The Rolsey workout Part 1 - How I cut fat while building muscle!!

[rolsey]

Well here it is! (well part 1.1 of it) This is (Monday) of the workout program I have been doing which has helped me achieve the results I want. I don't go through bulking or cutting phases. My goal to build muscle while simultaneously cutting fat. I've been achieving exactly that. Quite Simply my whole program is split into three parts :-

Part 1 - UPPER BODY (including abs) Monday & Wednesday
Part 2 - LOWER BODY (including abs) Tuesday & Thursday
Part 3 - CARDIO I wake up at 6am twice a week and go for a 45 min run usually on Tuesday and Thursday.

Below is part 1,of the upper body routine that I do. I do this every single Monday. I will continue adding more of my workouts in my following threads and blogs.

1. Warm up - 10mins Skipping, x20 pushups, x20 sit ups.

2. CABLE CROSSOVERS (Inner chest) - 12, 10, 10, 8, 6

3. INCLINE BENCH PRESS (Upper chest) - 12, 10, 10, 8 (on the last set take it down to a lightweight then do as many reps until exhaustion).

4. SHRUGS (Traps) - 12, 10, 10, 8 (heavy weights)

5. PULL UPS (Upper back) - 12, 10, 10, 8, 6 (wide grip)

6. Barbell curls/21's (biceps) (light weights) 7 full reps followed by 7 half reps from the starting position to half way up followed by 7 half reps from half way up to the top of the movement. All of this counts as one set. I usually do 3 sets.

7. WEIGHTED DIPS (triceps) - 12, 10, 10, 8, 6

8. HANGING LEG RAISES (Abs) x20

9. HANGING WIPERS x10 (Abs) http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tcWUivTRNJg&eurl

10. Warm down - 10mins Skipping, x20 pushups, x20 sit ups.
I train on average four days a week so two days on upper body and two days on lower body. My second blog/thread (Upper body part 1.2) will be what I do on a wednesday and I will be working the upper body parts that i had missed out on, on Monday.

[supa_89]

definitely will be keep tabs on this post..Quick question..what protein do you use?

[muscle_Man22]

are you going to post the second part?

[supa_89]

are you going to post the second part?

I know right??..been waiting..

[Chali12]

I don't like to do bulking or cutting phases either, but I'm unfortunetly not having the success you are.
Do you keep track of calories? Like, what % deficeit do you have from maintence?

[Hartley110]

Gaining muscle while losing fat is highly individualized by diet, then training. So what your posting is a waste of time.

[jdmalm123]

Gaining muscle while losing fat is highly individualized by diet, then training. So what your posting is a waste of time.

Exactly.

There is no training routine that would burn fat and add muscle by itself.
It has to be coupled with a diet also designed to do that....

So, how did you eat?

[rolsey]

Exactly.

There is no training routine that would burn fat and add muscle by itself.
It has to be coupled with a diet also designed to do that....

So, how did you eat?

Your welcome to share your views and I mostly agree with you, plus I like it when people challenge my ideas. Obviously training has to be coupled with diet but I have posted this thread in the 'workout programs' section which is why I have only talked about my workout. It is an upper body routine which has worked for me so it may work for others. In the past I have done workouts that build mass and some that cut fat depending on your reps/sets & amount of cardio during warm up and warm down etc (bearing in mind that I had kept my diet the same regardless of the workout). This workout out hit the middle-ground for me and has produced results. I am just simply sharing a part of what has helped me achieve my goals. Ultimately you are right, nutrition is key, I eat 5-7 small meals a day, making sure each meal is high in protein apart from my breakfast (which is high in carbs), but again you won't achieve the results you want if you are only dieting you have to have the right workout to go with it.

[juniorfelix]

Perhaps having a minor calorie defecit coupled with a decent routine is allowing you to a) lose no size and b) look more cut, which in turn makes you look "bigger".

I was a skeptic that you couldn't build muscle/lose weight as in the summer I trained hard 7 days a week around cardio, but my traps, abs and especially lats just blew up.

[S.O.L]

I am an advocate of Rolsey's school of thought (staying lean whilst building muscle)....This has been my most successful approach to training, but as he and others have pointed out......diet plays a major role in the outcome!

I think it is more difficult to add dramatic size this way, however, most of my gains using this approach has been good active lean muscle tissue!

[cockywop]

Rolsey, Congrats on your fantastic genetics. Looks great.

[supa_89]

When is the other workout coming?, truly amazing results going on here..Check his pics for results..

[taydam]

amazing results man, keep up the good work

[Justin-27]

Rolsey is doing it the same way i recommend.
Eating to get huge really means eating to be a fatass for most, because that's what they look like.

It's no secret why people come up to you asking if you are on something, or getting 'bigger' when you are in the cutting phase after a bulk where too much fat was gained. I am constantly underwhelmed by poor physiques at the gyms i train at. A bunch of guys that bench 300, but look terrible. I'll take a smaller bench, less ego, less injuries, and prefer to be lean and healthy, 24/7/365.

