suggestions for cutting body fat and keeping muscle..?

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ndj1979
ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Just seeing if anyone has any interestng strategies for cutting body fat% and keeping lean muscle?

I am 5-10 about 167 and hovering around 17% body fat. I would like to get my body fat down to 15% and then 10%.

Right now I am working out about five hours a week:
Mon - chest/arms
Tues - HIIT sprint interval in am and back/triceps in afternoon
Wens - legs
Thu - shoulders
Friday - HIIT sprint training folowed by core and/or circuit training
Sat - 45 min weight train followed by 20 minutes of abs and plyo
sunday - off

Currently eating about 2000 calories a day and cycling carbs....I usualy go low, low, med, med, high and then repeat...

Let me know thoughts on this and if anyone has any suggestions to build on let me know....

Thanks in advance!
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Replies

  • Plates559
    Plates559 Posts: 869 Member
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    1. eat 500 calories less than maintenance
    2. Squat, Bench, Dead, Clean, Dip, Pullups, Rows
    3. Eat BROtein
    4. ????
    5. Profit
  • jawheb
    jawheb Posts: 295 Member
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    Bump
  • Lift_hard_eat_big
    Lift_hard_eat_big Posts: 2,278 Member
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    1. eat 500 calories less than maintenance
    2. Squat, Bench, Dead, Clean, Dip, Pullups, Rows
    3. Eat BROtein
    4. ????
    5. Profit


    ^^^ This, and get plenty of sleep.
  • Going4Lean
    Going4Lean Posts: 1,077 Member
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    bump
  • jppd47
    jppd47 Posts: 737 Member
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    Thats should work for you, just give it time. Keep the deficit and eat enough protein.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    Thats should work for you, just give it time. Keep the deficit and eat enough protein.

    thanks..I have been doing the carb cycling thing for two weeks now and plan to stick with it for 4-6 weeks...

    Just wanted to hear thoughts and other opinon on this topic..so keep em coming!
  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    1. eat 500 calories less than maintenance
    2. Squat, Bench, Dead, Clean, Dip, Pullups, Rows
    3. Eat BROtein
    4. ????
    5. Profit

    #4 should be "allow each muscle set to heal between sets, rotate muscles and don't overtrain any one set"
  • WandaVonDunajew
    WandaVonDunajew Posts: 184 Member
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    Carb cycling is excellent, especially on workout vs non workout days. keep your protein high and, even though I'll probably be vilified here for saying this, you might want to check out intermittent fasting. I know there;s much pearl clutching on the topic... but Look at the before and after pictures here http://www.leangains.com/search/label/Client results, and then tell me if I made a point (I am in cutting mode on IF and it shows).
  • Determinednoob
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
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    Carb cycling is excellent, especially on workout vs non workout days. keep your protein high and, even though I'll probably be vilified here for saying this, you might want to check out intermittent fasting. I know there;s much pearl clutching on the topic... but Look at the before and after pictures here http://www.leangains.com/search/label/Client results, and then tell me if I made a point (I am in cutting mode on IF and it shows).

    I dunno why anyone would villify someone for mentionging IF. It is a perfectly fine method to employ if someone chooses.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    Carb cycling is excellent, especially on workout vs non workout days. keep your protein high and, even though I'll probably be vilified here for saying this, you might want to check out intermittent fasting. I know there;s much pearl clutching on the topic... but Look at the before and after pictures here http://www.leangains.com/search/label/Client results, and then tell me if I made a point (I am in cutting mode on IF and it shows).

    I dunno why anyone would villify someone for mentionging IF. It is a perfectly fine method to employ if someone chooses.

    that is interesting..everything i have always read says that you should do the six meals a day thing because it keeps your metabolism going...from what I have read fasing is bad becuase your body goes into starvation mode and slows down metabolism...I will check the site/article out...
  • maryjay51
    maryjay51 Posts: 742
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    eat the right kind of fat as well as the right amount of good fat...and eat protein .. of course and lift weights
  • Isileo
    Isileo Posts: 13 Member
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    Leangains has great info.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    Carb cycling is excellent, especially on workout vs non workout days. keep your protein high and, even though I'll probably be vilified here for saying this, you might want to check out intermittent fasting. I know there;s much pearl clutching on the topic... but Look at the before and after pictures here http://www.leangains.com/search/label/Client results, and then tell me if I made a point (I am in cutting mode on IF and it shows).

    I dunno why anyone would villify someone for mentionging IF. It is a perfectly fine method to employ if someone chooses.

    that is interesting..everything i have always read says that you should do the six meals a day thing because it keeps your metabolism going...from what I have read fasing is bad becuase your body goes into starvation mode and slows down metabolism...I will check the site/article out...
    Bodybuilding.com is very hit and miss. If your metabolism ever stopped, you would die; people are really talking (I think anyway) about TEF when they talk about maintaining your metabolism with many frequent meals.
  • Determinednoob
    Determinednoob Posts: 2,001 Member
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    The several small meal thing is total myth that has been debunked. It take WAY longer to go into starvation mode.

    That said I am personally not a big fan of IF for myself although it does make serious cal restriction easier for me, so I did it for one week of heavy restriction during my cut.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    The several small meal thing is total myth that has been debunked. It take WAY longer to go into starvation mode.

    That said I am personally not a big fan of IF for myself although it does make serious cal restriction easier for me, so I did it for one week of heavy restriction during my cut.

    how did that one week work out for you??
  • flyuk
    flyuk Posts: 28
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    I do IF for cutting and not for bulking, I only do it to spread the calories missed across the rest of the week though, so on a 2800 a day diet I can add 450 a day to the non-IF days on a one IF day week. so 3250 kcal a day, then it doesn't feel like cutting.

    On bulking, when I go between 3500 and 4000 kcal a day I would have to eat 4100-4600 a day on the non IF days of a one IF day week. Uuuuurgh. Insane amounts of clean food.
  • jonski1968
    jonski1968 Posts: 4,498 Member
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    bump to come back to...
  • ash190489
    ash190489 Posts: 587 Member
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    Up the calories, consume more protein & begin or continue lifting heavy weights.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
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    What's your protein intake at? Lyle McDonald has some interesting things to say about conventional wisdom re: protein, and (in short) recommends 3g/kg body weight along with lower volume/high intensity weight training to cut body fat. With enough protein in a solid deficit and some high-intensity stimulus to warn the body that it's not ok to shed necessary muscle, you should be ok.

    Low intensity steady state cardio (walking, basically) in a depleted (fasted) state can also help dig into fat stores, but is fairly inefficient in terms of time spent working vs. results.

    I, also, found LG-style IF to work pretty well, when I can be bothered to follow it. I suck at cutting, though. Until I hit my strength goals, I'm apparently going to keep cheating on the bulk side ;)
  • kiachu
    kiachu Posts: 409 Member
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    Carb cycling is excellent, especially on workout vs non workout days. keep your protein high and, even though I'll probably be vilified here for saying this, you might want to check out intermittent fasting. I know there;s much pearl clutching on the topic... but Look at the before and after pictures here http://www.leangains.com/search/label/Client results, and then tell me if I made a point (I am in cutting mode on IF and it shows).

    I dunno why anyone would villify someone for mentionging IF. It is a perfectly fine method to employ if someone chooses.

    that is interesting..everything i have always read says that you should do the six meals a day thing because it keeps your metabolism going...from what I have read fasing is bad becuase your body goes into starvation mode and slows down metabolism...I will check the site/article out...

    Just imagine trying to eat those 6 meals in onr big meal. Your body starves if your starving it.

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