Reached target weight - next phase advice please!
Discussion
Hi guys,
Appreciate you taking the time to read this. A little pre-cursor first:
Way back in June I weighed approximately 270lbs and despite playing alot of sport and hitting the gym regularly I wasnt losing any weight - obviously this pointed to a major problem with my diet.
In conjunction with the Global Corporate Challenge at work I made a decision to effectively go 'low-carb' cutting out as much sugar, potatoes, pasta etc. but retaining veggies and a degree of 'non sugary' carbs.
This worked a treat and the weight has dropped off fairly rapidly until I reached my target weight of 200lb (14st 4lb) last Saturday. I chose this weight as I play alot of Ice Hockey and losing too much would probably put me at a disadvantage against some of the bigger players, plus most of the 'pro' players seem to be around this mark (I'm 6ft if that helps as well).
Anyway, for the past 2 months I've had a bit of a bias towards cardio in my routine, with a 4-day lifting split mixed in, however just recently I've started to taper off the cardio and start to take the lifting more seriously, seeing some pleaseing gains in terms of the weight I can lift and 'some' subtle definition creeping in.
At present Id estimate my bodyfat to be somewhere in the region of 13-15% (measured via rubbish calipers) but I still have a small amount of belly fat i'd like to trim down. What I'd like advice on is:
a) Should I retain low-carb and aim keep losing weight until belly fat is gone then effectively build muscle weight back up to 200lb?
b) Is low-carb still considered the most effective diet at this point? may of the lifting/building diets introduce rice / carbs, how essential are these for building muscle?
c) How much cardio should I be aiming for each week? presently I'm doing 2 - 3 HIIT spin sessions and/or an Insanity session or 2.
Thanks for reading, sorry for the long post
Appreciate you taking the time to read this. A little pre-cursor first:
Way back in June I weighed approximately 270lbs and despite playing alot of sport and hitting the gym regularly I wasnt losing any weight - obviously this pointed to a major problem with my diet.
In conjunction with the Global Corporate Challenge at work I made a decision to effectively go 'low-carb' cutting out as much sugar, potatoes, pasta etc. but retaining veggies and a degree of 'non sugary' carbs.
This worked a treat and the weight has dropped off fairly rapidly until I reached my target weight of 200lb (14st 4lb) last Saturday. I chose this weight as I play alot of Ice Hockey and losing too much would probably put me at a disadvantage against some of the bigger players, plus most of the 'pro' players seem to be around this mark (I'm 6ft if that helps as well).
Anyway, for the past 2 months I've had a bit of a bias towards cardio in my routine, with a 4-day lifting split mixed in, however just recently I've started to taper off the cardio and start to take the lifting more seriously, seeing some pleaseing gains in terms of the weight I can lift and 'some' subtle definition creeping in.
At present Id estimate my bodyfat to be somewhere in the region of 13-15% (measured via rubbish calipers) but I still have a small amount of belly fat i'd like to trim down. What I'd like advice on is:
a) Should I retain low-carb and aim keep losing weight until belly fat is gone then effectively build muscle weight back up to 200lb?
b) Is low-carb still considered the most effective diet at this point? may of the lifting/building diets introduce rice / carbs, how essential are these for building muscle?
c) How much cardio should I be aiming for each week? presently I'm doing 2 - 3 HIIT spin sessions and/or an Insanity session or 2.
Thanks for reading, sorry for the long post
Firstly you need to clearly define your goals. Do you want to loose fat or build muscle? You may find that when building muscle (and weight therefore) you'll see good gains by keeping the fat.
Congratulations on shifting the pounds anyway. Keep off the pies, eat a balanced to high protein/carb diet. Only eat when you're actually hungry and, keep up the dead-lifts and you'll be fine.
Congratulations on shifting the pounds anyway. Keep off the pies, eat a balanced to high protein/carb diet. Only eat when you're actually hungry and, keep up the dead-lifts and you'll be fine.
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