beginner question - lifting while cutting

[maccaz]

Hey everyone, been reading on here a while but only just signed up. Just wondering if you guys had any advice:

I want to get big muscle-wise eventually, at the moment I'm around 118kg but need to lose a good 20-25kg of fat (mainly beer belly etc which i want to lose asap)

I have been eating really well and lifting quite a bit, looking at starting boxing to speed up the cutting aswell. . seems when I go to gym i put off cardio as much as i can and just amp on the lifting, so boxing will be good for a change.was just wondering if there is any point me lifting etc when my short term goal is cutting?

through lifting have noticed a big difference with arms/shoulders/legs so not too keen to stop

Also, is there any reason why I shouldnt do the same weight routine daily? ie working same areas every day.I have been doing it every second day but would like to speed up progress by doing it daily, but is 24ish hours enough rest time?

if you guys have any input thatd be great

[crazyfacials]

ofcourse there is a point of lifting while cutting, it helps you keep your muscles there and not lose it with losing fat (although when cutting you're bound to lose some muscle along with fat...but lifting will help you keep muscles on)

[maccaz]

sweet. Will lifting have any positive effect for cutting, ie obviously lifting itself burns a few calories but anything else, have heard it speeds up metabolism a little is this correct?

[Phedder]

Any form of exercise speeds up your metabolism, lifting weights is no exception.

No you shouldn't do the same routine daily, muscles generally need at least 48 hours to recover after weights, combined with the fact that you're cutting, so you should be in a calorie deficit, would mean you'd burn out and end up over training. Not giving the muscles enough time to recover + not giving them enough calories to recover either = recipe for disaster. I'd suggest a 2 days on 1 off 2 days on 2 days off upper lower split, and keep the sets and reps low but weight high. Say 3 sets of 5 reps or so with your 7-8 rep max for each exercise. Will stop you from over working your muscles to the point they can't recover, but you'd be using a heavy enough weight to convince your body that the muscle you've got is worth keeping so it'll prioritize breaking down fat and not muscle for energy.

Mon- upper

Tues- lower

Wed- off - light cardio if you want

Thur- upper

Fri- Lower

Sat - off, light cardio if you want

Sun - off

Gives each muscle group 72 hours to recover before you hit them again, and light cardio after doing lower body can help them recover faster, as well as you burn more calories. That's all just my opinion on what I think will would best serve your purpose. There's many other ways you could be successful and I'm sure some others will chime in with differing opinions.

All that being said, when cutting your diet should be the main focus for weight loss. Exercise should be used to keep your muscle around and keep you fit. What I've said above also greatly depends on your diet and the past routine you've been following. Would be helpful if you could give us a rough idea of what those are like.

[maccaz]

sweet yeah was looking at 5day split will definately start doing that cheers.

diets getting better and better, heaps of protein, working on minimizing carbs and pretty low fat generally. no supplements whatsoever don't think its necessary yet just multi vit.

was previously doing

legpress x12x3

hamstring curl x12x3

leg extension x12x3

bench x12x3

shoulderpress x12x3

wide lat pulldown x12x3

current routine is just what the free trainer at my gym has given me, it is

(cant remember current weights off top of my head will check tomorrow)

hack squat x12x3

barbell straightleg dead lift x12x3

db lunge x12x3

leg lowers x15

seated row x12x3

incline db press x12x3

cable tricep extension x12x3

cable bicep curls x12x3

arnold press x12x3

I will have a read around on here and look at some journals and try and sus myself a decent 5 day split, thanks heaps