I need to drop a lot of weight, But retain most muscle.

[Nightly1029]

I'm very new to any kind of physical activity. I've never really worked out much, And definitely never exercised before. I just started dieting by eating a lot of eggs, Oranges, And Bananas. On occasions I'll treat myself to a grilled Ham and Cheese sandwich, But the whole wheat bread has 20g of carbs per sandwich alone, So I tend to avoid those.

Anyway, I'm dieting by eating negative calorie foods, Eggs, Just whatever is low on calories and carbs and is known to be "Good" for you, And I'm exercising by doing what I think is High Intensity Interval Training. I'm in my backyard sprinting 25 seconds, Walking 45. I do 20 intervals a day, Sometimes I'll do 2 sessions a day. Usually it's just 1, So I'm HiiTing around 25 minutes a day. I'm not doing any kind of lifting weights, Which I was told is terrible to do. So here I am, Asking you guys for some kind of workout routine. All I have is dumb bells of weights from 5 to 55 pounds. I don't have a bench of any sort, Just adjustable weights. I'd really appreciate it if I could get some kind of schedule that will be enough to let me retain most of my muscle while losing weight. Willing to do about anything. = ). Thanks in advance, guys!

[Neekan]

Well to simply put the title, you want to cut :P

Weight lifting is important if you're trying to lose weight. Without it, you're putting yourself at risk of losing the fat free mass you're trying to retain. Make your body think you need your muscles, by lifting heavy.. 6-12 reps per set, circles around the strength/mass area of weight training. Any less reps and you'll only be training fort strength, any more and you'll be training for endurance - not neccessarily mass or size.

I'd say dumbbells is all you need, really.

Look up some exercises on this kick ass site for each body part:
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

[Nightly1029]

Originally Posted by Neekan

Well to simply put the title, you want to cut :P

Weight lifting is important if you're trying to lose weight. Without it, you're putting yourself at risk of losing the fat free mass you're trying to retain. Make your body think you need your muscles, by lifting heavy.. 6-12 reps per set, circles around the strength/mass area of weight training. Any less reps and you'll only be training fort strength, any more and you'll be training for endurance - not neccessarily mass or size.

I'd say dumbbells is all you need, really.

Look up some exercises on this kick ass site for each body part:

Thanks for the quick reply, bro! And this website is incredible! Something I've been needing to focus on was lower chest workouts, And I never had a bench to do declined bench presses and such. I'm sure this has some amazing alternatives. Thank you very much for all of the info. Should I be doing full body workouts? Like arms, Back, Shoulders one day, Legs, Stomach, Oblique the next? Any suggestions on this would be great. = D

[Neekan]

Originally Posted by Nightly1029

Thanks for the quick reply, bro! And this website is incredible! Something I've been needing to focus on was lower chest workouts, And I never had a bench to do declined bench presses and such. I'm sure this has some amazing alternatives. Thank you very much for all of the info. Should I be doing full body workouts? Like arms, Back, Shoulders one day, Legs, Stomach, Oblique the next? Any suggestions on this would be great. = D

Hmm it's a personal choice, full body workouts can be done as little as once or twice a week, whereas 3, 4 or 5+ day splits take up a lot of your time throughout the week. It depends on which of the two suits your lifestyle most.

The type of workout you described was actually a split, because you're splitting 6 different body parts into two days. Full body workouts include everything, head to toe lol.

The site I linked before also offers workout templates if you're interested:
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/WorkoutMenu.html

With dumbbells you can do pretty much everything for a decent workout, for a bench you can also find something like a narrow table or wooden board if you don't wish to buy one or join a local gym.

[Nightly1029]

Originally Posted by Neekan

Hmm it's a personal choice, full body workouts can be done as little as once or twice a week, whereas 3, 4 or 5+ day splits take up a lot of your time throughout the week. It depends on which of the two suits your lifestyle most.

The type of workout you described was actually a split, because you're splitting 6 different body parts into two days. Full body workouts include everything, head to toe lol.

