5x5 going good, but getting fat!!!

[Gurrr]

HI, i posted a few months ago. Had been doing light weights over the years but hardly noticed any progress.
Thanks to 5x5, since the end of March '06 - i've put on quite a lot of muscle and almost doubled my lifts.
I did weigh 180lbs, now weigh 200lbs
Could only squat 88lbs before, now squatting 176lbs
also benching 176lbs
so my lifts are definitley getting better BUT

my waist is gettin big, i was told to EAT BIG/GET BIG, so i did. Not the cleanest eating but still pretty clean. I never used to take in as much calories but try and eat a lot more and quite clean.
Lots of chicken, beef steaks, turkey, eggs, bagels, oatmeal and cereals

My question is, i've gone up a trouser size to 36" and seem to have a big gut and love handles. I'm very happy with the progress with my chest, shoulders, arms, back and legs but i want to start cutting some body fat whilst continuing to make progress with the excellent 5x5 routine.


What do you guys suggest? I feel i can bulk more. I want to get my lifts up to at least 240lbs squats and bench press at least but still look good topless.

Should i involve cardio? if so, how much and when?
I lift Mon, Wed and Fri

Should i cut out late carbs (most of the time i workout in the late evening due to work)

Thanks guys for your positive feedback a few months back. Hoping you can advise me what to do next?

 

[anotherbutters]

Nothing's stopping you from including cardio, even when bulking. You just eat more to compensate.

You could just maintain your current bodyweight for a while, let your body recomposition itself a bit whilst you carry on training in the same way.

 

[Cynical Simian]

Eat cleaner, do some cardio, reduce the size of your caloric surplus (even assuming, say, 5 pounds of water weight in that 20, your rate was still 2-3 pounds per week).

 

[gjohnson5]

This should be in the diet board cause it's a diet related question

 

[gjohnson5]

HI, i posted a few months ago. Had been doing light weights over the years but hardly noticed any progress.
Thanks to 5x5, since the end of March '06 - i've put on quite a lot of muscle and almost doubled my lifts.
I did weigh 180lbs, now weigh 200lbs
Could only squat 88lbs before, now squatting 176lbs
also benching 176lbs
so my lifts are definitley getting better BUT

my waist is gettin big, i was told to EAT BIG/GET BIG, so i did. Not the cleanest eating but still pretty clean. I never used to take in as much calories but try and eat a lot more and quite clean.
Lots of chicken, beef steaks, turkey, eggs, bagels, oatmeal and cereals

My question is, i've gone up a trouser size to 36" and seem to have a big gut and love handles. I'm very happy with the progress with my chest, shoulders, arms, back and legs but i want to start cutting some body fat whilst continuing to make progress with the excellent 5x5 routine.


What do you guys suggest? I feel i can bulk more. I want to get my lifts up to at least 240lbs squats and bench press at least but still look good topless.

Should i involve cardio? if so, how much and when?
I lift Mon, Wed and Fri

Should i cut out late carbs (most of the time i workout in the late evening due to work)
Thanks guys for your positive feedback a few months back. Hoping you can advise me what to do next?

The general rule is no sugars after 6:00pm while dieting
If you are concerned about fat , just drop some of the carbs out.
if that still doesn't work then do cardio

But you should post your diet on the diet board for more help

 

[anotherbutters]

This should be in the diet board cause it's a diet related question

I think the distinction can get blurry sometimes. He also posted up his lifting progress and asked about cardio.

 

[blut wump]

You need to draw a priority between growing muscle and losing fat. It is possible to do both at the same time but the slimmer you are, the harder that becomes.

Cardio is a good choice to increase your aerobic capacity and work on fitness. After that you need to look at what you're eating. With the extra activity from cardio you might find a few pounds slipping away but cleaning up your diet can help.

Rather than get all paranoid about diet, though, start with cutting out sweets and trying to move from simple starches to complex ones.

 

[gjohnson5]

You need to draw a priority between growing muscle and losing fat. It is possible to do both at the same time but the slimmer you are, the harder that becomes.

Cardio is a good choice to increase your aerobic capacity and work on fitness. After that you need to look at what you're eating. With the extra activity from cardio you might find a few pounds slipping away but cleaning up your diet can help.

Rather than get all paranoid about diet, though, start with cutting out sweets and trying to move from simple starches to complex ones.

Good advice there

Yes, whole grains such as oats, green veggies , yams, and brown rice. If you are concerned about fat and want to diet down , I would only do sugars when I am swallowing protein powder in a fasted state. Stop drinking and stop doing junk food , potatoe chips, chocolate bars , fast food etc

Infact the sports bars I've found for the most part are chocolate bars full of sugar and very little protein. I'd like to find some good ones

 

[Tweakle]

you were not carrying anything like enough muscle and your bf % was way too high to do an indiscriminate bulk, simple as

the fatter you are when you start the 'bulk' the worse the results will be. And you do not need 1000's of extra cals to build enough muscle to squat 240, take it as a lesson that you need to be stricter about diet in future.

If you decide to 'bulk' again then I'd suggest eating big for 2 weeks then throttling back for 2 weeks to maintenece, repeat (strict carb cut offs at 6pm, no exceptions), do your cardio 3 x a week, drink your green tea and keep it clean as possible.

taking off the fat you'll probab ly lose all the gains you've made.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Uh, cutting out carbs isn't going to do anything. Calories are calories - eat less and you won't add as much weight. It's just a matter of finding the right amount of excess.