Bodybuilding Forums

Hey, im 17 and have been workin out on and off for the past year now. I think i have a good core muscle built up, benchin bout 145, deadlftin the same, my pull-ups hav also com on, doin 3-4 sets of 10. Im 6'2" and weigh 193lb. I would lik to try and get to 180lb mark. I dont have any particular diet but have a protein shake after each workout. I try and train about 4 times a week but school is very hectic right now. If anyone could recommend a good diet for increasing/maintining muscle whilst losing fat a good amount then id appreciate it.

The M.A.N.S. diet or if youre really looking at focusing on leaning out more than increasing strength at the moment then TSPA is probably best.

I'm a relative beginner, but I've put on quite a bit of muscle my first year of training. Here's my advice, for what little it's worth.
1. Eat enough to support your mass gain.
2. Eat **often enough** to support your mass gain. This usually means 6-7 meals per day, not 3.
3. Be consistent with your training and break your old rep or weight record per set every time.
4. Spend less than an hour lifting per day in the gym to avoid over-training.

Try out the MANS diet with THT training as outlined in Total Anabolism. Mark McManus gives away the free e-book to show you how to do exactly what it is you're wanting to do: put on muscle while losing body fat. It's available at http://www.musclehack.com/, as well as a large archive of Mark's bodybuilding articles. Usually, however, you'll want to prioritize: are you building muscle, or cutting fat? That may dictate some of your diet choices on MANS. If you're building muscle, go for the mid-week carb-up and a higher daily carb count; if you're cutting fat, cut your carb-up down to just 1 day and reduce your daily carb count.

Mark also sells a guide aimed specifically at getting you to a six-pack. I was obese and have been following it with great success for the past five months. It's $30, but if you try MANS and you're not getting the fat-loss results you want after around 6-8 weeks, it may be worth the purchase to you to move your fat loss to the next level. You sound as if you're near the range (around 15% fat) at which most men start to have a lot of trouble dropping fat further without losing muscle.

I also enjoy inspiration from Skip La Cour's weekly bodybuilding and training podcasts on my ipod. The man is a bit overbearing in demeanor, but a wealth of free knowledge about how to put on and keep muscle mass and a multiple national bodybuilding champion. The Max-OT program he espouses for packing on muscle is very popular with a number of natural bodybuilders.

Remember you can't out-train poor nutrition. Keep the protein flowing as much as possible, for protein builds muscle. Protein usually equals "meat" unless you're a vegetarian.

Regards,
Matt B.

I agree with Matt on pretty much everything except his second point:

redgiki wrote:2. Eat **often enough** to support your mass gain. This usually means 6-7 meals per day, not 3.

I'm a college student too, and packing Tupperware just so you can eat every 3 hours is just a pain, and you said that schools getting pretty intense right now. Don't add more unnecessary stress.

The whole eat six meals to increase metabolism thing is a myth that has been disproved many times. The only reason six smaller meals would be better for someone is if that was the way of eating they preferred, if that helps you keep from overeating or if you just enjoy it, but it doesn't help increase TEF at all.

These two articles lay out the facts and link to actual research if you want to dig further:

http://lifespotlight.com/health/2008/11 ... etabolism/
http://lifespotlight.com/health/2008/11 ... m-part-ii/

BigBeck89 wrote:The whole eat six meals to increase metabolism thing is a myth that has been disproved many times. The only reason six smaller meals would be better for someone is if that was the way of eating they preferred, if that helps you keep from overeating or if you just enjoy it, but it doesn't help increase TEF at all.

Sure, I'll agree with you. Note that this was not my point. While there is little evidence to suggest multiple small meals increase metabolism, there are mountains of evidence indicating that your body wants to maintain a certain level of homeostasis with blood protein levels. If you aren't ingesting protein, the body is finding that protein from your organs and tissues, mostly your skeletal muscle. It stands to reason that providing dietary protein throughout the waking hours helps ensure that skeletal muscle is not robbed of protein to maintain homeostasis. Then again, that's the conventional wisdom talking; I could be wrong. So could a lot of pro bodybuilders, some of whom believe it so deeply they wake up in the middle of the night to down a protein shake!

I personally go for the research that shows that protein synthesis is maximized 2-3 hours after a meal, and ingesting around 20-25g of protein in that meal maximizes the synthesis. I don't know if that can keep up all day, every day, but I've been pleased with the mass gains I've experienced since I started lifting in October and aiming for six to seven small meals containing at least 25g of protein apiece.

Frequent small feedings help a lot of people (including myself) curb cravings and keep energy levels up between meals. It's a useful dieting tool; but if it's not useful for you, chuck it!