The site I linked before also offers workout templates if you're interested:

Holy ****! This website has everything. You've given me the bible of life. You are a gentleman and a scholar. Thanks a bunch man. One last question about dieting. I've been told it's alright to eat high calories and carbs every day, But I'm looking to lose most of my body fat and get a bit of muscle. I don't have a Bodyfat scale, But I'm guessing I'm at least 22-26% body fat. I'm looking to get down to 12-14% with a bit of muscle in about 6 months. Think this is possible?

[Anubis18]

split your body parts up into days, but work the full body, use fairly heavy weight, do compound exercises (bench, overhead press, pullups, dips, squat, deadlift) and don't be afraid to eat! Fruits good for you but you need a good balance of fat/protein/carbs. The extra activity will be plenty to keep you from getting fat. Nothing wrong with carbs, especially from whole wheat/complex sources. Throw in some cardio a couple times a week and you'll be golden

[V1C70R]

Hey you wanna be a myspaced ripped kid.

Cut your hair!

[Nightly1029]

Originally Posted by V1C70R

Hey you wanna be a myspaced ripped kid.

Cut your hair!

.... -.- Okay, You're probably the 20th person to tell me to cut my hair in the past week... I'm just going to ****ing burn it all off so it never comes back. Will that be sufficient? = P

[Konzine]

Originally Posted by V1C70R

Hey you wanna be a myspaced ripped kid.

Cut your hair!

Boom! Epic pwnage!

[khaoboy]

cut the carbs at night and pack on the protein.

[Nightly1029]

Originally Posted by Anubis18

split your body parts up into days, but work the full body, use fairly heavy weight, do compound exercises (bench, overhead press, pullups, dips, squat, deadlift) and don't be afraid to eat! Fruits good for you but you need a good balance of fat/protein/carbs. The extra activity will be plenty to keep you from getting fat. Nothing wrong with carbs, especially from whole wheat/complex sources. Throw in some cardio a couple times a week and you'll be golden

Ahh, Thanks man! I was afraid to eat anything with more than 3 carbs per serving. I must see carbs as a total bad thing. I guess the diet doesn't have to be so strict, Eh? = )

[Neekan]

Originally Posted by Nightly1029

Holy ****! This website has everything. You've given me the bible of life. You are a gentleman and a scholar. Thanks a bunch man. One last question about dieting. I've been told it's alright to eat high calories and carbs every day, But I'm looking to lose most of my body fat and get a bit of muscle. I don't have a Bodyfat scale, But I'm guessing I'm at least 22-26% body fat. I'm looking to get down to 12-14% with a bit of muscle in about 6 months. Think this is possible?

Lol thanks as well.
22% is quite a lot, you may be overestimating. But let's assume you're right for now..

Popular methods of weight loss = low carb diets. Atkins, Keto, Anabolic.. they all involve some sort of low carb, carb cycling system. I don't think i've ever dieted down without lowering carb intake. I just know it's effective because I cut down 15lbs once :P

You'll have to know what your maintenence level is, which is the number of calories you require to maintain the same weight (hence the name).. try this site:
http://health.drgily.com/basal-metab...calculator.php

After finding out what it is, take ~500 calories off that number, and that's how much you should be eating every day, in general. You have a high percentage of body fat, which is why 500 calories below maintenence is a good number, some people with only 10% body fat can't eat as little without losing muscle. Then again, if they lift weights they might be able to keep it all.. < that's why you need those dumbbells.

Personally, i'd reccomend you carb cycle, eat around 30g of carbs on week days, then replenish gylcogen stores by 'carbing up' on weekends with 300-500g of carbohydrates.. depending on how out-of-energy you feel o_O

You can request a low carb diet from people here I guess if you have trouble making your own.

[Nightly1029]

Originally Posted by Neekan

Lol thanks as well.
22% is quite a lot, you may be overestimating. But let's assume you're right for now..

