trying to get lean

[musclelac]

I have been working out for a while trying to get lean but results have been less than mediocre. workout consists of 4 days of workouts with 30 sec or 1 min breaks in between sets, reps of up to 8-12 depending on exercise. I try to keep a steady diet which includes carbs more during the day and more proteins at night. I want to get cuts in muscles but so far they have eluded me.....what am i doin wrong???? I still look flabby

[Boss Man]

If you want to get cut and lean, youre gonna have to lower the weight and up the reps in your routine.

(Absolutely not. High Weight low Rep pretty much always)

As far as diet: Realize that there are two types of carbs (good and bad).

(There are bad Carbs, but only in excess. If you consumed 10G Sugar a day, would you have a problem? Consume 100G a day you might, especially if they're refined. Also some Carbs are totally different. Fructose isn't the same as Galactose, Monosaccharides are not the same as Disacharrides or Oligosaccharides, Sugars and starches aren't the same, and don't digest at the same rate or have the same Enzymes to digest them.

Also having too many Fiberous Carbs, could cause Diarrhoea.)

Protein is always good, it repairs muscle and aids with burning fat. (No. Too much could cause Kidney Stones, and also in the long-term could cause Gout, as Gout comes from a buildup of Uric Acid around Joints, and Uric Acid is created from the conversion of Nitrogen in Proteins but also in Saturate Fats.

Some of the Amino Acids might do as you said, but Fat Burning is better when your Metabolism is healthy, and in an exercise context, in conjunction with weight lifting, and some but not loads of Cardio.)

Ultimately youre going to have to do a bunch of cardio. Without it, you'll never have that shreded look. (No you don't, you need about 3 sessions a week 30 mins max. Too much can Also Burn Muscle, and with solid weight training, can cause overtraining, which can affect things like results, performance, Immune System, Sleep, possibly Metabolism, in some cases Muscle Mass.)

As far as the rest time between reps, I don't think it matter as much. (Yes it could. I should know, as when I am running late at the Gym, and try to cut set Breaks on exercises, it can sometimes crimp rep numbers a bit, especially when you're not getting adequate Oxygen replenishement to muscles between reps, as you reduce the effort you can make in preceeding sets.)

[HOUSTON TEXAN]

High reps of low weight, lololololololololololololololololololol.

As Ronnie Coleman says "everyone wants to be a bodybuilder, but no one wants to lift heavy shit!"

[swanso5]

standard response...make sue you're doing these:

deadlifts
squats
lunges
sprints
plyometrics
solid protein with every meal but post training meal
simple carbs at breakfast and post training only
fruit in am
veg/salad in pm
compound exercises exercises and the bigger the better
cycle btw progressive overload and progresive density cycles
waterwaterwaterwater
fish oil

[L_Dub]

You're trying to get lean. So where's the cardio!? No mention of it.

[musclelac]

The reason I didn't mention cardio was because I didn't know how much cardio was good because too much will also burn muscle. Some people say 3 times a week for 30 mins while some say do a lot!!!

[Christopheel]

The reason I didn't mention cardio was because I didn't know how much cardio was good because too much will also burn muscle. Some people say 3 times a week for 30 mins while some say do a lot!!!

First cardio does not burn muscles, second 30 minsx3 a week is A LOT ... and too much I believe.

[cshapland]

for cardio i would higlhy recommend hiit it burns fat much faster then steady state cardio

[momentum333]

HIIT is great for cutting down some pounds. Different ways to keep it fresh while doing cardio is 10 sec sprints min jog and repeat. Also, 100m sprint, walk back, 200m sprint, walk back, etc until you get to 400m. I like doing things like these to keep me motivated because cardio can get boring after a while. But if you're going to do extended cardio try to do low intensity for 20m 3 times a week at the end of your workout. Hope this helps.

[ballas38]

I have a question:



Isn't it easier to get lean if you get bigger first???

[swanso5]

it all depends on how fat you are

usually when someone gets bigger they also get fatter so in that case no, it wouldn't be easier as you've gotta lose more fat then you started with

[momentum333]

its very difficult to put on muscle without putting on some fat. It takes great genetics, an amazing diet, etc. depending on what you want to do. If your goal is to build muscle, I say go on a bulking phase and then cut. If not, go directly into the cutting phase. It's all up to you

[bazza1013]

i am diabetic type 1 i train intensivly should i back off or is it safe to keep on training hard

[swanso5]

so long as you can control your insuline and sugar drops/rises, you should be alright to keep going hard