Quick...i hit a plateau!

[RussianOak]

Whjats up guys? I'm not new to working out, but never been faced with hitting a plateau. I work out 4 times a week and one body part a day. Is their anything i can do to overcome this?

 

Also, i find it quite hard for me to gain weight. is there any reccommendations?

[EnigmaXOXO]

Are you trying to loose body fat or build muscle?

 

If you have reached a plateau in loosing weight, than just keep going! Your body will eventually kick back into gear.

 

If your trying to build muscle mass...well I think I should leave this one to our resident expert. However, GIRL was kind enough to leave some wonderful links on a former post that you might appreciate as much as I did!

 

Dude, just check out this brilliant site..... Post: 7 | Quote:

 

just the facts and nothing but the facts:

 

 

Weight Loss: http://www.intense-workout.com/weight_loss.html

 

Gain Muscle and Lose Fat at the same time: http://www.intense-workout.com/same.html

 

The Best Time To Excercise (this article is EXCELLENT): http://www.intense-workout.com/cardio.html

[Ryan]

I'm not new to working out, but never been faced with hitting a plateau. I work out 4 times a week and one body part a day.

 

You answered your own question. Plateaus are almost entirely a matter of training more than your body can recover.

 

 

Also, i find it quite hard for me to gain weight.

 

Stop thinking about bodyparts and start thinking about the big lifts. Eat.

 

 

 

Now as for those articles....

 

Weight Loss:

 

This article was good up until it stated that "cardio" is a must for weight loss. Not only is it unnecessary, but it is often counterproductive. Stress during a period of caloric deficit promotes cannibalization of essential tissues (muscle, organ, etc.). It also states you need to eliminate fats and carbohydrates. Are people to live on tuna fish and carrots? No macronutrient is responsible for obesity (or lack thereof). This would be better phrased as encouraging people to choose a variety of fresh foods without heavy processing.

 

 

Gain Muscle and Lose Fat at the same time:

 

At least he admits this isn't really feasible. But "cutting" from March to October? I have to wonder what someone is doing during the other 4 months if they need to diet that long.

 

 

The Best Time To Excercise

 

This one is riddled with fallacies. It is a common notion that you need to do "cardio" first thing in the morning. The justification is that you have no food in you, so you burn bodyfat. The flaw in this is.....it doesn't matter when you expend those calories during a day. That 100 calories is burnt whether you do it at 6am or 6pm. Whether your body mobilizes bodyfat during the activity or at some other time when it WOULD have used those "carb" calories is irrelevant. Then again, I wouldn't have people waste their time doing this at all.

[veggie]

 

This article was good up until it stated that "cardio" is a must for weight loss. Not only is it unnecessary, but it is often counterproductive. Stress during a period of caloric deficit promotes cannibalization of essential tissues (muscle, organ, etc.). It also states you need to eliminate fats and carbohydrates. Are people to live on tuna fish and carrots? No macronutrient is responsible for obesity (or lack thereof). This would be better phrased as encouraging people to choose a variety of fresh foods without heavy processing.

 

I call this eating as close to the land as possible. Humans are the only species (domesticated or caged animals excepted) that have a weight problem. There are a bunch of reasons for this but the biggies are that we consume way too much processed food and we eat for reasons other than hunger.

 

 

 

Gain Muscle and Lose Fat at the same time:

 

At least he admits this isn't really feasible. But "cutting" from March to October? I have to wonder what someone is doing during the other 4 months if they need to diet that long.

 

When I read this I was pretty startled. He spends half the year putting on muscle and the other half taking off weight. I have never heard of this.

 

But why do you think you can't gain muscle and lose fat at the same time? If you are overweight and you reduce your caloric intake at the same time you train with weights, you will do both. Am I missing something?

[Ryan]

When I read this I was pretty startled. He spends half the year putting on muscle and the other half taking off weight. I have never heard of this.

 

That fraction is actually 1/3 of a year "bulking" and 2/3 of a year "cutting." This isn't an unusual concept...this is just an unusual way to distribute it over time. Many who train undergo periods of time where they want to maximize the results of their training (strength and/or size). This requires eating above maintenance levels to add muscle tissue. The issue is that, during a caloric surplus, you are going to add bodyfat. Over a period of time of growth, you will add some proportion of muscle and fat. Then one can undergo a dieting phase to remove the recent bodyfat gains. The net over time is some amount of muscle gain with little or no bodyfat increase.

 

The unusual part is how long this guy does both. I've incorporated this cyclical approach to body composition regulation, but a more reasonable breakdown would be something like 10 weeks of "bulking" and 4 weeks of "cutting." I wouldn't want to binge for 4 months straight (the added mass tends to be more and more fat the longer you do this)...and certainly not diet for 8 months...I'd cannibalize way too much muscle tissue and end up lowering my metabolic levels.

 

I would like to add that overall size is not my goal...nor is it all that important. I simply have periods where I eat comfortably....foods I like and as much as I need. These are followed by periods where I reduce my caloric intake and shed some bodyfat.

 

 

 

But why do you think you can't gain muscle and lose fat at the same time? If you are overweight and you reduce your caloric intake at the same time you train with weights, you will do both. Am I missing something?

 

New trainees can do this for a short while at the beginning of their training....those who are significantly overweight will also be able to do it initially...but that's about it. The problem is both in balancing the calories and in the hormones. If you reduce your calories, you are expending body tissues (hopefully largely fat) to compensate. Adding muscle tissue requires calories above and beyond your maintenance levels...both in the way of protein to create the muscle and energy to perform the creation. It's on the order of 1200-1800 calories total per pound of muscle tissue. It's tough to come up with that when you aren't eating even enough to KEEP all the tissue you have. The hormonal side is that many of the same hormones that are anabolic for muscle tissue are anabolic for bodyfat. Likewise, hormones that are conducive to breakdown of fat also apply to muscle tissue.

[veggie]

 

 

New trainees can do this for a short while at the beginning of their training....those who are significantly overweight will also be able to do it initially...but that's about it. The problem is both in balancing the calories and in the hormones. If you reduce your calories, you are expending body tissues (hopefully largely fat) to compensate. Adding muscle tissue requires calories above and beyond your maintenance levels...both in the way of protein to create the muscle and energy to perform the creation. It's on the order of 1200-1800 calories total per pound of muscle tissue. It's tough to come up with that when you aren't eating even enough to KEEP all the tissue you have. The hormonal side is that many of the same hormones that are anabolic for muscle tissue are anabolic for bodyfat. Likewise, hormones that are conducive to breakdown of fat also apply to muscle tissue.

 

Ok, that makes sense. I was thinking of people who want to lose weight when I posted. Thanks for taking the time to answer.