You only have to follow three simple rules:
- Workout 3 times a week with weights.
- Eat 1g protein / lb lean body mass.
- Reduce calories to lose 1-2 lbs / week.
Success is 100% guaranteed.
A more elaborate guide can be found here:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...#post553453753
The first part of "How to lose fat for Noobs" is found here:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=113693871
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09-27-2010, 04:34 AM #1
How to lose fat for Noobs part 2
How to lose fat for Noobs: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=129247741
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09-27-2010, 04:34 AM #2
Wavelength Guide to Bodybuilding v3.0
The goal of bodybuilding is to improve body composition by losing fat and/or gaining muscle mass. If total body weight goes down in the process, the method is generally referred to as "cutting", if total body weight goes up, it's called "bulking", if body weight stays about the same, it's called "recomping".
1 Cutting
1.1 Essential Rules
- Workout with weights about 3 times a week.
- Eat at least 1g protein / lb of lean body mass a day.
- Eat some fruit, veggies/salad, and some essential fatty acids (EFAs) every day.
- Above that eat whatever you want, preferably a wide variety of foods.
- Adjust your food intake so that the desired rate of weight loss is maintained.
The recommended rate of weight loss depends on your current body fat level. Generally, the higher your bodyfat, the higher the rate of weight loss can potentially be. The best indication for the rate being too high is if you rapidly lose strength in the gym. In this case, increase your intake and go for a smaller rate of weight loss. In general, a rate of about 1-2lbs per week is recommended.
Any cutting method that follows the above rules is close to optimal, any further details will not have significant effect on body composition. If you already have a meal plan, just check if these rules are followed and adjust if not.
1.2 Measuring Progress and Adjusting Food Intake
- Weigh yourself once a week, always at the same time (e.g. right after waking up).
- Don't panic if your weight stays the same or even goes up for one or two weeks.
- If your weight does not go down for more than three weeks, slightly reduce calories.
- If your rate of weight loss is above the desired value, slightly increase calories.
- The change in daily calories from those adjustments should not exceed 500 cals.
- After adjustment, stay on the new value for at least three weeks before adjusting again.
If you have never done a cutting diet, it's always better to start with more calories and reduce slowly until the desired rate of weight loss is maintained. If you stay patient, you will not have to adjust very often. With more experience, you will not have to count calories anymore, but as a beginner it is probably a good idea.
1.3 Unessential Factors
Since many questions revolve around further details of cutting diets, here is a list of factors that I believe to be of insignificant effect for body composition:
- Cardio and fat burners,
- Meal timing and meal frequency,
- Protein / Carb / Fat distribution throughout the day,
- carb / fat ratio,
- Sodium intake,
- Moderate alcohol intake,
- Use of supplements resp. meal replacements,
- "Clean" food vs. Junk food (sugar and saturated fat).
All these factors should be used as tools to make the diet as convenient as possible. Many people e.g. have an easier time dieting with eating more calories and doing cardio or taking fat burners. Some people like myself have an easier time without cardio and fat burners. In my experience, the end result (body composition improvement) is not significantly influenced. Another example is protein supplements. I e.g. use whey powder to meet my daily protein intake out of convenience. I could just as well get all my protein from other sources. A third example is meal frequency and timing. This tool should be used to reduce hunger as much as possible throughout the day. For some people that means eating 6 times a day, for others it means eating only once or twice a day.
2 Bulking and Recomping
The only factor that changes for bulking or recomping is that the rate of weight change X is positive resp. zero. All other essential rules are exactly the same as for cutting (see sections above).
For bulking, the critical factor is the value of X. Everyone has a different ability to gain weight with a certain ratio of muscle vs. fat gain. This ability is dependent on things like genetics, age, training experience, etc. The ratio will decrease the higher X is, but not in a linear way. The trick is to find the optimal value for X, where the ratio is still close to optimum. Unfortunally, this is solely a matter of experience. My advise would be to increase calories by 500 over maintenance and check if weight goes up while fat gains are still tolerable. If no weight is gained, increase calories again. If fat gains are too high, decrease calories.
For recomping (staying at about the same total body weight), just weigh yourself from time to time and adjust food intake accordingly to maintain that weight. You can e.g. weigh yourself in the morning and just skip your last meal of the day if you're above target weight. You can determine your progress by how much strength you gain in the gym, by taking measurements (e.g. waist size), or simply by looking in the mirror.
