Bodybuilding basically comes down to 2 things…
1) Building Muscle Mass
2) Losing Bodyfat
It’s very simple when you think about it, but the problem is how do we go about modifying our training and nutritional programs to achieve these goals.
When ever you focus on gaining muscular mass you need to be in a caloric surplus. After all, you have to EAT BIG in order to GET BIG. But the problem is with all the extra calories we often gain some excess bodyfat in addition to the muscle gains.
Then on the other side of the coin, when ever you focus on fat loss you have to be in a caloric deficit. And with the strict dieting you run the risk of losing muscle in addition to losing bodyfat.
This is a vicious cycle that has plagued bodybuilders for years…
So that’s why for the November 18 Total Fitness Bodybuilding Talk Show I want to share some killer tips and tricks that you can use to structure out your year long training and nutritional cycle so that as time goes on, you actually get Bigger AND Leaner.
So be sure to tune in Live Thursday November 18 @ http://www.LeeHayward.com/tv
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The show starts at: 9:00 pm Eastern Standard Time 8:00 pm Central Standard Time 7:00 pm Mountain Standard Time 6:00 pm Pacific Standard Time For other time zones you can visit: |
Do You Have A Question For Me?
If you have any questions that you would like to ask me on the Live Talk Show with regards to how to go about cycling your training and nutrition program from muscle building phases and fat burning phases, please post them below in the comments section. I’ll be taking the questions posted here on a first post, first answered basis during the Live Talk Show.
So go ahead and post your questions now, and I’ll talk to you soon!
50 Comments
Willy Freebody
Hey Lee is tacking supplements different from being on a caloric surplus ? because there were some people that got confused about this and thout “If I don’t need supplements then this means I don’t need to eat alot to get big”. My question is are they 2 different things.
nems
Hey Lee. I noticed you have a 12 week strength training program on your website. Is it good for bulking and increasing muscle mass? another question i would like to ask is, what are some tips to gain muscle mass while not gain too much fat in the process, and how does cardio play a role in this area?
thanks in advance.
Sarah
Hi Lee,
I am a 31 year old female and I am 5ft tall. I love lifting weights and have been encouraged to train for a figure competition. My question is about nutritional needs for a female figure competitor. What are your recommendations?
Marcos
Hi there Lee, I was wondering what do you think is better for gaining as much muscle mass as fast as possible. full body workouts or split training?
Nems
Hi there Lee, I was wondering what do you think is better for gaining as much muscle mass as fast as possible. full body workouts or split training? another question, what are some tips to gain lean muscle, with little to no fat gain, and how does cardio play its role in this area?
thanks.
Manprit
What if we drink glass of milk before going to sleep in the night. Is it going to add belly fats to your body.
Michael
Hi Lee, Im an athlete, however I had not been training for months and have been lazy. I am unconditioned and in bad shape. I gained some body fat,I feel weak and lost my strength too. My goal is to gain muscle, become leaner and stronger. How can I get back into the gym to regain my strength? What should my nutrition plan and all year training plan be like?
carlos
For some reason I get cycles of food cravings in the evening about two hours after my dinner. I don’t drink alcohol or smoke weed yet I just feel hungry and urgently want some snack. I try to have healthy food but I’m eating too much. I work out almost everyday either cardio with lifting or just cardio. I’m at a plateau weight stage but I still have these urgent feeling for another snack about every hour or 90 minutes. Usually what I’m eating is protein and complex carbs. I try to work longer and harder if my recovery allows but my evening cycle of the hungrys remain strong. What am I doing wrong?
Joseph from Singapore
Hey Lee what about cycling the number of sets while maintaining the same rep range? How about doing just 1 all out set to failure? What are the cons of doing only 1 working set? Cheers
Bali
Hey Lee when in a fat loss phase are the workouts supposed to be the same as in a mass building phase? Do the exercises and techniques that stimulate the most muscle growth also burn the most fat?
Kohl
What about building muscle while staying lean or burning fat simultaneously? Will the amount of muscle being added be significantly less? Why can’t the body tap into fat stores for the energy needed for muscle growth so that a surplus is unnecessary
Juan
Hi Lee, this is a weird question , but I just start to notice some strech marks on my chest near my armpit, is there anything I can do to prevent them, what do you suggest? , thanks in advance š
Dan
Hey Lee, I am a skinny guy who carries around stubborn body fat. I constantly go back and forth on whether or not I want to lose the body fat or gain muscle. I have heard you talk before about being able to do a phase where building muscle and losing fat at the same time is possible. It this attainable through techniques like carb cycling, or should I just focus on one at a time. I want one of these goals just as badly as I do the other, so I find myself not being able to stick to either one, and I wind up accomplishing nothing.
