The Beginner Questions Thread pt. 1

[Pathogenic]

Originally Posted by Jester

Nevermind, ill figure it out

Sorry man, I missed your question. I'd be happy to answer it!

[tkdyo]

Im not sure if I should ask this in here or S&C. Basically Im trying to plan ahead. Right now I am trying to gain muscle/strength and doing well, my bf has only increased 1% while my weight has increased by 20lb (so says my scale, I know they arnt super reliable).

I am 5' 11, around 210 and 20% bf currently. Once I get to a 1000lb total I want to start shedding some of the fat. I would like to retain as much of that strength as possible, while getting down closer to 10% bf. Basically I want to see how I feel for mma competition purposes, because last time I lost weight for a fight I lost 20lb in 5 weeks none of which was water weight and I felt like my reaction time slowed a lot. Im wondering if this is because i had too high of a deficit and was losing too much too rapidly or was it something else like not enough fats. I didnt use a weight lifting regiment last time either, but I thought I was doing it right. I kept carbs low, protein high and ate a lot of salads with veggies in it.

So tl;dr is a deficit aimed at losing 1.5 lb per week too aggressive of a weight loss plan to try and maintain current strength, and last time I dieted for weight loss I felt like my reaction time dropped significantly although I ate a lot of protein, can this be caused by not eating enough fats? I definitely want to avoid that mistake again.

[Pathogenic]

Originally Posted by tkdyo

Im not sure if I should ask this in here or S&C. Basically Im trying to plan ahead. Right now I am trying to gain muscle/strength and doing well, my bf has only increased 1% while my weight has increased by 20lb (so says my scale, I know they arnt super reliable).

I am 5' 11, around 210 and 20% bf currently. Once I get to a 1000lb total I want to start shedding some of the fat. I would like to retain as much of that strength as possible, while getting down closer to 10% bf. Basically I want to see how I feel for mma competition purposes, because last time I lost weight for a fight I lost 20lb in 5 weeks none of which was water weight and I felt like my reaction time slowed a lot. Im wondering if this is because i had too high of a deficit and was losing too much too rapidly or was it something else like not enough fats. I didnt use a weight lifting regiment last time either, but I thought I was doing it right. I kept carbs low, protein high and ate a lot of salads with veggies in it.

So tl;dr is a deficit aimed at losing 1.5 lb per week too aggressive of a weight loss plan to try and maintain current strength, and last time I dieted for weight loss I felt like my reaction time dropped significantly although I ate a lot of protein, can this be caused by not eating enough fats? I definitely want to avoid that mistake again.

Yes, 1.5lbs per week is too much to maintain strength. I would recommend aiming for .5-1 lb. per week. If you really lost 20lbs in 5 weeks, then you were dieting idiotically. Your reaction time fell because you were essentially starving to death. All other athletic qualities go down when you're starving like that. You also lost a TON of lean body mass from dieting like that, as there's simply no way to get enough protein with that amount of calories unless you did some sort of PSMF.

Go slow even though it sucks.

[tkdyo]

Originally Posted by Pathogenic

Yes, 1.5lbs per week is too much to maintain strength. I would recommend aiming for .5-1 lb. per week. If you really lost 20lbs in 5 weeks, then you were dieting idiotically. Your reaction time fell because you were essentially starving to death. All other athletic qualities go down when you're starving like that. You also lost a TON of lean body mass from dieting like that, as there's simply no way to get enough protein with that amount of calories unless you did some sort of PSMF.

Go slow even though it sucks.

It is true I didnt know as much about dieting then as I do now. I had never had to purposely lose weight before and got not much help except online. I think I was going on about 1500 calories a day, with nutrient shakes for breakfast, salads with egg for lunch, and then a normal dinner but smaller portion. The gym I was going to was just insistent that I fight at 170 when I weighed 190 at the time, I dont go there anymore.

Thank you for providing the details and warnings, I have no problem with going that slow, just wanted to get things planned this time.

