Cutting body fat, is it essential?
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
Lots to think about here, I don't want to seem like I'm jumping from one goal to another, It's definitely cutting time, but since I don't compete at anything and liftings a hobby, I'm kinda tempted to marry up cutting with some high rep training, not really try to hold onto strength so much, maybe try and clean my diet up, rather than track macros every day, I do enjoy 'exercise' as well as training, hill walks, cycling, right rep stuff, wouldn't it be easier to do that and then go back to more regular 'training' when my guts taken care of, blood pressure is borderline high so probably that should be top priority!
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
Depends on what you mean by high rep training. I’m assuming that you mean per set and, if so, sure the 6-8 range might be a nice break, or even 8-10 if you’re particularly conscientious with form. With limited exceptions, I don’t think going much over 10s accomplishes anything for a lifter who isn’t chemically assisted, genetically gifted, or already very big and strong. If someone told me that I had to work in the 12-15 range, I’d just not bother lifting weights at all, and go with a full bodyweight routine (which, if you want to go all in on cutting and don’t gaf about loss of barbell strength, would be the best thing to do).GeoffBUK wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 10:44 pm Lots to think about here, I don't want to seem like I'm jumping from one goal to another, It's definitely cutting time, but since I don't compete at anything and liftings a hobby, I'm kinda tempted to marry up cutting with some high rep training, not really try to hold onto strength so much, maybe try and clean my diet up, rather than track macros every day, I do enjoy 'exercise' as well as training, hill walks, cycling, right rep stuff, wouldn't it be easier to do that and then go back to more regular 'training' when my guts taken care of, blood pressure is borderline high so probably that should be top priority!
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
I've been gradually piling the fat back on over the last two years though seem to store it in my arse and legs, it's ridiculous though I suppose slightly more preferable having my glutes encased in blubber than my organs. I'm 5'9 at 230lb yet still have a 37" waist, jumped up 25lb and 'only' a 2-3" gain to the midriff.
I think recomp is bollocks for *most* folk tbh, focus on one thing at a time. I also think doing *lots* of cardio purely to lose weight is pointless too, I'd rather adjust my calorie intake accordingly and increase my NEAT. I'm with the blokes who've stated that casual lifters shouldn't be fat even though I'm a fatty myself at present.
I think recomp is bollocks for *most* folk tbh, focus on one thing at a time. I also think doing *lots* of cardio purely to lose weight is pointless too, I'd rather adjust my calorie intake accordingly and increase my NEAT. I'm with the blokes who've stated that casual lifters shouldn't be fat even though I'm a fatty myself at present.
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
Nothing wrong with that idea, it will up your calories out without pounding the CNS on the cut. It won't make you stronger or give you bigger muscle necessarily, but it will help preserve what you've got and also push you towards your more immediate goal. Plus, it's a mental break from heavier stuff.GeoffBUK wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 10:44 pm Lots to think about here, I don't want to seem like I'm jumping from one goal to another, It's definitely cutting time, but since I don't compete at anything and liftings a hobby, I'm kinda tempted to marry up cutting with some high rep training, not really try to hold onto strength so much, maybe try and clean my diet up, rather than track macros every day, I do enjoy 'exercise' as well as training, hill walks, cycling, right rep stuff, wouldn't it be easier to do that and then go back to more regular 'training' when my guts taken care of, blood pressure is borderline high so probably that should be top priority!
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
Yeah, I was meaning 20+ rep squeadlifts, not high reps so much for upper body, I thought It might be the best of both worlds, cardio and some stimulus to maintain lower body muscle, could well be the opposite would be true and it'd better to keep lifts as lifts not cardio and do that separately, I suppose the most important thing is to do something and stick to it, would a bodyweight routine be like calisthenics? Pushups, pullups etcDCR wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 7:38 amDepends on what you mean by high rep training. I’m assuming that you mean per set and, if so, sure the 6-8 range might be a nice break, or even 8-10 if you’re particularly conscientious with form. With limited exceptions, I don’t think going much over 10s accomplishes anything for a lifter who isn’t chemically assisted, genetically gifted, or already very big and strong. If someone told me that I had to work in the 12-15 range, I’d just not bother lifting weights at all, and go with a full bodyweight routine (which, if you want to go all in on cutting and don’t gaf about loss of barbell strength, would be the best thing to do).GeoffBUK wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 10:44 pm Lots to think about here, I don't want to seem like I'm jumping from one goal to another, It's definitely cutting time, but since I don't compete at anything and liftings a hobby, I'm kinda tempted to marry up cutting with some high rep training, not really try to hold onto strength so much, maybe try and clean my diet up, rather than track macros every day, I do enjoy 'exercise' as well as training, hill walks, cycling, right rep stuff, wouldn't it be easier to do that and then go back to more regular 'training' when my guts taken care of, blood pressure is borderline high so probably that should be top priority!