Ali Niazi
Hi lee,winters are here and im training for building mass this season.my daily diet plan is of such type that my daily protein and carb needs dont get fulfilled unless i add a glass of whole milk with every meal i take i.e 2litres of milk daily..which gives me 64g protein and 96g carbs..which has made things alot eaiser for me..but the thing is that it also contains alot of fat right?and now ive started to gain fat around my belly which i just hate to see.please give me some advice.
richard
At 68 should I be focusing on mass or getting lean. I am at 23% fat now.
Thx
Murdock
Hey Lee regarding YOUR physique transformation… you went from skinny to chubby then to lean and muscular. Did you bulk for several years? Is this critical that a trainee gets fat in order to get muscular as emphasized in the 2006 version of No nonsense Muscle building.
Barry
Lee, any tips for older body builders? I’m 63 and have seen much improvement in just three months. Some people say at my age that I can only tone and cannot add mass. Others says that’s baloney. Your thoughts?
Thanks!
Barry
glen
lee i am finishing a body transformation this saturday after a 6 month “lean down”. i got the 7 year itch to get ripped again after having did a couple of eas body transformation contests previously. used a wide array of ebooks and dvd and audio products from the bodybuilding gurus including you. to say that i am at a all time new leanness at the young age of 53 is an understatement. i am so psyched by my new physique that i am now ready to do what i had only wished i had the nerve to do for the last 20 years. i have finally learned not only is lifting and nutrition important but so is the mind to muscle connection and stretching. what i am interested in is a good mass program that i can add some muscle and target my weaker body parts to be able to compete in a contest sometime in the april-june range.
cal
Hello,i’m not really into cardio for the reason,i find it boring.
Would you say training two bodyparts per session with 60 seconds rest between sets is just as good? Already being doing this a while and i find it good and demanding!What i want to know is normal cardio a must!
Looking forward to your reply. Thank’s
Thomas J Ahern
I’m 66 & will be 67 in just a couple of mos. I have to keep my caloric intake fairly consistant because I’m Diabetic & changing it affects my blood sugars(I test 4times per day)I workout daily & am very strong but have trouble looking very muscular.Do you know of any Diabetic workouts?I have purposly let my legs lag behind,because of Diabetic Neuropothy(sp?) any help would be appreciated! Thomas J Ahern (Irish) Triumphtj@Yahoo.com
John
Sir. I am 68 years of age and in fairly good health. I am 6 feet tall and weigh 195 pounds . Some years ago , like about 50, I lost some fingers on my left hand. I lost the first digit on my index finger, lost my middle finger to the second digit joint, lost my ring finger from my knuckle to between the second digit, and on my pinkie finger,I had a tendon attached to it and th e finger is bent.so that I can hold objects. When I lift weights in my left hand the weight is held by my pinkie and thumb. I want to tone up and get some muscle mass back. Can you please tell me what excersiissI can do for a full body worout
sam
what do you think of carb bck loading, (john keifer) and is eating 5 grams of leucine with every meal really that effective?
michael iantorno
HEY LEE, i am 66 yrs young and i have been weight lifting for 20 years, i lift 4 days a week and cardio 5 days. MY question is i have been carb cycling to keep the LBM that i have and to also lose some BF, is this a good way to do this for my age? p.s congrads on your competition———– you looked great!
thanks
Crazy Bear
use fat free milk
Thomas Mines
will BCAAs help to prevent muscle loss during cardio in a cutting phase
John
Hey Lee, I workout consistently (3x weekly) and I’ve been training for the past weeks straight. Would you recommend taking a week off for recovery? If so, at what point would you suggest I rest? (e.g. After 8 weeks, 12 weeks, etc.)
Thanks,
John
Chris
Hey Lee,
Today I was doing leg presses, but I had a hard time because there was a sharp pain in my tail bone. It only hurt when I did that exercise. It is fine now. I went heavy (for me) on the leg press last week, do you think I aggravated something? Thanks!