Popular methods of weight loss = low carb diets. Atkins, Keto, Anabolic.. they all involve some sort of low carb, carb cycling system. I don't think i've ever dieted down without lowering carb intake. I just know it's effective because I cut down 15lbs once :P

You'll have to know what your maintenence level is, which is the number of calories you require to maintain the same weight (hence the name).. try this site:

After finding out what it is, take ~500 calories off that number, and that's how much you should be eating every day, in general. You have a high percentage of body fat, which is why 500 calories below maintenence is a good number, some people with only 10% body fat can't eat as little without losing muscle. Then again, if they lift weights they might be able to keep it all.. < that's why you need those dumbbells.

Personally, i'd reccomend you carb cycle, eat around 30g of carbs on week days, then replenish gylcogen stores by 'carbing up' on weekends with 300-500g of carbohydrates.. depending on how out-of-energy you feel o_O

You can request a low carb diet from people here I guess if you have trouble making your own.

That's exactly my goal is getting down 15 pounds or so, Depending on how I look after I drop a bit. I calculated it, And it's saying I need 1765 calories for basal metabolic. I think right now I'm only eating around 1,000 anyway. Is it best I keep it around that level?

I'll definitely try that carb cycle. Thanks man. I think I can manage making my own. I'm really not sure my Body fat at all, And you seem to know a lot about pretty much every aspect of this, So do you think maybe if you have an IM, Or I could do it by email, I can send you a picture of me now, And you can guess my body fat? If it's not asking too much. I just haven't been able to go out and buy a BF scale yet, So I'm not sure where I stand and how much I need to lose.

[kevinYu]

Originally Posted by Nightly1029

I'm very new to any kind of physical activity. I've never really worked out much, And definitely never exercised before. I just started dieting by eating a lot of eggs, Oranges, And Bananas. On occasions I'll treat myself to a grilled Ham and Cheese sandwich, But the whole wheat bread has 20g of carbs per sandwich alone, So I tend to avoid those.

Anyway, I'm dieting by eating negative calorie foods, Eggs, Just whatever is low on calories and carbs and is known to be "Good" for you, And I'm exercising by doing what I think is High Intensity Interval Training. I'm in my backyard sprinting 25 seconds, Walking 45. I do 20 intervals a day, Sometimes I'll do 2 sessions a day. Usually it's just 1, So I'm HiiTing around 25 minutes a day. I'm not doing any kind of lifting weights, Which I was told is terrible to do. So here I am, Asking you guys for some kind of workout routine. All I have is dumb bells of weights from 5 to 55 pounds. I don't have a bench of any sort, Just adjustable weights. I'd really appreciate it if I could get some kind of schedule that will be enough to let me retain most of my muscle while losing weight. Willing to do about anything. = ). Thanks in advance, guys!

Losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time is hard but possible.
Supplements, since your starting all you need is whole foods and a good whey protein
Good foods to eat:eggs, fruits, vegetables, meat, beans, chicken, tuna, fish, whole wheat bread, rice, corn, sweet potatoes.
3 best workouts that will get you ripped; bench press, squat, deadlift.
If you do those, you will have a ripped body in no time since those exercises work 70-85% muscle fibers of your body.
LOTS of rest for you. Atleast 8 hours of sleep. You will see "noob gains" in the beginning.
Cardio is important and focus on distance running. Do your cardio after your workout.
Do your running early in the morning on an empty stomach because your body will look for energy and it'll turn to your fat as a source of energy. Use the exercise list on this website.

Goodluck!

[Nightly1029]

Originally Posted by kevinYu

Losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time is hard but possible.
Supplements, since your starting all you need is whole foods and a good whey protein
Good foods to eat:eggs, fruits, vegetables, meat, beans, chicken, tuna, fish, whole wheat bread, rice, corn, sweet potatoes.
3 best workouts that will get you ripped; bench press, squat, deadlift.
If you do those, you will have a ripped body in no time since those exercises work 70-85% muscle fibers of your body.
LOTS of rest for you. Atleast 8 hours of sleep. You will see "noob gains" in the beginning.
Cardio is important and focus on distance running. Do your cardio after your workout.
Do your running early in the morning on an empty stomach because your body will look for energy and it'll turn to your fat as a source of energy. Use the exercise list on this website.

