Dieting while new to weight training advice

Jamesb2405
Jamesb2405 Posts: 19 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys im James, i started my weight loss journey in Feb this year at 175IBS. I am currently 154IBS and have recently started weight training at the gym and have noticed some results that i am happy with. My body fat % is still somewhere between 20-25% (judging from pictures nearer 20%).

I am currently on 2k calories a day that leaves me at a loss of 0.5 -1IBS a week due to cycling to work and my weight training. Im hoping to continue to build some muscle, but still lower my body fat %. As i am new to the weight training (only been 4 months dedicated training) I've read ill still be able to do this.

At what point should i start upping calories to aide muscle growth? (once the beginners luck runs out).

Any other tips or advice people can give would be extremely appreciated, i really feel like I've found a new passion and enjoying every session so far.

James

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Up your calories (to a smaller deficit) when either your lifting/cycling performance or recovery from your training starts to suffer (that's very personal) or you start to feel fatigued.
    If it doesn't suffer then keep your current sensible deficit until you get to goal weight and then up to maintenance levels.

    Unless you have advanced goals then a bulk (calorie surplus) isn't required.

    Other tips would be:
    Follow a properly designed program rather than make up your own (far better results for the same time invested).
    Keep your protein intake up. 1g per pound of estimated lean mass is a reasonable guideline.
  • Jamesb2405
    Jamesb2405 Posts: 19 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    Up your calories (to a smaller deficit) when either your lifting/cycling performance or recovery from your training starts to suffer (that's very personal) or you start to feel fatigued.
    If it doesn't suffer then keep your current sensible deficit until you get to goal weight and then up to maintenance levels.

    Unless you have advanced goals then a bulk (calorie surplus) isn't required.

    Other tips would be:
    Follow a properly designed program rather than make up your own (far better results for the same time invested).
    Keep your protein intake up. 1g per pound of estimated lean mass is a reasonable guideline.

    Thanks for the reply and info, im so glad you've shinned some light on not needing to go into a surplus until more advanced. Everything you read online almost always says without a surplus you wont build any lean muscle and just from my experience found that not to be true.

    I've got a workout routine that involves lower body/upper body split over 3 days, one of the physiotherapist I work with has gone over the movement and techniques for lifts over the past few months with me.

    Ive set my protein intake to 120G after using calculation to workout lean muscle mass from here:- https://www.livestrong.com/article/501467-how-to-calculate-muscle-mass-percentage/

    Would you say this is done correctly? (my scales say 21%, based on visuals and comparisons id say that's about right).
  • bioklutz
    bioklutz Posts: 1,365 Member
    120 g should be adequate. A little more is fine too. You may find this an interesting read:
    https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/protein-intake-while-dieting-qa.html/

    "So basically we have an intake continuum ranging from about 1.5 g/kg (0.68 g/lb) as a minimum for the obese non-training individual up to a high of around 3.3 g/kg (1.5 g/lb) of protein per pound of lean body mass for very lean heavily training athletes or bodybuilders with middle ground values being found in between those two extremes."
  • jediguitarist
    jediguitarist Posts: 73 Member
    Another thing I would suggest is making sure you're progressively overloading the weights. Many of the gym regulars (friends included) are maintaining a good exercise program but stay safe with the amount of weights. From my own personal experience and my friends that start getting serious about weight lifting, the newbie gains stick around for a year or so. YMMV, but the plateaus hit pretty hard.

    If you're doing 3x10 program and able to do 10 reps on the 3rd set, you should increase the weight. If you're failing at rep 8-9 on the 3rd set, that's a decent effort and you should increase the weight in a couple sessions.

    Just for reference, I did a very slow cut starting in January of about .3lbs to .5lbs a week. My maintenance is around 2100-2300. I did a -50cal/day drop for 4 weeks until I settled to 2050/day. 2250 for January, 2200 for February, 2150 for March...etc. Protein averages 130g-155g.

    As was said earlier, up your calories when you notice your lifts getting difficult at the fatigue sets in early in the routine.

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