Well as the title suggest..I'm looking to gain muscle mass in my chest and arms and shoulders..but at the same time while I'm bulking (and eating like a hoss..) I'm gaining weight around my stomach even after doing 20 minutes of cardio a day.

I've gained quite a bit of weight (on purpose) to increase my chest size and biceps and shoulders, but at the same time again I'm getting a "tire" around my waist of sorts, it's not so much on my stomach as it is on the sides, like love handles that hang off haha..it's weird and gross.

I'm not wanting to lose "weight", I'm wanting to trip that down and I was wondering if there is a certain food group I should cut out? I took some pics at the gym today to show my size and then my waist in comparison you can see..

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/2573/39875027841464786561108.jpg

http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/6343/40213127841154778811108.jpg

suggestions?

I used to have the same problem back when I was doing Judo. I didn't think too much about what I was eating, although I did eat a lot less carbs and more fruits. I also started running more. 45 minutes each morning, 10 warming up, 30 on a brisk jog and 5 sprinting.

It's an interesting one. Are you looking to get a cut six pack? Or just lose a bit of weight? One of my best friends is a physio and he tells me that people with inward curving backs can never get a good six pack, just due to their body shape.

I'd say carbs, like bread and pasta would be a good idea to cut out, if you want to lose weight. I have the opposite problem. I've always had a good stomach, but poor chest and upper body.

well the problem with doing more cardio when bulking is the more cardio you do the less bulk you gain..I'm looking for mass gains in my arms/chest/shoulders and if I up my cardio more than 20 minutes a day I'll really start to lose mass in the areas I'm trying to gain >.<

And no The Dark Knight, I don't want a six pack. I have strong abs, a strong core, I just have some stuff covering it up lol, just want to drip that off without losing mass in my upper body..and I am not looking for a six pack anyway, guys as big as me don't usually gain and cut six packs at the same time lol, I jut want it to be flat

Can't have it both ways mate, you're going to have to pick one

I guess that's true Exorince..but maybe i can slim down my midsection a bit by cutting some simple carbs like pasta?

I'd say carbs for sure. Heavy white bread and white pasta is a good idea. I've had a lot of time on my hands recently and I've been going to the gym a lot and eating healthily. I'm trying to get more toned, rather than bulked like you. I find a good way of maintaing my abs is to cut out tons of dairy and try and only had wholegrain cards like brown rice and bread when I need them.

pt pyramid brother

There isn't anything to suggest, really. You can be careful with increasing exercise/decreasing intake to try to lose weight without losing muscle, and you can choose specific exercises to work on individual muscle groups, but you can't target weight loss. Where your body decides to distribute fat when gaining it and where it takes it from first when losing it is entirely genetic.

You could check /fit/, I belive the sticky covered this though. You must choose between one or the other.

Personally im trying too loose weight, then I will start trying to develop muscle. Just try and loose it first if you care that much.

First thing in the morning, wake up and run for 45 mins. This will get you cut. Then resume your normal bulking day eating heavy and what-not. I have a friend who trained for a body-building competition (he ended up in 2nd place in his weight class). First he took about 6 months to get really big, eating heavy, and lifting heavy, and in the last 3 months he ran every morning for 45-60 mins, and continued his lifting regiment. Probably lost 20-30 lbs in those last few months.

That's a pretty good suggestion The.Z.Man, thanks. I don't know how I'm going to run for that long every day, as that will kill my knees, but I guess I'll try hah!

my work colleague is a bodybuilder. He advocates the following as a SHORT term diet plan to specifically lose fat whilst retaining muscle mass : Porridge for breakfast with oat milk, then 100g of turkey or salmon, 100g of Broccoli and 50g of sweet potato 4-5 times a day.
Ive never tried it but he has a very lean but heavily muscled physique.
Obviously this diet is missing a lot of balance so is just to lose existing fat fast.

That's the thing about bulking - trying to lose your midsection while bulking is counter-productive. You can either cut for a while until you're happy with your midsection and then start on a clean bulk, or you can tolerate the extra stomach fat until you've bulked up as much as you wanted and then concentrate on leaning out.

It IS possible to drop your body fat during a bulk, but it's not very efficient.

I've been reading up about putting on muscle and all that. It just seems so dull. I've read a few things about the running before eating and that seems to work, but does anyone have the time to eat 5 meals a day? I think work outs have to be viable. I may get cut now, but in 6 months I'll just lose it, because who can honestly keep that up?

I used to be a semi professional tennis player. I would exercise about 4-6 hours a day, 6 days a week. I've had a 6 pack since I was 11. I'd like to build my upper body now, rather than have the chest of a 12 year old girl!

