I've been working out since January now, and things are going really slow. My goal is to go from about 16% bf to 10% bf, but I want to take it slow to assure I'll be able to stay at 10% when I get there. So my routine has been HIIT 5 times a week, 1 hour cardio at 150 beats/minute one time a week and weight training 3 times. I'm eating clean and following Marcus' advices on how much and what to eat (for me: 50% carbs, 30% protein and 20 % fat). I'm taking about 1950 kcal each day, which I think is right being 20 years old and weighing 66 kg (146 lb). Well, the problem is that I'm not loosing any fat! In March I was at about 16% bf, and this morning I was at 15,9%. I'm building muscle, but oh so slowly. I don't understand how this could be! I guess my body just don't want to loose any fat. Could this be because I've always been kind of chubby? :confused:
I'm not loosing hope or anything, I was just wondering if any of you have experienced this and if you got over it... For those of you that haven't had this problem: any ideas as to how to solve it?

-Freddi

maybe your body isn't responding to the HIIT, try to switch to more medium intensity longer duration cardio. So 4-5 times a week of that and only 1 or 2 times a week HIIT.

Freddi,

One issue could be your measurement. There is really no way in the world you can truly assess body fat to within 0.1% - that's just not possible. Even skilled trainers who use skinfold calipers, which are much more accurate than scales, have a little bit of variation from time to time.

I would be patient and stick it out. If you still aren't progressing, increase your exercise and reduce calories until you start to drop.

Building muscle is a great thing - you will be increasing your metabolism and making it easier to lose fat.

Jeremy

The trainer who does my measurements will estimate body fat to +/- 0.5%, using an 8-point test. The 3-point test he'll do to +/-1%. 3-pointers are free, 8-pointers are $10. You can probably guess what most folks opt for... once I month I spring for the 8-pt., once a week I get the 3.

I have a spreadsheet I built to estimate the target heart rate range needed for fat-burning cardio based on age and resting BPM from a study I came across.

For a 20 year old in moderate shape performing cardio for fat-burning, your heart rate range is estimated at 146 (60%) to 182 (90%). It sounds like you're just barely getting your heart rate into the zone you need to truly perform HIIT. Of course, I'm not taking into account your current fitness level or how hard you perceive you're working as opposed to what "the experts say", which is what my spreadsheet is based on... I'm sure that makes a difference, but I think you might need to work a little harder at the cardio sessions.

I don't care much for HIIT; I'll perform it once a week for a very intense 15 minutes and that's it, just to keep my routine shaken up a bit. HIIT seems to be far too catabolic on my body. I did it for a week and watched my lifting suffer rather dramatically by the end of seven days. I prefer moderate cardio for 45 minutes, 5~6 times per week. I keep my heart rate between 140 (during "resting" periods and 160-170 during "stress" periods when performing my cardio sessions. My target range is 143-178.

I put alot of stock in what my calculations tell me, but I'm making the progress I want to see so it's got to be good for something... at least for me. Email me if you want, and I'll send you my spreadsheet.

Thanks alot for the answers, guys!

Bluestreak, I think I expressed myself poorly in my post... I meant to say that I do HIIT five times a week, AND one hour of long-duration cardio once a week at 150BPM. During the 23 minute HIIT sessions my heart is pumping away at 190 at 100%! So I think the problem must lie elsewhere... Oh if the intensity was the problem, that would be easy to fix! ;)

I'm shure my caliper isn't very exact. I'm using the calculator on Jeremy's page (5-points)... When it tells me I'm at 15,9bf%, well that is what I put in my spreadsheet. The point I wanted to make is that my bf hasn't dropped very much at all, and I thought it would. I don't think I can attribute my steady bf to poor measuring, I think even poor measuring would reveal a downgoing tendency...

Well, I guess I'll do what Jeremy suggests, stick to my routine, and eventually things will happen! :tu:

-Freddi

CAPS BELOW............


Thanks alot for the answers, guys!

Bluestreak, I think I expressed myself poorly in my post... I meant to say that I do HIIT five times a week, AND one hour of long-duration cardio once a week at 150BPM. TOO LONG OF A SESSION TO BEGIN WITH, AND THE OTHER 5 HIIT SESSIONS ARE POOR CHOICES (AS YOU CAN SEE NOW BY YOUR LACK OF PROGRESS) NO WONDER YOU AREN'T LOSING FAT! CHECK YOUR KCALS, WHERE YOU HAVE MACROS PLACED, AND UP THAT CARDIO. FORGET HIIT FOR CARDIO, YOU'LL NEVER GET RIPPED LIKE THIS. YOU MAY BURN LEAN MASS THOUGH, THAT'LL EVENTUALLY CATCH UP TO YOU.

During the 23 minute HIIT sessions my heart is pumping away at 190 at 100%! YEAH, AND YOU ARE ABOUT 25% OVER THE H.R. YOU NEED FOR FAT LOSS, WHAT YOU ARE DOING YOU ARE BURNING SUGAR/GLYCOGEN/MUSCLE........NOT VERY PRODUCTIVE. GOING BALLS TO THE WALL IS NOT WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT.

So I think the problem must lie elsewhere...CARDIO AND DIET IS WHERE THE ISSUE IS.

Oh if the intensity was the problem, that would be easy to fix! ;)

I'm shure my caliper isn't very exact. I'm using the calculator on Jeremy's page (5-points)... When it tells me I'm at 15,9bf%, well that is what I put in my spreadsheet. The point I wanted to make is that my bf hasn't dropped very much at all, and I thought it would. I don't think I can attribute my steady bf to poor measuring, I think even poor measuring would reveal a downgoing tendency...SCREW BODYFAT READINGS.......IF U HAVE TO USE CALIPERS, AND YOU'RE STILL FAT, PUT THOSE DOWN AND WORK ON YOUR DIET/CARDIO. TAKING READINGS OF BODYFAT ISN'T GOING TO HELP YOU CHANGE.

Well, I guess I'll do what Jeremy suggests, stick to my routine, and eventually things will happen! :tu:

-Freddi

The trainer who does my measurements will estimate body fat to +/- 0.5%, using an 8-point test. The 3-point test he'll do to +/-1%. 3-pointers are free, 8-pointers are $10. You can probably guess what most folks opt for... once I month I spring for the 8-pt., once a week I get the 3.




I would take $240.00 (what you would spend in 2 years) and buy a nice digital camera, take a picture each week and forget the BF% measurement. What you look like, feel like and gains in endurance and or weights you can lift are a better guage of how you are doing. At least spread that 8 pointer out to 12 weeks and save 80 bucks a year.

I would take $240.00 (what you would spend in 2 years) and buy a nice digital camera, take a picture each week and forget the BF% measurement. What you look like, feel like and gains in endurance and or weights you can lift are a better guage of how you are doing. At least spread that 8 pointer out to 12 weeks and save 80 bucks a year.
heh, i use a $90 digital cam even :)
Works a charm, and is brilliant for judging progress, especially my face, omfg what a difference.

Many good ideas, here. As I've already said I do alot of HIIT. This is because John Stone did and does the same thing, and I don't have to speak about his results. I'll try and switch to a more moderate type of cardio, and see if my body responds better to this.

As for the bf-caliper I guess I'll still use it, but I'll try and put less importance into the readings. I want to but myself a digital camera, but I'm just a poor student... That'll have to wait. For the time being I'm using a normal camera so I'll have to wait until the film is full until I can see my progress... Kinda stupid :o

-Freddi