Hi,

I'm a 32 year old and looking to cut weight for triathlon season. I consider myself to be fairly fit. I'm currently 6'4" 240ish. I'd like to get to 225 in the next few months because running 12 - 15 miles at 240 ain't no fun. I lift 3 times a week and lead an active life style. My diet, while not perfect, isn't all that bad.

I've noticed that when I lift heavy weights I really tend to bulk and gain weight - I went from about 230 to current 240 in about 2 months of heavy lifting. I've remained in good cardio shape and all my clothes are fitting better - went from a 36" waist to 34" but I am still gaining weight.

So my question is do I have to give up high end strength to lose the bulk? Should I stop lifting heavy and go with light higher reps? Also, how light should I go and how many set /reps should I shoot for? Is there some percent of max calc I should be using? I always feel when I go light I go too light and don't feel like I'm doing much.

Why not just eat less? You are gaining weight because of the food intake not because of lifting.

You want to go pretty heavy but not necessarily to failure all the time. By no means a light weight though. I also think it's just mostly diet that determines whether you gain or lose.

Nope, not at all. Lift like you would if you were going for Mr. Olympia. I'm not even kidding. The harder you push yourself in the gym, the more work your body will have to do to recover, which = more net calories burned overall. Lifting light is almost useless.

Lifting lighter will burn less calories and if you're already gaining weight, you'll just end up putting on fat instead of muscle. You need to lift intensely to burn calories. If you're gaining weight, it's from your nutrition, not your lifting. Cut back on calories.

Jeremy