Current stats:

Age:21
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 160lbs
Body fat: ~10%

Alright, after posting some threads here, reading a book and doing some Google searches, I have devised my plan to lose the last 5-7 pounds by June 1. I want to get down to 8% body fat, and this is what I have come up with:

Lifting: 4x's per week
Sample Week
Sunday: Chest/Tris/Abs
Tuesday: Legs
Thursday: Back/Bis/Forearms
Friday: Shoulders/Traps/Abs

I plan to do 9 sets (3 exercises) for Chest/Back/Shoulders/Legs and 6 sets (2 exercises) for Tris/Bis/Abs/Forearms/Traps. Each exercise will have 3 sets with 10-12 reps, 8-10 reps and 6-8 reps.


Cardio: 6x's per week
Sample Week
Sunday: 30 mins 70% Max-HR after lifting
Monday: 60 mins 70% Max-HR in AM on empty stomach
Tuesday: 30 mins 70% Max-HR after lifting
Wednesday: 60 mins 70% Max-HR or 27min HIIT in AM on empty stomach
Friday: 60 mins 70% Max-HR in AM on empty stomach
Sat: 60 mins 70% Max-HR in AM on empty stomach


Diet:
1600 Calories - ~30 g fat, ~145 g carbs, ~195 g protein

Sample Day
Meal 1: 1 cup oatmeal (cooked), 1 cup egg beaters, 1 tbsp Natural PB
Meal 2: (PWO) 1 Scoop whey powder w/8oz skim milk
Meal 3: 1 can Tuna on 2 slices grain bread
Meal 4: Turkey burger on multi-grain bun
Snack: 3/4 Cup Kashi GoLean Crunch (plain)
Meal 5: 8oz grilled chicken breast, 1 cup broccoli
Meal 6: 1 scoop "time release" GlycerLEAN w/water

Now, I don't plan to eat the exact same thing every day. I have Atlantic Salmon instead of Grilled Chicken and Almonds instead of Nat. PB and another 1/2 cup oatmeal instead of Kashi, etc. All substitutions will be of something similar in all nutritional aspects. You can get the general idea though.


This is what I plan to start on Sunday until June 1. My goal is to strip away every last ounce of fat until I'm 8% BF. I will sacrifice some muscle loss.

Does anyone have ANY comments, suggestions or thoughts at all on my devised plan? Good or bad... I would GREATLY APPRECIATE feedback!

Thanks all!!

Good plan.

I would just change your macros. Add a little more fat and take away some carbs. Goto around 100g's or carbs.

Otherwise if you stick to this without cheating at all you'll do it in a few weeks easily. :tu:

i'd say your doing far too much cardio, i'd cut it back so you have weight/cardio days
not only that you should be taking in more carbs, if your going to be doing that much cardio you want the carbs to fuel it! even if you cut back on the cardio you should eat more carbs anyway

...also, your caloric intake seems to be well below your BMR. Ok, I'm a bit taller and bigger than you, but you're younger than me, and you aim to work out a lot more than me.

Assuming you haven't calculated your BMR, do so, and aim for a caloric intake just at or right above it. Or cut down on your cardio.

My BMR is right above 1800 k cal, and my diet is 18-1900 k cal a day. This diet let me loose about 2lbs a week....

You also might wanna look into L-Carnitine (http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?query=l+carnitine) + Pyruvat (http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?query=pyruvate) which seems to have a positive effect on fat loss. I started using this combo yesterday, so I have no personal experience with that particular combination, but carnitine is really just a fancy word for Vitamin B7, which I used to eat a lot of earlier. And that certainly worked.

Furthermore, the combination creatine and a L-Carnitine/Pyruvat mix seems to give a synergetic effect on the two. As far as I understand, it kinda gives you a keto diet without going into ketosis...

Ok, I know my original advice is really bad. I know you don't want to go backwards but you're going to have too.

The truth is as stated before, you are eating too few calories and doing waaaay too much cardio. I'm 156lbs, 1 inch taller than you and if I do a cut it'll be at 2400 calories at minimum! That's with only HIIT (not steady-state cardio) for 3x a week and lifting 4x a week. Cardio is on off days.

Try a 45p/30c/25f split. You should be eating twice as much fat as you are. 30 grams is too low. Also no cheating at all, not even once for a few weeks if you really want a low BF%. If you want it badly then you won't cheat :)

You'll need to do some more reading. Here's a few links from one of the most respected nutrition gurus and knows a thing or two about training, John Berardi.

Lean Eatin' - Part 1
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/leaneating_1_pr.htm

Lean Eatin' - Part 2
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/leaneating_2_pr.htm

The Winning Formula, Part 1 - How To Manipulate Diet and Exercise to Look Great Naked
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/training/winning_1_pr.htm

The Winning Formula, Part 2 - How To Manipulate Diet and Exercise to Look Great Naked
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/training/winning_2_pr.htm

Read through these excellent articles and you'll be well on your way to a leaner and meaner Karatetricker!

