How much excercise a week to burn fat?

kg00105

Hi! I'm a 20 year old male, 6 foot 2 and 162 lbs. I'm aiming to burn some fat (I'm 16%BF) whilst gaining a bit of muscle.

I currently play Badminton twice a week and go to the gym for strength training once, maybe twice a week. Is this enough? If not, how can I improve?

Thanks.

professionalHobbyist

It depends on how much you eat

If you eat less than you need for fuel your body will use fat for fuel.

If you eat lots... You may never lose fat.

You can't out exercise your fork.

Load your info in the food diary and it will tell you.

livingleanlivingclean

Considering your goals, I'd be asking whether your routine is going to help you achieve those.

Building muscle... Requires a caloric surplus and heavy lifting. I'd say you need to focus on the lifting part more. Look in to doing a recomp if you want to gain muscle sloooooowly.

kg00105

I eat (on average) around 1400-2000 calories a day. I have incorporated HIIT workouts as I understand they are useful for burning fat, but the whole muscle gaining part confuses me due to the nutritional aspect - I hear so many contrasting reports whether what I'm eating is enough. I don't want to be rambo, just more toned.

sijomial

Badminton for muscle gains? Erm no....

Strength training once a week - at your age you might be very, very lucky and maintain what strength you have. Three times a week full body workout would be far better.

You can recomp at maintenance but seriously look at alligning your exercise with your stated goals.

livingleanlivingclean

kg00105 wrote: »

I eat (on average) around 1400-2000 calories a day. I have incorporated HIIT workouts as I understand they are useful for burning fat, but the whole muscle gaining part confuses me due to the nutritional aspect - I hear so many contrasting reports whether what I'm eating is enough. I don't want to be rambo, just more toned.

Umm. I eat more. And I'm a 60kg, 5ft5 female.

Eat more.

You'll never look like Rambo eating like that. And considering to look like Rambo you'd likely need assistance, it probably won't happen anytime soon.

Being "toned" has nothing to do with having muscle. It means you're lean enough to have muscle definition, regardless of the size of the muscle.

kg00105

Thanks for your advice guys.

Badminton is nothing to do with muscle gains - I do it because I like playing it. I'm actually enjoying using the weight machines and planning to do it a lot more times a week, however I'm concerned that I won't see any progress due to not eating enough. Is this true, even for 'beginners gains'?
My maintainance, according to MFP, is 2400. I find this difficult to achieve without eating excess carbs (I eat low-carb and high protein). I try not to eat carbs when possible so what foods should I eat to up my calories whilst alligning with my nutritional goals? Is it essential to eat more?

I know I sound completely clueless, but I do appreciate the help.

tycho_mx

I have a different opinion. You like playing badminton? Play badminton. I played volleyball and no, it won't make you look like a WWE wrestler. What many people in the forums forget (and posters don't make clear) is what your actual objectives are. I was 6'2" and 200 lb. When joining varsity volleyball (decades ago!) I was made to go into a 1750 calorie diet to go to 170. I had less muscles, more tone, and was much quicker in the court - but could no longer bench press 225 lbs.

If your aims are to be competitive at badminton you must keep training for it. And the rest of the stuff helps "build" around it. So it doesn't make sense to do "head lifts" to get muscles in your neck if what you want is to be competitive at racket sports - who tend to be lean, and smoothly muscled as opposed to knotted powerhouses of strength. 16% BF is high for an elite racquet athlete, but you have good dimensions for it (assuming long arms and quick feet!). And better cardio endurance, which would mean some running or other aerobic sports - and yes, some intervals thrown in there.

If you actually want to be muscular, you need stuff to support that which would mean more weights, more food, and a different focus.

leggup

You have to eat above your maintenance to gain muscle. 6'2 and 162 is pretty low for a male.

livingleanlivingclean

kg00105 wrote: »

Thanks for your advice guys.

Badminton is nothing to do with muscle gains - I do it because I like playing it. I'm actually enjoying using the weight machines and planning to do it a lot more times a week, however I'm concerned that I won't see any progress due to not eating enough. Is this true, even for 'beginners gains'?
My maintainance, according to MFP, is 2400. I find this difficult to achieve without eating excess carbs (I eat low-carb and high protein). I try not to eat carbs when possible so what foods should I eat to up my calories whilst alligning with my nutritional goals? Is it essential to eat more?

I know I sound completely clueless, but I do appreciate the help.

To get full benefit from your weight lifting, muscle building efforts, yes you need to eat more. If you struggle to get enough calories, but don't want to eat carbs, you need to eat more fat and protein. I'd suggest eating carbs to help with muscle growth and recovery though - maybe try timing them around training. Drinking your calories pre/postWO may help bump up your cals - either a bought mass gainer shake, or a homemade concoction of protein powder, fruit, low fat milk, oats etc. You could also get an intra workout supplement.

bearkara

Hi there!

I think you are pulling yourself in two different directions, focusing on losing weight and gaining muscle. Choose one goal, then you can change your routine to see the results. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume that you should focus on gaining muscle. At your height, you are five inches taller than me, but only about 15 lbs more and I have some good muscle mass.


I think you should do more strength training. I personally do strong lifts 5x5. Its a great strength training workout. Very simple and easy once you learn the 5 basic exercises.

