, I did lift weights twice a week. I did 3 sets each of bench press, overhead press, curls, and seated rows. I felt like I was helping to "conserve" muscle by doing this, but maybe it wasn't the right thing to do? Man, I felt extremely weak...it was a struggle to work with the weights that I normally use to warm up!

So your recommendation is basically to stick in the 70% of max HR constantly vs doing bursts of high intensity (aka HIIT)? I know HIIT has been touted as a great way to lose weight in general, but you think I would do better as far as "muscle preservation" on a constant run type program?

Peace,
Sonny

 

[KillerLoop]

CPFan - what are your goals? 154lbs is very light for a guy your height. Are you just looking for an athletic lean look? Also, start a weight training routine that you will stick to week by week.

 

[leancuisine]

LeanCuisine:

It's cool, man...I appreciate the feedback. I did what I could given the restraints that I had. I probably could have worked out a little more often, but the fact is that I'm a dad to a 4 month old baby and his sleeping patterns (and hence mine) are irregular at best. He seems to sleep very well every other night and hence, my workouts were always on the morning after a good night for him. At this point in the game, every other day was feasible.

If it matters, I forgot to mention that during the last 2 weeks, I did lift weights twice a week. I did 3 sets each of bench press, overhead press, curls, and seated rows. I felt like I was helping to "conserve" muscle by doing this, but maybe it wasn't the right thing to do? Man, I felt extremely weak...it was a struggle to work with the weights that I normally use to warm up!

So your recommendation is basically to stick in the 70% of max HR constantly vs doing bursts of high intensity (aka HIIT)? I know HIIT has been touted as a great way to lose weight in general, but you think I would do better as far as "muscle preservation" on a constant run type program?

Peace,
Sonny

sonny..
given that's your son is still in the "pain in the ass at night" years i can understand better where you're coming from. i admire that you stuck to a strict program despite having many other more important issues to deal with at home. good one.

now...
i'm currently on an 8 week cutting program myself, and there is no freakin way in the world that i would EVER try to cut up without the assistance of a steroid. rationale is quite simple-spare muscle!
as you know cardiovascualr activity not only burns fat but also muscle. with 250mg of sustanon every 5 days (which is not the best choice of gear but the only one that was immediately available for me) i now can also build muscle while cutting up.
my routine is as follows:

day 1: a.m cardio 30-40min at 60-70%mhr
p.m chest, biceps
day 2: back delts triceps followed by 20-30min cardio 60-70%
day 3: a.m cardio
p.m 20min cardio 60-70%.
day 4: rest
day 5: a.m cardio
legs folowed by 20min cardio 60-70%

now this is by no means etched in stone rules as one day i may not do a.m cardio for whatever reasons. i like to change the routine too as following precise pre determined schedules can sometimes be boring and/or not feasible.

the point is that you wanna do an anabolic and lift weights but focus more heavily on cardiovascular and a super clean diet which is a whole 2 pages of information by itself.


i probably left a bunch of good info. out as i'm rushing outta the house but i hope that helps. KILLERLOOP knows his shit pretty good.

KILLER... what do you think?

 

[KillerLoop]

Ok, well although I respect your thoughts leancuisine and you're a good bro, my thoughts are quite different.

If he's cutting at 154lbs at 5'10'' it is obvious he has no need to use AAS. This guy wants to just be healthy and lean. That's cool, I can see where he's coming from. Also, this guy is a Father and AAS are illegal, assuming he's from the USA. Many people don't want to take the legal and moral risks.

First off, diet is more important. We need to know what your diet is like CPFan. Also I happen to like HIIT cardio myself. The reason I like it is because it's fun. If I had to do 4 long sessions of cardio a week I wouldnt bother and would just low my carb intake or do a CKD. Just keep your HIIT sessions to 20mins 3 times a week from now on.

CPFan - to be honest mate if you keep cutting you will vanish to almost nothing. That isnt a flame but 154lbs at 5'10'' and STILL cutting is a waste of time IMO. Ok you might want to be lean, healthy an fast but you can still do that whilst adding a little muscle, especially at your weight.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.