High BF%, Weight loss HELP!!

[TimeToLeanUp]

Hi all,

I am on a mission to lose a large amount of body fat, and am willing to do whatever it takes in terms of strict dieting, cardio and supplementation.
I am 20 years of age, and since leaving High School I have been living a very inactive lifestyle, and obviously this is reflected by my physique.
A changing point came when I commenced a 5-day split weight training routine last year, and have been following this for approx the last 15 months. I have been sticking to a very strict training routine, and have been switching it up every 7-8 weeks, currently it is made up of: Monday: Upper Chest/Abs, Tuesday: Shoulders, Wednesday: Lower Chest/Abs, Thursday: Back, Friday: Arms/Brief leg workout.
Since I have been training, I have noticed significant strength and mass gains, but the problem lies in my extremely high body fat.
I have noticed slight weight loss, but still hold large amounts of fat around my mid-section.
I expected that with weight training, weight loss would come hand in hand, and am now quite disappointed in my transformation.

To combat this I have recently commenced a Cycling Keto Diet (Sun-Fri <30g Carbs, Carb re-feed Fri night to Saturday midday), and have now been following this (fairly strictly) for 4-5 weeks.
Prior to commencing CKD, I decided to give Clen a go - coupled with moderate intensity cardio 3 times a week for 45 mins each session.
In all honesty I am not sure how well my weight loss is coming along. In terms of weight, I have lost afew kilo's, and in terms of appearance, I can see a slight improvement in my waistline, but still nothing major.

I have ordered a bottle of liquid T3 recently and decided I will have another run of clen, combined with the T3,

This is the T3 cycle I have planned (3 wk ON/3 wk OFF/3 wk ON):

Week 1:
Day 1: 0.125mL (25mg)
Day 2: 0.125mL (25mg)
Day 3: 0.125mL (25mg)
Day 4: 0.25mL (50mg)
Day 5: 0.25mL (50mg)
Day 6: 0.25mL (50mg)
Day 7: 0.375mL (75mg)

Week 2:
Day 8: 0.375mL (75mg)
Day 9: 0.375mL (75mg)
Day 10: 0.5mL (100mg)
Day 11: 0.5mL (100mg)
Day 12: 0.5mL (100mg)
Day 13: 0.5mL (100mg)
Day 14: 0.5mL (100mg)

Week 3:
Day 15: 0.5mL (100mg)
Day 16: 0.5mL (100mg)
Day 17: 0.375mL (75mg)
Day 18: 0.375mL (75mg)
Day 19: 0.375mL (75mg)
Day 20: 0.25mL (50mg)
Day 21: 0.125mL (25mg)

Herein lies my question:

- How much cardio should I do per week for maximum weight loss, and how quickly should I expect to lose my body fat and lean up, during and after this cycle?
- Is T3 Clymotel & Clen a suitable idea?

At this stage I am not entirely worried about muscle loss, and my key focus is BF reduction - In saying this, I am not going to reduce weight training at all, but will couple cardio sessions in with my current schedule.

Before anyone might ask, my stats are as follows:
Height: 6"1"
Weight: 207lb (94kg)
BF%: At least 25% (Have not had this checked officially, but I do have a slight belly)
Training exp: 1.3yrs intense training
Cycle exp: Clen 2 wk cycle

(Now there is one more thing that I would like to add, but PLEASE do not flame me for this because of my age/inexperience - I also have completed recently a 9 week cycle of Test E + Deca, with immense mass gains, and I now have significant muscle definition around my shoulders/back/legs, and anywhere which my BF is lesser)

 

[TimeToLeanUp]

Ozzie87 - thankyou for taking the time to provide such a detailed response to my enquiry.
One thing I would like to say is that I am blown away by the support and constructive feedback that so many of you are MORE than happy to provide to any newbs on this forum and others. Kudos & thanks to you all - it just makes the experience so much easier for beginners!

Now my training routine is as follows: (In order)

Monday:
Weighted leg raises 3x10
Crunches 3x10
Incline Dumbell Press 3x10
Incline Dumbell Flyes (3-4)x10
Incline Cable Crossovers (3-4)x10 (light weight)
30 mins LI cardio

Tuesday:
Military Shoulder Press 3x10
Lateral Raises 3x10
Rear Delt Raise 3x10
Shrugs 3x8
Upright Rows 3x10


Wednesday:
Weighted leg raises 3x10
Crunches 3x10
Decline Dumbell Press 3x10
Decline Dumbell Flyes 3x10
Decline Cable Crossovers 3x10
Aerobics Ball Flat Cable Flyes (3-4)x10
Wide Grip Dips 2x(Untill Failure)
30 mins LI cardio

Thursday:
Deadlift 3x(8-10)
Seated Rows 3x10
Dumbell One-handed Rows (3x10) x each arm
Lat Pulldowns 3x10
Wide Grip Chin-ups 3x(Till failure)
T-bar Rows 3x10

Friday:
EZ bar concentration curls 3x10
Cable bar curls 3x10
Hammer curls 3x10
Skull Crushes (Flat Tri Extentsion) 3x10 - Superset with light bar curls till failure
Tri Pushdowns 3x10
Close grip dips 3x10
Close grip chin-ups 3x(till failure)
(Lunges, Light squats etc but My legs are naturally very large & defined)
30 mins LI cardio

 

[stevesmi]

what ozzie said plus drink a TON OF WATER.

and I would suggest starved cardio in the morning when you wake up. that really burns the fat

 

[TimeToLeanUp]

Stevesmi - thanks for the input!
I have been drinking as much water as I can consistently.
Regarding the morning cardio - is The reason behind this that the bodies glycogen stores would be completely depleted after spending the night sleeping/fasting, so the body reverts to body fat as a source of fuel for energy?