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
The general consensus seems to agree on the recomp,GlasgowJock wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 7:55 am I've been gradually piling the fat back on over the last two years though seem to store it in my arse and legs, it's ridiculous though I suppose slightly more preferable having my glutes encased in blubber than my organs. I'm 5'9 at 230lb yet still have a 37" waist, jumped up 25lb and 'only' a 2-3" gain to the midriff.
I think recomp is bollocks for *most* folk tbh, focus on one thing at a time. I also think doing *lots* of cardio purely to lose weight is pointless too, I'd rather adjust my calorie intake accordingly and increase my NEAT. I'm with the blokes who've stated that casual lifters shouldn't be fat even though I'm a fatty myself at present.
My biggest downfall with regard to calories is Lager, my common sense says cut down on alcohol, but my inner idiot says drink whiskey instead
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
Thanks, Lots of interesting things to try here, good thing about high rep lower body work is I can do it in my garage, British winters probably the wrong time to get a mountain bike, since the clocks went back either I'm at work or it's dark! so maybe it'll be more practical wether it's optimal or notHardartery wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 9:25 amNothing wrong with that idea, it will up your calories out without pounding the CNS on the cut. It won't make you stronger or give you bigger muscle necessarily, but it will help preserve what you've got and also push you towards your more immediate goal. Plus, it's a mental break from heavier stuff.GeoffBUK wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 10:44 pm Lots to think about here, I don't want to seem like I'm jumping from one goal to another, It's definitely cutting time, but since I don't compete at anything and liftings a hobby, I'm kinda tempted to marry up cutting with some high rep training, not really try to hold onto strength so much, maybe try and clean my diet up, rather than track macros every day, I do enjoy 'exercise' as well as training, hill walks, cycling, right rep stuff, wouldn't it be easier to do that and then go back to more regular 'training' when my guts taken care of, blood pressure is borderline high so probably that should be top priority!
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
I love 20 rep squats and deadlifts, but doing them on a cut sounds like a near death experience.GeoffBUK wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 9:45 amYeah, I was meaning 20+ rep squeadlifts, not high reps so much for upper body, I thought It might be the best of both worlds, cardio and some stimulus to maintain lower body muscle, could well be the opposite would be true and it'd better to keep lifts as lifts not cardio and do that separately, I suppose the most important thing is to do something and stick to it, would a bodyweight routine be like calisthenics? Pushups, pullups etcDCR wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 7:38 amDepends on what you mean by high rep training. I’m assuming that you mean per set and, if so, sure the 6-8 range might be a nice break, or even 8-10 if you’re particularly conscientious with form. With limited exceptions, I don’t think going much over 10s accomplishes anything for a lifter who isn’t chemically assisted, genetically gifted, or already very big and strong. If someone told me that I had to work in the 12-15 range, I’d just not bother lifting weights at all, and go with a full bodyweight routine (which, if you want to go all in on cutting and don’t gaf about loss of barbell strength, would be the best thing to do).GeoffBUK wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 10:44 pm Lots to think about here, I don't want to seem like I'm jumping from one goal to another, It's definitely cutting time, but since I don't compete at anything and liftings a hobby, I'm kinda tempted to marry up cutting with some high rep training, not really try to hold onto strength so much, maybe try and clean my diet up, rather than track macros every day, I do enjoy 'exercise' as well as training, hill walks, cycling, right rep stuff, wouldn't it be easier to do that and then go back to more regular 'training' when my guts taken care of, blood pressure is borderline high so probably that should be top priority!
Yes - pushups, dips, pullups, inverted rows, tempo BW squats, etc. Setting up a circuit will melt fat pretty quickly unless your diet is ridiculous. (Not judging… believe me.)
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone back and forth between beer and whiskey.
“I’m fat, time to switch to whiskey.”
“I think my organs might be rotting, time to switch to beer.”
Forever.
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
Whiskey is keto. Just sayin'....DCR wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 10:38 amI love 20 rep squats and deadlifts, but doing them on a cut sounds like a near death experience.GeoffBUK wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 9:45 amYeah, I was meaning 20+ rep squeadlifts, not high reps so much for upper body, I thought It might be the best of both worlds, cardio and some stimulus to maintain lower body muscle, could well be the opposite would be true and it'd better to keep lifts as lifts not cardio and do that separately, I suppose the most important thing is to do something and stick to it, would a bodyweight routine be like calisthenics? Pushups, pullups etcDCR wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 7:38 amDepends on what you mean by high rep training. I’m assuming that you mean per set and, if so, sure the 6-8 range might be a nice break, or even 8-10 if you’re particularly conscientious with form. With limited exceptions, I don’t think going much over 10s accomplishes anything for a lifter who isn’t chemically assisted, genetically gifted, or already very big and strong. If someone told me that I had to work in the 12-15 range, I’d just not bother lifting weights at all, and go with a full bodyweight routine (which, if you want to go all in on cutting and don’t gaf about loss of barbell strength, would be the best thing to do).GeoffBUK wrote: ↑Mon Oct 31, 2022 10:44 pm Lots to think about here, I don't want to seem like I'm jumping from one goal to another, It's definitely cutting time, but since I don't compete at anything and liftings a hobby, I'm kinda tempted to marry up cutting with some high rep training, not really try to hold onto strength so much, maybe try and clean my diet up, rather than track macros every day, I do enjoy 'exercise' as well as training, hill walks, cycling, right rep stuff, wouldn't it be easier to do that and then go back to more regular 'training' when my guts taken care of, blood pressure is borderline high so probably that should be top priority!
