At a cross-roads/need advice

BurkeshireFarms
BurkeshireFarms Posts: 45 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm about 4-5lbs away from my goal weight and have hit the ultimate plateau. I've already been doing heavy lifiting with a good mix of cardio 5-6 x a week.

I'd like to start to add muscle and in doing so I will obviously need to increase my calorie intake. But I still have some stubborn fat located around the belt line.

My question is this:

Should I drop the remaing 4-5lbs before uping my calories?

Or should I just go ahead and up the calories, continue with my workouts and hope the additional muscle helps burn that stubborn fat area?

Replies

  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
    Id try to lose the fat first.
  • glennstoudt
    glennstoudt Posts: 403 Member
    Have to decide which is more important to you, losing the fat or increasing the muscle. Doing both together at that level of detail is not impossible, but physiologically very difficult. Most recommend dropping the body fat first. You can not spot specific lose body fat. Either it all comes off or none of it. There are some studies that suggest that CLA (congugated linoleic acid) can aid in body fat loss, particularly stomach and legs. I have not tried it, but I too am a few pounds from a somewhat arbitrary goal weight trying to decide if I want to "go for it".

    I don't know your age but based on the age of your girls, you are not yet 40, so you still have plenty of testosterone flowing around your body. You will have no problem building muscle with or without a modest calorie increase. If you are doing the work you will naturally crave more protein for muscle repair in between your training sessions. There is plenty written on this subject so when you have some time, do the research and establish a plan for yourself.
  • BurkeshireFarms
    BurkeshireFarms Posts: 45 Member
    Excellent info. Very much appreciate the advice!
  • missikay1970
    missikay1970 Posts: 588 Member
    wow i could have written this post myself...same exact situation. i am over 40, though, not sure if that matters. i appreciate the responses. i think i'm going to try to lose the fat first, but this 3 month plateau is killing me psychologically!!!
  • particleastro
    particleastro Posts: 68 Member
    Your muscle gains will always be better if your bodyfat is lower to start with.

    However, if you find yourself obsessing for months over those last few pounds, go lift some big weights. If you keep your diet lean then youll find that stubborn bit gets eaten by all your shiny new muscle.

    JU

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