Strong lifts?

connorsw95

Hey all

I've posted a similar topic but in a different section recently but maybe some gym rats can help here. I have lost around 6 stone since last year and I lost the majority pretty quickly - I'm now suffering with loose skin and stretch marks on my stomach and though I am a lot lighter than some of my friends who are the same height as me I am not nearly as lean and it makes me envious because they can eat way more than me and stay lean. At my age (19) I feel ashamed to have this kind of body and I would love a flat stomach and maybe even some ab definition. I was pretty misinformed when I started losing weight and only 17 - I lost it all with cardio (lots of treadmill slavery) and this is probably why I'm not leaning out because I didn't religiously do weight training only some occasional bodyweight exercises (squats, planks, lunges etc). I have seen the strong lifts 5 x 5 plan and somebody else suggested it - I was wondering will this be an effective way for me to lean out even if I'm still eating in a deficit? I'm only about 10st 12 and 5ft 9 so I'm not overweight but battling with belly fat/loose skin I honestly don't know which it is. I only eat around 1500-1700 calories most days... sometimes even nearer the 1000 mark because my appetite has lessened, i drink so much water that I don't get too hungry and I generally eat low calorie foods like vegetablesThanks in advance for any advice.

~Connor

GradatimFerociter

The loose skin will, as per myriad anecdotes, likely improve over time so I wouldn't worry too much about that at the moment.

With regards to Stronglifts: you will gain strength, you will do so in a deficit and will probably even experience some nominal muscle gains. Relevantly, though, the likelihood of you retaining lean mass while cutting increases considerably when you 1) give your body sufficient reason to retain that mass (lifting) and 2) eat enough protein.

If you are set on cutting, and doing so while often eating only 1000 calories then you may want to research PSMF (Lyle's RFL). I think it is probably your best chance of retaining the lean mass you have while making these sorts of demands of yourself.

If I were you, though, I would start Stronglifts (or pretty much any sensible routine) and eat at a very slight deficit and then see how it goes.

Good luck.