How to build mass and loose bf at the same time?

[Trey]

Ok, Im a newbie to the forums so i'll introduce myself. Im Trey, im 26and I live in Tennessee. I just started working out the 1st of january and started the new program in the "Muscle and Fitness" magazine and i've started to see mass gains but I don't know how to cut bodyfat at the same time. Im 5'6 and I weigh 156 so im not "huge" but I don't have the visible 6 pac either. The routine says you can gain 20 lbs in 3 months if you do it correctly ( which im not expecting ) by going each body part 3 times a week and for the first 1-3 weeks doing only 2 sets of 3-5 reps maxing out at exhaustion in each set. Week 4 your working to get the biggest pump possible so your doing alot of drop sets. Weeks 5-7 you do 3 sets of 6-8 reps and weeks 9-11 you do 4 sets of 8-10 reps. Now the routine has been working good for me the last 2 weeks but I also need to start burning fat off without putting my mass gains at stake. If you have any ideas or information it would be greatly appriciated! Thanks, Trey

[Kane]

Originally Posted by Trey

If you have any ideas or information it would be greatly appriciated! Thanks, Trey

Throw out the muscle mag.

You can gain 20lbs off the muscle mag routine, but only because your new to lifting. Keep in mind that actually lifting the weights is the easiest part of gaining mass. Maintaing a proper diet and keeping your body as anabolic (environment for muscle growth) are the hard parts. If you can keep your diet, rest and lifting in check then I can guarantee short term results with any program...BUT you need to think of it as a long term process, because it takes years to put on muscle (despite what the muscle mags say).

That being said. What is your diet like? Do you have an idea of what your daily intake of protein, fat and carbs are? After your diet is in order, I (and others on the site) can help with a routine.

[TALO]

gaining weight while losing bf is a very hard thing to do. I would suggest you pick one. At 5'6 156lbs , like you said not huge. With out seeing your pictures or knowing what your diet is like then it's hard to tell you what to do.

If it where up to me I would say work on mass, meaning gain as much muscle as you can, then go on a cutting diet for 3-4 months.

So they give you a program and tell you that your going to gain 20lbs in 3 months, do they give you a diet with this program??

[HSfootball16]

you cant really do both at the same time, atleast not very well. mostly because you need extra calories and protien to gain muscule, and you need fewer calories and more cardio to burn fat. i would say you should focus on building some muscule and then switch over and try to loose fat in a few months (like 4-5 atleast). you'll just end up doing a hole lot of nothing if you try both at the same time. but dont take my word for it, im only 16... seriously, it's probably not a good idea.

[Kane]

You can pull off a clean bulk, just watch your fat intake and carb intake dont get sky high...but at 5'6" 156lbs, why not go for the most results? You could have a high metabolism, in which case your diet could consist of 10 bigmac's a day and you wouldnt get fat. So really its a trial and error thing when it comes to diet.

[Trey]

First off thanks for all the replies. Ok, as far as what I keep track of are carbs, calories, water and protein. My protein is usually around 170-190 carbs are 350-510, water is around 120 ounces and calories are around 3200. They don't give an eating diet with the mag so im kinda in the dark about that. Someone said because of my small frame if I lift heavy and try to gain mass the muscle will burn off the fat. Another person said you will never see the 6 pack no matter how many abs exercises you do if there is just the smallest layer of fat over them. That's why I don't know what to do about it but I will tell you that im absolutely putting on muscle. Lol, I couldn't flex my pecs before I started working out and now they bounce. Any other insight is appriciated. Thanks, Trey

[_Wolf_]

listen to kane.....i think he's become a very wise old man overnight

[Kane]

Originally Posted by Sentinel

listen to kane.....i think he's become a very wise old man overnight

Thanks Anuj...that means alot bro (even if you are joking )

Originally Posted by Trey

Ok, as far as what I keep track of are carbs, calories, water and protein. My protein is usually around 170-190 carbs are 350-510, calories are around 3200.

Protein seems about right, carbs seem a bit high, but overall it looks good. What about your fat intake? It is important too. What is your metabolism like? If you find yourself gaining mass and not much muscle then scale down your carbs. Your daily breakdown should be 40%/20%/40% for protein fat and carbs for a typical bulk. so 1280cals proteins, 640 cals of fat and 1280 cals of carbs. Fitday.com will help you with alot of foods and their breakdown. You could alwasy increase it by about 250-500 cals per day and see how your results change. Diet takes a while to zone in on.

Originally Posted by Trey

They don't give an eating diet with the mag so im kinda in the dark about that.

Because they are bullshit. They rely on misconceptions and the hope of instant muscle, which is why they appeal to most people entering the gym.

Originally Posted by Trey

Someone said because of my small frame if I lift heavy and try to gain mass the muscle will burn off the fat. Another person said you will never see the 6 pack no matter how many abs exercises you do if there is just the smallest layer of fat over them.

If you have a high metabolism then lifting will help burn the fat. Muscle burning off fat doesn't make any sense. You burn off fat by expending energy, not by having muscle.

The 6 pack thing isn't entirely true. I have a 6 pack, not ripped like the pros or anything, but you can see a definite sixpack and I'm at 18% bf.

Originally Posted by Trey

Any other insight is appriciated. Thanks, Trey

Is there anyway you could post the routine? The days, exercises/day and sets/reps?

The way you described it sounds alot like doing HST starting at the 4-6RM and ending at the 12-15RM (HST in reverse lol). Which is kind of retarded because there is no way you can bench as much weight doing a 4x10 as you can for a 2x5. So you're actually not progressing. See where I'm going with this, you'll be going from benching, say, 185lbs for 2x5 and then 9 weeks later doing 95lbs for a 4x10. I just caught that now and it set off some red flags. You wanna be going the other way, benching 95 for a 4x10 and then 9 weeks later going for a 2x5 with 185lbs. It just doesnt make sense to do it that way. Any strength gains you got from weeks 1-3 will be gone by the end of the program and you'll be back to benching week 1's weight for a 2x5.

Look at Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength or Single Factor 5x5 because they will provide results 50x better than the muscle mag. Personally I wouldn't wipe my rear-end with the routines they have in those magazines.

[TALO]

How did you come at 18% bf Kane ?

[Kane]

I had myself tested a month or so ago at the gym. The electronic ones that measure resistance and I had the calipers done too. They both gave pretty much the same result.