Help Reducing Percentage Body Fat

gymbunny1962

I am 5 ft 8 and 151 lbs and percentage body fat is currently about 22.5% (measured with callipers). My goal is to get my %age body fat down to 20% but seem to have been ‘stuck’ at 22.5% since December. I work out on a regular basis and try and keep plenty of variety in my routine – a typical week includes 2 hours of spin, 1 hour of yoga, 3 hours of weight training and 1 hour of circuit training. I think I may be a bit ‘light’ on cardio so am planning to introduce three 5k runs a week (but this is dependent on weather). So far as diet is concerned – I avoid processed foods and eat plenty fruit, vegetables, lean meat, fish, etc. – at the moment, net calorie consumption is around 1500.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to any changes I should make to help me reach my body fat target? Or am I just being impatient and it will come eventually? My trainer suggested carb cycling but I am not that keen.

AntWrig

I am 5 ft 8 and 151 lbs and percentage body fat is currently about 22.5% (measured with callipers). My goal is to get my %age body fat down to 20% but seem to have been ‘stuck’ at 22.5% since December. I work out on a regular basis and try and keep plenty of variety in my routine – a typical week includes 2 hours of spin, 1 hour of yoga, 3 hours of weight training and 1 hour of circuit training. I think I may be a bit ‘light’ on cardio so am planning to introduce three 5k runs a week (but this is dependent on weather). So far as diet is concerned – I avoid processed foods and eat plenty fruit, vegetables, lean meat, fish, etc. – at the moment, net calorie consumption is around 1500.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to any changes I should make to help me reach my body fat target? Or am I just being impatient and it will come eventually? My trainer suggested carb cycling but I am not that keen.

You got me at 2 hours of spin. Drop all cardio. That's right drop it.

Do your 3 weight training sessions and add a day of sprints in.

Hurricane_C

bump

want to hear replies

AlwaysWanderer

I am 5 ft 8 and 151 lbs and percentage body fat is currently about 22.5% (measured with callipers). My goal is to get my %age body fat down to 20% but seem to have been ‘stuck’ at 22.5% since December. I work out on a regular basis and try and keep plenty of variety in my routine – a typical week includes 2 hours of spin, 1 hour of yoga, 3 hours of weight training and 1 hour of circuit training. I think I may be a bit ‘light’ on cardio so am planning to introduce three 5k runs a week (but this is dependent on weather). So far as diet is concerned – I avoid processed foods and eat plenty fruit, vegetables, lean meat, fish, etc. – at the moment, net calorie consumption is around 1500.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to any changes I should make to help me reach my body fat target? Or am I just being impatient and it will come eventually? My trainer suggested carb cycling but I am not that keen.

You got me at 2 hours of spin. Drop all cardio. That's right drop it.
Do your 3 weight training sessions and add a day of sprints in.

You seem to be very anti-cardio. Can I ask why is that?

AlwaysWanderer

Eat more. Calculate your maintenance calories (including exercise) and then reduce it by 10-15%. Then stick with it. You can try calorie cycling or carb cycling too.

erickirb

The big reason many people are against cardio is that cardio may burn muscle. Cardio is not needed for fat loss, all you need is to eat at a caloric deficit, now to ensure you don't lose muscle as you lose weight do heavy weights and get plenty of protein.

Cardio is great for conditioning and strengthening the heart but is not needed to lose fat or change body composition and in many cases may actually make it harder to drop body fat %, as enegry that would have gone into sustaining muscle would be used up to fuel your workouts (this assumes you are not eating cals back). If you eat cals back cardio is a 0 sum game for weight and fat loss.

Fitwam

bump to follow the replies!

IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym

I didn't see anything about how you eat.... That is 80% of it, the workouts ony make up 20%. The cleaner you eat, the faster you will drop the body fat, in conjunction with weights, etc. Above all, maintain a caloric deficit.

AntWrig

I am 5 ft 8 and 151 lbs and percentage body fat is currently about 22.5% (measured with callipers). My goal is to get my %age body fat down to 20% but seem to have been ‘stuck’ at 22.5% since December. I work out on a regular basis and try and keep plenty of variety in my routine – a typical week includes 2 hours of spin, 1 hour of yoga, 3 hours of weight training and 1 hour of circuit training. I think I may be a bit ‘light’ on cardio so am planning to introduce three 5k runs a week (but this is dependent on weather). So far as diet is concerned – I avoid processed foods and eat plenty fruit, vegetables, lean meat, fish, etc. – at the moment, net calorie consumption is around 1500.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to any changes I should make to help me reach my body fat target? Or am I just being impatient and it will come eventually? My trainer suggested carb cycling but I am not that keen.