3 Weight Training
Weight training refers to intense (anaerobic) strength training in this guide. This applies to all three variants of bodybuilding (cutting, bulking, and recomping). There are many methods of weight training, a typical 3 day split program is assembled here (the numbers refer to number of exercises):
Day1: 3 x Chest, 2 x Biceps, 1 x Abs
Day2: Rest
Day3: 4 x Legs, 2 x Shoulders
Day4: Rest
Day5: 2 x Back, 2 x Triceps, 1 x Traps, 1 x Abs
Day6: Rest
Day7: Rest
For each exercise, do one light warmup set, then go up with the weight on the next 2-3 sets, and do one or two heavy sets to failure or close to failure. For the smaller exercises (e.g. biceps), the number of sets can also only be 3-4 though. Repetition numbers should be in the range of 15-6. For the exercises one could e.g. do (in the above order):
3 x Chest: BB Presses, DB Incline Presses, Dips
2 x Biceps: DB Curls, Concentration/Cable Curls
1 x Abs: Situps
4 x Legs: Squats or Leg Presses, Leg Extensions, Leg Curls, Calf Raises
2 x Shoulders: DB presses, Seated Rear Lateral DB Raises
2 x Back: Pullups, Cable Pulldowns
2 x Triceps: Skull Crushers, Cable Pushdowns
1 x Traps: DB Shrugs
1 x Abs: Leg Raises
These are of course only examples, there are plenty of other exercises that can be used as replacements. There are also plenty of other workout plans such as HST, German Volume Training, etc. What's most important is that the training is intense and that all major muscle groups are involved throughout the week.
4 Psychological Tips and Tricks
- It is possible that you will not "see" changes in the mirror unless your bodyfat is rather low. Don't panic, as long as the rules are followed, everything is right on track.
- If at all, only assess your physique right after a workout. At other times it's too dependent on water retention, and the mind will play tricks on you (telling you your progress sucks, etc.).
- Have a cheat/pig-out day once in a while, where you eat what you want. I had one every week on my last diet. Don't feel guilty about it, as long as the rules are still followed (total intake still leads to the desired rate of weight change), everything is allright.
- Don't take the whole thing too serious. It's better to not care about it so much. See it more as being the coach of another person, rather than yourself.
5 Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I determine how much calories I should consume?
A: You can just go by what you currently eat and reduce from there as described in the guide. Alternativiely, use a calorie calculator like the "Total Metabolism Forecaster", see link section.
Q: Is it important to get the same amount of calories resp. macros every day?
A: No, it's OK to eat a little less one day and more the next.
Q: How do I determine my lean body mass for calculating my protein intake?
A: You have to take your total body weight and subtract your fat weight. If you e.g. weigh 200lbs and your bodyfat is 20% (=40lbs), your lean body mass is 200lbs - 40lbs = 160lbs. If you don't know your bodyfat, just take a guess. When in doubt, just eat a little more. However, if for some reason, you can't eat as much protein, just eat a little less, most people will still do fine.
Q: Does it matter where I get my protein from and what are good protein sources?
A: Generally, it does not matter. You can get your protein from meat, fish, eggs, cheese, protein powder, etc. Although there are differences in quality (regarding muscle sparing effect), they can easily be made up for with just a little more quantity.
Q: I work out less/more than 3 times a week, is that OK?
A: Yes, as long as all other essential rules are followed. Some people get away with less, some do better on more.
Q: I lost a lot of weight in the first few weeks but weight loss has slowed down, why?
A: The initial weight loss was probably mostly water loss. Stay at the current intake for at least another 3 weeks. If weight loss stalls, slightly reduce calories as described in the guide.
Q: What about keto diets?
A: Principally, keto diets (very low carb diets), as long as they follow all rules, would be fine. IMO, some people have a problem preserving muscle mass on a keto diet. For other people it works great. I don't think keto diets provide a significant advantage other than maybe being more convenient for some people.
Q: What about post workout nutrition?
A: I would not intentionally starve myself of protein after a workout. A meal containing some protein or a shake is perfectly fine.
Q: Apart from body composition, what about health?
A: First of all, it is important to distinguish between the goal of optimal body composition and the goal of optimal health. For the former, the guide provides all essential rules. For the latter, opinions vary a lot between experts and over time (see e.g. saturated fat, GI, food processing, cholesterol, etc.). Therefore, IMO the best way to go is to eat a wide variety of foods.
Q: How can I lose fat in certain areas of my body?
A: Although there are theories that spot reduction is possible to a certain degree, generally IMO it's not feasible. You can only reduce overall bodyfat and wait for the problem areas to come in.
Q: What exactly is your diet?
A: My cutting diet is somewhat extreme (see Links section). For bulking, I add a meal or two. That's just the most convenient way for me. However, every other diet that follows the essential rules is also perfectly OK.
