Building muscle while minimizing body fat

[Neil]

Hi,

 

I have beed bulking for over 6 months now and have been very succesful. I have put on over 20 pounds but since my training is here and there due to my exams I have already started to grow some love handles. Due to that I have been eliminating starchy carbs to lose some of it and that worked very fast (less than a week and they are pretty much gone). But I want to start again except I want to know what foods I can eat that will turn to muscle and what foods not to eat so it just stores as fat. I know that the body should have 35% of fat but these have to come from things like fish and vegetable oils, not fried foods, processed etc.

 

Could someone please tell me what foods to eat to minimize body fat while increasing muscle mass.

 

thanks

 

Neil

[Synaesthesia]

I have no idea myself. I've been working out fairly often, including a lot of biking and interval sprints. Although I'm putting on bulk, I have gained a good bit of body fat. I imagine if I keep this routine up the body fat will level out a bit since most of my strength exercises are bodyweight based.

 

Frankly, I don't mind it one bit, although it looks less impressive than many people who work out far less than I do. The only potential problem is that it insulates me so I can't get rid of heat effectively. But that's a good thing in a place like Calgary where we get a couple of feet of snow several times in May.

[Radok]

If you're really training hard, take in 3000 calories a day. 60% complex carbs, 30% protien, 10% fat. Drink about twelve glasses of water a day. This is only if you train hard enough to sweat ALOT, burn ALOT of calories, an put on ALOT of muscle. Also, when you drink the water after a really intense workout, put a little salt to replace electrolytes and a little table suger to replace glycogen levels.

[Synaesthesia]

Thanks for the advice Radok. I sure hate the bloated feeling of gulping down too much water.

 

(I can feel the brain cells exploding!)

[nathanjusko]

You can't just tell a person how many calories to eat without knowing how much they weigh and they're activity level. On average the 3000 calorie rule works, however, you need to go to a website or specialist that can calculate your specific BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and then adjust it based on how many calories you burn throughout the day. Thermodynamically speaking, it is impossible to gain muscle while losing body fat, in order to gain muscle you must eat more calories than your BMR requires and in order to lose fat you must eat less than your BMR requires, see a problem? And don't listen to people who tell you that you need to "tone" your muscles, there is no such thing. You can either make your muscles larger or smaller, you can't just tone them with high-rep low weight workouts. My suggestion is to eat what you need in the day (i.e. when you're hungry) stop when you feel full and make sure your activity level is high. If you have those factors involved in your life then you will find it is extremely easy to stay in shape and don't need a plan or workout routine or diet in order to "cut" or "bulk up". Your body will work itself out and stay where it needs to, your body knows what it wants and needs you just have to listen to it.

[100-Artiste]

Nathan i agree with everything you say.

 

But just in case anyone was wondering there are two types of muscles, twitch and tonic. As a bodybuilder the long slow reps will be good as they build the Tonic muscle fibres up, these are good for sustained muscular contraction - what you are practicing.

 

The faster actions will, however, build up twitch muscles which have their advantages - often part of the 'explosive' power and fast muscular contraction that a martial artis is looking for.

 

So high reps of lower weights do have their uses though i guess not for bodybuilding.. Doing this you will build muscle however, just not as quickly but you will gain muscles of a different type.

 

Think about it this way, a tennis player can hit a tennis ball damn hard but couldnt beat the average lifter at lifting a weight. How you lift your weights will influence what 'kind' of strength you have, lifting lots slowly will lead to you getting much better at lifting stuff slowly, lifting stuff quickly will make you better at lifting stuff quickly --.

 

Anyway,.

 

For bodybuilding do what nathan says, some creatine might be nice??

[Tibby]

I’d advise checking out the book “Body RX” by Dr. Scott Connelly. He tells you all about your diet, weight training, and things of that nature. GREAT book.

 

Weights are great as well. As he said, there are 2 types of muscle fibers, Slow twitch and fast twitch, Both are VERY important to a Martial Artist. Fast twitch, of course, produce the speed you need, but Slow Twitch gives you the power you need. If you kick a guy extremely fast, but have no strength behind it, we will laugh and throw you to the ground. In the weight room, move the weight at a pretty medium pass, not to fast, not to slow, this should hit both muscle fibers.

 

You can “tone” your muscles, it is a scientific fact. Tone referrers to how many muscle fibers are contracting at any giving time. I’m sure you seen a guy that lifts weights, touched his forearms, and they are hard and tight, and he isn’t even flexing! He has really good toned.

 

You can burn fat and build muscle at the same time. Body Builder do it all the time pre-contest. See, your fat is burned as energy for your muscle, that is all fat really is, stored energy. It does have other uses (It protects the organs, keeps you warm) but the fat layer on the outside of your body, right under you skin, that is for energy. The more muscle you have, the easier it will be to lose this fat. Lift weights to build up the muscle, the do some Cardio, running, sparring, swimming, biking, etc, to lose the fat.

 

Eat right. Body RX will show you how. It will explain a lot of these things to you. I’d suggest picking up a copy if you want to drop that extra pounds. It is on amazon:

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0425186075/qid=1054922287/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-3516162-5632655?v=glance&s=books

 

Hope this helps,

 

Chris

[Neil]

Well I am on a diet by Matt Furey where I just cut down on stachy carbs to lose weight. I will start running as well as get back into training. But as soon as I get rid of my love handles, I will bulk up again.

 

But I think I can bulk up at the same time as minimizing the amount of body fat I put on. I will try bulking up, but coninuing to do loads of running. For some reason bodybuilders advise against too much cardio when wanting to bulk up, except when you run you only burn fat using oxygen. You don't get rid of muscle. So couldn't you conintue to bulk up eating a high starchy carb diet while running and build muscle at the same time as minimizing the amount of fat you put on? This is what I will try.

 

Neil

[Tibby]

Partially due to that fact that most body builder HATE cardio, lol. But also, when you are bulking up, you really don’t need to worry about being cut. The reason Body Builders say the restrain from losing fat so they can focus all their energy in the weight room, on bulking up. Most of the time, it is just easier. A simple work out, simple diet, the hard stuff come later in the pre-contest phase, when you are entering the weight room twice a day, running your legs off, and eating a very strict diet! In bulking up, you just want to get big, and focus everything on getting big! You can eat more carbs during your bulking up period, which is also important, because you will have to majorly cut back in the cutting phase. On top of that, there is a well trusted theory that cardio cuts down on strength and size, and that is the whoel goal of a bulking up phase, power and mass. So if the theory holds true, then doing cardio can be counter productive. Again, it is just a theory, but why risk it, if you are a Body Builder! It is fine for Martial Arts, of course. Remimber, Body BUilder are in it to get a big and cut as possable, you just want to get lean and musclar and strong and flexable!

 

As for Matt Furey, if his rock-solid muscle is any indication, he knows a thing or 2 about working out and dieting. I’ve never had a chance to get his books, but he clearly knows what he is talking about from the little I read about him. Can you give me some more details on his diet plan?

[Neil]

Its working. I thought yesterday, sod it. So I had some new potatoes and sausages instead of a slad with tuna.

 

I have run today and feel bigger! My body fat has decreeased a bit too rapidly also since I did a lot of abdominal training.

 

Basically matt advises you to cut back on all starchy food and anything processed. Only eat lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, nuts, yogurt, that sport of stuff.

 

Neil