You got me at 2 hours of spin. Drop all cardio. That's right drop it.
Do your 3 weight training sessions and add a day of sprints in.

You seem to be very anti-cardio. Can I ask why is that?

I am not anti-cardio. My problem is people use it for the wrong reasons. You training for a sport fine. Do your cardio, improve your heart, and eat your calories back. If you're doing it to lose weight. Bad move. I would rather not eat.

You have to look at it from a life stand point. You're not going to have time, all the time to spend two hours in the gym. So, its simple. Lift weight or do something anaerobic, eat big when you train, eat small when you don't. If you want to "burn" a little extra calories walk outside.

However, if you're using cardio to create a calorie deficit, your diet sucks. Plain and simple.

chesterdogmine

The big reason many people are against cardio is that cardio may burn muscle. Cardio is not needed for fat loss, all you need is to eat at a caloric deficit, now to ensure you don't lose muscle as you lose weight do heavy weights and get plenty of protein.

Cardio is great for conditioning and strengthening the heart but is not needed to lose fat or change body composition and in many cases may actually make it harder to drop body fat %, as enegry that would have gone into sustaining muscle would be used up to fuel your workouts (this assumes you are not eating cals back). If you eat cals back cardio is a 0 sum game for weight and fat loss.

chesterdogmine

The big reason many people are against cardio is that cardio may burn muscle. Cardio is not needed for fat loss, all you need is to eat at a caloric deficit, now to ensure you don't lose muscle as you lose weight do heavy weights and get plenty of protein.

Cardio is great for conditioning and strengthening the heart but is not needed to lose fat or change body composition and in many cases may actually make it harder to drop body fat %, as enegry that would have gone into sustaining muscle would be used up to fuel your workouts (this assumes you are not eating cals back). If you eat cals back cardio is a 0 sum game for weight and fat loss.

Very interesting!!!! I will give this a try over the next couple of weeks. I will drastically cut down on cardio and increase the strength training both in frequency and intensity. I have been doing about 90 minutes of intense cardio 4 times a week and light strength training twice a week.

AlwaysWanderer

The big reason many people are against cardio is that cardio may burn muscle. Cardio is not needed for fat loss, all you need is to eat at a caloric deficit, now to ensure you don't lose muscle as you lose weight do heavy weights and get plenty of protein.

Cardio is great for conditioning and strengthening the heart but is not needed to lose fat or change body composition and in many cases may actually make it harder to drop body fat %, as enegry that would have gone into sustaining muscle would be used up to fuel your workouts (this assumes you are not eating cals back). If you eat cals back cardio is a 0 sum game for weight and fat loss.

Quoting Tom Venuto, one of the best natural bodybuilders, author of "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle":
"If I was overweight I would be doing cardio twice a day, maybe more"
He suggests lifting heavy weights every other day, and cardio every day, or even twice a day. He doesnt look like he doesnt have any muscle, now does he? Just make sure you eat your exercise calories.

p0stdramatic

I am 5 ft 8 and 151 lbs and percentage body fat is currently about 22.5% (measured with callipers). My goal is to get my %age body fat down to 20% but seem to have been ‘stuck’ at 22.5% since December. I work out on a regular basis and try and keep plenty of variety in my routine – a typical week includes 2 hours of spin, 1 hour of yoga, 3 hours of weight training and 1 hour of circuit training. I think I may be a bit ‘light’ on cardio so am planning to introduce three 5k runs a week (but this is dependent on weather). So far as diet is concerned – I avoid processed foods and eat plenty fruit, vegetables, lean meat, fish, etc. – at the moment, net calorie consumption is around 1500.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to any changes I should make to help me reach my body fat target? Or am I just being impatient and it will come eventually? My trainer suggested carb cycling but I am not that keen.

You got me at 2 hours of spin. Drop all cardio. That's right drop it.
Do your 3 weight training sessions and add a day of sprints in.

You seem to be very anti-cardio. Can I ask why is that?

I am not anti-cardio. My problem is people use it for the wrong reasons. You training for a sport fine. Do your cardio, improve your heart, and eat your calories back. If you're doing it to lose weight. Bad move. I would rather not eat.

You have to look at it from a life stand point. You're not going to have time, all the time to spend two hours in the gym. So, its simple. Lift weight or do something anaerobic, eat big when you train, eat small when you don't. If you want to "burn" a little extra calories walk outside.

However, if you're using cardio to create a calorie deficit, your diet sucks. Plain and simple.