Q: Should I eat differently on workout days than on off days?
A: That's not necessary, but if you're hungrier on workout days, you can eat a little more (out of convenience).
Q: Does this guide also work for girls?
A: Of course!
6 Links
How to lose fat for Noobs: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=113693871
How to lose fat for Noobs part 2: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=127867323
Wavelength Cutting Diet: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpo...1&postcount=33
Total Metabolism Forecaster: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=114980801
Minimum Nutritional Requirements: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=113310851
7 Acknowledgements
Thanks to everyone helping out in the "How to lose fat for Noobs" thread, especially:
iDrive, th3pwn3r, Djin, Robby99999, HerveDuchemin, AntoineDufour, toiletmoose, b_white, mafiosoromano, ZidaneValor, Silleli, reaperchild, Vietgoboi, IzzyT, Marine man, FloridaGator, lmzerger, S1FU, chickeneater, Sabouneh, spak, hankst, Teflon_Don, MaximumIn10sity, Kamaitachi, older2533, TheReductionist, NorCALSpeed, Dominikm, Bigwill21, mrpacijr, Westboarder, TheManofSteel, N03xcus3s, Emma-Leigh, and finally Alan Aragon for making the thread a sticky.How to lose fat for Noobs: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=129247741
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09-27-2010, 04:48 AM #3
great read, thanks. im on a cut at the moment and follow these rules. it`s interesting to note that i was also following some unnecessary ones too
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09-27-2010, 04:54 AM #4
Other than you, I've never seen anyone get very ripped using only 500 below maintainces.
Everyone I see that get super ripped have either done a variation of keto, low carbs, carb cycle etc. + cardio.
On top of this they have eaten around 4-6 meals a day and eaten very clean - eg. no fast food and sodas.
I know your thing works in theory and people see good results, but never seen people get below 10-9% (again, other than you) in the previous thread or on any other forums.http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?p=533372913#post533372913
Sub my log and I'll return the favour.
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09-27-2010, 04:59 AM #5
Excellent write-up.
Hope I can stick to it.
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09-27-2010, 05:13 AM #6
Very good. Very to the point. Thanks for the resource.
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09-27-2010, 06:07 AM #7
Your other sticky thread was great. Between that and the beginner's lifting thread with all the compound moves, that's how I got started.
I think the only thing I didn't do was drop by only 500 calories. I think mine was almost around 700-800, but I still did the weight training at least three times, and to this day I've lost almost 40lbs. in 6 months, while still making gains at the gym (probably noob gains, but I'm glad that I'm not losing strength).
I was way overthinking it at the beginning, but that thread almost made it too easy. Thanks for the info.Getting back to it. First order of business, cut a bit.
Goal to that is to run the Peachtree Road Race this year. Currently up to 3.5/6 miles nonstop.
Update: Well, I beat 22000 other people in the Peachtree... only took some 90 minutes lol.
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09-27-2010, 06:10 AM #8
- Join Date: Mar 2006
- Location: Sydney, Australia
- Age: 44
- Posts: 2,667
- Rep Power: 7439
in for sticky.
Great thread Wave Length
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09-27-2010, 06:13 AM #9
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09-27-2010, 06:25 AM #10
so no cardio wise guy?lol yeah yeah i know diet blah blah but you forget something, reducing calories in some cases is not necessary and instead just do cardio - this is far better for cardiovascular reasons, burning calories and increasing metabolism. Why reduce 400 calories and go to bed in hunger when you get off your lazy butt and do cardo!
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09-27-2010, 06:33 AM #11
Why would I do 40 minutes of cardio for fat loss (completely ignoring health issues here) when I could just eat 400 kcal less?
And:
in on 1st page!
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09-27-2010, 07:14 AM #12
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09-27-2010, 07:18 AM #13
The number 500 is not part of the 3 rules.
Those methods work because they all follow the 3 rules.
Can't comment on that, everyone's motivations are different and can also change over time. Many people are happy with 10-15%.How to lose fat for Noobs: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=129247741
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09-27-2010, 07:19 AM #14
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09-27-2010, 07:22 AM #15
For body composition (and that's what this thread is about) it's irrelevant. Check Alan's response:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=127783743
Health wise I'm a bro and not a doctor (many of which are bros too). But my last health check was perfect.How to lose fat for Noobs: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=129247741
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09-27-2010, 07:24 AM #16
- Join Date: Mar 2010
- Location: Lawrenceville, Georgia, United States
- Age: 41
- Posts: 3,604
- Rep Power: 0
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09-27-2010, 07:40 AM #17
I really think L/MISS cardio prompts fat burning (as opposed to fat burning and catabolism) more than equivalent calorie cutting. I have no proof of this beyond uncontrolled personal experiments and broscience though .
