Quote :

"you can bulk up and tone out at the same time, i want to gain muscle mass since I have already toned out...not talkin about bulkin up to where its fat accumulating"

no you really can't...maybe if you're just starting out and get some newbie gains, but you need to pick one or the other

the only way to gain mass is to eat more calories than you burn off, how much fat you gain in the process is going to be determined by how far over your maintenance calories you go

4/4/2007 6:13:41 PM

Quote :

"no you really can't"

unless you have super genes. some bodybuilders are known for it.

but yeah, for most of us, we have to choose one or the other more or less.

4/4/2007 10:05:59 PM

You can, it's just super difficult and will slow your gains. It's much easier to eat to gain and then worry about losing the fat afterwards than it is to eat super clean, high protein low fat, low carb, work like a madman and only gain a little bit of mass.

I've done it before, but it's soooo damn hard not only to do, but to stick with because the gains are so frustratingly slow.

4/4/2007 10:09:33 PM

high protein, low fat, low carb? no wonder you didn't gain anything.

4/5/2007 10:16:43 AM

i would think if one were to eat nothing but like 200g of protein a day the person could still gain muscle while losing weight

4/5/2007 10:18:46 AM

why stop at 200? why not 1000?!?!?

4/5/2007 10:21:21 AM

^^ hahaha

4/5/2007 10:25:03 AM

Folks, there's no such thing as being toned.

Quote :

"high protein low fat, low carb, work like a madman and only gain a little bit of mass. "

Obviously. You're not going to gain any mass if you don't give your body anything to make mass with.

[Edited on April 5, 2007 at 11:18 AM. Reason : .]

4/5/2007 11:17:31 AM

Quote :

"Folks, there's no such thing as being toned."

If you have a little less than 5% body fat, you're still around 5% fat.




Fatty.

4/5/2007 11:41:11 AM

I meant % wise. I was still eating over 3000 calories a day. It was mostly lean protein (chicken, fish), vegetables, and fruit. I ate some brown rice, some whole grain bread, but it was mostly protein and fruit/veg.

4/5/2007 12:59:12 PM

so high protein, high carb, low fat.

4/5/2007 1:10:21 PM

too bad fat eaten =/= bodyfat

[Edited on April 5, 2007 at 1:37 PM. Reason : ]

4/5/2007 1:37:35 PM

Yeah, I suppose. I guess I should have said that I tried to avoid too many "bad" complex carbs. I rarely eat potatoes, pasta, white bread, etc.

4/5/2007 6:06:15 PM

whole wheat pasta ftw

4/5/2007 6:42:57 PM

so is it possible to lose weight and keep muscle tone at the same time?

4/5/2007 8:37:30 PM

^ if you have fat to lose, yes. just have to continue lifting weights.

4/5/2007 8:41:04 PM

don't cut calories too drastically, up your protein intake, and continue to lift occasionally while putting more time into cardio. you won't lose much muscle mass at all if you do this.

4/6/2007 11:23:22 AM

my biggest problem is getting hungry at night...what are the best things to eat at night for a snack that wont sit in your stomach when you sleep?

4/6/2007 1:20:33 PM

you actually want it to "sit in your stomach" so to speak...so your muscles have food (most growing occurs while you sleep)

the best things to eat before bed are foods with casein protein in them

I usually have a shake or some cottage cheese

4/6/2007 2:12:13 PM

^do I want this despite the fact that I am cutting right now?

4/6/2007 2:21:50 PM

yes, esp. if you're cutting so you can preserve that muscle mass

4/6/2007 2:28:12 PM

have a mini meal consisting of the following:

cheese/peanut butter/nuts/eggs
+
fruit (pear/apple/orange/peach/apricots/etc)
+
whole wheat bread

1st and 3rd item could be replaced with a protein shake, i.e., shake + fruit

4/6/2007 2:31:01 PM

Hehe, I just read something where an incredibly ripped guy said he drinks half a Guinness mixed with cream before and after working out to build mass

4/6/2007 3:30:04 PM

What exercises would you suggest for trim/shapely arms? I have always struggled in that area - even when I danced 15 hours a week or was doing regular cardio/strength training/pilates type workouts. It's weird because when I am lifting boxes (packing for an event, helping someone move, etc), I can lift a fair amount, but whenever I try to do arm exercises I feel like such a wimp/like it's doing nothing.

4/6/2007 5:41:52 PM

just lift, B. prisoners on the yard don't give it much thought.

4/6/2007 5:47:48 PM

^^I suggest lots of cardio combined with eating less.

You cannot target a specific area for slimming by working it out exclusively. It doesn't work like that. Even if you were to work out your arms 4 hours a day, the fat you burn is just as likely to come from you ass as from your arms. And the extra muscle mass you accumulate in the process will simply make your arms bigger.

If you want to slim down, you're better off with cardio. Lifting will burn fat, but it's a lot easier to do 2 hours a day of cardio than 2 hours a day of lifting.

[Edited on April 6, 2007 at 6:35 PM. Reason : 2]

4/6/2007 6:34:55 PM

OR you could lift and do cardio

4/6/2007 6:39:36 PM

And there's the whole muscle burns fat thing too.

4/6/2007 11:41:25 PM

Quote :

"^^I suggest lots of cardio combined with eating less. You cannot target a specific area for slimming by working it out exclusively. It doesn't work like that. Even if you were to work out your arms 4 hours a day, the fat you burn is just as likely to come from you ass as from your arms. And the extra muscle mass you accumulate in the process will simply make your arms bigger. If you want to slim down, you're better off with cardio. Lifting will burn fat, but it's a lot easier to do 2 hours a day of cardio than 2 hours a day of lifting."

I understand that I cannot target a specific area for slimming by working it out exclusively. Also, I understand that consistent cardio paired with reduced calorie intake (I typically go for high protein, healthy carbs, low sugar) is what works (or should work). What I am saying is that even when I did 15 hours of dance classes a week or 1 hour of cardio per day plus strength training or pilates exercises, that I still had trouble with my arms. Even though I slimmed down all over, it seemed/looked like I had slower progress with my arms. I figured it couldn't hurt if there were some additional exercises I could do in that area too that might help, since apparentally the overall cardio and other exercises didn't help enough.

Thanks for the suggestion

4/7/2007 3:12:41 AM

If weight loss is your number 1 goal then make sure you are eating a small meal every 3 hours during the day and stop eating 2-3hrs before bed. Also, make sure the meals are of a good nutritional value.

You may even want to adjust your lifting schedule so that you are only lifting 4 days a week and doing 30-60min of cardio 3 times a week. That's the approach I used when I went from 192lbs to 150 in 4 months and I was able to build muscle the whole time.

Also, switch up your weight routines after 4 weeks. The more you can confuse your muscles the faster the results will come.

Good luck!

4/7/2007 12:58:27 PM