Strength and Diet

Posted by: Curt | Under: 40's/fit, 50's/fit, Diet and Weight Loss, General Fitness, Health, Ladies/fit, Prime/fit, Sports, Supplements, Youth/fit | (0) Comments

Or big and ripped, or as Andrew over at MPF calls it “the holy grail of fitness”. The basic idea that has been floating around for years is that you can’t gain size and strength while at the same time lose fat and get lean- at least not without pharmaceutical help. That is sort of true, but not completely. Years ago, in my bodybuilding days we used to do the bulk up, diet down plan for getting ready for shows. One thing I noticed over the years is that each successive competition got easier to diet for and after the show, I stayed just a little bit leaner. So while there are some basics to gaining strength and and/or dieting, our bodies are extremely good at adapting. You aren’t going to make your best gains in size and strength while dieting, but you can still make gains. One time, about 10 years ago, I was getting ready for the Mr. Georgia and dieting fairly strictly. I was also still squatting and deadlifting at my max levels even while losing weight. So there is a balance and it isn’t easy to find, but when you do find it, it is great.

So to my mind the Holy Grail of Fitness IS a system that effects a good amount of fat loss–or perhaps, more accurately, control of fat–and, simultaneously, good gains in strength and muscle mass.  Compromise.  True, you’re not going to get HUGE and, depending on how you eat, you’re probably not going to get SHREDDED, but you’re going to look and feel good.