Weight Loss & HST

sach555

New Member
Hello everyone

I am 5'11'' and weigh 320 lbs. I am on a 1100 calories a day diet as I need to lose about 90lbs or so. My daily protein intake is less than 100 gms. I started HST about a month back.

My question is - should I even bother with HST or any weight training routine until I am close to my target weight? I am asking this because from what I have read on other posts and in general, it seems if I am not taking in enough calories, esp protein, I am fighting a losing battle while weight training. Even though my goal is to gain muscle mass, I don't know if this is possible while dieting severely - as I also need to lose a lot of weight. I have also read that when you are trying to lose weight by cutting calories, the body starts burning muscle so weight training to increase muscle mass in this state seems contradictory.

Any advice/suggestions are really appreciated. Thanks a lot.

Sach
 
Sach,
I know less about weight loss compared to bulking through HST but for one, yes it will be difficult to put NEW muscle mass on while dieting severely, but the purpose of HST would be to reduce or eliminate any potential muscle loss.
Also, I suggest supplementing with creatine. I know I read a study somewhere (somewhere in this forum or the ThinkMuscle newsletter?) that demonstrated how creatine is effective in preventing muscle loss while dieting.
HST, or any weightlifting regimen has its place in weight loss. Aside from helping to burn calories, weightlifting will also reduce muscle loss.
You should do an HST workout at least 5 times a week, focusing entirely on large, compound movements like squats, deads, benches, dips, etc. Good luck to you.
 
With the weight you are at, it is possible for you to gain a little bit of muscle mass as you lose the fat, but the primary reason for you to lift weights while trying to lose weight is to aid in losing weight and to help keep your lean body mass.
Though with such a huge calorie deficit like you are creating, it will be difficult to spare a lot of lean mass regardless of what you do, and I believe it will be next to impossible to gain new muscle mass. If you ate slightly more calories, perhaps around 1800, and kept doing HST along with cardio on your off days, I think it would be much better for your health and for lean body mass retention. I further believe you would probably shed the fat at around the same rate you are right now.
 
you definatly need to up your protein intake as well. if exercising so often tour body will need as much protein as it can get. i would reccomend going to the bodybuilding.com boards and search around for the foundation information about cutting
good luck
 
Hey :)

Instead of dieting heavily like that using extremely high caloric deficit, eat at maintenance or slightly below maintenance. Eat a lot more good fats, stay away from bad ones (remember, you need good fats to remove fats). Do a standard HST routine and add cardio, perhaps on off days or after you train (just make sure you get proper pre and post workout nutrition).

Your weight loss may not be as fast as eating extremely few calories, but this would lead to a healthier lifestyle.

Regards,
-JV
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (shwaym @ Aug. 13 2005,12:22)]bodybuilding.com
Not to sound contary... but I can't agree. BB.com is full of too much misinformation. If you want a critique on your cutting diet, just post it here and we'll pick it apart for you.
 
I'm not trying to sound like a single-minded disciple of HST (afterall, an open mind and examination of all sorts of training methods led me here in the first place), but bodybuilding.com indeed lacks any scientific foundation and is simply not a logical resource to use in the quest for a better body, and in your case more specifically, for weight loss. They STILL have all kinds of articles on HIT and how hitting a bodypart once a week or even TWO weeks will allow you plenty of "recovery time."

And yet we see through the studies presented on this site and elsewhere that recovery happens within 36-48 hours!

The HST/HSN website is certainly not the only source of credible, scientifically based bodybuilding research on the internet, but it is clear that bodybuilding.com is certainly not.

Check an article currently listed on the front page of bodybuilding.com: "How the Pros Build Arms!"

Great, just what I wanted to read, the opinion of a bunch of drug-assisted bodybuilders who competed in the 70's.
;)

Good luck!
 
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