5 lean mass lbs gained by training/eating clean is huge. 'Being the biggest mentality' for natural guys is a poor way to train, because when you diet, you lose much of the muscle you put on with the fat. Stay less than 10% bodyfat, eat clean all the time, and do it right...slowly but surely. I too made the mistakes of training like roid users, gain big then cut big....but bodybuilders never did that before the steroid 80s craze....it provides poor results for natural guys. Just my opinion based on trying it all and liking to look good all year long.

[Retardo-pex]

Rolsey is doing it the same way i recommend.
Eating to get huge really means eating to be a fatass for most, because that's what they look like.

It's no secret why people come up to you asking if you are on something, or getting 'bigger' when you are in the cutting phase after a bulk where too much fat was gained. I am constantly underwhelmed by poor physiques at the gyms i train at. A bunch of guys that bench 300, but look terrible. I'll take a smaller bench, less ego, less injuries, and prefer to be lean and healthy, 24/7/365.

5 lean mass lbs gained by training/eating clean is huge. 'Being the biggest mentality' for natural guys is a poor way to train, because when you diet, you lose much of the muscle you put on with the fat. Stay less than 10% bodyfat, eat clean all the time, and do it right...slowly but surely. I too made the mistakes of training like roid users, gain big then cut big....but bodybuilders never did that before the steroid 80s craze....it provides poor results for natural guys. Just my opinion based on trying it all and liking to look good all year long.

That's because you are more into your looks then others might be though. I know this is in the "workout section" and mostly gets views from those interested in bodybuilding more then strength training but why can't you big huge ripped and strong exactly? I don't totally disagree with you but most of the more successful naturals are insanely strong too, look at beast or str8flexed, beast has repped 365 on bench at one point and also has one of the most impressive chests I've seen, and layne recently posted a vid of him repping 585 lb deadlifts, and he has always had an incredible physique.

As for the OP, the people stating diet is the key to this weren't "challenging your ideas" they were stating that simply following this routine will do absolutely nothing in terms of gaining muscle while losing fat if you aren't following an appropriate diet to compliment it at the same time. If you are 200 lbs and 10% bf , then only start eating 1300 cals a day you aren't going to gain muscle no matter what the program is. The reverse is also true, if you eat 6000 cals a day the program doesn't matter at all, you will gain a good deal of fat.


*edit* The reason why most bodybuilders or people trying to gain a lot of weight in a short amount of time gain fat as well is because the body is less likely to want to produce a large amount of muscle (a somewhat unnatural process to begin with) at body fat levels that come close to starvation. Having a slightly higher bodyfat (in the 10-20 range) makes it easier to add more muscle then if you were to always try at under 10%.

[supa_89]

That's because you are more into your looks then others might be though. I know this is in the "workout section" and mostly gets views from those interested in bodybuilding more then strength training but why can't you big huge ripped and strong exactly? I don't totally disagree with you but most of the more successful naturals are insanely strong too, look at beast or str8flexed, beast has repped 365 on bench at one point and also has one of the most impressive chests I've seen, and layne recently posted a vid of him repping 585 lb deadlifts, and he has always had an incredible physique.

As for the OP, the people stating diet is the key to this weren't "challenging your ideas" they were stating that simply following this routine will do absolutely nothing in terms of gaining muscle while losing fat if you aren't following an appropriate diet to compliment it at the same time. If you are 200 lbs and 10% bf , then only start eating 1300 cals a day you aren't going to gain muscle no matter what the program is. The reverse is also true, if you eat 6000 cals a day the program doesn't matter at all, you will gain a good deal of fat.


*edit* The reason why most bodybuilders or people trying to gain a lot of weight in a short amount of time gain fat as well is because the body is less likely to want to produce a large amount of muscle (a somewhat unnatural process to begin with) at body fat levels that come close to starvation. Having a slightly higher bodyfat (in the 10-20 range) makes it easier to add more muscle then if you were to always try at under 10%.

Hmmmm...Interesting..

[SFT]

*edit* The reason why most bodybuilders or people trying to gain a lot of weight in a short amount of time gain fat as well is because the body is less likely to want to produce a large amount of muscle (a somewhat unnatural process to begin with) at body fat levels that come close to starvation. Having a slightly higher bodyfat (in the 10-20 range) makes it easier to add more muscle then if you were to always try at under 10%.

Is there any real science behind this statement because I've actually heard quite the opposite. Trying to find information regarding this myself.

In general, the body doesn't really want to add large amounts of muscle.. period. I don't know how staying overweight for a while and getting into the area of potential insulin resistance would be beneficial at all. I'm pretty sure the bodyfat increase is an unwelcome byproduct of large caloric surpluses in an attempt to milk the body for every bit of protein synthesis possible. I really don't see the point in anyone ever being 20% bodyfat if their goals are performance in a sport where relative strength is important or if they are trying to look good. At 20% bodyfat, it will be hard to achieve goals in either of those areas.

[The_Bond]

Hey I'm with you guys - been there done that. It's over-rated.

[Retardo-pex]

Is there any real science behind this statement because I've actually heard quite the opposite. Trying to find information regarding this myself.

