eskmen

I know this is a much discussed topic, (the ability to gain muscle and lose fat) and that the conclusion is that you have to know your body extremly well and have a specific work out and diet plan, however i was wondering if anyone had done this (without steriods) and if so what was there general strategy, such as calorie defeict or surplus etc.
intersted to hear some answers, tom

skipstaylor

i have found that resistance training has really helped me.

sprints or dynamic stretches followed immediately with press ups or pull ups
incline press ups followed directly by deep squats or dumbell lunges

have found focring the blood from one area of the body to the area under exertion really improved my strength and conditioning quickly.

And it is really easy to adapt the excercises so your body doesnt adapt to quickly. Combine this with taking on carbs mainly after workouts and up the protein intake and my body fat percetage has plumetted and muscle gains increased.

i appreciate this isnt exactly ground breaking, but it has worked for me...just reading the articles on here about diet really helped. Might be worth posting yours up here..

SportDr

The difficulty you will face here is people will tell you they put on muscle or lost fat at the same time, but they won't have measured it any any other way than in the mirror on the most part. Losing fat make muscles more defined giving a possibly false impression of muscle gain. Strength increase isn't necessarily accurate as in the first 6 months 75% of strength gains are neuromuscular facilitation. You need people who have done proper stats using calipers, hydrostatic weighing or DEXA, good luck!

SD

__________________
I don't like Sports and I am not a Doctor!

All information given is to be followed at the users risk and is for informational purposes only.

My protein code: ?? Dunno was deleted?
BSD Code: ?? Dunno was deleted too??

Tinytom

OMG what a can of worms

This really depends on a few things

1. Your level of work i.e. your training intensity

2. Your level of progression i.e. newbie or advanced

3. Your level of fat at the beginning.

I'll try and explain this as clearly as I can

firstly if you are an advanced athlete who competes then is is very unlikely that you can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. This is because bbing is a sport of deminishing returns. As I get bigger it is going to be harder for me to put on more muscle due to genetic limitations etc.

However if you are a first time trainer then the sport of bbing is a completely new stimulus for you. Therefore, as most newbies find, they lose a great deal of fat in the first few months combined with an increase in muscle mass. This si due to 2 elements

1. INcrease in muscular work which forces an adaption response from the body i.e. more muscle

2. INcrease in calorie expenditure = more fat loss.

While not really measurable like Sport Dr has said, most people would agree this to be true.

OK so then you get 2 years down the line and the trainer has reached a plateau, he is fairly fit with a degree of muscle tone but still has not got that elusive six pack. why?

1. Adaption - the body has adapted to the workouts. Most trainers follow the same workout over and over i.e. chest on monday, back on wed etc. The body quickly adapts to this and though you may not know it will position a greater glycogen load in these muscles as a preparation for this exercise regime.

The body will also prepare the muscles and tendons for a workout and prepare the path of least resistance for the training i.e. it will fire the muscle fibres in a way that lifts the weight but does not encourage fibre damage or stimulate new fibres to work. This is called Homeostasis.

Therefore when this point is reached the body is only training for maintenance and not growth.

2. Stagnation - The gym goer has gotten used to going to the gym and likes a certain group of machines or exercises and will usually perform these exercises in the same manner for the same amount of sets and reps on the same days.

The gym goer has enetred a ROUTINE of training which has allowed the body to enter homeostasis and adapt to the training. He also has become friendly with most of the other gym goers and so wastes time in his workouts talking between sets and not focussing on the workout.

His body in this time has also become more efficient at lifting the weights using less calories and so even though the workouts may not have changed and his food may be the same there is no stimulus for fat burning as calorie expenditure has lessened. IN addition because the recovery needed is now less (because of homeostasis) the metabolic boost following workouts has now diminished.

Oh the trainer has also become adept at putting his own slant on exercises to make them that little bit easier i.e. swinging barbell curls, arching back on benchpress etc. so the actual work on the muscle is less.

The trainer may now actually gain weight.

This is normally where I see clients. Now it would be unfair to my paying clients to say about how I design routines and diets that allow muscular gain and still a degree of fat loss but read through and you may draw your own conclusions and methods.

(oh no cut and paste in that post at all, its all my own words and philosophy) lol

__________________
www.mosn.co.uk - supplements use code 'UKM 110' for extra discount

www.performancehypnosis.co.uk - believe in change

Sponsored by Extreme Nutrition.

Clydefrog

And very good it was, too!

Conrad

just about one of the finest posts ive read on this forum. No one and i mean no one, need ever enquire into similtanious weight loss and muscle gain ever again.