--Matt B.

oh i agree, I used six meals a day for months before my cravings disappeared. And its true your body can only use a finite amount of protein at a time, which is the logic between the steady flow of protein. But if you eat a big steak, it isn't all digested at once, its a slow digesting whole food that is further delayed in digestion by the fat that comes with it. So since it is being broken down and digested slowly your body is giving itself a constant stream of usable protein.

Body builders might not be completely right on certain things, but its there job, its what they love, and if its working why change it. Also they need to use quick digesting proteins more(like post workout whey shakes). also there protein requirements can get up there (especially when they're increasing size to unnatural proportions with steroids) that they need things like whey to meet their daily goals. since whey is fast absorbing it would be wasted if not taken in smaller amounts every three hours.

either way its a solid strategy and people get results with it(I know I did) but in college it can get tough to manage.

As a side note I think it would work extremely well for the G.L.A.D. diet since it will keep blood sugar stable even with carbs, thus preventing cravings

This is pretty what I go by when I'm cutting... I works pretty well for me...

For FAT LOSS:

--Calories requirements = Bodyweight in Lbs x12

--Protein(4 calories per gram) = 1 - 1.5g per lb BW[url][/url]

--Fat(9 calories per gram) = .4-.5g per lb BW

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is excellent for cuting as it is High in Polyunsaturated fat. This Oil should make up most of your Fat intake.

Consume 3x1000mg Cod Liver Oil capsules

--Carbs(4 calories per gram) = whatever remains to meet your calorie total

Remain Calories made up of green veg. such as brocolli, mangetout, asparagus etc.


Typical Cutting Diet for a 220 lbs male:

Calories: 220 x 12 = 2640
Protein: 1.5 x 220 = 330 grams [4 Calories per gram so -- 330 x 4 = 1320 Calories]
Fat: .4 x 220 = 88 grams [9 Calories per gram so -- 88 x 9 = 792 Calories]
Carbs = Calories remaining = 2640 - (1320 + 792) = 528 Calories

Hope this helps!

[url]
For FAT LOSS:

--Calories requirements = Bodyweight in Lbs x12

--Protein(4 calories per gram) = 1 - 1.5g per lb BW

--Fat(9 calories per gram) = .4-.5g per lb BW

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is excellent for cuting as ot is High in Polyunsaturated fat. This Oil should make up most of your Fat intake.

Consume 3x1000mg Cod Liver Oil capsules

--Carbs(4 calories per gram) = whatever remains to meet your calorie total

Remain Calories made up of green veg. such as brocolli, mangetout, asparagus etc.


Typical Cutting Diet for a 220 lbs male:

Calories: 220 x 12 = 2640
Protein: 1.5 x 220 = 330 grams [4 Calories per gram so -- 330 x 4 = 1320 Calories]
Fat: .4 x 220 = 88 grams [9 Calories per gram so -- 88 x 9 = 792 Calories]
Carbs = Calories remaining = 2640 - (1320 + 792) = 528 Calories

Hope this helps!

http://www.body2shape.com/

Lima_3 wrote:Consume 3x1000mg Cod Liver Oil capsules

--Carbs(4 calories per gram) = whatever remains to meet your calorie total

Remain Calories made up of green veg. such as brocolli, mangetout, asparagus etc.


Typical Cutting Diet for a 220 lbs male:

Calories: 220 x 12 = 2640
Protein: 1.5 x 220 = 330 grams [4 Calories per gram so -- 330 x 4 = 1320 Calories]
Fat: .4 x 220 = 88 grams [9 Calories per gram so -- 88 x 9 = 792 Calories]
Carbs = Calories remaining = 2640 - (1320 + 792) = 528 Calories

That's a hell of a lot of carbs for a cutting diet, man. 132 grams-- no way is that low carb. You also didn't include the fat grams from the cod liver oil capsules. Still, 3 grams of fat is only equivalent to about 7 grams of carbs, so it'd still be a fairly high-carb diet even if you subtracted off for those.

But assuming you don't want to do low-carb, I guess there's nothing "wrong" with your example, per se. I definitely agree about the veggies though.

That's a hell of a lot of carbs for a cutting diet, man. 132 grams-- no way is that low carb. You also didn't include the fat grams from the cod liver oil capsules. Still, 3 grams of fat is only equivalent to about 7 grams of carbs, so it'd still be a fairly high-carb diet even if you subtracted off for those.

But assuming you don't want to do low-carb, I guess there's nothing "wrong" with your example, per se. I definitely agree about the veggies though.

528kcal in a 2600kcal diet can be also considered as low-carb. The calories consumed from carbs are less than 25% of the total calories. Over 50% is high carb and between moderate.