workout plan for getting lean

[addictedtoliftin]

well i was just curious if anyone could poit me in a good direction for a workout plan that is more focused on losing weight and getting lean. i usually just do 4 sets of 15 when im trying to lose weight i am 6ft 1in and 295lb right now i am looking to get to around 260 or 270. i recently just finished a work out plan where weeks 1,3,5 were 3 set of 6 and one set of 25, and weeks 2,4,6 were 4 set of 12 reps. and i dint loose that much weight only about 14lbs in 6 weeks and i was doing cardio for 25-30 min 3-5 times a week and was eating healthy and cut out alcohol for the whole 6 week period. Any ideas on a good workour plan is appericiated

[mooshue]

getting lean means dropping body fat, period.
What you are shooting for is dropping body fat while putting on some lean mass. There are chemical ways you can do this much faster and do both at the same time.
Otherwise get your diet in check, lift hard and heavy every time, do 30-45 min of cardio after every workout. Keep your heart rate around 125 the whole time. You'll start to burn pure fat at that point. It wont be as fast as people who just set out to lose weight, meaning they lose lean mass like muscle along with a little bit of fat. Don't pay so much attention to the scale, judge by pictures every 2 weeks or every month.

Do you log your food intake? If not you can't possibly say your diet is good and clean because you dont know what you are taking in.

[SAINT_X]

That's great advice by Mooshue.

He's 100% correct about not focusing on the wieght. That being said though, you were losing at a rate of just over two pounds per week which is actually a healthy rate. You might consider staying with that...

[lizzyb]

I agree with the above posters as well.....sounds like what you are doing IS working for you already. If you aren't certain check your diet first. If you are looking to switch up your routine a bit, look around at other journals and blogs to get ideas, otherwise if it aint broke why fix it?

[addictedtoliftin]

thanks all no this time i didnt really log my diet too much i always seem to froget about it. Yeah i definitley dont want to lose muscle mass i want to get lean and lose body fat that is one thing i have to say is that during the 6 weeks i didnt not lose any strength which is a good thing.

[wildstang]

Originally Posted by mooshue

getting lean means dropping body fat, period.
What you are shooting for is dropping body fat while putting on some lean mass. There are chemical ways you can do this much faster and do both at the same time.
Otherwise get your diet in check, lift hard and heavy every time, do 30-45 min of cardio after every workout. Keep your heart rate around 125 the whole time. You'll start to burn pure fat at that point. It wont be as fast as people who just set out to lose weight, meaning they lose lean mass like muscle along with a little bit of fat. Don't pay so much attention to the scale, judge by pictures every 2 weeks or every month.

Do you log your food intake? If not you can't possibly say your diet is good and clean because you dont know what you are taking in.

excellent advice and an extra rep point 4 it!

[RoJoGo]

Originally Posted by mooshue

getting lean means dropping body fat, period.
What you are shooting for is dropping body fat while putting on some lean mass. There are chemical ways you can do this much faster and do both at the same time.
Otherwise get your diet in check, lift hard and heavy every time, do 30-45 min of cardio after every workout. Keep your heart rate around 125 the whole time. You'll start to burn pure fat at that point. It wont be as fast as people who just set out to lose weight, meaning they lose lean mass like muscle along with a little bit of fat. Don't pay so much attention to the scale, judge by pictures every 2 weeks or every month.

Do you log your food intake? If not you can't possibly say your diet is good and clean because you dont know what you are taking in.

OK... why "hard and heavy"? As opposed to higher reps and lighter weight while maintaining a "125 bpm heart rate"? Is it because more muscle you have helps to redirect the body's fuel source to stored fat? Isn't true that you don't actually "burn" fat but instead you decrease the fat cell size? I thought the only way to "remove" fat was to have it sucked outa your body. Where did 125 bpm come from? Is that the same for everyone? I'm a little confused.... please provide some clarity... not trying to be confrontational... thanks!

[mooshue]

Originally Posted by RoJoGo

OK... why "hard and heavy"? As opposed to higher reps and lighter weight while maintaining a "125 bpm heart rate"? Is it because more muscle you have helps to redirect the body's fuel source to stored fat?
Isn't true that you don't actually "burn" fat but instead you decrease the fat cell size? I thought the only way to "remove" fat was to have it sucked outa your body. Where did 125 bpm come from? Is that the same for everyone? I'm a little confused.... please provide some clarity... not trying to be confrontational... thanks!

