Muscle or Less body fat?

[k_21]

All,

Two part question.

I was wondering if less body fat percentage
would give the 'perception' of looking bigger?

That is to say having less body fat would make
a person look like having bigger muscles?

What's the best way to reduce body fat percentage?
Diet, work out (weights) or cardio?

Body fat in my mid section is still hanging around waaayy
too long. I want to see a 6 pac there for summer Damn
it!!

Thanks
Devante.

 

[Goosey]

1. Of course; you cannot flex fat.
2. Diet... Good cardio (low impact) provides extreme heart/lung stimulus, not much is needed a good weight training template can provide that.
If you are unable to work out at a high rate of intensity you need to consider adding a means of some type of cardio work: stairmaster, rower, exercise bike .
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[gareer]

Based on what others have posted, and I believe it was Shrek, squat it out! I still do a little bit of cardio but that is mainly for other sports I play. But weights will always be the best way to lose fat, due to the way it revs your metabolism etc. As shrek explained, why not get your diet together? I don't know what it is currently like but maybe dialing it right in and you'll see some improvement.

gareer.

 

[TrentZor]

1. I was wondering if less body fat percentage
would give the 'perception' of looking bigger?

Depends -

If you had the qaulity muscle to begin a cut then when you have dialled in correctly then yes it would give u the perception of looking bigger mind u if you were trained half arse you would just look like skin and bones. But the down product is that u dont look as "massive" in a jumper or large t-shirt. Thats why in summer when ive dieted i walk around in singlets and shorts all the time even to church "edit that i dont go to church"

2. What's the best way to reduce body fat percentage?
Diet, work out (weights) or cardio?

Weights and HIIT (20%) plus diet (80% cutting out fats/water and then carbs will bring you down to the 7% BF mark). Water and carbs obscure your physique and makes u look bloated once youve gotten rid of the fat. Not the healthiest to stay that low in BF all year round but for 4-5 weeks as u get muscle wastage and strength loss

 

[chrisp]

After 7 years of bulking\cutting, some of the mistakes i made were eating to many calories while bulking, i just went mad, then cutting out the wrong things while dieting, and running.

What you need to do is find your MAINTENECE calorie intake, after your armed with this you can then make adjustments. For ME and were not all the same, its as simple as two slices of penut butter on toast and a extra can of tuna when bulking " thats only an example".

Obviously if you change yr workout, or any other physical output for the day the calories need to change too.

While dieting I dont like to cut my calories hard like some, instead il move more, for example il add a 20rep squat onto my workout, 100 push ups, 100 burpes,or because i box i jump rope (skip).

Dont be scared to eat fats too (good fats) that belly was always the last thing to drop, I didnt eat fats (thought id get fat) but when i started eating healthy fats it was almost like my body reconised fats as a fuel source and when deiting founf it easier to shead the extra padding from the bulk. Maybe someone with more knowlodge on here knows if theres any sceince behind that???

As for the first question , very hard to tell without a picture , really depends on how big you are.

 

[gareer]

I think it has something to do with healthy fats being a key component of alot of hormones e.g tesoterone. Maybe something to do with the body trying to retain a balance of body fat the added good fats allows you to burn off that extra and trick your body of sorts but that's just my assumptions.

Gareer.
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[Oli]

1. Yes and no. With a t-shirt on a lot of 'bodybuilders' with a higher bodyfat % look huge. However, most people who do this are stroking their egos, as they likely only carry 70-80kg of lean bodymass on them. shirts off and things arnt anywhere near as impressive.

2. Best way to lose bodyfat:

For those looking to cut to the 10-12% range (healthy range) this is probably the best way to do it:

- Remove all processed foods, junk foods and high GI foods from the diet
- Perform x3 sessions of a strength training routine and 1-2 days of conditioning (eg kettlebell work, hill sprints or boxing) a week.

 

[TrentZor]

1. Yes and no. With a t-shirt on a lot of 'bodybuilders' with a higher bodyfat % look huge. However, most people who do this are stroking their egos, as they likely only carry 70-80kg of lean bodymass on them. shirts off and things arnt anywhere near as impressive.

its winter im BULKING!!




/ceffo puts his meatpie down

 

[Goosey]

As I said you can't flex fat.
This optimal body fat business, are we talking winning a BB show? Arctic survival? What?

I also don't get the bulking; fat or muscle.

What should be doing is cutting through winter and bulking through summer, not the other way'round.
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[BoyFromAus]

my $0.02.
I say use Markos' beginner's Program and perhaps add 1 - 2 days of HIIT. Coming to think of it, it's basically what Oli recommended.

