muscle mass

first off you should already be lifting. you can make some gains while you lose 81 lbs.

And after you hit your goal weight you will need to go on a caloric surplus while lifting. After that probably another 'cutting' cycle

first off you should already be lifting. you can make some gains while you lose 81 lbs.

And after you hit your goal weight you will need to go on a caloric surplus while lifting. After that probably another 'cutting' cycle

^^^THIS^^^

I agree with the advice to lift now.

At some point you'll have to lift. Waiting simply extends your timeline, so why not start now?


But more to your question. it doesn't really matter. Some people would rather lose it all first because they can't stand the idea of slowing down scale progress. Others start thinking body comp once they get closer to their goal weight.

according to your ticker, you have around 40 pounds left to lose. if you're not resistance training along with eating enough protein, what will happen from this point is that you will lose approx 20 pounds of muscle along with 20 pounds of fat. so when you get to goal and start training to build muscle, all you're going to be doing is trying desperately hard to gain back half of the lean body mass that you have today.

it's much harder to build muscle than to maintain it (or lose it) so logic would dictate that you start strength training NOW so that you retain the muscle mass you currently have and let the weight you lose come primarily from fat.

TL;DR: Always Be Lifting

according to your ticker, you have around 40 pounds left to lose. if you're not resistance training along with eating enough protein, what will happen from this point is that you will lose approx 20 pounds of muscle along with 20 pounds of fat. so when you get to goal and start training to build muscle, all you're going to be doing is trying desperately hard to gain back half of the lean body mass that you have today.

it's much harder to build muscle than to maintain it (or lose it) so logic would dictate that you start strength training NOW so that you retain the muscle mass you currently have and let the weight you lose come primarily from fat.

TL;DR: Always Be Lifting

QFT^ Start lifting some heavy stuff now.

I'm going to go on the limb and say that lifting is much harder to do on regular basis than calisthenics. First, both you and I have enough body mass to gain a lot from calisthenics, not to mention you don't have to drive or anything. Warm up, stretch, calisthenics for 15-30min and right to cardio or shower. This whole thing about bulk or cut doesn't really apply to some of us, yet. I can tell you from past 30 days work routine, I'm still gaining muscles and losing 3lbs a week. (just remember to workout in reps and sets)

Second, I tried to incorporate weight lifting couple of times. Muscle isolation from weight lifting definitely put the hurt on the muscles. I ended up not being able to complete my calisthenics routine from soreness next day. Compare that to 30 min of jumping jacks/squads/push-ups/crunches and separately planks everyday for 300+ calories a day, that's additional deficit towards weight loss. Not to mention good core endurance. Whenever my motivation allows, I burn upto 1000 calories in workout(not counting any bonus from afterburn). It wouldn't be possible to run for 600 calories if your back and knee didn't support it.

Third, calithenics works groups of muscles. For instance, push-up with work arms, chest, back, abs and back. Planks work all of the core muscles. They are also lower in intensity. When you think you had enough and sore while working out, in 24 hours, you can go at it again(well, first 3 days will be painful to restart, but you can stretch that out with rest days in between). The big crunch that last 2+ hours afterwards, almost as good as that cup of green tea.

My recommendation is to forget the weights, make a great playlist on your phone and get into calisthenics and cardio. Maybe when you approach around 20% body fat and have bought all new pants, it might be a good time start lifting weights and increase the intensity to infinity.

Don't get me wrong, though. I dream about big bulging muscles to maintain once I'm through losing weight. I have a big jug of muscle milk staring at me which I don't plan to use for another 4-6 weeks.

Start lifting!!

I'm going to go on the limb and say that lifting is much harder to do on regular basis than calisthenics. First, both you and I have enough body mass to gain a lot from calisthenics, not to mention you don't have to drive or anything. Warm up, stretch, calisthenics for 15-30min and right to cardio or shower. This whole thing about bulk or cut doesn't really apply to some of us, yet. I can tell you from past 30 days work routine, I'm still gaining muscles and losing 3lbs a week. (just remember to workout in reps and sets)

Second, I tried to incorporate weight lifting couple of times. Muscle isolation from weight lifting definitely put the hurt on the muscles. I ended up not being able to complete my calisthenics routine from soreness next day. Compare that to 30 min of jumping jacks/squads/push-ups/crunches and separately planks everyday for 300+ calories a day, that's additional deficit towards weight loss. Not to mention good core endurance. Whenever my motivation allows, I burn upto 1000 calories in workout(not counting any bonus from afterburn). It wouldn't be possible to run for 600 calories if your back and knee didn't support it.

Third, calithenics works groups of muscles. For instance, push-up with work arms, chest, back, abs and back. Planks work all of the core muscles. They are also lower in intensity. When you think you had enough and sore while working out, in 24 hours, you can go at it again(well, first 3 days will be painful to restart, but you can stretch that out with rest days in between). The big crunch that last 2+ hours afterwards, almost as good as that cup of green tea.

My recommendation is to forget the weights, make a great playlist on your phone and get into calisthenics and cardio. Maybe when you approach around 20% body fat and have bought all new pants, it might be a good time start lifting weights and increase the intensity to infinity.

Don't get me wrong, though. I dream about big bulging muscles to maintain once I'm through losing weight. I have a big jug of muscle milk staring at me which I don't plan to use for another 4-6 weeks.

I would ignore this. Doing big compound lifts will work your whole body. Focus on squats, deadlifts, bench press and overhead press.

Start lifting now to preserve muscle while you lose weight, otherwise you stand to lose muscle and then have a harder battle trying to rebuild it after you reach your goal.

I would agree with this comment a lot.

Without going scientific, compound lifts like squats (done properly), bench presses, deadlifts etc. will work all of the main muscle groups which has multiple benefits... For one, you will build muscle mass and strength which is important for a good posture (which will accentuate any weight loss and/or body composition changes in a positive way). Muscle mass burns more calories so it is important that you create this furnace-like body which is efficient at burning energy rather than storing it. As a man, it will boost your hormone production (if followed by a sensible nutrition plan) which again, boosts your fat burning ability. Many people simply aim to lose 'weight' but I weigh 93kg at my leanest, my Dad, who is the same height, weighs 97kg at his heaviest. We can both fluctuate by around 8-10 kg each at any given time.

Build your leg and core muscles by doing squats and deadlifts for the best whole body fat burn in my opinion, Then, when you are seeing progress (somewhere between 3-5 weeks if done properly and consistently) I would introduce arm exercises to build biceps, triceps etc. Your back and shoulders should be worked once a week from the start to help you feel good in your clothes and create the V Shape that many people looking to improve body composition aspire to, but most of all, eat AT LEAST 1g of protein per Kg of bodyweight (2g/Kg is better), cut out processed food, and in my experience, much as I love bread, potatoes and Ice Cream, they don't do you a lot of good!!! (Unless it is a well earned 'cheat meal/day'!)