Goodluck!

Hey thanks for the list of food bro. I've been eating literally 2 foods for 3 months, And I'm getting sick of it. I'll make a grocery list of this. Those seem like easy enough workouts. I can do that. Sleeping will be no issue at all. I usually sleep 10-12 hours a day. XD. What is a noob gain? I do my cardio early, But is high-low intervals bad to do? I know high-medium is really good, But I can only do 3 minutes of high-medium, But 30 minutes of high-low if I push it.

[Neekan]

If that's your basal metabolic rate, then 2118 calories is your maintenence level.

1000 is wayyy too low, much of the weight you'll be losing will not be fat. Your body's preferred energy source are your muscles, when you're in an extreme calorie deficit like that, it's the closest thing. At 1000 calories a day you'll most likely put yourself into starvation mode, nobody eats that little! It'll cause your body to do the opposite of what you want - clinging onto fat stores in fear of losing any more energy.

The lowest I suggest you go is 1500 cals. that's a ~620 caloric deficient.

I don't think you need to know what bf% you have now, it's better to start eating and lifting maybe even do some cardio.. but that means more calories per day.

Then again i'd be happy eating more while still dieting.

I did cardio 2 x a week, and weight lifting 5 x a week in my cutting phase. HIIT + 5 day split.

Edit: + carb cycling.

[Nightly1029]

Originally Posted by Neekan

If that's your basal metabolic rate, then 2118 calories is your maintenence level.

1000 is wayyy too low, much of the weight you'll be losing will not be fat. Your body's preferred energy source are your muscles, when you're in an extreme calorie deficit like that, it's the closest thing. At 1000 calories a day you'll most likely put yourself into starvation mode, nobody eats that little! It'll cause your body to do the opposite of what you want - clinging onto fat stores in fear of losing any more energy.

The lowest I suggest you go is 1500 cals. that's a ~620 caloric deficient.

I don't think you need to know what bf% you have now, it's better to start eating and lifting maybe even do some cardio.. but that means more calories per day.

Then again i'd be happy eating more while still dieting.

I did cardio 2 x a week, and weight lifting 5 x a week in my cutting phase. HIIT + 5 day split.

Edit: + carb cycling.

I'll add up my calories and see where I am. 1000 was just a rough guess, But I've cut back a lot on eating, So it's closer to 1000 than 2000 I'm sure. I'll aim for 1500 a day, Thanks bro. = ). Is lifting more important than cardio? 5 day split sounds pretty damn brutal. I'm doing Cardio every day, But haven't started weight lifting yet. What sort of HiiT did you do? Like I said in my first post, I'm only doing high-low, And I know high-medium is the way to go, But I can only handle that for a few minutes. Would it be better to do a high-low for 20-30 minutes, or a high-medium for 3-4?

[Neekan]

Originally Posted by Nightly1029

I'll add up my calories and see where I am. 1000 was just a rough guess, But I've cut back a lot on eating, So it's closer to 1000 than 2000 I'm sure. I'll aim for 1500 a day, Thanks bro. = ). Is lifting more important than cardio? 5 day split sounds pretty damn brutal. I'm doing Cardio every day, But haven't started weight lifting yet. What sort of HiiT did you do? Like I said in my first post, I'm only doing high-low, And I know high-medium is the way to go, But I can only handle that for a few minutes. Would it be better to do a high-low for 20-30 minutes, or a high-medium for 3-4?

Cardio every day? You need to eat a huge amount! Unless you cut back on it.

HIIT should not last any more than 20 minutes. You can't go high intensity for any longer than that. If you are, then it's not intense enough.

The 6/9 interval is probably the best - 6 second spriting, 9 seconds light jogging, 15 minutes. You can never go one minute flat at 90%+ VO2 sprinting. Imagine being 10 x as exhausted as a sprinter that does 10 seconds in 100m. It's pysically impossible unless you want to die. Don't do cardio every day if you're happy eating 1500 calories.