I agree. Cardio is great for losing weight, but not so much body fat %, because you're burning fat AND muscle. That is not a good way to lose weight. I love cardio, and admit I'm an addict, but I also know that to decrease my body fat % I'm going to have to limit it. Strength training is the best way to decrease BF%. Cardio is best used for cardiovascular health and endurance.

deksgrl

Bumping to read later.

AlwaysWanderer

I am 5 ft 8 and 151 lbs and percentage body fat is currently about 22.5% (measured with callipers). My goal is to get my %age body fat down to 20% but seem to have been ‘stuck’ at 22.5% since December. I work out on a regular basis and try and keep plenty of variety in my routine – a typical week includes 2 hours of spin, 1 hour of yoga, 3 hours of weight training and 1 hour of circuit training. I think I may be a bit ‘light’ on cardio so am planning to introduce three 5k runs a week (but this is dependent on weather). So far as diet is concerned – I avoid processed foods and eat plenty fruit, vegetables, lean meat, fish, etc. – at the moment, net calorie consumption is around 1500.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to any changes I should make to help me reach my body fat target? Or am I just being impatient and it will come eventually? My trainer suggested carb cycling but I am not that keen.

You got me at 2 hours of spin. Drop all cardio. That's right drop it.
Do your 3 weight training sessions and add a day of sprints in.

You seem to be very anti-cardio. Can I ask why is that?

I am not anti-cardio. My problem is people use it for the wrong reasons. You training for a sport fine. Do your cardio, improve your heart, and eat your calories back. If you're doing it to lose weight. Bad move. I would rather not eat.

You have to look at it from a life stand point. You're not going to have time, all the time to spend two hours in the gym. So, its simple. Lift weight or do something anaerobic, eat big when you train, eat small when you don't. If you want to "burn" a little extra calories walk outside.

However, if you're using cardio to create a calorie deficit, your diet sucks. Plain and simple.

If I were to create a 500cal deficyt through diet only (to lose 1lb a week), I would be eating 1100 cals. Now, that would suck.
One size doesnt fit all.
If you dont eat, you arent getting nutritients your body needs. When you exercise, you burn calories, not vitamins & minerals you get from food.

qkidney

Bump

p0stdramatic

The big reason many people are against cardio is that cardio may burn muscle. Cardio is not needed for fat loss, all you need is to eat at a caloric deficit, now to ensure you don't lose muscle as you lose weight do heavy weights and get plenty of protein.

Cardio is great for conditioning and strengthening the heart but is not needed to lose fat or change body composition and in many cases may actually make it harder to drop body fat %, as enegry that would have gone into sustaining muscle would be used up to fuel your workouts (this assumes you are not eating cals back). If you eat cals back cardio is a 0 sum game for weight and fat loss.

Quoting Tom Venuto, one of the best natural bodybuilders, author of "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle":
"If I was overweight I would be doing cardio twice a day, maybe more"
He suggests lifting heavy weights every other day, and cardio every day, or even twice a day. He doesnt look like he doesnt have any muscle, now does he? Just make sure you eat your exercise calories.

And I bet he limits his cardio while he's bulking, and I'm sure he's not eating in a deficit, either. You can do lots of cardio and maintain muscle if you continue lifting and have a very balanced diet. You can even gain some muscle, especially if you are new to lifting. But you can't significantly increase muscle and burn fat doing lots of cardio in a deficit.

erickirb

The big reason many people are against cardio is that cardio may burn muscle. Cardio is not needed for fat loss, all you need is to eat at a caloric deficit, now to ensure you don't lose muscle as you lose weight do heavy weights and get plenty of protein.

Cardio is great for conditioning and strengthening the heart but is not needed to lose fat or change body composition and in many cases may actually make it harder to drop body fat %, as enegry that would have gone into sustaining muscle would be used up to fuel your workouts (this assumes you are not eating cals back). If you eat cals back cardio is a 0 sum game for weight and fat loss.

Quoting Tom Venuto, one of the best natural bodybuilders, author of "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle":
"If I was overweight I would be doing cardio twice a day, maybe more"
He suggests lifting heavy weights every other day, and cardio every day, or even twice a day. He doesnt look like he doesnt have any muscle, now does he? Just make sure you eat your exercise calories.

