Bodybuilding Forums

JoH

I am in a similar situation regarding high body fat % I am female 5'3" 225lb 37%bf. I have been lifting to failure in 8-10 reps for about 6 months and stregnth training for over a year. I have dropped from 275 -225so far and have a ways to go. I still have been seeing some good gains overall (i.e. from 300lb leg press to 420lb in 4 weeks), however, my weight loss #'s have slowed a lot, but bf% is still going down. Right now I do P90X 3 days a week lifting, plus an extra legg session Friday nights, 2 core sessions, and 2 1 hr Cardio kickboxing sessions. I am going to try MANS diet, but what about the Cardio should I still be doing 1 hr or switch to 20-30 minute HIIT training? I feel like this process is taking forever. I am not sedentary but have an BMR of about 2300, and burn about 3000-3300 on days I workout according to my bodybugg. my two concerns are cardio and lifting to failure. from what you have posted I should be lifting for maintenance and not size. I want to make signifcant gains and cut the body fat? any suggestions? This is a great thread by the way!

lizzieliz29 wrote:JoH

I am in a similar situation regarding high body fat % I am female 5'3" 225lb 37%bf. I have been lifting to failure in 8-10 reps for about 6 months and stregnth training for over a year. I have dropped from 275 -225so far and have a ways to go. I still have been seeing some good gains overall (i.e. from 300lb leg press to 420lb in 4 weeks), however, my weight loss #'s have slowed a lot, but bf% is still going down. Right now I do P90X 3 days a week lifting, plus an extra legg session Friday nights, 2 core sessions, and 2 1 hr Cardio kickboxing sessions. I am going to try MANS diet, but what about the Cardio should I still be doing 1 hr or switch to 20-30 minute HIIT training? I feel like this process is taking forever. I am not sedentary but have an BMR of about 2300, and burn about 3000-3300 on days I workout according to my bodybugg. my two concerns are cardio and lifting to failure. from what you have posted I should be lifting for maintenance and not size. I want to make signifcant gains and cut the body fat? any suggestions? This is a great thread by the way!

Of course there are suggestions. I gave you your own big long reply, too. I used to be enormous, like I'd go to the beach and Greenpeace would come try and roll me back in, so I can't help but jump at these kinds of threads.

And about the bodybugg... set the damn thing on fire. I've never seen one of those be accurate, ever. They're way off from Katch-McArdle, Hamwi, every researched method known to man to calculate BMR/RMR, and I can't figure out why (though I suspect it's the bioimpedence assays it uses, which are notoriously flakey and easily thrown way off the mark). I can totally see where they'd be great for the person just starting off, but really, once you're a veteran and your battle of the bulge is a full-fledged war, you've probably outgrown its usefulness.

Props to JoH...at first it seemed a bit critical, but then it turned way more toward motivational...definitely going to recommend THIS article to anyone who needs to get SERIOUS about...well even just general well being. Again...awesome.

jf16 wrote:Props to JoH...at first it seemed a bit critical, but then it turned way more toward motivational...definitely going to recommend THIS article to anyone who needs to get SERIOUS about...well even just general well being. Again...awesome.

Why thank you.

I know I can come off highly critical sometimes. I try to temper that by being as encouraging as I possibly can so I don't end up just sounding like a heartless raging bitch - it is a hard journey, and encouragement helps. But I can't help but be passionate on this issue. Obesity bloody kills people. Bad diet choices kill people. Lack of exercise kills people. Allowing yourself whatever cop-out of I can't find the right food, or I can't afford a gym, or I don't know where to start really amounts to choosing to just chop a good decade or two off your life. Now, I've lost a lot of family to CVD and diabetes-related complications. And y'all have heard me mention that I have my share of health issues, some of which have zero to do with my weight or fitness, they just take time off the clock and require proactive management. So when I hear willpower issues, I can't help but want to set off all the bells and whistles and sirens and fireworks I can possibly lay my hands on, and post a neon sign that reads "THIS DIRECTION IS GOING TO KILL YOU" - because it is.