Sorry im a newb in bodybuilding, I'm currently trying to lose my belly fat, Im having less rice (about 30% of a full plate) and lots of Vegetables and some chicken breast for my lunch and dinner. I do HIIT 3 to 4 times a week. MY question is

1) Can i do weight training after i cardio to maintain or build the muscle mass? Or do i do it on other days when im not doing Cardio

2) Am i having a correct diet? Breakfast : 2 half boiled eggs, lunch (as mentioned), tea break (steamed chicken breast + wholemeal bread + oat), dinner (as mentioned)

1) If you can do weight training after HIIT, you are doing HIIT wrong. You should feel like not doing ANYTHING after finishing your HIIT session. Thats why it is called HIGH INTENSITY - It is intense! Otherwise it is just Interval Training.

Do HIIT on days you are not lifting. On lifting days if you MUST do cardio, do LISS AFTER lifting. Finally, take one day off a week to not exercise because HIIT and lifting is going to stress your muscles and body and will require time to heal and recuperate - exercising intensely everyday for too long a period of time is counter productive and is a sure way to head to a break down.

2) Since your main goal is losing fat, all you need is a caloric deficit. It ultimately doesn't matter what you eat - Although it is important to note that what you eat will affect how you feel (eating a healthy diet will make you feel better than eating crap). To maintain muscle mass, ensure at least 0.8g of protein per lean pound of body mass.

So in short:
1) HIIT on days your NOT lifting. On lift days, do LISS after weight lifting.
2) Find out your TDEE, create a 20% deficit from that (don't make too large a deficit). Learn to count calories so you meet your caloric needs. Consume 0.8g protein/lb of LBM a day to maintain muscle.

1) Hmm.. yeah i guess im doing it wrong, my sprint is around 13km/h on the treadmill i guess i have to push it further to 17 or 18 for 60 seconds each time.

2) Is there any cheaper way to determine my lean body mass?

Thanks for providing all the useful info, i would need some time to digest everything though lol.

*shrugs* Bump it up to whatever intensity makes you feel like you are not going to want to do any other exercise after the HIIT session. For some people 10-11km for 30 seconds oso cannot tahan. Since you are obviously more fit, you have to make it more challenging. Remember to not hurt yourself though.

I don't understand what you are asking? If you want to determine your body fat %, the cheapest way is to eyeball it (You can post a picture here and the experienced sifus can help give you a rough idea). Otherwise, there are electronic scales, calipers, scans, etc. Besides a DEXA scan (which I am not even sure is possible to find in Msia) all of these are estimates. The best are calipers to measure your body fat (handled by someone experienced otherwise results are skewed too) as they have a 98-99% accuracy rate. You might call around to doctors, or sports centers to find out if there is someone who can measure you. My suggestion is eyeball it, make sure your diet and training is on point to maintain max muscle, train-eat-sleep, don't stop until you are happy with your body. If you find yourself too thin, too bulky, too whatever - Stop, reevaluate, determine new goals, readjust training and nutrition, continue.

It isn't complicated. You don't NEED supplements, or meal timing, or a gym, or a training partner, or a book. Just common sense, a plan, determination and patience.

Keeping it simple and sustainable is the best advice anyone can offer.

This should be stickied somewhere. Good answer shadowz.

I should add that cardio is not necessary. Ive lost bf% without a single cardio session. Mine was usually bball sessions but I hurt my knee while playing so ive been out for the past month or so. Still lost bodyfat.

Manipulate your diet.

Aw shucks Thanks for the thumbs up

And +1 to the no need for cardio. Diet has been proven to be key for fat loss. The saying 'You cannot out-train a crappy diet' is true.

Yeap. shadowz is spot on.

+ 1 to the diet. I used to say to some people, you don't need to exercise at all to look fit. Just tweak your diet. Technically that's true, but on hindsight, considering the health implications that was a very bad statement lol.

And for the bf% estimate all the tools you'd need is a 50sen measurement tape, and a weighing scale. And of course a reference table of figures (I've posted this somewhere edit: refer below). That already brings it up to at least 85% accuracy.

In fact there's no need to calculate bf%, unless it's for calculating calorie requirements. "Eyeballing" it as shadowz would put it, is sufficient.

Calculating bf%:


This post has been edited by DT1: Jan 3 2013, 01:14 PM

I would still suggest to include any form of cardio so that cardiovascular health is taken care as well.

Nothing beats a good nutrition. As the old saying goes "Abs are made in Kitchen", indeed it is.. Of course if you add on weight training, it will speed up the process and look great at the same time. No point joining the club of 4,6 or 8 without proportionally built the rest of group muscles. Cardio could be subjective, it depends how intense your weight training and your current BF standing. If your BF isn't more than 20%, twice a week of HIIT would be suffice All the best in 2013 and those who's below BF 20, work hard and get the buns out in 3 months..

this is SUCH a good read!

so informative!

newbies should read more of the stickies instead of getting spoon-fed.

props to the Muscular Sifus who take their time to answer questions!

great explanation...great3 explanation...btw..patience is crucial as well..no spirit, no benefit..

Does this means that if i adhere a strict diet, and trainings, i do not need to do any sort of abs exercises at all to get abs? Or is it needed too for toning and making the abs more visible and toned? Like lower body abs

Technically you dont. With low enough bf your abs will be visible.

Doing ab work will simply enhance it. Make it more defined.

"abs are made in kitchen". I like it. Cardio itself will not help you lose fat, but calories deficit will do. cardio help you to burn more calories.

Patience and consistency are the key. Don give up half way and think that you are not going to achieve it, and eat back all the junk foods.

need to cut our bf just can get 6 pax?

Yup, need below 10-13%, it will visible..

the burst training seems interesting, will try do it on my rest day

it's very useful ! thanks for this video.
sorry for that late because only see the video ,
sorry for those who comment on my thread

Lol. It's ok. At least you realized. You need to understand how we feel when we see the same questions everyday.

o.....