Trim weight then build muscle, or .....

sbuell20

I've had people tell me to build muscle and not to lose anymore weight. However, I'm very unhappy with how I look and want to trim some stomach fat. Which brings me to my question, which I wanted to get the forums opinion. So I'm close to having my belly chub gone and abs starting to appear a bit more. But there is still chub, wondering if I should reach the point in which i'm happy then build muscle, or turn away from cardio and focus on muscle growth? The unfortunate thing is I love cardio and not a huge fan of lifting. Wanted to see what you guys thought. Currently I'm 5'10 and 169 lbs.

slp51

I periodically work with one of the trainers at Planet Fitness. I have the same problem...tone everywhere else but the abs area. He told me to increase my protein intake to about 1/2 to 1 g for every pound I weigh. He also said strength training is way more important than cardio. 45 minutes each day 5-6 days per week working different macro muscles. So, unfortunately lifting is the primary exercise that will help reduce the chub and tone your abs. And I don't mean just ab work. Work all the macro muscles (but never work the same muscle group more frequently than every other day. Muscle fibers break down during lifting and need time to repair themselves). Good luck!

AllanMisner

Lift heavy and eat at a slight deficit. You’ll cut the fat slowly and keep the muscle you have.

supan757

What I've been doing is working to eat "good" carbs and only doing about 100-115 carbs a day. I also increased my protein. I saw a significant change over 20 days

sbuell20

Excellent advice and I do appreciate it. I've always been kind of a wimp and avoided the weights. But like many suggested and me having a revelation, telling myself to lift more weight, I have been able to increase my weight. This is something I avoided all my life, but I guess its as simple as just pushing yourself with them. I decided to start my workout with 140lbs instead of my usual 100, this allowed me to push heavier weights throughout the workout. Kind of simple and stupid I know, but I have always been ignorant to lifting. I do appreciate the input, its always helpful for me. Shifting focus to weights now and have cut back on cardio drastically, and have increased the weights. So far so good. I cant wait to see the results, if there are any for once.