In addition you should do some HIIT training. Personalize the intervals on this one to help you the most.

Finally, look at this link to help you plan your meals correctly:

http://www.muscleforlife.com/healthy-meal-planning-tips/

Hope this can help you. I do all these things and have a good amount of muscle.

kg00105

Great - thank you everyone! I'm definitely going to take all of your advice on board. Although I'm going to start eating much more, is it possible to lose BF on a low calorie diet/low carb with weight training/cardio/HIIT training or do I need to eat more to see those benefits as well? It's just I'm going on holiday in two weeks and I would like to lower my BF a little more before then. Of course, when I'm on holiday I'll be indulging in a lot more food but just wondering what my best tactic for the next two weeks is regarding lowering BF?

livingleanlivingclean

Eating at a deficit will make you lose weight. Too much of a deficit with little resistance training may see you lose muscle mass, lower your bmr, not provide your body with enough nutrients, low energy levels....

cwolfman13

kg00105 wrote: »

Hi! I'm a 20 year old male, 6 foot 2 and 162 lbs. I'm aiming to burn some fat (I'm 16%BF) whilst gaining a bit of muscle.

I currently play Badminton twice a week and go to the gym for strength training once, maybe twice a week. Is this enough? If not, how can I improve?

Thanks.

It's not any particular exercise that burns fat...consuming less energy (calories) than you require to maintain the status quot forces your body to burn fat (energy reserves) as fuel to make up the difference.

You can work your *kitten* off in the gym, but if your diet isn't straight, it doesn't matter.

kg00105

cwolfman13 wrote: »

kg00105 wrote: »

Hi! I'm a 20 year old male, 6 foot 2 and 162 lbs. I'm aiming to burn some fat (I'm 16%BF) whilst gaining a bit of muscle.

I currently play Badminton twice a week and go to the gym for strength training once, maybe twice a week. Is this enough? If not, how can I improve?

Thanks.

It's not any particular exercise that burns fat...consuming less energy (calories) than you require to maintain the status quot forces your body to burn fat (energy reserves) as fuel to make up the difference.

You can work your *kitten* off in the gym, but if your diet isn't straight, it doesn't matter.

This seems to go against what everyone else is saying? (I could have misinterprated you). Consuming 'less calories' means I should continue to eat at a deficit to see fat burning results? I'm confused. Again, sorry if I got the wrong idea.

livingleanlivingclean

kg00105 wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

kg00105 wrote: »

Hi! I'm a 20 year old male, 6 foot 2 and 162 lbs. I'm aiming to burn some fat (I'm 16%BF) whilst gaining a bit of muscle.

I currently play Badminton twice a week and go to the gym for strength training once, maybe twice a week. Is this enough? If not, how can I improve?

Thanks.

It's not any particular exercise that burns fat...consuming less energy (calories) than you require to maintain the status quot forces your body to burn fat (energy reserves) as fuel to make up the difference.

You can work your *kitten* off in the gym, but if your diet isn't straight, it doesn't matter.

This seems to go against what everyone else is saying? (I could have misinterprated you). Consuming 'less calories' means I should continue to eat at a deficit to see fat burning results? I'm confused. Again, sorry if I got the wrong idea.

It's not going against what everyone else is saying. Everyone else has just said that your goals don't match up - you want to build muscle which you can't do in a deficit.

cwolfman13

kg00105 wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

kg00105 wrote: »

Hi! I'm a 20 year old male, 6 foot 2 and 162 lbs. I'm aiming to burn some fat (I'm 16%BF) whilst gaining a bit of muscle.

I currently play Badminton twice a week and go to the gym for strength training once, maybe twice a week. Is this enough? If not, how can I improve?

Thanks.

It's not any particular exercise that burns fat...consuming less energy (calories) than you require to maintain the status quot forces your body to burn fat (energy reserves) as fuel to make up the difference.

You can work your *kitten* off in the gym, but if your diet isn't straight, it doesn't matter.

This seems to go against what everyone else is saying? (I could have misinterprated you). Consuming 'less calories' means I should continue to eat at a deficit to see fat burning results? I'm confused. Again, sorry if I got the wrong idea.

think of it this way...your body is a machine...your machine requires energy to function just like any other machine. a calorie is a unit of energy. based on your stats and activity, your machine requires XXXX amount of calories to function optimally...this isn't a static number...it varies based on the amount of activity you do (to include your daily hum drum as well as exercise).

let's say on average with your workouts and daily activity and stats that you need roughly 2,800 calories to maintain weight...you simply eat less than that to burn fat...your level of consumption is a deficit...2,300 calories in this case would be a 500 calorie deficit. When you are in an energy deficit you burn fat (stored energy) to make up that difference.

If you work your *kitten* off in the gym, but you eat to a maintenance level of energy, guess what? You'll maintain. If you train for a marathon but you eat at a surplus of energy, guess what? you will gain weight.

burning fat is not dictated by the exercise you do...it is dictated by your consumption. diet for weight control; exercise for fitness.

as a matter of general fitness you should be exercising regularly...I'd suggest a few days in the weight room with a good full body program and 3-4 days with 45 - 60 minutes of whatever kind of cardio you enjoy...I personally like riding my bike.