Need your advice/opinions please.

[hello_kitty]

I have posted this in the female section before but so far no replies so I thought I'd give you guys a try as well.
I'm a 25 y/o female. I/m 5'4 and 122 pounds. My current goal is to lose 8 lb of fat so I'm conducting a research on this subject. I read this book last night, German Body Comp by Charles Poliquin and it confused me completeley. He claims that athletes on his programme lose smth like 7-9% bf in couple of months because his excercise technique stimulates growth hormone production. Then he also mentions that his new clients only eat 40g of carbs in the first two weeks. Well this sounds pretty much like Atkins to me.

So the first question is -- Do they lose weight because of the excercise of because they hardly eat any carbs? How is this sustainable in the long run?

I'm currently eating 5 meals a day (6g of fat, 30g protein and 30g of carbs) Carbs I eat are usually whole grains, brown rice, pulses, yeast free and wheat free bread. Is it too much? Shall I stick to just vegetables but then I need to eat loads of broccoli to get to 30g of carbs. Hope I'm making sense here.

He also completely dismisses cardio excercise. He claims it damages the muscle in the long run. Reading this forum I had an understanding that you have to do cardio training to lose fat.

Second question -- So what is it, cardio or just weight training?

I'm currently resting for a week with the new training regime starting on Monday. So I kind of have to come up with the best programme by then.

Your thoughts will be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[malkore]

I'm currently eating 5 meals a day (6g of fat, 30g protein and 30g of carbs)

wait, is that per meal, or per day? assuming it's per meal, that's a bit high on protein IMO. you only need 1g per pound of lean mass. 120g per day is plenty for you.

Polquin is good, and his diet routine is NOT atkins. it may restrict carbs for two weeks to force the body to tap into stored fat for energy, but its not atkins.

You don't need cardio to burn fat. It helps, but its not the only way.

 

[Detroit Muscle]

Poliquin is one of the best so it won't hurt to give this program a try.
The power of this program is in the training. I haven't read the book so correct me if I'm wrong, but his program had sets/reps like 10x10? This will be effective, but for me it's boring. I've linked to a program that is similar and not as boring: OVT. Christian Thibaudeau, the coach responsible for this program references the weakness of GVT (German Volume Training).


In terms of nutrition, you may want to consider arranging the timing of your macros throughout the day. As Malkore mentioned 150g of protein may be high but then again it may be pefectly fine. The area I'd be most cautious of is the timing of your carbs. Try to arrange your meals so your 1st meal, pre-workout and post-workout are where the bulk of your carbs are consumed.

Just a few things to consider.

Good luck.

DM