Need advice from weightlifters!!

In addition, the fat you lose will make your muscles look bigger.

Circuit training will burn a lot more fat and calories than a regular strength training routine. That being said you can incorporate strength training in a circuit, that is what the P90X program does, this way you finish faster and get your heart rate up while building muscle.

Circuit training will burn a lot more fat and calories than a regular strength training routine. That being said you can incorporate strength training in a circuit, that is what the P90X program does, this way you finish faster and get your heart rate up while building muscle.

circuit training will burn more calories DURING the session in comparison, but heavy lifting sessions have been shown to increase metabolic rates for up to 48 hours afterwards, and larger, stronger muscles use more calories all the time, AND broken down muscles use comsumed protein to rebuild themselves. I'd argue that the benefits of heavy, longer lifting sessions for both fat-loss AND aesthetics over the long term outweigh those of strict circuit style training using a whole-body workout.

The reason I tend to use bodybuilders in my examples is because they exemplify what most males want; a perfect balance of big muscle and low fat. That being said, their training is primarily for looks, which makes it different from athletic style training. You're going to need to make some choices about primary and secondary goals before you can really choose the path to take. The goal of gaining real, usable strength for the real world doesn't allign itself very well with the goal of losing fat because like I said earilier, one requires more calories and the other requires less, repectively. Another thing that seperates bodybuilders is that when they go to a show, they don't have to be strong. In fact, come showtime they are dehydrated weak physical wrecks, relatively speaking, because they are trying to look shredded. If you decide that shedding fat is the real goal, then you'll probably have to give up the quest for strength and muscle for now.

There is a middle path where you can move towards both goals of fat loss and strength gain, and even though like I said before it's not the most efficient method, it could very well be the way to go if you are very active and don't feel confortable sacrificing strength.

Another good thing to consider is that you can always change things as you go. Everyone reacts differently to different training methods. So you can start based on what works for most, then shift things as you both learn how you react and possibly change what your primary goals are.

If I were to suggest a program where you were striving for both fat loss and strength gain, then I would have you either at maintanence calories or just below, running up to a 300 calorie deficit. Make sure you're taking in ATLEAST 1 gram of protein for every lb of bodyweight. Chicken breast is your best friend in the whole world. Also, don't be afraid of complex carbs. Carb cutting isn't for people who are active and trying to increase ahtleticism. I'm still cutting hard so I'll stay below 150 on carbs, but going higher on good carbs will NOT get in the way of long-term, slower fat loss goals.

If, on the other hand, you want to cut more fat and don't mind giving up a little strength, then maintain your 500+ calorie deficit as prescribed by MFP.

No matter your primary goal, lift heavy and long. If you're active in hockey right now, then you'll probably have to weight quite a while between leg sessions, but once the soreness from the last session is gone, hit it again. As I mentioned, change your rest time based on goals. 30 seconds rest or less has been shown to increase fat burning, while going longer then 2 minutes will let you do set after set, helping with strength and muscle building.

As a hockey player, the HIIT I mentioned is a GREAT thing. In fact, the ice is a great place to get you HIIT done, and a good HIIT session is done in under 20 minutes. Just sprint for 10-20 seconds, then cruise for 10-20, then rest (glide or stop) for 10-30 seconds. Study after study has shown that HIIT is basically the best cardio you can do for ALL of your goals, strength, athletic performance, and fat loss.

Lots of good info here. The level-1 protein is a long-chain, meant to be used for the rebuilding phase. You want that before bed (think of it as your dessert) and maybe as part of a meal replacement, as long as you add a little carbs. You can use it for post-workout recovery, but it won't be as effective as a short-chain (i.e. isolate) protein. If you're happy with the Level-1, try the Phormula-1 by the same manufacturer (1st Phorm). It is processed by your body a lot faster so you can make bigger gains.

Just like what has already been said here, if you're lifting for health, it won't be the drastic shreadded look the bodybuilders get. Weightlifting will make the muscles retain water. Some weight lifters enhance this with creatine, which causes a little more water retention. The end of weightlifting result is a larger and somewhat stronger muscle, but that may not translate to a weight loss. However, the higher mteabolism will burn more calories at rest, so it's a healtier body.

Whatever you do, don't buy the gimmicky gadgets. Just train honestly, with form being more important than weight. Bad form will not only make your workouts less effective, it can hurt you. If you keep the proper form, the need to increase the weights will come. Think of the money proverb "if you take care of the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves." And remember that doing sit-ups doesn't burn the fat off your abdomen and doing leg presses and squats won't burn the fat off your legs. Your body removes fat in reverse order from it added it. You'll see it in your face upper arms before you see it at the waist.

Lastly, make sure you weight train for the entire body. Your large muscle groups (legs, chest/triceps) may bulk easier, but don't let them get imbalanced over the smaller groups, and above all, don't neglect the core! It's what keeps everything else working right. I'm writing from experience here, as I now have 5 bulging discs, and I'm now fighting to drop weight without losing a lot of strength to keep my spine healthy. A lot of things led to the back injury. Running on a bad knee (forcing a compensatory posture), focusing too much on my chest and triceps, doing crunches but not strengthening my back, and eating as much as I wanted led to a weight jump from 215 to 234 and it wasn't all muscle. Now I'd like to get back down to 200, and it's taking a looooong time.