In general, the body doesn't really want to add large amounts of muscle.. period. I don't know how staying overweight for a while and getting into the area of potential insulin resistance would be beneficial at all. I'm pretty sure the bodyfat increase is an unwelcome byproduct of large caloric surpluses in an attempt to milk the body for every bit of protein synthesis possible. I really don't see the point in anyone ever being 20% bodyfat if their goals are performance in a sport where relative strength is important or if they are trying to look good. At 20% bodyfat, it will be hard to achieve goals in either of those areas.

I don't usually like to come off as the bro science guy but I also don't have any articles bookmarked at the moment to support this either. It is true though that different sports have different optimal body fat ranges in terms of performance. As for being overweight while gaining vs being in the single digit body fat area, you're body always assumes your current meal could be your last. If you have energy stores it will be easier to put on muscle then if you were shredded. Is it impossible to gain lean body mass while ripped? Not at all but if your goal is to pack on as much as you can in as little time as you can a slightly higher level of body fat would be more optimal. I'm not saying bulk until obesity but 12% might get you more overall muscle in a 6 month period then 6 %.

I know you can't compare roiders to naturals in many aspects but I'm also a pretty big believer in the pros are probably doing something right in any sport. Obviously there is the genetic potential and busting ass but if every pro bodybuilder in the world went up to 15% when trying to gain muscle for a show, there could be something to that. Just like the best benchers in the world hammer their triceps rather then their chests, if you too wanted to become a huge bencher, it may be wise to emulate this type of training.

[Justin-27]

That's because you are more into your looks then others might be though. I know this is in the "workout section" and mostly gets views from those interested in bodybuilding more then strength training but why can't you big huge ripped and strong exactly? I don't totally disagree with you but most of the more successful naturals are insanely strong too, look at beast or str8flexed, beast has repped 365 on bench at one point and also has one of the most impressive chests I've seen, and layne recently posted a vid of him repping 585 lb deadlifts, and he has always had an incredible physique.

As for the OP, the people stating diet is the key to this weren't "challenging your ideas" they were stating that simply following this routine will do absolutely nothing in terms of gaining muscle while losing fat if you aren't following an appropriate diet to compliment it at the same time. If you are 200 lbs and 10% bf , then only start eating 1300 cals a day you aren't going to gain muscle no matter what the program is. The reverse is also true, if you eat 6000 cals a day the program doesn't matter at all, you will gain a good deal of fat.


*edit* The reason why most bodybuilders or people trying to gain a lot of weight in a short amount of time gain fat as well is because the body is less likely to want to produce a large amount of muscle (a somewhat unnatural process to begin with) at body fat levels that come close to starvation. Having a slightly higher bodyfat (in the 10-20 range) makes it easier to add more muscle then if you were to always try at under 10%.

I respect what you mean bud, I do. I used to PL too. I sure miss those 500lb DL days.....but yeah, you're correct, I care more about my looks these days. And equally about my health and lack of injuries. I truly feel 110% all the time now, I can run 5 miles like nothing, do 15 pull ups no problem, have single digit bf, some ok strength, and I feel I look my best at this range of weight to bf. But hey, that's the cool thing about this game, we all can choose the area to specialize in we find most appealing.

I have become the beach weenie...I know.

One thing of note though, I disagree that you need to be in the teens bodyfat to gain appreciable muscle. Shoot 20% bodyfat is obese and you appear to not even workout, not to mention the health risks of carrying that much bodyfat. I think where I do agree would be a shredded guy at 5-7% upping his Kcals to get to the 9-12% range, where heaps of clean muscle can be more easily gained on the road up to that bf level.

[HAMMER35]

Your welcome to share your views and I mostly agree with you, plus I like it when people challenge my ideas. Obviously training has to be coupled with diet but I have posted this thread in the 'workout programs' section which is why I have only talked about my workout. It is an upper body routine which has worked for me so it may work for others. In the past I have done workouts that build mass and some that cut fat depending on your reps/sets & amount of cardio during warm up and warm down etc (bearing in mind that I had kept my diet the same regardless of the workout). This workout out hit the middle-ground for me and has produced results. I am just simply sharing a part of what has helped me achieve my goals. Ultimately you are right, nutrition is key, I eat 5-7 small meals a day, making sure each meal is high in protein apart from my breakfast (which is high in carbs), but again you won't achieve the results you want if you are only dieting you have to have the right workout to go with it.

you are right about that currently im on a cutting phase but would like to do what you do. by building or maintaining the muscle i have and cutting out all body fat. which is tough to do

[LegitimateLibra]

To all whom find this forum the least bit interesting, I urge you to read this article below by Canadian Olympic lifter, bodybuilder, and strength-training coach Christian Thibaudeau. He discusses the whole "bulking and cutting" hype. Just maybe this will help clear up some of the confusion. All in all, to each his own. Check it out anyway:

[LegitimateLibra]

(Sorry, had to have 30 or more forum posts to be able to include a hyperlink in my message thread, hehe. We're going to try this again...)

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_a..._about_bulking

[luv2pump]

Very good read. Thanks for posting.

[Pety3r]

Very very useful post,helped me alot!Thanks LegitimateLibra.