That is what I said for weight and fat loss cardio is a 0 sum game, if you eat your exercise calories back. If you don't eat the cals back you risk burning muscle as you lose weight.

erickirb

I am 5 ft 8 and 151 lbs and percentage body fat is currently about 22.5% (measured with callipers). My goal is to get my %age body fat down to 20% but seem to have been ‘stuck’ at 22.5% since December. I work out on a regular basis and try and keep plenty of variety in my routine – a typical week includes 2 hours of spin, 1 hour of yoga, 3 hours of weight training and 1 hour of circuit training. I think I may be a bit ‘light’ on cardio so am planning to introduce three 5k runs a week (but this is dependent on weather). So far as diet is concerned – I avoid processed foods and eat plenty fruit, vegetables, lean meat, fish, etc. – at the moment, net calorie consumption is around 1500.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to any changes I should make to help me reach my body fat target? Or am I just being impatient and it will come eventually? My trainer suggested carb cycling but I am not that keen.

You got me at 2 hours of spin. Drop all cardio. That's right drop it.
Do your 3 weight training sessions and add a day of sprints in.

You seem to be very anti-cardio. Can I ask why is that?

I am not anti-cardio. My problem is people use it for the wrong reasons. You training for a sport fine. Do your cardio, improve your heart, and eat your calories back. If you're doing it to lose weight. Bad move. I would rather not eat.

You have to look at it from a life stand point. You're not going to have time, all the time to spend two hours in the gym. So, its simple. Lift weight or do something anaerobic, eat big when you train, eat small when you don't. If you want to "burn" a little extra calories walk outside.

However, if you're using cardio to create a calorie deficit, your diet sucks. Plain and simple.

If I were to create a 500cal deficyt through diet only (to lose 1lb a week), I would be eating 1100 cals. Now, that would suck.
One size doesnt fit all.
If you dont eat, you arent getting nutritients your body needs. When you exercise, you burn calories, not vitamins & minerals you get from food.

with only 9lbs to go you shouldn't be eating at a 500 cal/day deficit anyway. I would suggest 250 cals/day (0.5lbs/week)

japruzze

bump

AntWrig

I am 5 ft 8 and 151 lbs and percentage body fat is currently about 22.5% (measured with callipers). My goal is to get my %age body fat down to 20% but seem to have been ‘stuck’ at 22.5% since December. I work out on a regular basis and try and keep plenty of variety in my routine – a typical week includes 2 hours of spin, 1 hour of yoga, 3 hours of weight training and 1 hour of circuit training. I think I may be a bit ‘light’ on cardio so am planning to introduce three 5k runs a week (but this is dependent on weather). So far as diet is concerned – I avoid processed foods and eat plenty fruit, vegetables, lean meat, fish, etc. – at the moment, net calorie consumption is around 1500.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to any changes I should make to help me reach my body fat target? Or am I just being impatient and it will come eventually? My trainer suggested carb cycling but I am not that keen.

You got me at 2 hours of spin. Drop all cardio. That's right drop it.
Do your 3 weight training sessions and add a day of sprints in.

You seem to be very anti-cardio. Can I ask why is that?

I am not anti-cardio. My problem is people use it for the wrong reasons. You training for a sport fine. Do your cardio, improve your heart, and eat your calories back. If you're doing it to lose weight. Bad move. I would rather not eat.

You have to look at it from a life stand point. You're not going to have time, all the time to spend two hours in the gym. So, its simple. Lift weight or do something anaerobic, eat big when you train, eat small when you don't. If you want to "burn" a little extra calories walk outside.

However, if you're using cardio to create a calorie deficit, your diet sucks. Plain and simple.

If I were to create a 500cal deficyt through diet only (to lose 1lb a week), I would be eating 1100 cals. Now, that would suck.

For starters, you shouldn't be using the -500, go by %.

One size doesnt fit all.

I use to say that too. That appears to be the mantra for those who are unwilling to let go of the bro and jane science. It's okay, you will be enlightened.

If you dont eat, you arent getting nutritients your body needs. When you exercise, you burn calories, not vitamins & minerals you get from food.

Stop cherry picking. I eat big when I train, I eat small when I don't.

AlwaysWanderer

And I bet he limits his cardio while he's bulking, and I'm sure he's not eating in a deficit, either. You can do lots of cardio and maintain muscle if you continue lifting and have a very balanced diet. You can even gain some muscle, especially if you are new to lifting. But you can't significantly increase muscle and burn fat doing lots of cardio in a deficit.

No, you cant do both. But you can burn fat, if thats your goal. There should only be one goal at the time, it's either burn fat, or build muscle. If you do them together, you will normally fail in both.

AntWrig

The big reason many people are against cardio is that cardio may burn muscle. Cardio is not needed for fat loss, all you need is to eat at a caloric deficit, now to ensure you don't lose muscle as you lose weight do heavy weights and get plenty of protein.

Cardio is great for conditioning and strengthening the heart but is not needed to lose fat or change body composition and in many cases may actually make it harder to drop body fat %, as enegry that would have gone into sustaining muscle would be used up to fuel your workouts (this assumes you are not eating cals back). If you eat cals back cardio is a 0 sum game for weight and fat loss.

