Body fat?
ChristianRoberts99
Posts: 6 Member
I'm sort of a newbie when it comes to strength & weight training. I'm 5ft9. 181lbs. Body fat % around 25%. I want to get my body fat around 13% and put on some lean muscle mass. I was wondering what's best advice to start this journey? And what sort of strength program should I follow? Thanks. Any advice will be great.
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Replies
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First off, welcome to MFP. It is a pretty good community with a lot of great folks.
So, you want to "cut" down to about 10% - 12% before you start your bulk, generally speaking. So, your 13% is not necessarily off the mark.
I would start off by putting yourself in a caloric deficit. You can use MFP for that. I like to do things a bit slower, so I would suggest that you tell MFP that you want to lose 1lb / week. But, you can absolutely be more aggressive in the beginning and go for 2lbs / week. Generally speaking, to lose 1lb / week you would need to be roughly 500 calories below maintenance and to lose 2lbs / week you would need to be roughly 1000 calories below maintenance.
What type of strength program? I am a fan of 5x5, generally speaking. But you might want to consider a full body routing three times a week. There is a link here in MFP that has a ton of really good options (and I NEVER have that link with me when I need it)! But that suggestion might be a bit pre-mature!
What is your training history? What is your dieting history? How does your eating pattern look? Do you know the number of calories you eat everyday (currently)? Do you know what your maintenance intake is (roughly)?2 -
Thanks for the reply. Ive been sort of training on and off for 3 months. I train 5 times a week including cardio 2-3 times a week in a fasted state. My diet in all honesty it's good but it could be better. I eat roughly 1600cals a day. What do you mean "Maintenance intake"0
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ChristianRoberts99 wrote: »Thanks for the reply. Ive been sort of training on and off for 3 months. I train 5 times a week including cardio 2-3 times a week in a fasted state. My diet in all honesty it's good but it could be better. I eat roughly 1600cals a day. What do you mean "Maintenance intake"
By maintenance intake he means the amount of calories you would need to eat to neither gain nor lose weight.2 -
Yes, sorry.....
There are three ways that one can eat. Those three ways are:
1. Caloric Deficit
2. Maintenance
3. Caloric Surplus
This all revolves around your maintenance (or, maintenance caloric intake or caloric maintenance). This is the number of calories that someone consumes and neither gains weight nor loses weight. It is SUPER important to know what your maintenance caloric intake is. Well, I am really technical and OCD so it is for me!
If you are in a caloric deficit then you are burning more calories than you are consuming. In other words, Calories Out exceeds Calories In. You would put yourself in a caloric deficit, for example, if you wanted to lose weight | body fat
Speaking of that, if you wanted to lose one pound of body weight then you would - generally speaking - need to be in a 3,500 caloric deficit for the week. In other words, consume roughly 500 calories a day fewer than you burn. I like to use the week as the "counter" but a lot of people use the day. So, I include both for you.
If you are in a caloric surplus, then you are consuming more calories than you are expending. So, Calories In exceeds Calories Out. You would - were you to be in a bulking | growing phase - put yourself in a caloric surplus. Same rules apply here as do in the caloric deficit - only "vice versa"! If you consume 3,500 calories more than you expend in a one week period (again, roughly 500 calories a day) then you will gain one pound in that week!
I will make this statement: consistency is going to be key. Key to both nutrition and to training. If you are not consistent then your gains will not be consistent.
If I might, what are your stats? Meaning, male, age, height, weight?2 -
Eat a high protein diet while in a calorie deficit.
I recommend somewhere between 0.8 and 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.
In addition you must be lifting progressively heavier weights while focusing on the the big compound lifts. Aka squat, bench press, deadlift, military press, dips, rows, pull ups etc.
Good luck on you journey!
🏋💪3 -
^^^^^^^^^^ Correct! When in a caloric surplus, protein intake is not *AS* important. It is still important. Please do not mis-read that. But it is - due to the surplus - not as important as when at maintenance or in a deficit.
0.8g/lb - 1.2g/lb for Protein is the general rule of thumb. So, using my numbers (205lbs), one would expect you to be consuming between 165g and 245g of protein a day. In a caloric deficit, one would expect you to be at the higher end (as protein intake is super important in a caloric deficit....it will help you to maintain | not lose muscle mass during the caloric deficit).
I did Powerlifting for a good bit. I ate a lot. So, I was focused on Squats, Dead Lifts, Bench, OHP and Rows. I also followed Strong Lifts 5x5 for a couple of months. Got a lot stronger in this period.
