How to lose muscle mass?

[uamaverick]

I have a female friend who wants to get "the look" (no need to explain what that is). In practically every case, I would be able to strike up a diet and workout regimen that would fulfill that goal. The problem is, this girl has a HUGE amount of muscle mass. We're talking a squat of about 400 here. She has a considerable amount of body fat, especially around her midsection, but her thighs and arms are full muscle. I'd guess she's around 25-30% body fat. 5'7" 210 lbs.

I've never dealt with somebody who had too much muscle mass. She needs to lose a lot of fat, obviously, and that part I can deal with, but how should I steer her into losing all that huge muscle in a healthy way? I don't want to advise her to consume a small amount of protein or carbs, because I feel high protein is the key to achieving any fitness goals.

As far as training, should she stop doing heavy sets? Should she switch to 12-15 rep sets? Again this is a philosophy I never advise people to do, but I just don't know where to begin with her. She's no stranger to the weight room, and has a good knowledge of workout routines and cardio.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

SHe needs to lose fat first. I would not even TRY to lose muscle until I was at a low BF so I could actually TELL what is fat and what is muscle. At 25-30% BF her focus should be losing fat.

And BTW, she DOES realize that the muscle is what keeps a metabolism running smoothly? You think she has too much fat NOW - lose some muscle and see what happens.

Less muscle = lower metabolism = easier fat gain

 

[Sassy69]

I'd go w/ Daisy -- as part of a fat loss regimen going more "aerobic" on the lifting might be a route to consider, more cardio (not wild but increasing) and the diet specifically. The whole "solid muscle" thing -- at 210, 5'7" -- that's 60 lb heavier than me and I'm decently thick + some fat at that height. SHe's built like a brick shit house huh? That's a lot of just general thickness to drop - sure there's lots of muscle, but that's a lot of fat too and her goals are sort of different from everythign that she's done to lead her to where she is now - that's going to be a big bit of conditionign to set up a nice efficient fat buring rate and get the fat off. At that point is when I would really worry about how much muscle to shave off. Focus most on the diet right now.

 

[uamaverick]

Yeah, I am going to focus on losing the fat first, like you said, to get a good idea of exactly how much muscle mass is under that skin.

And yes, she is built like a tank. She has more muscluar and ripped thighs than most men, which is strange. She has a lot of body fat but most of it has stayed away from her limbs. LOT of fat around the ribcage.

So as women who have experience with fitness, you think that just by cutting cals down to about 1800-2000 per day, with a macro of 50/40/10, along with HIIT and high rep lifts, will naturally cut into muscle along the way with the fat? Even with the majority of the diet consisting of protein, since the cal intake will be low the body will cut look towards the muscle content for energy purposes? I'm going to have her eating greens for her carbs, chicken and fish for protein, and Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats.

She'll be able to handle a real lean cut cycle. She was an athlete in college, but has since graduated and no longer needs her current physique (I argue NO athlete needs that much body fat, but most strength coaches in college are idiots). She's a hard worker, so I have no worries about her not being able to follow a strict diet or workout routine. She's actually in good cardio condition given the makeup of her weight.

 

[caligirl]

Yeah, I am going to focus on losing the fat first, like you said, to get a good idea of exactly how much muscle mass is under that skin.

And yes, she is built like a tank. She has more muscluar and ripped thighs than most men, which is strange. She has a lot of body fat but most of it has stayed away from her limbs. LOT of fat around the ribcage.

So as women who have experience with fitness, you think that just by cutting cals down to about 1800-2000 per day, with a macro of 50/40/10, along with HIIT and high rep lifts, will naturally cut into muscle along the way with the fat? Even with the majority of the diet consisting of protein, since the cal intake will be low the body will cut look towards the muscle content for energy purposes? I'm going to have her eating greens for her carbs, chicken and fish for protein, and Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats.

She'll be able to handle a real lean cut cycle. She was an athlete in college, but has since graduated and no longer needs her current physique (I argue NO athlete needs that much body fat, but most strength coaches in college are idiots). She's a hard worker, so I have no worries about her not being able to follow a strict diet or workout routine. She's actually in good cardio condition given the makeup of her weight.

I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but outdoor training might be good for her... relays, circuits, stairs. I have a program I use for some clients that will just blast that fat right off her, super high intenstiy, muscle confusion (avoid plateau), cardio, resistance all in one... she would never get bored and feel challenged at every session, athletes like it, she would be doing exercises for time and competing against herself...I can pm you with an outline, if you are intrested.