Yes - pushups, dips, pullups, inverted rows, tempo BW squats, etc. Setting up a circuit will melt fat pretty quickly unless your diet is ridiculous. (Not judging… believe me.)
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone back and forth between beer and whiskey.
“I’m fat, time to switch to whiskey.”
“I think my organs might be rotting, time to switch to beer.”
Forever.
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
I'm pro-cut. And I'd encourage you to focus on work capacity & relative/bodyweight strength during the cut. Those goals are mutually reinforcing & can make the training period fun/motivating rather than a frustrating slog.
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
Lager (and wine tbh) is my downfall too, I genuinely enjoy the stuff especially with a wee drop of lime cordial.
Never been a whisky fan tbh!
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
That just calls everything into question. From Glasgow and you don't enjoy a good Single Malt? I dunno.....Are you sure you're Scottish?GlasgowJock wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 12:53 pmLager (and wine tbh) is my downfall too, I genuinely enjoy the stuff especially with a wee drop of lime cordial.
Never been a whisky fan tbh!
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
Wtf, man?
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
Would that be general conditioning type work, raise the heart rate and respiration or more like HVLF?, and bodyweight strength like @DCR said, calisthenics and such?
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
Hardartery wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 1:14 pmThat just calls everything into question. From Glasgow and you don't enjoy a good Single Malt? I dunno.....Are you sure you're Scottish?
I think trying to drink the old man's cheap blended crap growing up scunnered me with the stuff for life. Most of my Scottish family are dead now due to our inherent lifestyle choices (cheap fried food nomnomnom) though having lots of living Italian and Spanish relatives I do appreciate decent red wine without being snobbish about it.
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
Switch to light lager?GlasgowJock wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 12:53 pmLager (and wine tbh) is my downfall too, I genuinely enjoy the stuff especially with a wee drop of lime cordial.
Never been a whisky fan tbh!
30 rep push ups and 10 rep chin/pull ups are a good place to start for upper body.GeoffBUK wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 10:19 am Thanks, Lots of interesting things to try here, good thing about high rep lower body work is I can do it in my garage, British winters probably the wrong time to get a mountain bike, since the clocks went back either I'm at work or it's dark! so maybe it'll be more practical wether it's optimal or not
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
If you can do more than, say, 15 legit pushups, I’d either make them harder in any number of ways, or have fun trying to progress to one arm pushups.
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
Light beers usually pretty low ABV, which should be a good thing, but I do like the buzz from beer, also light beer usually tastes pretty thin, there are some exceptions Kozel, I think it's a czech beer is nice and only 4 percent, but never found it in bottles/cansAllentown wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 5:34 amSwitch to light lager?GlasgowJock wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 12:53 pmLager (and wine tbh) is my downfall too, I genuinely enjoy the stuff especially with a wee drop of lime cordial.
Never been a whisky fan tbh!
30 rep push ups and 10 rep chin/pull ups are a good place to start for upper body.GeoffBUK wrote: ↑Tue Nov 01, 2022 10:19 am Thanks, Lots of interesting things to try here, good thing about high rep lower body work is I can do it in my garage, British winters probably the wrong time to get a mountain bike, since the clocks went back either I'm at work or it's dark! so maybe it'll be more practical wether it's optimal or not
I like the idea of chins/pullups but I can't drag my fat arse up once , I've managed 6 pullups without much training years ago but 60lbs lighter!
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
I'm pretty sure the number was 30, but it was pretty well correlated to significantly decreased all cause mortality. I like to think that was controlled for age, but who knows.
Regardless, 30 isn't a big number.
Being too heavy to do a pull up is probably a good sign that you are too heavy, I would think.GeoffBUK wrote: ↑Wed Nov 02, 2022 10:01 am Light beers usually pretty low ABV, which should be a good thing, but I do like the buzz from beer, also light beer usually tastes pretty thin, there are some exceptions Kozel, I think it's a czech beer is nice and only 4 percent, but never found it in bottles/cans
I like the idea of chins/pullups but I can't drag my fat arse up once , I've managed 6 pullups without much training years ago but 60lbs lighter!
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Re: Cutting body fat, is it essential?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I assume that it’s the ability to do the 30 push ups that correlates with decreased mortality, not the doing of them. Assuming that, no harm in progressing them in a manner other than total reps. I agree that 30 reps isn’t a crazy amount, but I get suspicious of the form on anything in that range.