Is 7 weeks enough time?

[Chris10]

Well I just have a quick question. Im giong to the beach in 7 weeks and have a bit of a gut i'd like to shave off. I work out on a regular basis, have for a long time. My problem is my eating habits. I eat healthy alot but tend to fall off the wagon and blow it. I was recently unemployeed for almost 2 months and went to the gym sometime 3 hours a day, or sometimes twice a day. Would lift and do cardio. But the only real change i've noticed is my biceps are a bit bigger. Still have a gut. I just began a new 50 hour a week job. So its tough to get to the gym more than an hour or so now a day. In my desperation, Ive begun just doing straight cardio. So is it possible if I work hard to see a good difference by my beach trip in 7 weeks? I'd hate to think I've wasted the last two months of going to the gym every day and still end up looking like crap at the beach. Im 24, 5'10 around 195. I really dont care much what I way, just want to trim down, the number isnt important to me. Anyone know if trimming down ur gut is possible in a 7 week timeframe or have any tips or ideas on how to help me get there? Thanks for any advice

 

[eando]

Clean up the diet and continue with the cardio... If you stick with it and dont "fall off the wagon" in 7 wks, you can make changes.

 

[lacoste]

Need more info. But what you just wrote should say it all to you..DIET is everything. You can work your ass off and still not see real results if your diet is not on. So what does your diet look like now. what are your eating in a day, how many cals? Dont do just straight cardio you will loose all the muscle you worked so hard for. And you may say you dont care about cardio, but just based off of what you said about working out that long and still having a gut, if you do just cardio you will just end up a "skinny" fat guy. And that sucks.

 

[Dr. K]

if you do just cardio you will just end up a "skinny" fat guy. And that sucks.

why would he be a skinny fat guy? could you explain further? If he has been working out 2-3 hours in the gym sometimes 2x I would imagine he is not just composed of fat. Sure I agree with the statement that weights should be incorporated in any routine but if he is looking to burn fat why not focus his workouts on cardio??

 

[DJLegacy2k1]

Cardio also burns muscle, especially if the diet is not on point. Lifting weights can add LBM which burns more calories overall 24 hours a day, where as cardio only burns cals while you are doing the activity. Also it depends on how much muscle he has now and how much muscle he is losing during cardio. Too much cardio will break down muscle about as fast as it breaks down fat. He has to have a good balance of cardio and lifting.

But like I said, that statement was probably made because we really have no details on this guy or his diet or exactly what his workouts are like.

 

[poysyn]

why would he be a skinny fat guy? could you explain further? If he has been working out 2-3 hours in the gym sometimes 2x I would imagine he is not just composed of fat. Sure I agree with the statement that weights should be incorporated in any routine but if he is looking to burn fat why not focus his workouts on cardio??

If you are looking to lose fat, weight lifting should still have priority over cardio, imo. Weight lifting isn't catabolic and contributes greatly to fat loss due to the free fatty acids being released.

Too much cardio and not enough food will definitely turn into a skinny fat guy. I've watched tons of my friends and family ignore my advice and just eat so minimal and run so much, and the end result was the same amount of bodyfat..if not higher.

diet is the most important thing, and its hard as hell to get dead on until you know your body

 

[Dr. K]

If you are looking to lose fat, weight lifting should still have priority over cardio, imo. Weight lifting isn't catabolic and contributes greatly to fat loss due to the free fatty acids being released.

Too much cardio and not enough food will definitely turn into a skinny fat guy. I've watched tons of my friends and family ignore my advice and just eat so minimal and run so much, and the end result was the same amount of bodyfat..if not higher.

diet is the most important thing, and its hard as hell to get dead on until you know your body

Thanks for the response....

Totally on the same page regarding diet and I think the original poster on this thread would solve his problem by just regulating that but I still not convinced here..

If I am understanding your statement correctly, cardio will burn more muscle than weight lifting would (assuming both activities burn the same amount of calories) in a diet that is caloric deficient. Did I get that right?

If so ,then what purpose does cardio hold? Sounds like his limited time in the gym should be focused on the weights.

 

[poysyn]

Thanks for the response....

Totally on the same page regarding diet and I think the original poster on this thread would solve his problem by just regulating that but I still not convinced here..

If I am understanding your statement correctly, cardio will burn more muscle than weight lifting would (assuming both activities burn the same amount of calories) in a diet that is caloric deficient. Did I get that right?

If so ,then what purpose does cardio hold? Sounds like his limited time in the gym should be focused on the weights.

Cardio burns calories, some of which come from fat and some which come from muscle. If you are eating enough, cardio is fine, but most people make the mistake of doing 2 hours of cardio 5x a week, end up burning 1500 calories while they are only eating a similar amount.

the result is starvation/catabolism..

I'm not suggesting cardio should be avoided, but the intensity of it should be controlled and it is important to make up for the extra calories burned in the diet.

This is just from what I've experienced personally in the past..

 

[Jimbo15]

No cardio, do interval workouts, sprints, burns more fat in less time and saves your muscle. You wanna look like an olympic sprinter or distance runner? Keep lifting, do circuits to maximize metabolic burn during and after your workouts.

 

[lacoste]

why would he be a skinny fat guy? could you explain further? If he has been working out 2-3 hours in the gym sometimes 2x I would imagine he is not just composed of fat. Sure I agree with the statement that weights should be incorporated in any routine but if he is looking to burn fat why not focus his workouts on cardio??

I dont want to just repeat what all of these other guys are saying but they made my point exactly. I wasn't saying he was fat and had no muscle. Im just saying that the whole idea is to just loose bodyfat and as little muscle as possible. If you are 16% bodyfat and then decide to diet and loose say 20 lbs, but are 18% bodyfat at the end, you will be very disappointed and will look worse. cardio is great and I love doing it. but your diet has to be spot on and weights still need to be a priority.