If you still want to do cardio on a daily basis, then eat 2000-2200 calories. I calculated your BMR + activity factor for you lol

You can workout twice a week on a full body workout, it'll be just as useful. There's virtually no difference except my goals were more mass, which is why I was on a 5 day split. It comes down to dedication sometimes (:

[Nightly1029]

Originally Posted by Neekan

Cardio every day? You need to eat a huge amount! Unless you cut back on it.

HIIT should not last any more than 20 minutes. You can't go high intensity for any longer than that. If you are, then it's not intense enough.

The 6/9 interval is probably the best - 6 second spriting, 9 seconds light jogging, 15 minutes. You can never go one minute flat at 90%+ VO2 sprinting. Imagine being 10 x as exhausted as a sprinter that does 10 seconds in 100m. It's pysically impossible unless you want to die. Don't do cardio every day if you're happy eating 1500 calories.

If you still want to do cardio on a daily basis, then eat 2000-2200 calories. I calculated your BMR + activity factor for you lol

What if I can't make a full 15 minutes? Still alright to go as long as I can and work up to it? Wow, Eat more calories than I am already, And stop cardio daily? This is easier than I thought. Perhaps I over prepared. XD Thanks for doing those calculations. = DD. I think the 1500 and less cardio sounds like a hell of a deal. = )). I guess I'll start needing to eat more calories once I start lifting weights, eh?

[Anubis18]

carbs aren't necessarily bad just try to avoid simple carbs, and eating them before bed

its good to eat a high carb meal post workout to replenish glycogen, also look into hiit

[Neekan]

Well, it's the cardio that effects how many calories you need, but if you're not taking any pre/post workout supplements then yeah, you could do with an extra 200-400

One last thing, if you do decide to cycle carbs, make sure you're making up the calories with the protein and fats. Eat them with every meal, fats slow gastric emptying so whatever carbs you do eat (if they're high in GI), it won't create as high as an insulin response (which could lead to fat storage).

Low GI carbs are what you shoudl be aiming for, they don't create an insulin response as much:
http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/

Just a fact thrown in there for you so you're not afraid of fats lol

This is probably hte most i've ever written on bb.com

[kevinYu]

Originally Posted by Nightly1029

Hey thanks for the list of food bro. I've been eating literally 2 foods for 3 months, And I'm getting sick of it. I'll make a grocery list of this. Those seem like easy enough workouts. I can do that. Sleeping will be no issue at all. I usually sleep 10-12 hours a day. XD. What is a noob gain? I do my cardio early, But is high-low intervals bad to do? I know high-medium is really good, But I can only do 3 minutes of high-medium, But 30 minutes of high-low if I push it.

Make sure to have 5-6 small meals a day so you'll have a fast matabolism.
The workouts are easy to do but make sure you do them right, especially the deadlift.
Improper form of doing the deadlift and you will have back problems for the rest of your life.
Heres some vids on performing the exercises.
bench press:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBNee...eature=channel
squat:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yha2X...eature=channel
deadlift: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Syt7A...eature=channel
Heres a written part of the deadlift and squat
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exer...cle=Quadriceps
Noob gains are results that you will see really fast because its your 1st time working out. Unlike other guys who have been training for years will see results in a longer period of time.

[Nightly1029]

Originally Posted by Neekan

Well, it's the cardio that effects how many calories you need, but if you're not taking any pre/post workout supplements then yeah, you could do with an extra 200-400

One last thing, if you do decide to cycle carbs, make sure you're making up the calories with the protein and fats. Eat them with every meal, fats slow gastric emptying so whatever carbs you do eat (if they're high in GI), it won't create as high as an insulin response (which could lead to fat storage).

Low GI carbs are what you shoudl be aiming for, they don't create an insulin response as much:


Just a fact thrown in there for you so you're not afraid of fats lol

This is probably hte most i've ever written on bb.com

Cycle Carbs seems pretty advanced. I might just stick with a basic diet staying at 1500-1800 calories, Basic 3 day workout cycle, And cardio every other day. That should be efficient for losing my body fat, Right?

