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That's funny. I lost about 60lbs doing exactly that just a few short years ago.
All that proves is that it works for you. But we all respond differently to exercise. My own experience has been that anything above 12 reps has not helped me to preserve muscle. I still lost fat, but I also lost muscle.
Me and about 30 other people (just that I know of) that have all used it to great success, and never mind the fact that it's the reigning philosophy on how to accelerate weight loss within the body building circles.
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But we all respond differently to exercise.
In a micro sense, yes, but that's not what we're talking about here. Variance in response to these broad philosophies is minimal. 95% of the time, it's something the individual is doing causing that variance.
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My own experience has been that anything above 12 reps has not helped me to preserve muscle. I still lost fat, but I also lost muscle.
And that's because you were doing it wrong. Follow my advice in post #21 and you'll solve that problem provided you have a solid diet.
Me and about 30 other people (just that I know of) that have all used it to great success, and never mind the fact that it's the reigning philosophy on how to accelerate weight loss within the body building circles.
So? I'm sure I could find 30 people who say it doesn't work. As for it being the reigning philosophy within bodybuilding circles, that's wrong as well. I can find plenty who disagree with you.
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Originally Posted by Bosco55David
And that's because you were doing it wrong. Follow my advice in post #21 and you'll solve that problem provided you have a solid diet.
I think I'm in a far better position to know how my reacts to things than you are. Perhaps you should just accept that your advice doesn't apply to everyone.
Romans, Cavemen and medieval warriors also probably couldn't have cared less if they were gaining some fat along with their strength/muscle gains since they weren't going for any type of aesthetic qualities.
It is possible, but generally people who achieve burning fat whilst gaining muscle fall into one of four categories: 1. Awesome Genes 2. New to weight lifting (or back lifting after long period away) 3. Steroids 4. All of the above.
If one has been lifting weights for over a year it becomes significantly harder to gain muscle and burn fat simultaneously. To gain muscle one has to consume a high level of calories and even with the cleanest of diets it is VERY difficult to lose fat much less not gain any. If you managed to lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously then you fall into one of the categories listed above.
Romans, Cavemen and medieval warriors also probably couldn't have cared less if they were gaining some fat along with their strength/muscle gains since they weren't going for any type of aesthetic qualities.
It is possible, but generally people who achieve burning fat whilst gaining muscle fall into one of four categories: 1. Awesome Genes 2. New to weight lifting (or back lifting after long period away) 3. Steroids 4. All of the above.
If one has been lifting weights for over a year it becomes significantly harder to gain muscle and burn fat simultaneously. To gain muscle one has to consume a high level of calories and even with the cleanest of diets it is VERY difficult to lose fat much less not gain any. If you managed to lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously then you fall into one of the categories listed above.
Very fair point.
Right now, I'm deployed. So, I pretty much have access to unlimited amounts of food that I do not have to cook for myself. Tons of vegetables, fruits, chicken breast.
I would like to say my weight lifting 'routine' is what allows me to gain muscle/strength and cut fat and/not gain fat/gain little fat. So, you're right. I don't mind if I gain a little fat because I have good genes, I generally stay below 7% no matter what I eat. When I eat clean, I stay around 5-6%.
So? I'm sure I could find 30 people who say it doesn't work. As for it being the reigning philosophy within bodybuilding circles, that's wrong as well. I can find plenty who disagree with you.
And my 30 people are almost certainly going to be far more knowledgeable than the 30 wanna be dweebs you could find on BodyBuilding.com to tow your line. Just to show what I have literally right in front of me on this matter, I quote from page 147 of The Anabolic Solution by Mauro DiPasquale, a licensed physician and former world champion powerlifter.
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Cutting Phase
The purpose of this training phase is to decrease subcutaneous body fat while at the same time keeping as much muscle mass as we can. For body builders this is the phase in which they get ripped and ready for competition. For recreational bodybuilders this is the phase in which they get buffed, and show as much visible muscle as possible. Although it's unlikely that any significant amount of muscle hypertrophy will result, you can still get some increase in muscle size secondary to the increased vascularity of the muscle tissue.
...
While the objective is still to fatigue the muscles completely in every set the emphasis is on doing this with lighter weights and more repetitions than in the mass phase. In the transition between the strength phases and the cutting phase you simply decrease the weight by 30% and double the reps.
On page 127 he recommends 10-15 reps for the mass phase, just FYI.
Then we have Ken "Skip" Hill's famous DC training program used by professional athletes of all varieties. His approach features many exercises with sets going from 15 to 20 and even as high as 30 reps.
That's literally just what I had either on my desk or bookmarked in my browser, so you can imagine what I'll throw out there if I start digging. You're free to challenge that if you want, but you better make damn sure they have the academic and real life credentials to equal or surpass those two.
