Stuck between a rock & a hard place....advice needed!

FiNnY22
FiNnY22 Posts: 126 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So here is the thing, and Im including a pic of progress thus far for reference.
Im a 5ft 10in, 95kg, 44 year old bloke who has switched out from HIIT style training, T25, Insanity Max30 to strength training, mainly because I wanted to recomp my body and look leaner/better.
I lift 3 days a week split between legs, chest/shoulders and back. I run 5k with my family on a 4th day.9uvm4zmyr95d.jpg


As you can see whilst I have lost weight I'm still carrying fat.
I have been lifting weights now for approx 3 months and im getting stronger all the time.

Why I feel like I'm stuck between a rock and hard place is what do I do next? I know to build muscle I need to be in a calorie surplus with those calories coming from good food sources. However I'm also aware i am not lean yet...... I know I am not eating a surplus on average so im kinda stuck in this loop and im struggling to get out of it.
Partly I think it is a fear of upping my calories and gaining weight again as I seem to gain weight a damn site quicker than losing it. Any advice greatly received.

Replies

  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
    My opinion, stay on a deficit and follow a structured weight training program. You will not gain muscle as quickly, but you will continue to loose weight and reshape your physique.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    cgvet37 wrote: »
    My opinion, stay on a deficit and follow a structured weight training program. You will not gain muscle as quickly, but you will continue to loose weight and reshape your physique.

    Agreed.

    You do not have to be in a surplus in order to build muscle. Progressive resistance (your strength training) and a reasonable deficit that includes good nutrition can get you to your goal (a leaner but more muscled physique.)
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
    edited April 2016
    You don't have to be in a calorie surplus to build muscle, but with that said a calorie deficit can make it impossible to put on muscle. The best approach is to just keep losing weight and set your goal to maintain muscle. That way at worst you meet your goal, at best you have a pleasant surprise. Either way, you will look more muscular as you lose fat.

    If you are 94kg now, you should probably continue to do what you are doing (lifting and losing weight) until you hit 80kg or so. I'm 5'11 and started at 100kg almost 1 year ago and am now down to 76kg (picture is ~82kg) while still gaining strength and hitting weight/rep PRs.
  • wilsoncl6
    wilsoncl6 Posts: 1,280 Member
    As what most have said before. Continue to eat at a caloric deficit, you might gain some muscle with what your doing (depending on intensity of exercise and diet) but you won't gain a whole lot (newbie gains aside) and you won't really notice a big difference until you lose a lot of the excess body fat and start to see more definition. My recommendation is to increase your protein intake, if you haven't already, to at least .8 grams per lean muscle mass. The excess body fat you're carrying will act like extra calories for muscle growth until your body fat gets too low for your body to utilize it for hypertrophy.
  • FiNnY22
    FiNnY22 Posts: 126 Member
    ^^^^ aah ok light bulb moment! So any extra bodyfat can be used to fuel gains too or did I misunderstand?
    Thanks all for the comments guys.
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
    FiNnY22 wrote: »
    ^^^^ aah ok light bulb moment! So any extra bodyfat can be used to fuel gains too or did I misunderstand?
    Thanks all for the comments guys.

    To an extent, yes. With the most simple of lists, your muscles need 4 things to grow. Stress, rest, protein, and energy. Energy can come either from food you eat or fat on your body. The more fat you have, the more energy it can provide per day, as you lean out more energy has to come from food if you want to grow your muscles.
  • wilsoncl6
    wilsoncl6 Posts: 1,280 Member
    FiNnY22 wrote: »
    ^^^^ aah ok light bulb moment! So any extra bodyfat can be used to fuel gains too or did I misunderstand?
    Thanks all for the comments guys.

    Yes, it's as if you're doing a bulk, until there isn't enough extra fat to support the bodies energy needs, then the results will taper off and you'll start having to increase your caloric intake to compensate.
  • FiNnY22
    FiNnY22 Posts: 126 Member
    Now this right here has made me very happy. Clarity. Thank you gents, have a great day.

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