Losing muscle

roland_7707

Let me preface this a bit. I'm 26, weigh 310 and about 5'9''. I played football all four years of high school and would lift weights with by buddies going to college. Doing this I would never lose any fat.
Anytime I would work on abs, my stomach just got bigger, I guess adding the muscle under the fat, but not burning the fat.
I work in a medical clinic as an LPN and I weigh people all the time. We get these big (huge) guys in here and I'm thinking that they weigh at least 400lbs and when they tip the scales at 250 or 260. Muscle is supposed to weigh more than fat so I get pissed because there is no way that I should weigh as much as I do.

Anyway do yall know of anyway to lose muscle, and maybe doing so I can lose this fat also? Any help is appreciated.
thanks

bip

You don't need to lose muscle to lose fat. it has been proven that weight lifting and the muscles accrued will help burn fat. There are a lot of different ways to lift though. Bodybuillding.com has a lot of good forums and exercises. i do quite a bit of heavy lifting which I gain weight by. If I feel like I'm gaining too much weight I change my workout program to lower weights and more reps. an average of 15-20 reps per set with an average of 3-5 sets per exercise. when lifting heavy I do a lot of split sets etc. You should also be doing cardio with your workout. if you don't have a lot of time to go to the gym do back to back sets. Do one set on bicep and immediately do a set for the tricept. Rest for 1.5-2 min and continue that way until you have done 4-5 sets for those 2 exercises and then move on to another exercise for those two muscle groups. I will usually do tris and bi's, chest and back, and legs on the third day. with abs mixed in. Google HIIT. It's a great cardio program that doesn't take a lot of time and has been proven to burn off subcutious fat. You can do it with any cardio. I usually do it on the stationary bike because I can't run right now. I'll do a 10 min warm up and then go all out for 20 sec, after that I'll do 2 min at 60%. I'll do that 6-8 times and then stay at 60-70% for the rest of my time which is usually 45 min to an hour. Hope this helps

xmacro

Muscle burns more calories than fat. Also, diet is about 60% of any weight-loss routine - if you work out and are still fat, it's time to re-evaluate what you're eating.

roland_7707

thanks fellas

granneja

I don't know if you want to lose the muscle. That is an important part of a healthy body. If you want to cut down on bulkyness of muscle, lift lower weight with higher reps.

If you are intent on losing fat, you may want to give the hcg diet a try. I was 290 and dropped almost 50lbs in 40 days. You cant work out while you are doing it, but it really works.

jr_p951

Man I struggle with a similar situation! My weight limit is 175 and I'm 168 this morning...so I'm pretty close! The messed up part is I have abs and I'm in good shape. Now say I let it swing and I'm 175...I have to be taped for body fat percentage. I have a small neck and I always struggle when I tape. Now how the hell do I look lean with abs but close to failing for body fat percentage. My normal day is yogurt with fruit & granola for bfast, protein shake mid-morning. Lift weights and run 2 or 3 miles around lunch. After have a salad or lean chicken for lunch usually with a diet coke or water. When i get home...I do Insanity Cardio with my wife for usually 40 minutes. And usually have baked or grilled chicken with a salad for dinner. I've finally come to the conclusion that its the way we're built. Your more dense than they are. You'll have to work your butt off and cut fat. Lift weights to maintain muscle mass and kill the cardio. Eat healthy and watch your caloric intake. Its tough man but if it was easy...more people would do it.

bigharpoon

Brother, just lose the fat and not the muscle. I agree with what was already suggested: switch from low reps to high reps to keep the muscle you've worked so hard to get. Burning off the fat is a simple theory, all you have to do is burn more calories than you intake. The hard part is putting it into practice. You need to increase the amount of time spent exercising (something aerobic, not anaerobic like lifting) and lower your caloric intake.

The hardest part is finding a routine that is sustainable. Even working out you are probably going to lose a little muscle along with the fat, but if you gain that weight back it will surely be all fat. That's the tragedy of yo-yoing. Keep the muscle, burn more calories and aim to lose about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds a week. That's it, any more and it's probably not a sustainable lifestyle.

lilwing88

Cardio, cardio, and more cardio. Along with a low fat, low carb diet.

mfotis

plus one with what everyone else said. small changes make a big difference, do you drink soda? cut it out or down by half, take the stairs, get out and walk for 15 when on break. The math is if you cut 500 calories (2 sodas) out of your daily intake and burn 500 more calories than usual then you will lose at least one pound a week. It wont happen overnight but if you stick with the small changes you will eventually see bigger changes.

Amos_Umwhat

Diet diet diet. What's been said above about lifting etc is on the money, but the most likely culprit is the CARBOHYDRATES. The American carbohydrate intake has exploded exponentially in the last 75 years or so, I recently read an article by a Doctor on the subject at hand who pointed out that in 1822 the average americans diet included the equivalent of 2 tsps of sugar, by 2005 that number had reached 56 tsps of sugar. You're an LPN, so you understand the "exchange" system.

At least you've got the muscle to help convert the fat to calories when you diet. High protein, low carb, start counting, and LOTs of water to help flush the byproducts (ketones) of protein metabolism out of your system. Good luck.