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

 

[TcChino]

this thread is the shit..it answered allot of my questions. im a new guy to this site as-well...good luck with your weight loss bro. Im on the same boat and heading in the right direction due to this web site and all the info available and definitely the right diet and cardio does wonders

 

[SpyWizard]

let me put some in..

your liver holds between 300-400 cals of glycogen = elevated heart rate (interval training) will exhaust that.. 30-40 minutes..

after that do 30-40 minutes of low intensity training.. that would be 60% of your training heart rate.. by doing low intensity and remember we depleted your glycogen stores, (same as fasted in the am) you will be burning fat as the source of energy..

then pwo do the refeed shake.. your ppw (post post workout meal) should be the most critical.. with complex carbs and protein..

 

[endojuicedr]

man you guys are making this way too complicated for him...

1st of all quit wasting your time doing all those ab exercises! you need to improve your split and do only heavy compounds lift.... squats, deadlifts, rows, shrugs, bench, overhead press, etc., heavy squats and deads work abs anyway. Your bodyfat is way too high right no to worry about isolation ab exercises. Do allllot of cardio, mix it up both low and high intensity, and eat like ozzie outlined and you will be losing about 1 lb a week ideally, all fat! You'll be down to a lean 170 within a year just on this alone.

 

[lartinos]

Great thread! I think getting a solid diet is really important. Most individuals "think" they have a good diet but really are ignorant to that concept.
I like to do some high intensity cardio but I try to limit it. If you are trying to bulk it can hamper your gains. Dieting takes a lot of hard work, but if you want it bad enough it eventually becomes quite easy IMO.

 

[TimeToLeanUp]

Again, thanks to all for the feedback and support!

I have one question -
As I stated, I am currently on a strict Keto diet - no more than 20g Carbs every day.
Am I correct in assuming that most of you would suggest against the keto diet? And is the reason being simply that it is not a complete and balanced diet?

From what I understand, the Keto diet is ideal for my purpose, as it means that my glycogen stores will more often than not be depleted from the lack of Carbs, therefore allowing my body to source it's energy from my BF stores..

Please correct me if I am wrong!

 

[TimeToLeanUp]

My chest is my area of weakness currently, so I have been training it twice a weak.. It has actually started to shape up nicely now so I will reduce it back to once a week. Cheers.


Anyone able to answer my question above on Keto?

 

[Zyglamail]

If your looking for a diet plan it doesnt get any easier than the zone diet, its got years of practical experience behind it and it works. It may not be ideal for a professional level BB but if you want to drop fat fast its hard to beat for simplicity and effectivness. The key will just be sure to make sure you eat enough so if you are working out 5-6 days a week chose active or very active on the block calculator. Chose food from the preferred group and your set, simple as that. Dont worry about keto, a lot of people bonk on it. clean zone diet will give you the carbs you need from clean sources to fuel workouts and by its very nature is already calorie deficient to allow for weight loss. If your not already at <12% BF you should be able to add mass while on restricted cals because you have fat stores to utilize for energy.

The beauty of HIIT/CF style workouts is you DO NOT need to waste time doing the low intensity cardio afterwords. If you put everything you have into a CF WOD you arent going to have the energy for 30 minutes of low intensity cardio anyway. Your metabolism will be jacked for the next 12 to 24 hours because of it already, the studies are out there to prove it.

 

[TimeToLeanUp]

Pumped the HIIT using the GymBoss Interval Timer iPhone app as suggested - feel great after workout - will keep at it and keep everyone updated !!

Elite Fitness is the best!!

 

[Zyglamail]

Pumped the HIIT using the GymBoss Interval Timer iPhone app as suggested - feel great after workout - will keep at it and keep everyone updated !!

Elite Fitness is the best!!

Thats actually a sweet little application. Dont get bogged down in doing hiit with just traditional cardio movements either. As I said earlier toss in some bodyweight stuff as well, like squats with no weight, lunges, pushups, pull ups etc. Really mix it up.

One example would be to do a ladder of thrusters followed by pullups. A thruster is basically a front squat and explode up propelling the barbell overhead into a press. do 10 thrusters, 10 pullups, then 9 thrusters and 9 pull ups then 8 thrusters and 8 pullups all the way down to a round of 1 of each then your done. For the thrusters you want to use a weight you can do 10 unbroken reps with and race through it keeping proper squat form of course and record your time. Something like this should jack your heart rate and only take like 8-12 minutes.