I just like to have an understanding of the reasons for doing one thing or another, that's all.
Thanks again bud

 

[stevesmi]

Stevesmi - thanks for the input!
I have been drinking as much water as I can consistently.
Regarding the morning cardio - is The reason behind this that the bodies glycogen stores would be completely depleted after spending the night sleeping/fasting, so the body reverts to body fat as a source of fuel for energy?

I just like to have an understanding of the reasons for doing one thing or another, that's all.
Thanks again bud

yes good point and also getting your metabolism sped up is the key. many overweight people have that problem. so cardio in the morning when you first get up will speed ur metabolism for the entire day, the only way to slow it back down is large meals and junk food.. so make sure you keep things going the entire day.. i used to see guys run and then go to chikfila or wendy's after.. big mistake.

you seem to understand how the body works, now its just up to you to put it to use.

keep in mind for bodybuilders who are concerned with mass if they were to do this then yes they would burn fat but also they would be burning muscle too. so once you drop your bf% and decide you want to build muscle instead you would not want to do starved cardio anymore.

 

[TimeToLeanUp]

the morning cardio..... i am not a fan!

i have done both, ie morning fasted, and pm with food in me.

the results fat loss wise are pretty much the same for me.

infact i find that the morning fasted cardio destroys my energy for the weights later in the day!

I have to actually agree on that one too - I have tried two weeks of steady 45 min treadmill jogs (moderate intensity to the point that I am dripping in sweat) first thing in the morning before breakfast, and found that this would drain me completely for my lifting later on, although obviously I did not isolation test this method long enough to provide solid feedback regarding weight loss efficiency.

When you mentioned 60 minute cardio, I almost jumped in my seat, as I already was struggling to make 45, although I wonder if I was running at an intensity that is higher than the ordeal.

HR would generally sit around 140-150, so I suppose this could possibly be classed as moderate to high intensity. (I would note though that I was on clenbuterol during this period, so obviously my body temperature was increased, therefore increasing my heart rate.)

This actually brings me to another question - I know you advised to steer clear of Clenbuterol, but I do have some remaining, and was simply wondering - because Clenbuterol does increase your resting & training heartrate, does this therefore mean that whilst on clenbuterol, should the ideal "target" heart be any higher or lower than that of someone who is not using Clen?

I only wonder this, as I could be exerting what felt like extremely minimal energy levels, whilst my heart rate was sitting at a level higher than the recomended target for my age...

Interesting thought..

 

[stevesmi]

like i said in my post above if you are a lifter and concerned with building muscle mass then fasted cardio is NOT for you. this is why i do not do fasted cardio!

but if you dont care about that and just care about burning away fat and losing weight then it IS for you. a lady friend of mine lost 75 pounds in 3 months doing starved cardio. she does 3 miles 4X per week starved cardio and has cleaned up her diet.

the OP should focus on losing fat then once he gets to a good weight he can turn around and focus on building muscle. that is what i would do.

 

[Zyglamail]

My personal opinion is stay off the drugs and get your diet in check. One of the easiest diets to follow is actually the zone diet, simply use the online block calculator and comprise your meals from the preferred food list which means no starches, breads, sugers or processed foods. The zone by its nature is already calorie restricted but if you answer the questions right on the calculator it should give you enough food to maintain (or even build) muscle while shedding fat. Once you get to a bodyweight your happy with then simply add more good fat and/or protien to your diet.

After that ditch long low intensity cardio, I simply dont understand why people keep recommending it. It increases cortisol levels and does very little else in terms of improving VO2max. Getting your heart rate into the recommended target zone for like an hour only burns like 600 calories during exercise and has little if any effect after the work is done. Crossfit style or tabatta/HIIT style metabolic conditioning workouts can burn significantly more energy over a 24 hour period by simply exposing yourself to a good 10-15 minute workout. Its also been proven to greatly improve VO2max and doesnt cause the major increase in cortisol levels.

One of the biggest problems people have with losing weight is poor food selection, not eating enough cals and wasting too much time increasing cortisol levels in their body by long low intensity cardio.

 

[stevesmi]

you are right Zyg. something like the eliptical does very little if anything. i see the same overweight people on that everyday at the gym and they go nowhere. i believe in running/walking and a solid diet. the diet you posted is exactly what i did 7 years ago when i lost 50 pounds.

 

[Zyglamail]

you are right Zyg. something like the eliptical does very little if anything. i see the same overweight people on that everyday at the gym and they go nowhere. i believe in running/walking and a solid diet. the diet you posted is exactly what i did 7 years ago when i lost 50 pounds.

I see nothing wrong with running or the elliptical or the stationary bike, its all in how its used and some devices are better suited to HIIT style cardio than others.

The problem some heavy people have is they cant run because its too hard on knees etc and thats where a bike/elliptical comes in. They key is in how they use it.

Do a few minutes of warming up then download something like the gymboss app for the iphone and set up a bunch of intervals, say 20 seconds on 10 seconds off for 8-12 cycles. You pedal/eliptical/sprint as hard as you can for that 20 seconds, rest 10 and repeat 8 or 10 more times. Cool down a few minutes and your done.

You can do the same thing with jumping rope, squats with little or no weight, running up steps etc. The key is to jack your heart rate for those 20 seconds.

You can incorporate bodyweight movements as well. set a clock for 20 minutes, do 5 pull ups, 10 push ups and 15 squats with no weight, when done repeat as many times as you can in 20 minutes. Push yourself to get as many rounds as you can and I guarantee your heart rate will be jacked.

Its these super intense short workouts that will burn fat off you like you wont believe.

If you dont beleive me, take a look at what Mark Rippetoe has to say about it in an interview he did at T-nation (page 4).

T NATION | Starting Strength