Hi All,

I have succesfully completed a 12 week dieting phase which has been very succesful. I can now see vascularity & deep definition across my shoulders, back, chest, legs and stomach & obliques and feel fitter & maintained strength. I have luckily found what works for me.

However, what do you do next or once you have hit your goal (which you thought you would not achieve)?

I would like to bulk up over christmas as I find the diet does not provide great amounts of energy and I also want to keep my cardio up with ut hitting a wall or thinking I might burn out. This has been my second serious attempt at pure fat loss (1st one showed me where I went wrong) but I am unsure what to do once you have acheived your aim.

My initial plan is to  increase my food intake over the christmas and new year period and begin another 12 weeks of diet from mid March ready for summer.

I say this because it will be tricky keeping to a strict diet if there is no aim until mid 2007 especially since I am continually loosing 1-2 lbs a week through my current diet.

If anyone can help, I would like to here your views.

Thanks,

Garry

Training Plan: (During Diet)
6 days week weights (Shoulders, legs & calfs, chest, Back with alternating Triceps & Biceps)
6 days a week cardio (20 mins fast jog or ski stepper)
Initial wieght: 93 kg (31% BF)
Current Wieght: 71-72Kg (estimated 6-8% BF)

Congrats on loosing ALL of that weight, it isnt easy for anyone but once you get into it, it aint all that bad!   ;D

My answer will be short and sweet. To loose excess weight (fat) you have to reduce calories etc, just as you have done!

To gain weight (muscle) you need to increase GOOD calories with enough protein for mass and enough carbs for energy and to keep your glycogen reserves full!

Continue with your cardio but perhaps keep it down to 30mins EOD on training days, so when you rest, you really are RESTING!  8)

...ALSO i will be adding a intermediates routine on this forum and i would advise 4 days training, not 6!

6 is ok for dieting but for MASS i would cut back.

LESS IS MORE!

thanks,

it some doing but my clothes fit better, I have saved a bundle on food costs, my gym membership is value now for money and confidence is higher.

Although, I think I will now find it difficult to try and eat more and train less as for such a dedicated period of time you concentrate on everything that is going in so that you can acheive your goal !

If I can also ask, ..what is the ideal gain in wight during the non dieting phase. I know i will gain some but is 3kg to much or would this constitute to much BF say ..

Again, thanks for your advice..

Garry

Gaining weight for weights sake is never a good thing. It needs to be quality gains, the best gauge for this is the mirror. Take a look at yourself now, you can see the condition you are in, if you can gain weight whilst maintaining the same condition then you are not gaining fat. 3 kilo is quite a lot, to put it into perspective imagine 3 kilo of steak on a table, thats how much meat you are looking at gaining!
As already said on this thread, eat well, rest, train a little less and watch the results. I used to train 6 days a week when I first started and I was ripped all the time, not very big but ripped. I won my first two shows and dieted for two weeks for each! To get big I had to learn that less is more.
It does work, just give it a try. If you seem to be smoothing out too much for your liking cut back on your carbohydrate intake a little and increase your protein by the same amount.

Good luck and very well done on your progress so far.  ;)

Reaper.

I was always told that as a beginner, if you gain 1 stone in your 1st years training you have done well!

If you aint a beginner than 7-10lbs per year is a very good result.

It all depends on quality for example, i plan to compete at my biggest but at my lightest weight!

Its ALL about quality. Like Reaper said, use the mirror. Tape measures and scales can be a bit disheartening sometimes, i prefer to use the mirror!

Thanks again all,

I agree .... I will be reducing my cardio and I will reduce my wieghts. I will do this incrimentaly so that I can guage the results.

I have a vivid imagination and if I don't train (cardio or weights) I imagine myself shrinking and gaining fat by the hour ! This is where the 6 days weights and 20 mins per day hard cardio arrived from !

I will increase my carbs in the morning and mid afternoon and suppliment the rice cakes etc for oats. I also train in the evening (20:30 - 22:00) so I will increase my intake after this session as I have always been light on carbs after 18:00 and stuck strictly to protein shakes even after a hard gym session. (I know this is bad but it seemed to help my goal - if I lost 2 parts fat and 1 part muscle I took it .... ).

Again, keep the info coming as I am getting a lot clearer idea of what my goals should be and what I will likely acheive.

Thanks,

Garry