Hi all,
first post! but reading everything in the shadows for two months.
Im 6'4'' tall and weight 216 pounds i have been lifting for a year right now, three months ago i decided to loss fat and started a 2100 cal diet with a 40/40/20 ratio but no cardio and lifting 4 days a week, everything went fine the first weeks, i lost 13 pounds, but the last two weeks my weight is not going down also i noticed that i hardly do 4-3 reps in the bench press where i was doing 5 before, maybe cardio is useful in this situation but i lost weight without it and dont like it very much.
i would like to hear what do you think guys, bye and thx! :tucool:

It is always possible that you are 1.) either starting to plateua, or 2.) your body is possibly crying for some more cals. I've noticed that if I get my cals too low my energy level sucks, I feel weaker, and if ou body doesn't have enough our metabo goes down.

I'm no expert but would switch things up again (workout routine) possibly re evaluate your diet and atlest try to do a good cardio session 3-4 days a week (yeah I know you don't like it, but it will help boost your metabo back up).

Periodization.
Thats what its called when your body has adapted to the excersizes you've been doing, and you need to switch it up to keep your body adapting to new circumstances. Change your excersizes for each muscle group, and also change the ORDER of them, thats important too. If you start out w/ biceps then do triceps and shoulders every couple days, do it in reverse order and see if that'll help your possible plateau. Also, cardio is good for boosting your metabolism, so to help I would add it in.

When I first started I couldnt' stand weight training and I loved to do cardio all the time. Now I'm just the reverse..its kind of a drag sometimes, but I throw on my headphones and get it done.

i'll try to do cardio at least 3xweek, the couch to 5k program looks good for me, i'll up my cals a bit also, if i use Harris Benedict formula i get a result of 3900 cals! 3000 for a good deficit . I think its a bit off, isnt it ? i feel i can eat much less than that.

my stats are : height 6'4''
weight 215
age 24

Up your cardio to 6-7 days per week. First thing a.m. on empty at 65-75% of MHR for pure lipolysis.

Have no idea what the diet consists of, but take out carbs (unless they are pwo) and replace them with healthy efa's. This swapping of energy will allow those fat burning pathways to open up and be more productive. This and cardio will be KEY in again accelerating your progress.

~SC~

Up your cardio to 6-7 days per week. First thing a.m. on empty at 65-75% of MHR for pure lipolysis.

Have no idea what the diet consists of, but take out carbs (unless they are pwo) and replace them with healthy efa's. This swapping of energy will allow those fat burning pathways to open up and be more productive. This and cardio will be KEY in again accelerating your progress.

~SC~

well i think cardio will be my friend next months, maybe i end up enjoying it who knows, so my split should be like

40 prot 30 carbs 30 fat (coming from EFA's mostly) isnt it ??

thanks guys ! i will start next monday and see what happens

Mmm, I say your not eating enough personally.

I lift 4 times a week and do cardio twice and eat the same amount as you but am 6" shorter and 40 lbs lighter.

I really can't say but mess with the calories a bit personally, 90% of dieters make the mistake of cutting calories to much not not enough personally.

I agree totally with c8fe. A month ago I was reading an article on The Rock's fat loss program on Men's Health magazine. A lot of you may have read this one in particular. According to his personal trainer, Rock wasn't eating "enough" and doing more cardio and less weight training. By increasing his calorie intake to 3700 calories a day and changing the training regimen, he lost, if I remember correctly, about 7 percent body fat at a relatively short time. Down to 7% from 14%.

So my point is, you should first figure out what the "optimal" caloric intake requirement is for your body size and work from there. Restricting calories more is OK when you do just cardio and diet, but since you are lifting, your body I assume is begging for more calories. Otherwise, you train your muscles first, only to see them dissappear thru nutrient starvation later.

Just my two pennies.
Good luck.
Hakan :tucool:

I've heard that to lose fat you need to do cardio at around 65-75% of your maximum heartrate. Since I don't have the instruments to measure my heart rate,
how should I feel when im doing cardio at around 70% of my maximum heart rate? for example, should I be able to speak two words while doing the cardio without my heart popping out?

I've heard that to lose fat you need to do cardio at around 65-75% of your maximum heartrate. Since I don't have the instruments to measure my heart rate,
how should I feel when im doing cardio at around 70% of my maximum heart rate? for example, should I be able to speak two words while doing the cardio without my heart popping out?

You should be able to have a winded conversation - not gasping for breath. At least that's what I've read :nod:

Actually, it is even easier then that. 65% of your max should feel like you are working, but barely. You won't believe that you are exercising hard enough to count. You should feel like you could keep up the activity all day if you wanted to.

-Allen

Actually, it is even easier then that. 65% of your max should feel like you are working, but barely. You won't believe that you are exercising hard enough to count. You should feel like you could keep up the activity all day if you wanted to.

-Allen

So do you believe that to lose fat yet maintain muscle integrity 65% is not enough? Should you do cardio at 80%? How should you feel at 80%? :D