If you're a beginner, unless u're extremely fat or extremely thin,it's probably best for the whole bulking phase and cutting phase to be put out of the equation. One needs to have a practical knowledge on basic dieting first and how ur body responds to it, before doing advance techniques like those.


Focusing on Strength gain along with moderate to High intensity cardio builds strength, fitness and capilliaries. More muscle less fat becomes an adaptation side effect of that, when you focus on good nutrition and consume calories at around maintenance.

 

[k_21]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies. I guess what I've
gathered from everyone's replies is this.

Don't worry too much about either (loosing fat or
building muscle) in a sense. That is to say if
I hit the gym with building strength and keep an
eye on both the result will be inevitable!!?? Loosely
speaking of course.

I guess my confusion arises when guys talk about
maintenance calories vs calories to build muscle.

To further clarify here are my stats at the moment.

Weight: 68kgs.
Height: 172cm's (5' 5"ish)
Body fat: 24 (purely by visual & BMI)

So my question now would be I'd like to get rid of the
'beer gut'. This would make me closer to 62Kg ish as
I suspect that there's about 5kg's of fat around my waist.

What amount of calories should I be consuming to loose
fat?

Thanks
Devante.

 

[gareer]

I'm fairly sure this was put up in another thread by Fadi, but it's somewhere along the lines of 27/ kg BW, 35 for maintenance and 42 for bulking.

Gareer.

 

[MikeW]

Devante,

I was in the same boat when I started working out properly again recently. What I'm doing is running a maintenance calorie diet but stripping out all the processed food and ensuring I get my 165gm of protein a day. For me that works out at about 1800cals a day.

The maintenance equation I use is (bodyweight in pounds * 10) + 10%.

So, for you that would be (150lbs * 10) +10% = 1650cals a day.

Consume that in whole foods as a 50% carbs, 40% protein, 10% good fats mix and you'll be moving in the right direction. If you find that that's a bit light on for you then just up the cals but keep the ratios.

Your protein grams should be at least 150gms, 1 per pound of bodyweight as a rule of thumb.

There's a thread somewhere with my diet on it and this detail if your interested. Meal by meal breakdown achieving that outcome.

And, as others have said, do 3 days of heavy lifting like Markos' PPP and 2 of HIIT. I'm doing the PPP 3 days a week and looking to re-introduce my Tae Kwon Do into two other days to give me some HIIT.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[chrisp]

devante, stop complicating things for yourself.
If you want to get rid of your beer gut fella, stop drinking beer, or the foods that are making you over wieght.
Train hard and heavy, and eat real foods, lifestyle change is the most important, you can train correct and hard but if your drinking beer and eating crap your not going to see results for your hard work,(only assuming you are from your posts).

Guys here can only give calorie guides, I dont know if you sit at a desk allday or a brickies labourer??

By starting to eat right and keeping count yourself, and training hard ONLY YOU can give yourself the presise answers, theres heaps of meal ideas on here use the info ,get 5 good meals a day in 6 weeks , if your not happy with weight gain / lose adjust your diet alittle.

A picture would be helpfull, but at that weight id just train hard maybe using ppp, 3 x a week and see how you travelled ,its amazing how adding size to your back shoulders legs and chest makes your belly look thinner.

goodluck, bud

 

[k_21]

devante, stop complicating things for yourself.
If you want to get rid of your beer gut fella, stop drinking beer, or the foods that are making you over wieght.
Train hard and heavy, and eat real foods, lifestyle change is the most important, you can train correct and hard but if your drinking beer and eating crap your not going to see results for your hard work,(only assuming you are from your posts).

Guys here can only give calorie guides, I dont know if you sit at a desk allday or a brickies labourer??

By starting to eat right and keeping count yourself, and training hard ONLY YOU can give yourself the presise answers, theres heaps of meal ideas on here use the info ,get 5 good meals a day in 6 weeks , if your not happy with weight gain / lose adjust your diet alittle.

A picture would be helpfull, but at that weight id just train hard maybe using ppp, 3 x a week and see how you travelled ,its amazing how adding size to your back shoulders legs and chest makes your belly look thinner.

goodluck, bud

Yes done.

Eat right, lift heavy and I'll look like 50cent in
no time!

All I need a tatoo design. Will post pic's when I
feel comfortable.. !!

Thanks

 

[TrentZor]

Yes done.

Eat right, lift heavy and I'll look like 50cent in
no time!

you forgot the "supps" his on as well

 

[craft1010]

Trust me you dont want to look like fiddy anymore...

He lost a SHITE load of weight for a movie. He was on a pure liquid diet and did hours of cardio every day..

50 Cent Is Really Skinny [PIC]