Haha, This is the first for me, But this seems to be a huge thread that has a lot of great info. Thanks a bunch for everything man. Now I don't seem entirely clueless. If you didn't tell me about the weight lifting, I'd be skinnyfat in weeks. XD

[Neekan]

That's why I dieted down to 140, i'm now bulking up to 180, then hopefully when I cut back down to 140lbs, i'll be hyooge lol

You don't have to diet with low carb/high carb days, just make sure you're using more energy than you're consuming. Basic science 8) don't go into an extreme deficit like 1000 though, s'not good for ya.

[Nightly1029]

Originally Posted by Neekan

That's why I dieted down to 140, i'm now bulking up to 180, then hopefully when I cut back down to 140lbs, i'll be hyooge lol

You don't have to diet with low carb/high carb days, just make sure you're using more energy than you're consuming. Basic science 8) don't go into an extreme deficit like 1000 though, s'not good for ya.

I was planning to get down to 145 which is about a 15-20 pound loss. Then just get an average amount of muscle. I don't aim to be ripped and all oiled up taking pictures and stuff. I just want to be comfortable enough to take my shirt off and feel good about it. That's why I figured 12-14% body fat and a moderate amount of working out to keep me looking half-decent.

[Neekan]

Similar to male model physique? I'm aiming for that. I don't really care about the negative feedback that I can get from people on here, we all have diff. goals.

No homo, but this dude isn't far off from what i'm talking about:



Only my legs'll are bigger, and arms too. His arms are minute for the sheer size of his chest.

[JMoney..]

just dont eat carbs and do cardio. the weight will melt off.

[Nightly1029]

Originally Posted by Neekan

Similar to male model physique? I'm aiming for that. I don't really care about the negative feedback that I can get from people on here, we all have diff. goals.

No homo, but this dude isn't far off from what i'm talking about:


Only my legs'll are bigger, and arms too. His arms are minute for the sheer size of his chest.

That's what I'm going for, too. In the long run of course. For the first 6 months, I just want to get to around his body fat percentage and start working on definition. I made a 4 day schedule. I've never made one before, And I have no idea how good this is, But let me know if this somewhat anywhere remotely close to what is considered a good workout. Any pointers and tips would be great.


First Day - Back, Biceps.

-Biceps-
(Stretches - Doorway, Wall.)
Dumbbell Curl - 6 Reps x 3 Sets.
Dumbbell Preacher CUrl - 6 Reps x 3 Sets.

-Back-
(Stretches - Fixed Bar.)
Deadlifts - 12 Reps x 3 Sets.


Second Day - Chest, Triceps.


-Triceps-
(Stretches - Overhead.)
Dumbbell Triceps Extension - 6 Reps x 3 Sets.
Weighted Bench Dip - 6 Reps x 3 Sets.

-Chest-
(Stretches - Behind Head, Straight Arm)
Bench Press - 6 Reps x 3 Sets.
Bench Pushups - Do until close to exhausted x 3 sets.


Third Day - Thighs

(Stretches - Standing Quads)
-Thighs-
Squats - 10 Reps x 3 Sets.
Dumbbell Straightleg Deadlift - 10 Reps x 3 Sets.


Forth Day - Shoulders, Calves, Abs.

(Stretches - Doorway, Wall.)
-Shoulder-
Dumbbell Shoulder Press - 6 Reps x 3 Sets.
Dumbbell Lateral Raise - 6 Reps x 3 Sets.
Dumbbell Seated Real Lateral Raise - 6 Reps x 3 Sets.

(Stretches - Bend Backward, Kneeling Backward.)
-Abs-
Sit-up - 15 Reps x 3 Sets.
Weighted Leg-Hip Raise - 10 Reps x 3 Sets.

(Stretches - Floor Board.)
-Calves-
Dumbbell Single Leg Calf Raise - 6 Reps x 3 Sets per leg.
Safety Bar Seated Calf Raise - 6 Reps x 3 Sets.



Cardio every other day. 1500 Calories minimum. Carbs? No idea, Just try to watch them.