[Pathogenic]

Originally Posted by tkdyo

It is true I didnt know as much about dieting then as I do now. I had never had to purposely lose weight before and got not much help except online. I think I was going on about 1500 calories a day, with nutrient shakes for breakfast, salads with egg for lunch, and then a normal dinner but smaller portion. The gym I was going to was just insistent that I fight at 170 when I weighed 190 at the time, I dont go there anymore.

Thank you for providing the details and warnings, I have no problem with going that slow, just wanted to get things planned this time.

No problem man! If you run into problems programming your diet, feel free to ask questions!

[Sarumyan]

This forum is already half dead, noob threads keep it more interesting and lead to fun discussions.

[tkdyo]

I guess Ill ask another noob question to keep things interesting as saru said xD

I was reading the 7 habit articles from T-nation linked in the faq and Im a little confused. The article seems to imply you can in fact lower your bf% while gaining muscle or at least strength. But it seems like in these forums there are more advocates for just straight bulking then cutting in cycles rather than try to bulk on these dieting rules.

So I guess my question is how valid bulking on these rules is as opposed to a more general bulk and cut scheme? Does it depend on your goals? Can you eat enough calories following these rules to get just as rapid of strength gains while not gaining as much fat on a program like SS? Or will you inevitably trade efficiency of your training just for a couple less pounds on the scale? Or perhaps, the difference in the amount of fat you gain isnt event that noticeable to warrant dealing with bulking on these rules?

[Pathogenic]

Originally Posted by tkdyo

I was reading the 7 habit articles from T-nation linked in the faq and Im a little confused. The article seems to imply you can in fact lower your bf% while gaining muscle or at least strength. But it seems like in these forums there are more advocates for just straight bulking then cutting in cycles rather than try to bulk on these dieting rules.

It's possible to slowly gain strength while losing fat, but physiologically impossible to gain muscle. The only way to gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously is through carb and calorie cycling, but it's extremely, and I mean extremely, slow. It's more efficient to break your time up into cutting and bulking cycles.

Originally Posted by tkdyo

So I guess my question is how valid bulking on these rules is as opposed to a more general bulk and cut scheme? Does it depend on your goals?

You can eat according to the Seven Habits and successfully bulk; it just requires more calories than if you were to use them to lose weight. The Seven Habits are a template, not a specific plan.

Originally Posted by tkdyo

Can you eat enough calories following these rules to get just as rapid of strength gains while not gaining as much fat on a program like SS?

You can't stop the fat gains because they're largely genetic and based on your current bodyfat percentage, but you can indeed use it to gain weight on SS. I personally did the "see food" diet when I was on SS. It's very important to eat in a caloric surplus. If you aren't gaining weight then you're doing SS wrong.

[tkdyo]

Originally Posted by Pathogenic

It's possible to slowly gain strength while losing fat, but physiologically impossible to gain muscle. The only way to gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously is through carb and calorie cycling, but it's extremely, and I mean extremely, slow. It's more efficient to break your time up into cutting and bulking cycles.

Ok, thank you for confirming that about muscle. I will keep with what I was originally planning then.

Originally Posted by Pathogenic

You can't stop the fat gains because they're largely genetic and based on your current bodyfat percentage, but you can indeed use it to gain weight on SS. I personally did the "see food" diet when I was on SS. It's very important to eat in a caloric surplus. If you aren't gaining weight then you're doing SS wrong.

Oh Im definitely gaining weight, just eating everything atm as well lol. I was just trying to figure out if I could eat in a way to still gain muscle but not have to diet as long after my strength goals are met. But Im thinking, especially as a college student, Im just going to continue the way Ive been with this info.

[Pathogenic]

Originally Posted by tkdyo

Ok, thank you for confirming that about muscle. I will keep with what I was originally planning then.



Oh Im definitely gaining weight, just eating everything atm as well lol. I was just trying to figure out if I could eat in a way to still gain muscle but not have to diet as long after my strength goals are met. But Im thinking, especially as a college student, Im just going to continue the way Ive been with this info.

Just make sure you gain weight slowly and you'll be all set I gained about 25lbs on SS over 4 months. 65ish% was lean mass, which is a crazy ratio that I've never even come close to replicating again. As long as you don't plan on gaining 20lbs in a month like Rip recommends then your muscle:fat gained ratio will be good.