Knowledge is power!

Had to throw in some cheese :D

Not to say anyone is wrong, because as we know, there is so much controversy in the field of Fitness. However, recently, I started this thread

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=2597

and everyone seemed to think bringing down the calories a bit and increasing the cardio would be a good idea. Not to say they're right and you're wrong, or vice versa. It's just such a confusing situation.

Ahhh, I swear, this stuff drives me nuts!

Read the John Berardi articles. He knows his stuff, he has science and real world experience backing him. Have a look through the articles section at www.johnberardi.com . It's not that controversial and doesn't need to be confusing :D

I just started reading Part 1 and plan to finish after breakfast. Is Mr. Berardi true in what he says or is he another one trying to make a quick buck so he'll say anything to make people happy?

Looks like we're both looking for similar feedback.

You're eating clean and at 1660 cals, you might be proportionately just a tad higher than me in cals, with similar workouts. (see my post)

I think that the main question is do we maintain the program and the BF% will continue to fall.....or tweek the cardio/cals mixture.

I'm sorry to say that I don't have the answer, but we're certainly getting close!!

If I don't get any feedback, I'm tempted to up cardio to 90 minutes/ day and increase cals accordingly for the last push.

:gl:

Ahhh, I swear, this stuff drives me nuts!

Yeah, that's the worst part about proper fitness... there are so many damn gray areas + proprietary variables.


Keep it up. :tucool:

I just started reading Part 1 and plan to finish after breakfast. Is Mr. Berardi true in what he says or is he another one trying to make a quick buck so he'll say anything to make people happy?

he's the real deal man. Trust me on this one. He trains pro athletes and used to be a bodybuilder by now has just finished his Phd in exercise and nutrition. Many people I know from other forums follow his guidelines and have had the best success.

I should add I've personally used his guides for bulking and in the past 4 weeks have gained 4lbs of muscle and 0lbs body fat. I'm one of those "hard gainers" so its a miracle for me.

:D

Is that you in your avatar? If so, you have nothing to worry about, you look fantastic!

Is that you in your avatar? If so, you have nothing to worry about, you look fantastic!

haha, well thank you very much! :D

I know I don't HAVE to lose more weight, but it's just one of those goals I've had for years and it's the only one I can say I've never actually met. I always wanted to be totally ripped and I promised myself I would by this summer.

WOW... okay, I just read Mr. Berardi's articles and I was VERY intrigued at first. Then at the end of his second article, he says how to calculate your calorie intake for fat loss and mine came out to

2953 calories/day

That CAN'T be right?!?!?! I will blow up if I eat that much, right now I eat no more than 2000 cals/day, on a bad day (usually more like 1800-1900).

Please people, I need some help here before I go insane! I dunno what to do!!!

My take on cutting ...

First, to me, cutting is always 2 - 4 weeks. It is a short sprint into insanity, before you return to sanity.

Having said that, my take ...

Macronutrient ratios - as long you keep fat to 20% or more and protein to at least half your bodyweight, I say, groovy. I've seen it high protein low protein high carb low and everything in between, it's just too low protein and you loose muscle, and too low fat and you tank out.

Caloric intake - ramp it. 1600 is fine as an ending point. I'd do something like this - each number is a day of the week:


Week 1: 2200 2200 2100 2100 2000 2000 1900
Week 2: 2100 2100 2000 2000 1900 1900 1800
Week 3: 2000 2000 1900 1900 1800 1800 1700
Week 4: 1900 1900 1800 1800 1700 1700 1600

Or shift week 2 up and go down to 1500 your last week, if you like.

For cardio, I'd START with just 20 - 30 minutes for 6x a week, then increase 5 minutes a week so by week 4 you are doing 35 - 45 minutes.

Weight training seems fine, I personally prefer less sets when cutting - i.e. 1 - 2 exercises with 1 - 2 work sets for each muscle. I use compound and I heavily incorporate supersets - for example, one day might be:

12 reps chest press, 30 seconds rest
12 reps cable row, 30 seconds rest
12 reps chest press, 30 seconds rest
12 reps cable row, 30 seconds rest
12 reps reverse grip tricep push-downs

Now, a lot of people have issues with burn-out when cutting, and lose strength. I've found that using HST-style training helps. You don't have to do "cut and dry" HST - for example, in the workout above, just drop to 10 reps each set week 2, but increase the weight 5%, then drop to 8 reps and increase weight 5%, then drop to 6 reps and increase weight 5%. You are doing fewer reps but increasing load, so you should be fine.

That's the short and long of my input.

