L-carnitine for skinny fat

ruelha
ruelha Posts: 16 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Anyone tried L-carnitine here?? Recommended...Yes/No?
I've been skinny fat ever since I can remember.
Fasted cardio in the morning and endurance training at noon every other day is what I do. But the stubborn body fat is still around my stomach and I cannot afford to lose any weight for fear of turning underweight again.
I am completely averse to stimulants. Is there any good supplement that siphons fats from adipose tissues and makes it available to be used as energy?? ( without aspartame and stimulants or addictive substances )
Or any other solution would be greatly appreciated :)
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Replies

  • DresdenSinn
    DresdenSinn Posts: 665 Member
    I just started taking powdered Acetyl L-Carnitine yesterday as a matter of fact, mixing it into my pre-workout drink. Obviously it's too early to tell anything yet but I'll keep you posted.
  • StacyChrz
    StacyChrz Posts: 865 Member
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat

    Take a look at this conversation. At this point I think recomposition would probably be a good idea for you. I wouldn't say that L-Carnitine will hurt you, at all, but I don't think it'll help in the way you're looking for.
  • rileyes
    rileyes Posts: 1,406 Member
    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    ruelha wrote: »
    Fasted cardio in the morning and endurance training at noon every other day is what I do.

    Both of those contribute to "skinny fat" but reducing muscle. I would at least get on a good strength training program, working your way up to heavy weight. Do you have access to a gym?

    Oh and supplements won't make a noticeable difference.. except perhaps protein, if your diet is low in it. :+1:
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    You want to lose fat without losing weight? L carnitine will only give you acouple extra percent at most. I took it during my most recent cut and notice zero extra results from it compared to previous cuts. If you want to get rid of the skinny fat physique then build some muscle to give you a more curvy and defined look. You'll only be able to lose so much fat and it could always just be extra skin.
  • ruelha
    ruelha Posts: 16 Member
    2 yrs been trying....and I still don't know what to do :( Losing weight is a piece of cake for me. But I want to get rid of my tummy and cellulite. I have access to a very small gym. It has a home gym with chest fly, lat pull down, leg curl, leg press only upto 72kgs which I stopped a yr ago cos I cannot add more weight to that press. There are push up bars and a place to do hanging leg raises, 2 treadmills, a ceosstrainer and free dumbells. I used to lift heavier dbs....then I heard that's just for strength and hypertrophy and apparently endurance is what I need wid more reps. So I recently started with that. I can't do any overhead exercises yet ....had a severely herniated disc with nerve root indentation about 6 months ago.....overdoing workouts lol....but I'm still so Confused...
    Now I do not split my workouts anymore. This is what I do on alternate days so I get enough time to heal.
    Tricep extensions 4 by15
    Push ups 4 sets 15 reps each
    Hanging leg raises 4 by 15
    Bicep curl 4 by 15
    Front raises 4 by 15
    Lateral raises 4 by 15
    Chest fly 5 by 7
    Deadlifts 4 by 15
    Squats 4 by 15
    Calf raises - bodyweight only
    Nutrition? Programme? Incorrect reps/sets? Cardio? Supplements? I'm all ears :)
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    Endurance has nothing to do with fat loss. If you'd like to give yourself greater muscle definition. Work on building up your current musculature. Rep ranges of 3-12 per set. Say 10-12 sets per muscle group. If you can, get access to an actual gym and start a tried and true lifting program. Supplements definitely shouldn't be a concern of yours other than multi vitamins, fishoil and possibly protein. And sometimes you just can't get rid of that extra skin. I've got skin on my stomach that just won't go away. I'm down to 7% and it's still there. The best thing you can do is fill that extra skin in with muscle mass.
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    For the weights that you are too strong for now. Start doing pause reps and take up to 4 seconds during both the eccentric and decentric portions of the movement and then focus on the squeeze and holding it there for another two seconds. I promise you'll have to lower the weight to hit 10.
  • jessiethe3rd
    jessiethe3rd Posts: 239 Member
    ruelha wrote: »
    2 yrs been trying....and I still don't know what to do :( Losing weight is a piece of cake for me. But I want to get rid of my tummy and cellulite. I have access to a very small gym. It has a home gym with chest fly, lat pull down, leg curl, leg press only upto 72kgs which I stopped a yr ago cos I cannot add more weight to that press. There are push up bars and a place to do hanging leg raises, 2 treadmills, a ceosstrainer and free dumbells. I used to lift heavier dbs....then I heard that's just for strength and hypertrophy and apparently endurance is what I need wid more reps. So I recently started with that. I can't do any overhead exercises yet ....had a severely herniated disc with nerve root indentation about 6 months ago.....overdoing workouts lol....but I'm still so Confused...
    Now I do not split my workouts anymore. This is what I do on alternate days so I get enough time to heal.
    Tricep extensions 4 by15
    Push ups 4 sets 15 reps each
    Hanging leg raises 4 by 15
    Bicep curl 4 by 15
    Front raises 4 by 15
    Lateral raises 4 by 15
    Chest fly 5 by 7
    Deadlifts 4 by 15
    Squats 4 by 15
    Calf raises - bodyweight only
    Nutrition? Programme? Incorrect reps/sets? Cardio? Supplements? I'm all ears :)

    Wayyyy to many reps. To build muscle focus on heavier weight 5X5.
    Reduce the number of exercises. Split your body parts. Work out chest arms one day. Work back shoulders another. Work legs another. Skip a day in between and do some low impact cardio in the 70-80% HR range. Jogging or cycling.