Quoting Tom Venuto, one of the best natural bodybuilders, author of "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle":
"If I was overweight I would be doing cardio twice a day, maybe more"
He suggests lifting heavy weights every other day, and cardio every day, or even twice a day. He doesnt look like he doesnt have any muscle, now does he? Just make sure you eat your exercise calories.

So, Tom is not doing cardio to drop bodyfat is he? If he is eating his calories back. Most people use cardio as a means of creating a calorie deficit.

cathybee423

As a women, won't i bulk up if i relied solely on weight lifting?

AntWrig

As a women, won't i bulk up if i relied solely on weight lifting?

No!

erickirb

As a women, won't i bulk up if i relied solely on weight lifting?

No, you don't have enough testosterone to "bulk" and even if you did you would need to eat at a caloric surplus to gain any noticeable amount of muscle.

In a caloric deficit if you do heavy strength training combined with adequate protein will allow you to drop fat and maintain most of your lean mass. Usually when dieting if you don't get enough protein, your deficit is too large and/or you don't do heavy strength training you will actually lose lean muscle (not the best way to drop body fat %)

AlwaysWanderer

I seem to have created an unnecessary argument here. The OP asks how to reduce BF%. Not build muscle. So no bulking/cutting stages.
If you want to build muscle, reduce cardio, eat a lot and lift heavy.
If you want to lose fat, increase cardio (not too crazy though, an hr a day seem to be ok), eat a lot (but still in a deficyt after accounting for exercise, 10-15% if you're close to your goal) and lift heavy.
That sums it up.

erickirb

I seem to have created an unnecessary argument here. The OP asks how to reduce BF%. Not build muscle. So no bulking/cutting stages.
If you want to build muscle, reduce cardio, eat a lot and lift heavy.
If you want to lose fat, increase cardio (not too crazy though, an hr a day seem to be ok), eat a lot (but still in a deficyt after accounting for exercise, 10-15% if you're close to your goal) and lift heavy.
That sums it up.

No one is advocating bulk cut cycle, we are saying cardio will do nothing for weight loss (if you burn 400 cals and eat back 400 cals you are where you started weight loss wise) cardio is good for other reasons but weight loss is not one of them.

We are saying if you do strength training you will reduce the amount of muscle you lose while you lose weight meaning you will be a lower bf% at your goal weight then if you did cardio to lose weight.

kdiamond

I am 5 ft 8 and 151 lbs and percentage body fat is currently about 22.5% (measured with callipers). My goal is to get my %age body fat down to 20% but seem to have been ‘stuck’ at 22.5% since December. I work out on a regular basis and try and keep plenty of variety in my routine – a typical week includes 2 hours of spin, 1 hour of yoga, 3 hours of weight training and 1 hour of circuit training. I think I may be a bit ‘light’ on cardio so am planning to introduce three 5k runs a week (but this is dependent on weather). So far as diet is concerned – I avoid processed foods and eat plenty fruit, vegetables, lean meat, fish, etc. – at the moment, net calorie consumption is around 1500.

Has anyone got any suggestions as to any changes I should make to help me reach my body fat target? Or am I just being impatient and it will come eventually? My trainer suggested carb cycling but I am not that keen.

You got me at 2 hours of spin. Drop all cardio. That's right drop it.
Do your 3 weight training sessions and add a day of sprints in.

You seem to be very anti-cardio. Can I ask why is that?

I am not anti-cardio. My problem is people use it for the wrong reasons. You training for a sport fine. Do your cardio, improve your heart, and eat your calories back. If you're doing it to lose weight. Bad move. I would rather not eat.

You have to look at it from a life stand point. You're not going to have time, all the time to spend two hours in the gym. So, its simple. Lift weight or do something anaerobic, eat big when you train, eat small when you don't. If you want to "burn" a little extra calories walk outside.

However, if you're using cardio to create a calorie deficit, your diet sucks. Plain and simple.

I have to agree here. Doing a lot of cardio I weighed less, but I had more body fat. When I did a mini bulk (i.e. ate MORE) and lifted heavy, gaining 5 pounds during this time, I dropped 3% body fat and lost all the cellulite on the back of my thighs...I did very little cardio, and the cardio I did do was sprinting, box jumping, jump roping, etc., fast and under 15 minutes total.

To this day I still only do HIIT on a treadmill 2-3x a week, for 16 minutes after a heavy training session, just for my heart basically. I'm so much happier without those long dreadful cardio sessions and I look better too!