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KLZQ
01-22-11, 9:17 am
Long time browser, part-time poster ladies and djents. I find the majority of the information on this site extremely useful and the fact that we're all brothers here inspires me.

I've got quite a long story to share but I'll break it down into the most important aspects.

I'm currently 22, Honors B.Sc in Kinesiology, working 2 jobs + going for a masters + gym after work.

Between the ages of 16-18 I caught the bug like most of you. I was a casual lifter until about 18 until I had a football coach who was a 300 metabolic machine and pushed me in the right direction. I went from a mesomorphic 170 to a pretty ripped and shredded 205 in about a year and a half. That brings me to 19.5 years of age.

Now the downward spiral, tack on travelling too and from school, an ex girl of 4 years, and a shift in focus... I ballooned into a cool 260 tub-o-lard. Luckily I had a few years training beneath me belt so I wasn't of an overwhelming SIZE... just weight haha,

LONG story short, graduated this past June, started getting back into the gym early June as well. and I cut a cool 40 lbs in about 4 months. That brings me to where I am today.

I've been hovering between 215-225 because again fell off the wagon due to the acquisition of a new job, tons of training across the country for it, no routine, bang.

NOW FINALLY some homeostasis has been achieved. A routine is set, I've been to the gym hard for about a month now with a strict diet but now I'm confused... scared... sad... :P haha.

The reason is, in those 4 months I cut the weight, I did nothing but cardio + and extremely strict yet high calorie diet. No lifting whatsoever. Leaned out a bit but not nearly enough.

So herein lays my question to you boys. I'm 220, starting my lifts, majority of my strength and form is there, yet I'm still much larger than I'd like to be. Quite the belly, chubby in the face, waist isn't where it should be so I'm not exactly sure how I should approach this.

Do I start a cut, do I get back into a bulking routine, do I start a 5x5 or do you have any recommendations?

Currently I've been using the Max-OT routine with my brother (who is 16 and a monster as well haha) and I can already feel the strength come back but I know my body and weight isn't being cut. I also know it's not conducive to loosing weight as well.

It's odd because we all know so much about the craft, dieting, etc, yet at this point I'm lost as to how I should approach it, I really want to cut the weight first but how do I implement lifting into as well.

Lastly, I've got my animal supps ready and the diet can be modified to suit the kind of plan I'm going to implement.

Any opinions? Thanks for taking the time as well!

Phil800101
01-22-11, 1:12 pm
Long time browser, part-time poster ladies and djents. I find the majority of the information on this site extremely useful and the fact that we're all brothers here inspires me.

I've got quite a long story to share but I'll break it down into the most important aspects.

I'm currently 22, Honors B.Sc in Kinesiology, working 2 jobs + going for a masters + gym after work.

Between the ages of 16-18 I caught the bug like most of you. I was a casual lifter until about 18 until I had a football coach who was a 300 metabolic machine and pushed me in the right direction. I went from a mesomorphic 170 to a pretty ripped and shredded 205 in about a year and a half. That brings me to 19.5 years of age.

Now the downward spiral, tack on travelling too and from school, an ex girl of 4 years, and a shift in focus... I ballooned into a cool 260 tub-o-lard. Luckily I had a few years training beneath me belt so I wasn't of an overwhelming SIZE... just weight haha,

LONG story short, graduated this past June, started getting back into the gym early June as well. and I cut a cool 40 lbs in about 4 months. That brings me to where I am today.

I've been hovering between 215-225 because again fell off the wagon due to the acquisition of a new job, tons of training across the country for it, no routine, bang.

NOW FINALLY some homeostasis has been achieved. A routine is set, I've been to the gym hard for about a month now with a strict diet but now I'm confused... scared... sad... :P haha.

The reason is, in those 4 months I cut the weight, I did nothing but cardio + and extremely strict yet high calorie diet. No lifting whatsoever. Leaned out a bit but not nearly enough.

So herein lays my question to you boys. I'm 220, starting my lifts, majority of my strength and form is there, yet I'm still much larger than I'd like to be. Quite the belly, chubby in the face, waist isn't where it should be so I'm not exactly sure how I should approach this.

Do I start a cut, do I get back into a bulking routine, do I start a 5x5 or do you have any recommendations?

Currently I've been using the Max-OT routine with my brother (who is 16 and a monster as well haha) and I can already feel the strength come back but I know my body and weight isn't being cut. I also know it's not conducive to loosing weight as well.

It's odd because we all know so much about the craft, dieting, etc, yet at this point I'm lost as to how I should approach it, I really want to cut the weight first but how do I implement lifting into as well.

Lastly, I've got my animal supps ready and the diet can be modified to suit the kind of plan I'm going to implement.

Any opinions? Thanks for taking the time as well!

It sounds like cutting the weight is a priority to you, so I would cut. Better to get lean and then cleanly bulk up then bulk up with some extra fat already there. As for the lifting, I can't recommend a particular routine off the top of my head, but in a general sense as long as your diet/supps are on point and you're doing cardio then regardless of what routine you do with the weights you should drop the fat. Diet-wise you'll probably need to cut back on the calories, but as long as you're getting enough protein lean mass should be maintained pretty well. Hope this helps.

KLZQ
01-22-11, 2:00 pm
I appreciate it man. Yeah the diet and cardio at the moment is my strong point. I'm just not sure how to structure it per se. When I cut the weight, it was basically 6 to 7x a week for an hour on the elliptical doing intervals with a razor sharp diet, no weights. Animal Pak, Flex and Cuts... the weight melted.

Now getting back into it... Max-OT is 5x a week of lifts and doing cardio on these days is recommended 8 hours pre or post exercise. Unfortuantely with work I don't have that kind of time. Maybe a basic Mon/Wed/Fri split with cardio on my off days. It's just structuring the lift days that are throwing me for a loop.

71bbo455
01-22-11, 2:11 pm
K,

At this point it's really not about which routine you choose. Pretty much with what you are telling me your goal is to lean out but keep muscle. The only way to do that is to lose the weight over time, not quickly. If you lose too quickly your body will lose muscle mass as well. I would just pick a good weight training routine with cardio attached. Doing cardio 8 hours after training would not make a difference as far as I'm concerned. I would do weights first and then after hit the HIIT on the cardio machines. You would be maximizing your fat burning, as well as your fitness levels, while training and the HIIT will increase your metabolism throughout the day. This will make your body burn more calories even at rest. Give it a shot for a few weeks and see how your feel. Let us know how you are progressing and if you have any further questions fire away.

Good Luck and stick with it brother,

Cellardweller
01-22-11, 5:14 pm
I'm in the same boat my friend. There's really 3 choices. 1. to cut. 2. to bulk. And 3 to really dial in your diet like these guys suggest and gradually loose the weight while trying to maintain your strength goals. This, I'm finding out, is the long road. Maybe it's just me. I've been back in the gym for a little over a year and a half and have met most of the strength goals I've set for myself starting out. I'm leaning toward a cut now just so I can see my results, but I really want to keep pushing my lifts too. You are wanting to get back in the gym and start building some serious muscle again. I can see why going straight to a cut would be a downer. The iron is calling you. This is an excellent topic. Seems like there's lots of smaller guys wanting to get big, but those of us who are already big and want to lay down some serious muscle while loosing the fat seem to be in a minority. Which ever path you choose, make sure you start up a journey. I'm subbed in for sure.