Losing gut, building muscle... How?

P

Phry

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I'm about 5'9", 150lbs, and 24 years old. I've pretty much had a little gut since I was 12 and I still have it now, except it's getting a little bigger since I've been drinking way too much beer. Everyone always says I'm skinny, but that's pretty much cuz I am except for my gut. Lately I've started running and jump roping maybe 2 times a week.

So I pretty much wanna know what I can do to lose my gut and build some muscle in my body. Such as what kind of diet I could follow along with an exercise routine. I do have time on my hands to do exercise even though I work a full time job, so I'm willin to do whatever. To tell you the truth I am completely out of shape and I do smoke a lot, so it may take time for me, haha. Any help? Please? Thanks.
 
you can't really have both, if you want to lose your gut, you have to diet, do lots of cardio or anything that keeps your heartrate up for long periods (to burn the excess calories that are stored as glycogen in your fat cells) and ab workouts.

In order to gain muscle, you have to lift heavier weights, as well as have a diet with excess calories to be used to repair the muscles and make them grow and get stronger.

Do you see how they contradict themselves. Of course for a while you might be able to pull off both, but after a very short while, you are gonna have to pick one.
 
I guess that makes sense. Well I guess right now I'm more concerned with losing the gut. Can I do that while tryin to build upper body strength or not? But what can I do to lose the gut? Such as what kind of diet should I follow, how often should I run, and for how long?
 
Sounds to me like your looking for a beach body...

Sounds to me like your looking for a beach body...

I am 5'8 (barely) 150 lbs and I have a 6 pack, lean frame, decent shoulders and V-shaped torso . You are taller, weigh the same, but according to your post, I believe you are what we call "doughy" (skinny frame, fat belly and no muscle tone). I say this with all due respect as I have never met you and wouldn't want to insult you.

Here is what I do to maintain lean muscle and low fat. Keep in mind that we are similar in build, but still 2 completely seperate people.

Exercise:

Run your butt off. Run at least 3 miles a week. That can be 2 x 1.5 miles, or 3 x 1 mile. You should be able to do this, coming out of the gate without any real conditioning needed. I would set a stretch goal of 9 miles a week and try to get there within 5 weeks. (Or just before bathing season here in the states).

Push-ups, Chin-ups, dips, shrugs, curls and skull crushers can do wonders for building an upper body. I would still stay concentrated on losing the fat, but as you lose the fat you can certainly build lean muscle.

Core exercises can help tighten up that gut while you lose the fat. Keep in mind you wont see those abs till the fat is gone. I find squats and lunges can be very helpful if you zip-up your core and maintain tension on it throughout the exercise. Vary your crunches too. Abs seem the most prone to adaptation.

Nutrition:

Cut the garbage out of your diet. I drink beer too. If I am going to drink beer I have to pull the calories from some other area of my diet. Most likely a light lunch and dinner instead of standard issue meals.

Eat less, but more often. Allow your body to metabolize the food in it, before you load your belly back up with a full meal.
Drink a ton of water.

Chicken, fish, pork and beef all come in lean varieties. Eat whole foods, nuts, unshucked brown rice, fruits and vegaetables, beans granola. No BullSh1t BBQ Fritoes, Taco Bell, carmel latte frapachinos, twinkies or Ranch Doritioes. This is essentially processed garbage that keeps you fat. There is a reason its cheap, it's sh1t.

Cook your own food. Restaurants (most) don't care what the calorie count is. They are more interested in you feeling full when you leave. (When you feel full, you have usually overeaten)

Subsidize some of your caloric intake with a high quality Whey product.

Don't be a fool. You cant look "ideal" in a bathing suit if you don't put the effort into it. The "ideal" look is rare. Its hard as **** to come by. Patience, exercise and diet are the only means to the desired results.
 
You can shed some fat while adding muscle initially just because its such a shock to your body.

After a month though, you'll want to focus on one or the other, and it looks like right now you're going with fat loss. You can indeed build strength while leaning out, as strength has a lot to do with the brain controlling the muscles for optimal contraction. So lift heavy and in the 4-6 rep range while you shed body fat. Cardio will be a big help too, but high intensity for short sessions, and slower cardio that's longer.

A good diet will be needed, and carb cycling might help shed the fat faster while still keeping your energy levels up (and maintaining your sanity).
 
Thanks for the advice. I think the running and exercises shouldn't be too big of a problem. I'm planning on running every other day, then doing ab and upper body exercises on the days I don't run, would that be pretty good? The Diet is gonna be the hard part since I eat tons of freakin food, junk food, Haha. I just need to look into nutrition and figure out what's good to eat I guess. Thanks.
 
Why aren't you going to work your legs? Running does NOT build leg muscle, and your quadriceps are the biggest muscles in the body.

You don't wanna have chicken legs do you?

Squats, deadlifts, calf raises, lunges...plus running.
 
running doesn't break down the muscles enough to need them to repair. And when you tear the muscle, that's when it builds up. Gotta break it down to build it up!
 
GarrettRice76 said:
running doesn't break down the muscles enough to need them to repair. And when you tear the muscle, that's when it builds up. Gotta break it down to build it up!
Click to expand...

bingo. granted sprinters to develop some good leg muscles, its due to the explosive nature of their sprints doing more micro tears, similar to how weight training damages muscle tissue.

but load bearing exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges....always add more size than running.

and most runners go for distance. if you look at distance runners, esp. marathon runners, they have very lightly muscled legs built for endurance. (nothing wrong with this as it suits their goals perfectly)
 
I started to bike instead of run cuz running kills my legs.

My buddy says that weight training will help me burn fat faster than cardio does. Should I focus more on that then?
 
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