Losing weight gain muscle

eacerda23

New to working out. Trying to lose belly fat and build muscle. I have lots of free weights, dumbells, and squat rack. Looking for any advice on good workouts. I'm using the MFP recipes to really track my lunch and dinner meals.

TeaBea

This is a good thread: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

eacerda23

That was a good read. Thanks for the heads up.

watts6151

Hi mate, are you still active military
Or retired and trying to get back in shape ?
I’m retired military

eacerda23

I'm still active duty. Unfortunately since I've been away from a base on recruiting duty, I've let my weight slip a little.

Were you Arny, Navy, Air Force?

watts6151

British army
It’s easy to gain the weight when going from very active to a lot more sedentary role

eacerda23

Oh how easy it was. I was 148 lbs of lean muscle when I was at a base almost 4 years ago. I lost the motivation when I was left to workout on my own. Longer hours meant more fast food and I ballooned up to 176. Much more round in the face and the waist! Lol

I'm down to 167 and counting though. Super frustrated with losing strength as well. I went from a one rep max of 205 to barely repping 125.😔

mmapags

How long have you been back at it? The strength should come back fairly quickly. Like maybe a few weeks. How much of a calorie deficit are you running? You really want to only be 200-300 per day to maintain max muscle.

watts6151

eacerda23 wrote: »

Oh how easy it was. I was 148 lbs of lean muscle when I was at a base almost 4 years ago. I lost the motivation when I was left to workout on my own. Longer hours meant more fast food and I ballooned up to 176. Much more round in the face and the waist! Lol

I'm down to 167 and counting though. Super frustrated with losing strength as well. I went from a one rep max of 205 to barely repping 125.😔

Are you continuing to recruit for the foreseeable future or returning for new posting ?

The strength loss while expected is always frustrating as hell 😂, always the same for me after returning from deployment

eacerda23

mmapags wrote: »

How long have you been back at it? The strength should come back fairly quickly. Like maybe a few weeks. How much of a calorie deficit are you running? You really want to only be 200-300 per day to maintain max muscle.

I'm only at day 3 of working out and watching what I eat. Right now I'm at a calorie deficit of 200. My RMR was at 1720 and I'm trying to limit myself to 1500. I need to drop the fat and lose inches before heading back to an active unit. I'm also trying to change the lifestyle of fast food and sitting my butt on the couch all day.

eacerda23

watts6151 wrote: »

eacerda23 wrote: »

Oh how easy it was. I was 148 lbs of lean muscle when I was at a base almost 4 years ago. I lost the motivation when I was left to workout on my own. Longer hours meant more fast food and I ballooned up to 176. Much more round in the face and the waist! Lol

I'm down to 167 and counting though. Super frustrated with losing strength as well. I went from a one rep max of 205 to barely repping 125.😔

Are you continuing to recruit for the foreseeable future or returning for new posting ?

The strength loss while expected is always frustrating as hell 😂, always the same for me after returning from deployment

I'm heading to an active unit in a couple months. That might have been my motivation to start tracking my foods and calories.

The strength loss has been so demoralizing though. I warmed up with 135 before and now I can even get it halfway up lol

mmapags

eacerda23 wrote: »

mmapags wrote: »

How long have you been back at it? The strength should come back fairly quickly. Like maybe a few weeks. How much of a calorie deficit are you running? You really want to only be 200-300 per day to maintain max muscle.

I'm only at day 3 of working out and watching what I eat. Right now I'm at a calorie deficit of 200. My RMR was at 1720 and I'm trying to limit myself to 1500. I need to drop the fat and lose inches before heading back to an active unit. I'm also trying to change the lifestyle of fast food and sitting my butt on the couch all day.

You want to take the deficit from TDEE not RMR. That will be too large a deficit and might risk muscle tissue.

watts6151

As above deficit should come from TDEE
Not your BMR, although I’d create the deficit through exercise not by restricting calories.

Exercise wise, any basic program will suffice,
Muscle memory is a great thing.

I’d personally prioritise the basics though
What you’ll be tested on when Rtu’d
Pull ups, sit-ups, press-ups,
Squat thrusts and burpees,
Fartlek and middle distance ruining.

Then If you have enough recoverable volume
Left over I’d add in the weight training

eacerda23

I hear you guys on taking from the TDEE, but I need to lose it before I can build back up. It's the way I've been before. When I first joined the Army, I came in at 179 and quickly dropped to a really lean 145. I did it by restricting a little on intake and doing my cardio and weight training. I ended up building back to about 155 with decent muscle tone. By no means did I have a body builders physique, but i was happy.

Right now I'm doing my weight training early morning (0430ish) and doing my cardio in tge afternoon. I usually bike or run to get a good burn in.

I don't have much time to fully get into a really long routine.