Building Muscle but Still Flabby - What to do??

pecarrick

I've been focusing on lifting weights and doing strength training stuff (Julian Micheal's body shred & free weights). I can tell my muscles are toning up but they are still hiding underneath some flabbiness =/.

I've read that only doing cardio makes you lose your muscle - I want to keep my muscle but lose the fat...

Any suggestions?? Good workout routines? I'm a 25 year old female at 137lbs. Just BARELY in the healthy body fat % range also and would like to be smack in the middle, or lower, of it.

Thanks!

pepper396

I am also focusing more on muscle... it holds the fat better and burns it off through the day and sometimes days after. I think we will honestly always be flabby in some areas... unless we are fitness freaks and body builders there will be some kind of flab whether we like it or not

CharleneExtreme

I still have flab too - i notice muscles appearing but still have bingo wings!!

kdiamond

Flabbiness comes from higher body fat. Even thin people have it, I was 105 pounds and had it. As long as you keep your diet in check you will lose body fat and you will maintain muscle by lifting heavy. When you get to a point you are happy with your weight you can do a bulk to build muscle. At this point it sounds like you want to lose some weight while maintaining muscle, and this is the way to do it. ) Hope this helps a little. You don't need to do excess cardio to lose body fat, you can do it through diet.

P.S. Jillian Michaels is kind of a waste of time if your goals are to build muscle.

MLgarcia3

Flabbiness comes from higher body fat. Even thin people have it, I was 105 pounds and had it. As long as you keep your diet in check you will lose body fat and you will maintain muscle by lifting heavy. When you get to a point you are happy with your weight you can do a bulk to build muscle. At this point it sounds like you want to lose some weight while maintaining muscle, and this is the way to do it. ) Hope this helps a little. You don't need to do excess cardio to lose body fat, you can do it through diet.

P.S. Jillian Michaels is kind of a waste of time if your goals are to build muscle.

I second this! Especially about Jillian

missikay1970

i am the same way. honestly, i think it will take time. i figured it took 41 years to look like this, it will take a while to undo it! LOL i am going to continue to focus on weight lifting and keeping my muscles built, and along with diet like the previous posts said, i think one day, the flab will diminish, although probably not entirely disappear. i think my diet and exercise and help and improve it, but only contouring body sculpting surgery will get rid of everything, and i'm not willing to do that. my excess flab is mostly skin, because i was stretched so big and then "shrunk."

maryruiz2685

you absolutely MUST do weights. too much cardio will help you lose a lot of weight but a lot of that will be muscle and you don't want to be "skinny fat". Do circuits. You can google routines online or even look on youtube. Do what they tell you to do and over time you'll see what works for you or what you like. Then you can come up with your own routines. Start doing push ups. max out on them. Sometimes for a warm up I'll do 50 burpees, 50 push ups, and 50 squats non stop and time myself. It's a great way to track your progress and get the blood flowing. Yeah, it's tough but you'll only see changes when you challenge yourself. In my experience there are two things that have been really effective for me. One is lower body routines. your legs are the largest muscle group in your body and when you target those, you burn a lot of fat and calories. if you like videos, try the p90x plyometrics. it's awesome. Second has been combing muscle groups together, for example squats with shoulder presses or tricep extenstions. Lunges with a medicine ball going side to side. Jillian michaels will not help you reach all your goals but it is a good way to change things up. Do it maybe once a week but not everyday. Your body likes change so change up your routine. when it comes to free weights, go heavy one week and go light with maximum reps the next. Trust me, a light weight goes a long way when you do the move for 90 seconds. It's a lot harder than you think. Don't be scared of heavy weights. We don't produce enough testosterone to get bulky and the only way to do that is to load up on supplements. speaking of which, you might want to invest in a protein powder or have a muscle milk light on days when you lift heavy or workout for more than an hour. your body will love it. your diet, however, is 60% of your success so no matter how much you workout, if you're not eating properly, you're wasting your time. getting rid of the flab takes a while. I have gained a good amount of muscle and it is finally visible but I still have the flab as well. It's a long process. if there's an area you are realy unsatisfied with, ( mine is the tricep area) visualize that muscle becoming tighter as you work it out. Work that muscle more often. maybe 3 times a week resting a day in between. also, what i do when I'm bored at home or just randomly out of the blue, but always at home, I'll knock a couple push ups out. trust me, every little bit helps.

714rah714

I
I've read that only doing cardio makes you lose your muscle - I want to keep my muscle but lose the fat...

Two paragraphs from http://www.bodybuildingapplied.com/index_center_misc.asp?newsId=61


This fact of human physiology has often been taken out of context and used to scare people into not doing cardiovascular exercise for fear of losing muscle. When you fast overnight as you sleep, you lose muscle too, but that doesn't mean you should stop sleeping!

Sure, it's possible for you to lose muscle from doing too much cardio, but it's highly unlikely. Shying away from cardio completely because you think you'll lose muscle is a huge mistake. Only excessive amounts of cardio would cause you to lose muscle because over-training tips the scale towards the catabolic side. It's difficult to generalize and pinpoint one specific amount as too much, but I think it's safe to assume that just about anyone could do up to 45 -60 minutes of cardio a day, 6 to 7 days a week without losing any muscle - as long as the proper nutritional support is provided.

jacksonpt

The concept is simple, execution can be difficult.

1) eat right
This means a modest calorie deficit (This is where your weight loss will come from, which will be a combination of fat and muscle) and a good balance of fats, carbs and protein, including at least .3g of fat per lb of weight and at least 1g of protein per lb of lean body mass.

2) lift heavy
You have to lift, and you have to lift heavy. 3-5 sets, 5-8 reps using enough weight so the last rep of each set is a real struggle. Pay attention to your form. This, plus sufficient protein will help keep muscle loss to a minimum and maximize fat loss.

3) be patient, be consistent
Everything about this takes longer than you want. We're not talking days or weeks here, think months.

rmhand

Increase your weights. Moderate cardio will not decrease your muscle.

tansygreen

bump

sisierra

do both silly goose！I do 3 days lifting 3 days cardio

NU2U

I love all of the responses...very informative. Thanks for posting this thread!!!

anku08

increase your protein intake... it helps alot... possibly you are losing your muscles and not the fat..

HauteP1nk

Increase your cardio maybe. I think the health association says we should be doing 100 to 150 minutes of cardiovascular activities such as speed walking or cycling every week, plus three 20-minute sessions that combine strengthening and conditioning. You can make any cardiovascular routine a toning workout by pumping light hand weights while exercising.

Tabata style exercises (HIIT) are great too...you get toning combined with cardio.... Gives your body a boost so you burn more calories throughout the day to get rid of the fat while toning your muscles. These workouts use your own body weight too (calisthenics) by doing push-ups, burpees, squats, jumping lunges, thrusters, etc.

priepen

Any good work out you should incorporate strength training and cardio. These exercises focus on different things physiologiacally in your body. Strength training helps strengthen and build muscles which helps you get stronger. Cardio is good for your heart and helps improve your cardiorespiratory fitness. There are lots of great workouts that are cardio and strenth training combined and can help you achieve your fitness goals. Cardio is your main fat burning exercise.

pecarrick

Wow - thank you so much! That was the exact information I needed!

phinphanbill26

Your cardio should involve some interval training...it extends the burn much the same way that lifting weights does...thus leading to more calories burned and fat lost...and muscle retained.

This requires sprinting for short bursts (30 seconds) between longer sessions (1 minute or so) of 50-75% speed. I wouldn't go for sessions lasting any longer than 15-minutes, though.

Ramp up the protein intake, too, on workout days to provide the muscle with their building requirements.