Post-HST maintain muscle mass

[Aquarion]

I know it might sound a bit silly, but i believed i finally reached my goals and don't want to get any bigger. But instead, i want to continue to strengthen/tone/maintain my muscles using the same simplify and win routine (since its nice and simple and i know it's targeting all the muscles in my body). I already do light cardio 2-3 times a week, but i'm afraid that this alone will result in a loss of muscle mass if i stop lifting some weights.

My current routines are
A:
Squats
Incline Bench Press
Upright Rows
Bent over Rows

B:
Deadlifts
Military Press
Bench Press
Chin Ups

Would you guys recommend that i could continue this but perhaps light weights and higher reps? Maybe just do something similar the 15rep mini-cycle? And how often will i need to train? Any thoughts would be much appreciated

 

[Lol]

I know it might sound a bit silly, but i believed i finally reached my goals and don't want to get any bigger. But instead, i want to continue to strengthen/tone/maintain my muscles using the same simplify and win routine (since its nice and simple and i know it's targeting all the muscles in my body). I already do light cardio 2-3 times a week, but i'm afraid that this alone will result in a loss of muscle mass if i stop lifting some weights.

Would you guys recommend that i could continue this but perhaps light weights and higher reps? Maybe just do something similar the 15rep mini-cycle? And how often will i need to train? Any thoughts would be much appreciated

You can probably maintain lean mass if you ensure you eat at maintenance and do a full-body heavy load w/o once a week (5-10 RM). Use one of your routines listed each week. If you want to maximise strength at your chosen size, you will need to train your CNS with even heavier loads >=5 RM.

By the way, there's no such thing as toning. There's only stronger or weaker!

 

[electric]

Just like lol said you maintain lean mass by working out heavy enough and most importantly, eating maintenance. That some time to understand exactly what you want to accomplish. Do you think you are too muscular and don't want to gain any more muscle while still increasing strength? Do you think you are too big/heavy s you don't want to gain more size/weight? Again, like Lol said, there is no such thing as toning, if you have said that maybe you might want to increase your definition and you can do that by cutting (ie. eating bellow maitenance calories while lifting heavy). That way you will lose weight and size while keeping as much Lean mass as possible. You'll get more definition and vascularization. Maybe after the cut you'll have lost enough weight and size (due to reduced amount of fat) that you'll want to grow more lean mass again.
Of course if you think you've reached your target weight and body fat and just want to maintain while keeping/increasing your overall condition and strength the most important factor is to eat at maintenance calories. No matter how intense is your training if you don't have surplus calories the muscles can't increase in size.

 

[Aquarion]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yeah toning wasn't really the word i was after. Just getting stronger while maintaining the same muscle mass and slowly shedding some fat over the next weeks which is i guess is cutting

I'm a bit too poor right now to replace my whole wardrobe of shirts (a few of them i don't fit anymore) and i feel really happy with the amount of muscle mass on my body right now. I'm gonna try what Lol suggests and do 1 heavy load full body w/o once a week and also watch my diet. Does 1g protein per 1kg body weight sound adequate for maintenance?

 

[lanette]

One question, how to decide the diet composition for maintenance?

 

[Fausto]

I know it might sound a bit silly, but i believed i finally reached my goals and don't want to get any bigger. But instead, i want to continue to strengthen/tone/maintain my muscles using the same simplify and win routine (since its nice and simple and i know it's targeting all the muscles in my body). I already do light cardio 2-3 times a week, but i'm afraid that this alone will result in a loss of muscle mass if i stop lifting some weights.

My current routines are
A:
Squats
Incline Bench Press
Upright Rows
Bent over Rows

B:
Deadlifts
Military Press
Bench Press
Chin Ups

Would you guys recommend that i could continue this but perhaps light weights and higher reps? Maybe just do something similar the 15rep mini-cycle? And how often will i need to train? Any thoughts would be much appreciated

Aquarion

Very few people do actually reach your state of mind...they keep wanting to get bigger and bigger, he...he...he

It is however a good one, maybe that is my opinion only but still...

My honest opinion about your training, if you have reached tragets that are good for both Body Fat and muscle mass, then eat at maintenance, keep the program as is, do not reduce weights....no, that will be a mistake, the weights maintain your strength levels and I hope you doing some cardio to maintain your vascular health and blood circulation too.

There is not much else I'd do or say, keep HST as is, do not stop doing SD, at most you may play around a little with either dropping or changing the 15's but even that I'd keep they keep your tendons and joints healthy.

The last thing would end with a question...how old are you?

 

[_tim]

I wanna throw my 2 cents in too... Keep rep ranges low and loads up! High reps/low loads = more bloodflow to muscles = more size. Low reps/high loads = more strength = more resting fat burn. I can very much relate to where you are, Aquarion - I love the exercise selection you posted at the top of the thread; keep the rep targets between 3 and 5 per set, and continue to progress your loads in a periodized fashion like you would with HST. Keep the cardio going, and I think you'll like the results. Good luck!

 

[Aquarion]

Thanks for the replies guys! My current % bodyfat is a bit high which i took into consideration. Hopefully will drop the fat and look more like a lean mean machine And yep, i'll just keep the weights heavy.

I'm 28yrs old and as for cardio, i do lots of dancing (latin styles that originate from south america). That's actually one reason why i don't wanna get too bulky, but i've had comments from many of my peers that i've gotten bigger with more muscle but i think it'll look a bit strange on the dance floor if i got too HUGE!

Also, there are some crazy dance moves which require you to arch your back backwards which i used to find really taxing on the lower back. Thanks to doing deadlifts, i got a much much much stronger back and now i wonder why everyone else stuggles doing the move hahaha. I tell them my secret "deadlifts!"