The goal is to jack your heart rate and really push yourself and if you need some ideas for quick metabolic conditioning workouts dont be afraid to look at the crossfit main website for their workout of the day.

If body building/strength is your goal you will likely want to stick with workouts that dont hit muscles to hard and you will probably want to do it sparingly (ie 2-3 times a week) if your doing lots of dedicated weight work as well. But I guarantee if you give these wods/HIIT workouts 110% you will see some very serious results in the fat loss department. Additionally, the changes they elicit in the body will help you fuel your strength/BB workout. Just be careful to not over train, these kind of workouts are short, but intense if you give it your all and they do put some serious demands on the body.


Good luck and Keep us posted on your progress.

 

[Power36]

I hope for heavens sake people reading this thread listen to Zyg...Im no fan of Crackfit but now is not the time to get into their potentialy programming errors....when it comes to fat loss as this thread indicates, someone would be much better off doing a Crackfit workout then the isolation bodypart plus steady state cardio as suggested....

Interval training is far superior to steady state, as several studies indicate, as several well researched folks who also apply the stuff have written abotu time and time again, and as anyone who looks at a college sprinter, wrestler, linebacker/running back, etc you get the point, should see......as a generic stereotype, no "real" anaerobic power athlete worth a crap is doing isolation bodypart training with steady state...and I venture to say that many folks on here would kill to look like the running backs/linebackers/d backs they watched on TV today playing D 1 football...

Get in a rack or on a platform and do compound movements from the olympic lifting or powerlifting sports....follow up with some circuit style other push/pull free weight stuff....do some interval training.....if you do it right, you will see results....

There is a plethora of stuff to read on this, Alwyn Cosgrove and Mike Boyle put alot of this type of info in laymens terms...google fat loss and their names and you should come up with something...
Mike Boyle: Explaining Interval Training

Hierarchy Of Fat Loss | Alwyn Cosgrove

Bodybuilding.com - Energy System Training For Fat Loss! - Alwyn Cosgrove

Alwyn Cosgrove – Free Except from Afterburn Extreme Fat Loss Training – Part II ? The Baby Boomer Fitness Authority

from Alwyn Cosgrove – The Science behind Fat Loss Training ? The Baby Boomer Fitness Authority

etc etc etc

 

[sd27bb]

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)

First thing I would like to point out is your goal: looking to lose a lot of body-fat, well everyone wants to lose the most body-fat, thats just being efficient. Now keep in mind that your body can't lose more then 1-2lb of fat per week without losing the muscle. So do you want to lose the muscle?

I think you need to plan to lose 2lb of fat per week and measure your results on weekly basis (test body fat) to see that you are losing body fat and not muscle.

Second, running T-3 without gear? Good luck with holding onto your muscle mass, CKD + T-3 = muscle armagedon.

Thirdly I would look into putting together a diet plan, not shot-gunning with CKD but a progressive carb reduction with carb cycling. Look up Tome Venuto Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle ebook, I think Elite has it for sale.

I hope this helps. Good luck brother.

 

[Zyglamail]

First thing I would like to point out is your goal: looking to lose a lot of body-fat, well everyone wants to lose the most body-fat, thats just being efficient. Now keep in mind that your body can't lose more then 1-2lb of fat per week without losing the muscle. So do you want to lose the muscle?

I dont agree that you cant gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. Sure you may not be able to lose fat as fast or gain muscle as fast as if you simply had a goal of one or the other but doing both is very doable and by doable I mean easy. I think the main reason this fallacy continues to be propagated is simply the means people use to lose fat while trying to gain muscle and thats usually the low intensity steady state crap that wastes a lot of time and raises cortisol levels making mass gains difficult

I have gained a couple pounds in the last 6 weeks and I bet I have lost more than a few % BF at the same time. How could I gain weight AND lose fat if I was not also gaining muscle? Ill be getting body comp retested here shortly and will have some concrete numbers soon.

I actually am a fan of CF but for what its intended purpose is. Its not a weightlifting program, its not a marathon program, its not a bodybuilding program. Its a general physical preparedness program and for that you would be hard pressed to beat it. At the same time it is extremely efficient at burning cals in a short period of time without creating huge cortisol stores.