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I think I'm in a far better position to know how my reacts to things than you are. Perhaps you should just accept that your advice doesn't apply to everyone.
If you're on here asking what a 5x5 workout is and what it can do then no, you are most definitely not in a better position to know how your body reacts because the simple fact of the matter you have not gone deep enough to reach that level. Much like people who blame "bad genes" for being fat, the "my body doesn't respond well to XYZ" is a bull**** boilerplate excuse for people like yourself who don't know what they are doing, don't get the results they want and then discard their regimen rather than fix their own mistakes and make it work. You could quite literally be the poster child for this problem as I've explained to you how to make the lower weight/high rep workouts fit your goals and whether than getting your ass back into the gym and trying it, you're sitting here arguing with me about it on the internet.
This is why no one in here will even bother with helping you anymore. You come in here asking us smarter and more experienced people for help and then challenge us when we try to give it to you. Good luck figuring out the basics on how to get rid of your sub-par body though, because I'm about to join the rest of them in ignoring your threads.
I would not get too hung up on specific routines, set/rep patterns, etc. if you are looking to simply lose body fat/get lean. The truth is that any routine will work if done properly and with a decent nutrition program. 5x5 and similar power-lift-centric routines are awesome for strength, size and cutting body fat. The key is nutrition and obviously it depends on what your focus is. IE, if you're serious about getting max lifts and building poundages for the workouts, you will likely have to eat more and will probably put on more muscle and fat. If you want to get lean, the weight you will move will suffer, but you will still get stronger. It sounds like the key to your success will be moderation in ALL aspects of your routine, and I can relate to this because I try to keep the same symmetry. I have a bit of a bastardized program that works really well FOR ME, but the concepts are moderation, intensity and efficiency:
Sunday - Hill Sprints (8-10 x 80 yards, 100% effort) or track workout (400s, 200s, 100s)
Monday - off
Tuesday - Hill Sprints (same as above) or 3.5 mile run (whichever I feel like doing that day)
Wednesday - Power Lift day (see below)
Thursday - off
Friday - 3.5 mile run first thing in morning on empty stomach to encourage fat burning
Saturday - Glamour muscle building day (see below)
Power Lift Day (all sets pyramided reps, 12, 8, 6, 6, 3...no failure, but to the brink)
5 sets of Squats
5 sets of Bench Press
5 sets of Deadlifts
5 sets of Power Clean/Press
Glamour Build Day (4x8-10, final set to failure)
Incline Press
Pull Ups
Shrugs
Lateral Raises
Lying Extensions/Nose Breakers
Barbell Curls
At 35 this routine keeps me 170-180lbs at 5'10" with pretty visible abs, plenty of time to spend with my family and time to work 50 hours a week. I watch what I eat during the week, focus on balance of protein, carbs and fat, and then basically eat what I want on the weekends (but don't binge) and drink a fair amount of alcohol.
Everyone is obviously different, but the basic tenents of fitness are pretty universal. I think also as we get older, more attention needs to be paid to recovery and being "smarter" with our workouts versus trying to do everything under the sun. I used to spend loads of time on the gym, but realized a lot of that time was wasted and I would end up losing strength because I was taking everything to failure. Good luck and just experiment and see what works.
And my 30 people are almost certainly going to be far more knowledgeable than the 30 wanna be dweebs you could find on BodyBuilding.com to tow your line.
Doubtful since those 30 people probably exist only in your mind. What's the matter? Not gonna hide behind your rep points this time?
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Originally Posted by Bosco55David
If you're on here asking what a 5x5 workout is and what it can do then no, you are most definitely not in a better position to know how your body reacts because the simple fact of the matter you have not gone deep enough to reach that level. Much like people who blame "bad genes" for being fat, the "my body doesn't respond well to XYZ" is a bull**** boilerplate excuse for people like yourself who don't know what they are doing, don't get the results they want and then discard their regimen rather than fix their own mistakes and make it work. You could quite literally be the poster child for this problem as I've explained to you how to make the lower weight/high rep workouts fit your goals and whether than getting your ass back into the gym and trying it, you're sitting here arguing with me about it on the internet.
This is why no one in here will even bother with helping you anymore. You come in here asking us smarter and more experienced people for help and then challenge us when we try to give it to you. Good luck figuring out the basics on how to get rid of your sub-par body though, because I'm about to join the rest of them in ignoring your threads.
Nice try, but you're not the expert you try to pass yourself off as. And like a child, you can't seem to handle when someone disagrees with you so you resort to personal attacks, as if that's going to somehow make you more credible. Grow up.
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