Fat loss is simple.

Calories out > Calories in.

Any personal trainer will tell you, you can't bulk and shed at the same time. When you bulk, you try and take in extra calories so you can build muscle. When you shed, you do the opposite. First build your muscles up to a good level, then start cutting fat. You do this by minimizing the carbs in your diet, working out regularly, and sleeping 8-10 hours a night.

Is sleep that important for losing weight? I've never really needed to, but I guess it makes sense. I think carbs are huge. I work out in Greece for 7 months of the year and a lot of the time we have no carbs to eat and it's 40 celsius daily. I stayed cut all year, even though I ate like a pig and drank like a fish.

Moral of the story, sweat it out!

Different people's bodies react to things differently. I guess for some people sleep wouldn't make that much of a difference, but in my case it did. When college started this year, my workout was as strenuous as ever and my diet was tighter than ever, but I started gaining a little weight. Only thing I changed was my sleeping pattern, because I stayed up late and got up early. This was partially due to my protein supplement as well though.

I don't know how huge a difference it makes on weight loss, but sleep deficiency definitely hampers your muscle building process severely.

To be just a little bit more precise - that is weight loss. You'd want to minimise muscle loss from your weight loss by consuming enough protein and working out.

Also OP, you can't spot reduce fat. That is a myth. You lose fat all over, with certain areas being easier/harder to put on/remove fat, but you don't have much control over this.

You either bulk or cut. You have to accept the fat gain.

You could theoretically maintain a steady bodyfat percentage, but it's not easy, and certainly not doable for someone who has just started working out.

Some good reads on nutrition:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=129523333
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/N/Nutrition.html
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=123915821
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=133442913&p=660370123#post660370123

Also, you can ask your questions here: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13

Since this thread seems to be about body care, this seems an appropriate place to ask.

Whats a good way to work on my stomach in terms of getting it fit? Last year around this time I was 210 lbs, I'm at 156 atm. However, I'm slowly getting a slightly more fit body, but I can never seem to get rid of this slight sag on my stomach, it doesnt feel like fat, more like loose skin, any recomendations on how to tighten the skin/muscles on my stomach? I do sit ups and curls, but I dont believe that's enough.

Increasing the acidity in your stomach while digesting meals is a simple trick to assist in eight loss. I personally find the citrus in Berocca enough to boost digestion in meals.

I tried decreasing my carbs, but i found myself feeling weak digesting too much protein. My metabolism seems to rev up with complex carbohydrates, so i try to have multigrain bread, brown rice and wholegrain pasta occasionally.



As someone alrady said, spot reduction with body fat isn't possible. You just have to keep losing weight until the sag dissapears, or try and build muscle in your chest to even your look out. Push ups are fantastic for that, better than any machine exercise.

If it is loose skin, then unfortunately you might be out of luck. Skin can only shrink back a certain amount once it's been stretched. This is just an example I'm not saying you were fat, but a lot of people who were very overweight usually end up with saggy skin because it can't shrink back to being taut again. Some even need surgery to remove loose skin, but that's in very extreme cases. Building up muscle under it might help fill it out a bit, but I don't know any stomach muscle building exercises so I'm no use really. The sit ups won't be doing any harm as provided you do enough of them, properly, you should still build up your muscle.
There is quite a bit on maintaining skin and helping shrink it back after weight loss on Google, so there should be a few helpful ones on there in among all the wonder pills and potions.

Well, the thing is, I'm going for more of an athletic body than a bulky bodybuilder physique, large quantity muscle mass is very unappealing in my eyes, and I can't see the ladies wanting to date someone who looks like The Hulk I focus more on cardio than body building exercises. Fortunately, at 5'8, 210 isnt TO big, so it's not like I was massively overweight, it's only noticable that I have loose skin on the stomach if Im shirtless, which is seldom.

You still need muscle to look athletic. Don't worry, you won't end up looking like the hulk overnight. It takes years of dedication, sacrifice, motivation, hard work, and steroids. Don't dismiss it as something easy. For the record, many pro bodybuilders have hot wives or girlfriends.

Anyway, since you need muscle to look athletic, you can't just focus on cardio. You'll only lose fat and either become thin or average. If you want to look more than this you need to incorporate resistance training i.e. weights in your routine. Your diet needs to be in check (it's a BIG part of putting on muscle and losing fat) too.

EDIT: Damn wink smiley which looks like a stroke.

You know, you can get decent results growing muscle in a matter of months. If you're dedicated you can completely transform your body in a few months if you have a decent baseline fitness, regardless of fat.