Right now I'm in a bulk & keeping trim w/cardio... I'm finding that longer cardio sessions are prompting fat loss w/o affecting strength. I'm gonna incorporate 2 long cardio sessions (~1-2 hours/session) each week and see if I'm able to burn fat + continue to gain in a caloric surplus. I feel like there is something there.Intensity, Recovery, Nutrition, Sleep- the only things that matter.
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09-27-2010, 07:42 AM #18
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09-27-2010, 07:45 AM #19
- Join Date: Mar 2010
- Location: Lawrenceville, Georgia, United States
- Age: 41
- Posts: 3,604
- Rep Power: 0
Day1: 3 x Chest, 2 x Biceps, 1 x Abs
Day2: Rest
Day3: 4 x Legs, 2 x Shoulders
Day4: Rest
Day5: 2 x Back, 2 x Triceps, 1 x Traps, 1 x Abs
Day6: Rest
Day7: Rest
If your working out your chest then your working out your triceps. Something goes with the back and biceps. It makes no sense.
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09-27-2010, 08:17 AM #20
- Join Date: Jan 2009
- Location: United States
- Age: 36
- Posts: 2,798
- Rep Power: 4970
You don't try to build a wall.
You don't set out to build a wall.
You don't say, "I'm going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that's ever been built!".
You don't start there.
You say, "I'm going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid.".
You do that every single day, and soon you'll have a wall.
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09-27-2010, 08:21 AM #21
Not sure what your point is... are you suggesting working chest and triceps on the same day?
It's a matter of personal preference. I prefer to NOT work my triceps on chest day because I prefer to hit them when they're fresh rather than worn down from the chest routine.
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09-27-2010, 08:56 AM #22
- Join Date: Sep 2008
- Location: California, United States
- Age: 39
- Posts: 3,557
- Rep Power: 3556
First Page. Thanks Wave man!
LOGIC / emotion = CONTROL
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09-27-2010, 09:08 AM #23
- Join Date: Jul 2006
- Location: Nevada, United States
- Age: 37
- Posts: 10,943
- Rep Power: 4290
In on thread. Definitely the best thread I've read on BB.com.
☆☆☆Ron Paul 2012 Support Crew☆☆☆
~Barefooters Crew~|~Atheist Alliance~| ~Yellow Fever Crew~
"Be the change you want to see in the world" - Mahatma Gandhi
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09-27-2010, 09:19 AM #24
- Join Date: Sep 2009
- Location: Maryland, United States
- Age: 38
- Posts: 152
- Rep Power: 199
Nice, all the info on page one. Excellent work as usual.
"The hardest diet I was ever on was the one when I was fat. You can only wear fat clothes, you don't feel good, your sex life gets damaged, you don't have energy for anything. It's horrible." -Drew Carey
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09-27-2010, 09:27 AM #25
- Join Date: Apr 2008
- Location: United States
- Age: 35
- Posts: 975
- Rep Power: 225
on page one, how do i lower the water weight , i do go by scale and i know im losing because i can tell by the clothes and what people tell me. im just motivated by numbers .
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09-27-2010, 10:15 AM #26
- Join Date: Jan 2009
- Location: United States
- Age: 36
- Posts: 2,798
- Rep Power: 4970
Short term fix, Go on a contest prep diet.
Long term, there is no way to directly control how much water weight you're carrying.
i do go by scale
and i know im losing because i can tell by the clothes and what people tell me.
im just motivated by numbers .You don't try to build a wall.
You don't set out to build a wall.
You don't say, "I'm going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that's ever been built!".
You don't start there.
You say, "I'm going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid.".
You do that every single day, and soon you'll have a wall.
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09-27-2010, 10:29 AM #27
- Join Date: Dec 2005
- Location: New York, United States
- Age: 45
- Posts: 311
- Rep Power: 239
the 3 rules are all you need to start (and even finish)
Cut
June 3 - ?
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=154489543
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09-27-2010, 11:45 AM #28
Not sure I understand but there are different methods on how to group exercises. I usually like to follow up the exercise for a large muscle group with an exercise for a small muscle group which was not heavily involved in the first exercise. But you can also do it the other way round, both methods are practiced and can be switched back and forth from time to time.
How to lose fat for Noobs: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=129247741
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09-27-2010, 11:51 AM #29
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09-27-2010, 11:58 AM #30
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