    Check out StrongCurves. A lot of the women on here rave about it.


  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,422 MFP Moderator
    L-Carnitine isn't really going to help. But since you don't want to lose weight, you can either followed a structured lifting program like one of these (StrongCurves and NROL4W tend to be popular for women) and eat a maintenance (a recomp) or you can try to bulk for a few months and then cut. Also, make sure you are getting adequate protein (~.8g per bl of body weight).
  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
    Hitting your protein macro cannot be overstated. If you are losing weight make sure it's fat and not muscle you are losing. I agree that the high reps aren't going to get you what you want. But not sure how you should proceed with the healing herniated disc.
  • cronus70
    cronus70 Posts: 191 Member
    Another method that you could consider is cardio acceleration. After every set of your strength training routine you do 1 minute of fairly intense cardio (and we are literally talking about jogging on the spot, high knees, wood chops, squat jumps etc etc), keeps your heart rate up during sets. It's the training method incorporated into Jim Stoppani's Short Cut to Shred.
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    cronus70 wrote: »
    Another method that you could consider is cardio acceleration. After every set of your strength training routine you do 1 minute of fairly intense cardio (and we are literally talking about jogging on the spot, high knees, wood chops, squat jumps etc etc), keeps your heart rate up during sets. It's the training method incorporated into Jim Stoppani's Short Cut to Shred.

    The whole point of incorporating the HIIT into the workout is to increase total calorie burn, effectively creating the possibility of a larger calorie deficit.
  • DresdenSinn
    DresdenSinn Posts: 665 Member
    cronus70 wrote: »
    Another method that you could consider is cardio acceleration. After every set of your strength training routine you do 1 minute of fairly intense cardio (and we are literally talking about jogging on the spot, high knees, wood chops, squat jumps etc etc), keeps your heart rate up during sets. It's the training method incorporated into Jim Stoppani's Short Cut to Shred.

    I've been doing that for the past 2 months, except on leg day ; )
  • cronus70
    cronus70 Posts: 191 Member
    jessef593 wrote: »
    cronus70 wrote: »
    Another method that you could consider is cardio acceleration. After every set of your strength training routine you do 1 minute of fairly intense cardio (and we are literally talking about jogging on the spot, high knees, wood chops, squat jumps etc etc), keeps your heart rate up during sets. It's the training method incorporated into Jim Stoppani's Short Cut to Shred.

    The whole point of incorporating the HIIT into the workout is to increase total calorie burn, effectively creating the possibility of a larger calorie deficit.

    Yes, hence keeping the heart rate up. But it can also help as a conditioning aspect as well, increasing natural strength levels from an increase in oxygen intake.
  • cronus70
    cronus70 Posts: 191 Member
    DresdenSinn wrote: »
    cronus70 wrote: »
    Another method that you could consider is cardio acceleration. After every set of your strength training routine you do 1 minute of fairly intense cardio (and we are literally talking about jogging on the spot, high knees, wood chops, squat jumps etc etc), keeps your heart rate up during sets. It's the training method incorporated into Jim Stoppani's Short Cut to Shred.

    I've been doing that for the past 2 months, except on leg day ; )

    Yeah, can be a killer on leg day for sure.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    A supplement isn't going to make or break your results, period. Especially not anything legal.


    You need the following things:
    1) Adequate protein
    2) Reasonable calorie intake for your goals (if you are truly skinny fat I would avoid large deficits and large surpluses)
    3) Progressively demanding resistance training

    And then there's other minor things but generally speaking if you're training intelligently and eating reasonably you're doing the bulk of what needs to get done.

    If you've felt like you're not making progress in 2 years then you either have an awful response to exercise (there are people who just don't seem to respond well to it genetically) or your programming needs a complete overhaul and typically it's the latter.



  • esjones12
    esjones12 Posts: 1,363 Member
    You over did workouts to the point of disc herniation? That is kind of serious...

    Abs are made in the kitchen. I'd be looking at what foods you are eating. What do you typically eat? If it is mostly processed stuff then I'd definitely recommend switching to whole foods. Work with a doctor/PT on what work outs you are currently able to do, disc herniation is nothing to mess with.
  • ruelha
    ruelha Posts: 16 Member
    Thanks guys.....
    So l carnitine won't really help
    Quit insane reps
    5by 5 instead
    No fasted cardio anymore
    Eat at maintainence
    Attempt a recomp
    Cardio acceleration between sets
    Split muscle groups
    Increased TUT on stuff I cannot add on weights
    N enough protein consumption
    This is what I've understood from everyone's valuable inputs. I'll just tweak my routines n incorporate these..... let's c how it goes :)

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