I hate making long and boring posts, if you are like me youll skip through most of it, but you asked a lot of questions.

Hard and heavy because you want to put on lean mass. You aren't going to make any type of substantial gains by putting on pussy weight you can throw around for 15-20 reps, it doesn't matter if you are male or female, muscle fiber is muscle fiber. If you don't give it a reason to repair itself and come back and adapt to be stronger, you simply wont grow.

If you say i don't want to be huge like a bodybuilder i will slap you lol, don't worry you wont!!!!!! Go hard and heavy for a few years and show me a picture, ill guarantee you wont be even close to today's bodybuilders unless thats your goal, and then you need a whole new level of training.

As far as "burn fat" question, the body burns fuel just like an engine. It looks to glycogen first, when thats all gone it will look for the glycogen stored in reserve in the muscle cells. When thats all depleted it will go for fat. Thats why i say do your cardio after your workout. You do it prior, you burn most of the fuel you need to be able to throw around any real weight because your fuel is gone.

I got the 125 heart rate, its a ballpark heart rate for someone around the age of 25-30 for fat burning. You can look on most any cardio machine in your gym and it will give you some sort of graph of what you should stick at. Everyone's different though so keep it around that. You go too high, doing cardiovascular exercise, your cardiovascular health will improve but thats not our goals. You don't want your body going catabolic, stay at a reasonable heart rate and the fat will be used as fuel.

Dont forget post workout nutrition. Thats just as important as the workout itself. Get some high Glycemic Index carbs, oatmeal, waxy maize, dextrose, deceant protein with some bcaa's in there and down that as soon as possible. You want your body to refuel itself. You need to replace the glycogen stores in the muscles asap so the body can begin to repair itself.

[RoJoGo]

Originally Posted by mooshue

I hate making long and boring posts, if you are like me youll skip through most of it, but you asked a lot of questions.

Hard and heavy because you want to put on lean mass. You aren't going to make any type of substantial gains by putting on pussy weight you can throw around for 15-20 reps, it doesn't matter if you are male or female, muscle fiber is muscle fiber. If you don't give it a reason to repair itself and come back and adapt to be stronger, you simply wont grow.

If you say i don't want to be huge like a bodybuilder i will slap you lol, don't worry you wont!!!!!! Go hard and heavy for a few years and show me a picture, ill guarantee you wont be even close to today's bodybuilders unless thats your goal, and then you need a whole new level of training.

As far as "burn fat" question, the body burns fuel just like an engine. It looks to glycogen first, when thats all gone it will look for the glycogen stored in reserve in the muscle cells. When thats all depleted it will go for fat. Thats why i say do your cardio after your workout. You do it prior, you burn most of the fuel you need to be able to throw around any real weight because your fuel is gone.

I got the 125 heart rate, its a ballpark heart rate for someone around the age of 25-30 for fat burning. You can look on most any cardio machine in your gym and it will give you some sort of graph of what you should stick at. Everyone's different though so keep it around that. You go too high, doing cardiovascular exercise, your cardiovascular health will improve but thats not our goals. You don't want your body going catabolic, stay at a reasonable heart rate and the fat will be used as fuel.

Dont forget post workout nutrition. Thats just as important as the workout itself. Get some high Glycemic Index carbs, oatmeal, waxy maize, dextrose, deceant protein with some bcaa's in there and down that as soon as possible. You want your body to refuel itself. You need to replace the glycogen stores in the muscles asap so the body can begin to repair itself.

Well, I used to lift heavy and I got big (bigger than I am now)... I am 5-11 and was 198lbs, around 8-10% BF, 46 jacket, 32 waist from a being 145lbs skinny guy (w/o muscle) ... it has taken me 3 years to get down to 167 lbs, around 8% BF, 40 jacket, 30 waist and I think I can stand to loose some more weight... I think I would comfortable closer to 6% BF. Being an avid triathlete, excessive weight slows me down and I fear that lifting heavy (I'm going to duck from your slap) will increase my weight (based on past experiences).

My diet is fairly lean... 140-170 grams of protein... sometimes more when in full race mode... normal caloric intake is 2800-3200/day, unless feeding for competition or heavy training where I consume about 6000-7000 calories/day.

