this may sound a weird question but what are you supposed to do (diet/trainnig wise) when you have reached your goals? I successfully "bulked up" to a level of muscle i wanted to achieve (this wasnt a large amount i wanted to maintain a lean physique) and i am now nearing my desired body fat percentage, couple of percent to go.

But what happens when i reach this goal?

To continue a "cutting" regime would surely mean i would do so much cardio and lose so much fat i will eventually start burning muscle.

But i dont really want to bulk up much more so surely this suggest i shouldnt switch back to doing weights. Which leaves me in a positon where im not sure what to do.

PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!

My goal is to MAINTAIN a low body fat percentage not DECREASE my body fat %.

And also MAINTAIN my newly formed muscles but not ADD any more.

baring this in mind please someone let me know what sort of calorie intake i should be looking at?

And also what should my training regime be? how much cardio and what sort of weights workout?

My only thought i have so far is to do lots of weights but high rep low weight variety of lifting.

If anyone can help, many thanks in advance

Basically just eat exaclty what your maintenance level is. When you calculated your daily required intake of cals you then took away something like 500-1000 cals to create the deficit. Just dont do this and you will be consuming the amount you need for maintenance. Hence you should stay at your current weight provided youy eat a healthy, balanced diet. With experience you will get to know how much you should eat to maintain and you wont need to worry about calories and formulas.

Marcus :tucool:

maybe its good to stop counting calories for a while, and just live healthy
when hungry snack on a peice of fruit, prepare a reasonable dinner, have a big breakfast in the morning! just like you were never fat or were a bodybuilder

or just eat maintanence calories, but make it taste good! add lots of fruits and honey to everything :) have instant oatmeal!

Try setting yourself a new goal. Ok, your BF is how you want it, your muscle mass is how you want it, but hows your fitness levels? Whats your time for running a mile? Hows your flexability? Do you play a sport? Why not take one up.

Im almost a maintainance level to, and it scares me to think of not pushing myself further. So my new goal is to improve flexability. I will concentrate more on strectching sessions at the gym rather then just weights (Although i will continue to lift what i lift now). Might even start yoga.

When u get to maintainance stage, look at what else you can improve. Fitness isnt just about big muscles and low fat. There are so many other areas to look at.

Oh, and congrats on nearing your goal. :tucool:

You can lift weights without getting bigger. Workout for strength and athleticism. Even if you do lift for size, it comes slowly. You won't turn into a huge monster freak over night, or even in a years time. Eat to maintain, lift to get strong.

Some goal ideas.
5 minute mile
dunk a basketball
snatch your bodyweight
30 pullups
20 handstand pushups
learn to box