Lose Fat, Gain Strength

[cmaracz]

Ok I searched and there's a lot of threads on this in general, but nothing that really answered exactly what I needed. Sory and thanks in advance for any good responses.

Well I am what I guess would be called "skinny fat". Overall I weigh 190 (up from 165 four months ago thanks to dirty bulking) and look pretty lanky with a shirt on. My arms are pretty small and my legs aren't anything to look at either. But I also have pretty much all of my fat concentrated in the gut and rear and to some extent thigh area.

So I have two things I need to do: gain strength and lose fat. I'd keep with the bulk cycle until I get decent numbers and size, but I'd like to give my wallet a rest and also having nice abs and such is very tempting (and an easyish goal, I'd have to lose 10-15ish pounds of fat maybe?) So it seems like I'm up for a cut cycle, but my lifts are pretty low (I've dropped a **** tonne after not being able to get to a gym for a month).

So I'm wondering if there's a way to combine my goals and gain strength even when losing fat. You need a surplus to gain muscle and a deficit to lose fat right? But can you still gain strength in general on a deficit? If so, what kind of diet and exercise would I be looking at? Also how much of a cut would be safe to conserve muscle and even gain strength? I've heard not to go below a 500 deficit. That'd be about a pound a week. But would it be possible to go 750 or even 1000 safely?

[formula1]

You can certainly gain strength while cutting, especially if you are relatively untrained (still capable of newbie gains? ). The key is to eat a clean caloric deficit, and lift heavy. a 5x5 program is good for building strength as it focuses on heavy compound movements.

[rforgione]

Originally Posted by formula1

You can certainly gain strength while cutting, especially if you are relatively untrained (still capable of newbie gains? ). The key is to eat a clean caloric deficit, and lift heavy. a 5x5 program is good for building strength as it focuses on heavy compound movements.

could not have said it better myself. i apply 5x5 concepts to my own workout. gaining strength and losing fat is a very realistic goal. gaining muscle and losing fat simultaneously however is far, far more difficult, so it's good that you've planned out two distinct cycles, one for a bulk and one for a cut

[cmaracz]

Thanks. Can anyone answer me as to what kind of cut I'd be looking at? As in numbers and such.

[rforgione]

I cut at between 800-1000 cals. I suggest trying to lose no more than 2lbs. per week which is about a 1000 calorie deficit. Up to a 1000kcal deficit and you should be find so long as your diet is in check.

[formula1]

any more than 2lbs/week (or really at 2lbs/week), you run the risk of losing muscle along with fat. Unless you're really overweight, I would shoot for closer to 1-1.5lbs/week to start. Another downside to such a low caloric intake is lowering of your metabolism (in response to lower caloric intake, body thinks it needs to conserve energy), which could make it more difficult to burn fat than if you were eating more. I would start at -500 calories/day from maintenance. 500*7 = 3500 = 1lb fat/week. Lift heavy (go to the workout programs forum and pick a tried and true schedule), and supplement with HIIT. Both of these will burn calories over an extended period after they are performed, and both help minimize muscle loss.

[oaks]

Originally Posted by rforgione

I cut at between 800-1000 cals. I suggest trying to lose no more than 2lbs. per week which is about a 1000 calorie deficit. Up to a 1000kcal deficit and you should be find so long as your diet is in check.

wow IMO thats wayyyy too extreme...cut at about a 500cal deficit to ensure the weight you are losing is pretty much all fat...you, cutting at a 800-1000cal deficit are definitley losing some muscle mass along with that fat..id aim for more like 1-1.5lbs a week for weight loss, personally.

[oaks]

so to answer your question, i would cut at around 2500-2600cals.
keep the protein fairly high, around 1.5g/per lb of body weight.
Train hard to see results.