I want "smaller" leaner muscle fibers and higher density muscle tissue and lower BF... lifting hard and heavy? I'll give it a shot. Thanks Mooshue!

[tidalwave]

One thing I'd add: If you do some sets with a moderate weight and higher (15-20) reps, be sure to lift explosively. You can still extract a lot of force (F=M*A, there's less M, so up the A) out of your muscles that way, and thus burn calories.. think sprinting.

[mooshue]

Originally Posted by RoJoGo

Well, I used to lift heavy and I got big (bigger than I am now)... I am 5-11 and was 198lbs, around 8-10% BF, 46 jacket, 32 waist from a being 145lbs skinny guy (w/o muscle) ... it has taken me 3 years to get down to 167 lbs, around 8% BF, 40 jacket, 30 waist and I think I can stand to loose some more weight... I think I would comfortable closer to 6% BF. Being an avid triathlete, excessive weight slows me down and I fear that lifting heavy (I'm going to duck from your slap) will increase my weight (based on past experiences).

My diet is fairly lean... 140-170 grams of protein... sometimes more when in full race mode... normal caloric intake is 2800-3200/day, unless feeding for competition or heavy training where I consume about 6000-7000 calories/day.

I want "smaller" leaner muscle fibers and higher density muscle tissue and lower BF... lifting hard and heavy? I'll give it a shot. Thanks Mooshue!

you may be the rare pure mesmomorph body type, the one with the genes good enough to eat whatever they want, lift moderate weight and sitll put on size naturally. Some people just have genetics to excell way beyond what the rest of us can do. How old are you can i ask? Men 18-22 year old range tend to pack on the muscle quite quickly when their routines are in check. Testosterone is going crazy then.

BTW, 32" waist isnt big i wish i could squeeze into those lol. You being a triathelete and not necessarily going for asthetic looks would require different training. You would want endurance and cardiovascular training so this thread wouldnt be for you.

[Cin44]

I have a question. *raises hand* I know I should eat after training. preferably simple carb with protein...right?? I had been doing this right after weight training in the PM as I do my cardio in the AM. If I also add a lighter, more moderate walk after training, do I eat after the weight training or after the walk? I would think after the walk since the idea is depletion???
Also, what rep/set range are you recommending for hard and heavy??
I have been eating at a 500/cal deficit/day and truly don't want to loose much muscle, but need to loose about 15lbs in bodyfat.
Thanks so much for this thread and the information you have shared.

[mooshue]

Originally Posted by Cin44

I have a question. *raises hand* I know I should eat after training. preferably simple carb with protein...right?? I had been doing this right after weight training in the PM as I do my cardio in the AM. If I also add a lighter, more moderate walk after training, do I eat after the weight training or after the walk? I would think after the walk since the idea is depletion???
Also, what rep/set range are you recommending for hard and heavy??
I have been eating at a 500/cal deficit/day and truly don't want to loose much muscle, but need to loose about 15lbs in bodyfat.
Thanks so much for this thread and the information you have shared.

You wouldn't want to take in your post workout meal until after your entire workout is complete, otherwise you'll just use what you consumed for fuel for your cardio and your body will still be depleated.

What i've learned over the years, and even from my current IFBB trainer, heavy means if you can lift the weight for 10 reps, its not heavy enough, add more weight. A 6-8 range is what i shoot for, anything higher than that i add more weight for the next set until i hit that range. That's what i consider my work sets then at that point, the rest are just warm ups. You also need adequate rest between sets. I like DC trainings rest methods where you take in 20 extremely deep breaths to suck up as much oxygen as possible. If it takes you 2 minutes, 1 minute whatever, it took a bit to get used to this but you do feel ready to rock afterwards.

**I have to say this too, remember these are all recommendations to people like myself who have excess fat to shed while keeping or adding lean mass. This is stuff i've learned for our body types over the years by trial and error, taking crap supplements, hiring crappy trainers and now a great IFBB pro trainer/nutritionist and getting on the right track for a great body, not just weight loss or fitness. My ultimate goal is to compete in the next 2 years on stage.

Everyone should take this advice and try it out for 2 to 3 months, eat your 6 meals a day, minimize protein shakes, keep the shakes simple, just protein very very low carbs or fat etc.. hard and heavy in the gym, at least 30 min of cardio after a workout no more than 45 min (unless you are using chemical hormones to recover) I promise if your body type is like mine you'll love what you see in the mirror.