Many dedicated strength programs (west side ring a bell?) have incorporated CF into their training because of the metabolic benefits it provides all without hampering strength gains.

If your goals are pure size like BB or strength or even Oly then CF should not be your primary focus but I can guarantee no matter what your focus is you can benefit by incorporating CF.

 

[alwayzquikwayout]

BRO,,,, Just on adjusting Diet (6 small meals, hi protein, ur body weight in grams per day) AND Cardio 5 times per week 45 min a day,,,,, You'll see results, you';ll lose weight.... Oh my bad,,,,,, i just read that you recently finished a cycle of Test E and DEca,,, well in that case grab some Forma-stanozol,,, with cardio and protein,, ur mint... maybe for a boost a med ptoency thermogenic to boost metabolism.

 

[Power36]

Zyg, even if some of these folks are "bodybuilding" or think they are, doing lots of isolation and steady state....if they gave a shot to training like an athlete for 3 months, they might be surprised...ive seen folks go from training a decade long of BB (isolation bodypart splits and steady state), wanting to be "lean and jacked", give training like an athlete a shot, ie dynamic warmup 10-15 minutes doing functional movement patterns, getting on platform doing some olympic lifts or in a rack doing power lifting movements to start the workout, then after finishing strength or power time (could be 15 minutes), jumping into 15-20 minutes of circuit style free weights+med balls+KBs+TRX whatever your tools are, push pull structural movements, back to back, with some sprinting at the end...and like "magic" they end up bigger and leaner than they were doing the traditional BB stuff....athletes have been training for decades like this, why more folks dont seem to wonder why the guys they worship on TV playing big time college sports like "hmmm wonder how they train they look damn good"....aside from great genetics yea...hah

But yea unless you are well developed and deep into a BB career, most folks who are recreational gym goers wanting to "get big" or "get ripped", or just lose lots of fat and body recomp, a foundation built by a PL/OL program with the addition of circuits and interval training would probably serve them much better...and science would be on their side as well...

 

[TimeToLeanUp]

The HIIT has been coming along really well, I decided to ditch the gym for cardio (treadmills, elliptical trainers, bikes and all the rest) and have taken to running in the evenings around the streets to the local playing field, doing laps etc. My fitness has definately improved and I can say this with certainty, simply based on the intensity that I can achieve and maintain. I feel great.. Weight loss, is still gradual, but that is exactly how it should be, so no complaints there.

Zyg, I had only read your post on "thruster's" this evening, but prior to this I was utilizing something that seems similar, in which I would grab a 20kg(44lb) bar with 15kg's(33lb's) on each end, and then complete a fast paced combo consisting of (how I would describe):
- A deadlift bringing the bar from the ground to above my chest
- An ass-to-grass squat, then back up
- An upwards press/thrust bringing the bar over my head, then back to below my neck
- Then the bar goes back down and touches the floor & repeat..

One of my bud's from gym showed me this method, and I repeated this 20 times followed by 15 weighted dips.

This method is definately a heart-starter... I would actually recomend it. Sort of a modified Clean & Jerk that incorporates a squat.

Will continue to update on my progress!!

Thanks all for the support!

 

[Zyglamail]

One of my bud's from gym showed me this method, and I repeated this 20 times followed by 15 weighted dips.

This method is definately a heart-starter... I would actually recomend it. Sort of a modified Clean & Jerk that incorporates a squat.

Glad your giving it a try and it seems to be working. Next time you do thrusters and dips, do a set of 10 thruster, then 10 dips, then 9 thrusters and 9 dips, 8 thrusters, 8 dips all the way to 1 rep each and then your done. No rest in between, just back to back. Thats really the kind of duration and intensity I am talking about. If it takes you more than 12-13 minutes, lighten the weight on the thrusters a bit so you need fewer breaks.


On an aside, in all the oly lifts they often goto full squat. They cant use their arms to press the bar up, its illegal and more often than not they are using weight well beyond what they can press (like double). Oly lifting is a ton of explosiveness, power and technique. They drive the bar up with their hip extension and while the bar is traveling up then pull themselves down under the bar with straight arms and receive the weight as it drops, often times the momentum drives them into a squat and they use the muscle tension at the bottom of the squat to drive them up out of the whole.