I don't understand the Losing Fat portion of the article pinned. BB'ers routinely cut to lose body fat while maintaining muscle mass. And the recipe for normal range fat loss [not extreme competitive fat loss] is very well known -- why is that guy even trying to re-invent something that is simple and has worked millions of times for millions of people?

I have been on a cut for 6 weeks and my abs have made a reappearance. At least the top 4 of them. So I know the usual prescription works, at least for me.

Yawn.

1. Eat 500 kcal below maintenance. I gauge this by benchmarking with what I used to eat, and feeling a bit hungry between meals.

2. Continue lifting heavy weights to maintain if not augment muscle mass.

3. Do HIIT to jack up the metabolism.

4. Consume lots of protein to avoid muscle liquidation. Cut the carbs, not the protein.

Does it get any simpler? It works. And this same advice is all over bb.com.

Actually, if you lift weights 3X a week, you don't even need HIIT to up your metabolism. I should just have trusted Rippetoe. He said gaining muscle is difficult while losing fat is easy. And it really is so.

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Added on September 5, 2009, 1:28 amAnd it's CRUCIAL to drive home the point that HIIT is not cardio. I avoided HIIT for many months because I thought it was cardio, and I hated cardio. 30 mins of heart pumping and general torture doing something absolutely boring like stationary bicycling -- who invented that shit anyway?

HIIT is totally different, it's fun, it's easy. You can HIIT running, swimming, cycling, whatever. It's not torture.

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Added on September 5, 2009, 1:31 amAnd the whole idea of HIIT is not to burn calories. Exercise is very inefficient at burning calories. HIIT is metabolic conditioning. You burn calories by not eating calories.

This post has been edited by kotmj: Sep 5 2009, 01:31 AM