I now do more body building | hypertrophy style and actually see way more gains. But....not as strong. It is a trade off! There are lots of awesome programs out there. I would encourage you to find one and to stick to it for two - three months.0 -
Obviously Male. 29. 5ft 8. 81kg. So MFP put me at 1800 cals a day & that's a 2lb a week loss in weight.0
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2ibs is to high for you. You'll burn thru lean body mass. slow it down
but based on your other thread you haven't dropped any weight in 3 months? can you open your diary ?1 -
Eat a high protein diet while in a calorie deficit.
I recommend somewhere between 0.8 and 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.
In addition you must be lifting progressively heavier weights while focusing on the the big compound lifts. Aka squat, bench press, deadlift, military press, dips, rows, pull ups etc.
Good luck on you journey!
🏋💪
^^^^^^^^^ People forget about push-ups, pull-ups and dips! I contend that if you could not go to a gym - for whatever reason - and did nothing put push-ups, pull-ups and dips that you would make amazing gains just from those three! So, bravo for mentioning them....2 -
I have dropped weight. I just forget to post it from time to time. In the last 3 week's I've gone from 83.9kg - 81.7kg0
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ChristianRoberts99 wrote: »Obviously Male. 29. 5ft 8. 81kg. So MFP put me at 1800 cals a day & that's a 2lb a week loss in weight.
I am 5'9 and only once I did at 1800 calories (it was near the end of my cut)...and I don't even do cardio at all. 1800 calories was a torture. Personally, I would opt for 1 lbs, you eat more food and you're not in danger of losing muscles as much as 2 lbs per week, but like I said, it's my personal preference. I usually aim to lose between (0,5% to 1% X your bodyweight) per week. In your case, it would be between losing 0.90 lbs per week to 1.81 lbs per week. Beyond losing 1%, you risk losing muscle at a faster rate.
We all want to get rid of our fat asap, but unfortunately there's also a price to pay for that and I don't think it's worth it.2 -
LiftHeavyThings27105 wrote: »
^^^^^^^^^ People forget about push-ups, pull-ups and dips! I contend that if you could not go to a gym - for whatever reason - and did nothing put push-ups, pull-ups and dips that you would make amazing gains just from those three! So, bravo for mentioning them....
Ah yes dips, the quickest way to make you hate your life.
My current routine involves supersetting dips with bench press and I want to die every time afterwards. On the other hand, my traps and triceps have gotten noticeably bigger so there's that...
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The diet advice above is good stuff. As far as workout routine I’d do something that’s based off of compound movements like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, military presses and pull ups. Something like StrongLifts or I’m personally on Mike Matthew’s Bigger Leaner Stronger program and am loving it. At first glance it seemed like the volume would be too low but it’s been great. Built around compound movements early in workouts, isolation moves later, working in heavier weight ranges that allow you to work in the 4-6 rep range.0
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cbohling1987 wrote: »LiftHeavyThings27105 wrote: »
^^^^^^^^^ People forget about push-ups, pull-ups and dips! I contend that if you could not go to a gym - for whatever reason - and did nothing put push-ups, pull-ups and dips that you would make amazing gains just from those three! So, bravo for mentioning them....
Ah yes dips, the quickest way to make you hate your life.
My current routine involves supersetting dips with bench press and I want to die every time afterwards. On the other hand, my traps and triceps have gotten noticeably bigger so there's that...
I am sorry....I did not hear what you said! Could you say that again? Oh, "there's that!" Ha! Yes, sir. I really enjoy doing the things that I hate doing. It is often dangerous to keep doing the things that we love doing (like, for me, doing dead lifts). I recently started doing pull ups. Talk about hating life. But after the second time....yes, sir! I will start doing dips shortly. One new thing at a time. But, I do remember dips. Hating life is putting it mildly. But.....like you said. GAINZ!!!!!!2 -
cbohling1987 wrote: »LiftHeavyThings27105 wrote: »
^^^^^^^^^ People forget about push-ups, pull-ups and dips! I contend that if you could not go to a gym - for whatever reason - and did nothing put push-ups, pull-ups and dips that you would make amazing gains just from those three! So, bravo for mentioning them....
Ah yes dips, the quickest way to make you hate your life.
My current routine involves supersetting dips with bench press and I want to die every time afterwards. On the other hand, my traps and triceps have gotten noticeably bigger so there's that...
That's not a "superset" it's more of a "compound" set and personally, I'd never compound set a major lift like bench press... and I love dips and pull-ups. Strap on a belt and add some plates and they are great exercises.0
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