Full Body vs targeted for getting lean

AK121730 wrote: »

Quick question: 1gram per pound of lean body mass: If I am 214lbs with approx 80% muscle (171.2 lbs) would that mean I should be consuming 171 grams of protein per day?

In theory, sure. In practice, 0.8g/lb is more than sufficient for elite athletes for the purposes of muscle building. Barring trauma recover which is its own special case, the 1g/lb LBM should be more than sufficient.

Since you can't target weight/fat loss, full body training would be the only way to achieve your goal IMO.

Losing wt/fat while gaining strength & muscle mass are opposing goals and you really can't effectively do both (ie, recomp) at the same time. So, in my experience, cutting and bulking in cycles is the more successful approach.

I once achieved 8% BF (as measured hydrostatically wc along w/DEXA are the most accurate and reliable methods for BF measurement) that I could not sustain living and eating normally and my BF is now stabilized at about 12% wc is pretty low for most men (especially one who is now 70 yrs old).

It takes a lot of work to keep your BF at or below 10% AND usually only pro body builders bother trying to do it and even then only during competition after wc they allow their BF to rise to normal. Your genetics, training/eating strategy as well as your discipline and determination will be the deciding factors in whether you can achieve this goal and sustain it or not.

As for what kind of full body training you should do, I don't think it matters but what ever you do it should (as a whole) hit your entire body overall.

My personal training routine (which is only designed to maintain my current strength and musculature) is just to row 5km/day on my Concept2 rower, which is a full body exercise.

To supplement this, I also lift (mainly squats and deadlifts, do a variety of crossfit routines involving a 200# tire, farmer walks, a push/pull sled, a 50# sandbag, a trio of 8/10/12# sledge hammers and a baseball bat and a battle rope AND lastly going on 2-3 mile walks wearing a 25-50# weighted vest and 3-10 mile hikes w/& w/o a vest.

These are all full body exercises and to not target a specific muscle group. What you do is entirely up to you.

As for what I eat, when I bulked, I was on a high protein(1.5-2g protein/# BW which is a lot) and ate about 3k cals/day (I currently maintain my wt on only 1800 cals) combined w/HEAVY low rep lifting DAILY to build muscle & strength. It's important to note that most powerlifters are FAT!

When I cut, I dropped the cals to 10% below my maintenance level (wc constantly got readjusted down as I lost wt) and then did higher rep/lower wt lifting in an effort to maintain the strength and muscle mass gained while bulking with the understanding that losing wt/fat will ALWAYS result in some loss of strength and ALWAYS result in some loss of muscle mass.

During my past bulk/cut cycles, my wt varied between 160 and 200 and my BF varied between 8 and 25%.

My wt goal in maintenance is155 and varies between 150-160; currently 157. I'm 5'8" and my measurements are 41-33-37 with a lot of vascularily and muscle definition at 12% BF. So, what did b4 and continue to do now has worked for me in achieving my desired strength, fitness and appearance.

Can't say if the same approacch will work for you or not but I wish you the best of luck in your efforts.