There is no RIGHT or WRONG way to cut - just methods that work better for some and not others. I have always been MISERABLE on low carb cuts, but fine keeping carbs high and ramping calories. I have found that almost ALL successful programs I've seen with final cutting revolve around some sort of ramping calories down and increasing exercise. Even when I use DietPower, the budget adjusts downwards so I end up adding cardio to keep my calorie intake higher - so it is a natural phenomenon I've seen.

Jeremy

My take on cutting ...

Caloric intake - ramp it. 1600 is fine as an ending point. I'd do something like this - each number is a day of the week:


Week 1: 2200 2200 2100 2100 2000 2000 1900
Week 2: 2100 2100 2000 2000 1900 1900 1800
Week 3: 2000 2000 1900 1900 1800 1800 1700
Week 4: 1900 1900 1800 1800 1700 1700 1600

Or shift week 2 up and go down to 1500 your last week, if you like.

Jeremy

Intriguing, Jeremy. What is the rationale for ramping down your calories on a weekly basis? Does it have some sort of metabolic effect?

Sounds like a very aggressive plan, Karate. Honestly though, I think if you keep doing what you are doing you will reach your goal by June. You only have a couple more pounds of BF to go. Have you considered taking a week off of working out and strict dieting just to rest and "decondition" your body? I've heard that it helps kick-start your metabolism.

Intriguing, Jeremy. What is the rationale for ramping down your calories on a weekly basis? Does it have some sort of metabolic effect?

I agree, it's the first time I've seen a calorie plan like that. It is quite interesting. I am actually heavily considering trying it for the month of April to see how it pans out. I wouldn't mind some further explanation of a purpose though... if there is one other than "it's worked for others" which is good enough for me! :claplow:

Sounds like a very aggressive plan, Karate. Honestly though, I think if you keep doing what you are doing you will reach your goal by June. You only have a couple more pounds of BF to go. Have you considered taking a week off of working out and strict dieting just to rest and "decondition" your body? I've heard that it helps kick-start your metabolism.

Well, 3 weeks ago I took 10 FULL DAYS off of anything due to illness. Then I took off from last Wednesday until this Wednesday for lifting due to a minor injury. So I am not considering really taking any more time off since I just have recently. Had I not already though, I would agree it's about time to.

And it is aggressive because I want to see results. I'm sick of sitting at the same body fat % month after month. This time, it's going to happen! (I hope)

Well, 3 weeks ago I took 10 FULL DAYS off of anything due to illness. Then I took off from last Wednesday until this Wednesday for lifting due to a minor injury. So I am not considering really taking any more time off since I just have recently. Had I not already though, I would agree it's about time to.

And it is aggressive because I want to see results. I'm sick of sitting at the same body fat % month after month. This time, it's going to happen! (I hope)

Wow, you must be a night owl. It must be 2:30am where your at. Ah, to be in college again...

Quote from Tom Venuto's book 'burn the fat feed the muscle':
==============================================
"Zig-zag method:

Every time you cut calories below your maintenance level, it’s never long before your body recognizes the deficit and adjusts your fat burning thermostat so fewer calories are burned. The larger the drop in calories and the longer the drop is maintained, the bigger the drop will be in metabolism.Your body is an amazing machine that is remarkably adaptable to any situation or environment. Your body likes to stay in a state of equilibrium and will always fight your efforts to change.

Fortunately, there is a way you can “trick” your body into keeping your metabolic rate up while you’re dieting for fat loss – It’s called the zig zag method and it’s without question the most powerful fat burning technique ever developed.

You must have a deficit to lose fat, but what you don’t want is a large deficit for a long period of time. The way to “outsmart” your body’s starvation response is to avoid prolonged calorie deficits. You simply drop into a calorie deficit for a brief period of three days, then – before your body has a chance to decrease your metabolic rate– you raise your calories back up to maintenance level (or even above aintenance) for one to three days. You then repeat this process until you reach your desired body fat percentage."

... and then found it answered above. That's exactly why. Zig-zagging is incredibly effective for fat-loss. David Greenwalt, the coach who helped me reach low bodyfat the first time, introduced me to the concept. Heck, it's taught as a staple in the nutrition portion of the exam for the ISSA Certified Fitness Trainer ... and more importantly, the popular BFL includes zig-zagging. Ever compared the calories in a fist-sized portion of apple to a fist-sized portion of baked potato, or a palm-sized slab of steak or a palm-sized chicken breast?

Jeremy

Wow, those last 2 posts were great!

Jeremy, a quick question: I saw the zig-zag calc on your website. It seems to jump the calories up and down every day rather than a steady decline by the week. Do you think that's a better method or should I give the one you posted in this thread a try? Or are they both about equally effective since they accomplish similar tasks?

Thanks again!