Derek
What do you think of thermogenics in a fat loss phase??. Derek
Heith
Lee,
just want to know what’s your personal opinion on the frequency of compound lifts a week. I have been accustomed to ONCE a week for deads, squats and bench and made avarage strength gain ( at least not to the rate i’m expected).
Matthew
Hey lee i looked over the phase 2 training program and the problem i have with the program is 5-5 heavy dead lifts, rest for one day and do 5-5 heavy quats when my back will be killing me. What should i do? Thanks
Steve
Protien shake first thing in the morning vs preworkout.
Heith
hey lee, i want your advice on this situation, may sound strange but,
I’ve been training for a few years and primary focus is size and i think i go quite ok regard SIZE gains currently 185lbs at 11-12% fat. One thing i’m unsatisfied with is that STRENGTH gains don’t come hand in hand. ( at least i feel a bit weak compare to other skinnier guys ). And my training mostly involve around ‘progressive overload’. so my STRUGGLE is with strength gains to keep up bottom line.
thanks.
Bowlby
How much Cardio should a Powerlifter do with a 5 day workouts? Please give me your thoughts
Joe
Hey. I’m 73 and, yes you can build mass. I’m getting more mass all the time. I just started back into lifting the first of this year.
Shaun
Try cottage cheese mixed with a little yogurt to make it more pallitable. Add some flaxseed oil and you’ve got the perfect bedtime snack. Go easy on the yogurt to keep the carbs as low as possible. If your budget allows you could sustitute the cottage cheese with some micellar casien protein powder, but you’ll need to add some water in there to get things mixed up.
Ali Niazi
the only type of fat free milk available in my area is extra calcium plus milk which can cause calcium overdose keeping in mind with the quantity of milk i drink
Bodybuilders United
Interesting post to read.
Keep up the good work!
Grtz.
Willy Freebody
Hey Lee is tacking supplements different from being on a caloric surplus ? because there were some people that got confused about this and thout āIf I donāt need supplements then this means I donāt need to eat alot to get bigā. My question is are they 2 different things.
Ryan Philipson
Hello Mr.Hayward, its ryan the armwrestler here. Im having problems working my chest, when it comes to bench press and shoulder press, to me its exactly the opposite of most pepole, i feel a sharp pain and burn whenever i do dumbell bench presses and dumbell shoulder presses, but i dont feel this this discomfort if im working with barbells, and generaly i feel a humerus burn whenever im working chest, and i warm up every time for like 10 minutes, what do you think the problem might be??
2. how can i get rid of constant sugar carvings? (im an endomorph)
kieran
hi lee,i am lifting weights and cardio but im not using any supplements am i wasting my time to build muscle and would it do damage to the muscle.thanks
Bruce
Hi Lee,
My question is:
i) What would be a good time frame for a bulking or cutting cycle?
– Is it better to do like 3 months of bulking then cut for like 1-3 months (depending on the level of bodyfat you have)
OR
– Is it better to do long bulking cycles like during the whole period until summer comes?
As far as I know, the longer you are on one phase the slower progress comes so it would be wise to change cycle after a while. I would like your comments on regards to the cycling.
ii) Is it possible to get zero fat while on the bulking phase?
– Maybe do 3 days surplus and then 3 days deficit while on a bulking phase to ensure you won’t put on any fat? Weight gain might be slow but then if I gain zero fat it will save me time from cutting right?
Thanks a lot. Hope my questions gets answered in the call. Cheers Lee!
Eric
Quick stats: I am (was) 5’4″ tall and weighing about 155 – about 20% bodyfat – with a working weight deadlift of 300 pounds for 5 reps.
I didn’t consider that fantastic but for me it was progress, and at 44 years old I was in better shape than most of my friends.
I had a bad summer healthwise and was unable to work out or eat as healthy as I would like – I’m now at about 175 pounds and nearer to 30% bodyfat and much weaker.
I’m trying to get leaner at least to the point where I’m back where I was (which wasn’t ideal, but was at least headed in the right direction).
Between the lower calorie intake and the strength loss from not working out, I feel really weak now. Deadlifting 240 feels as heavy as 300 used to.
My question is:
How do you deal (mentally) with reduced physical performance from eating less while cutting? I keep logs of every workout and it’s frustrating to me to be struggling with weights that were once warmups on the way to my working sets.
kole stephens
hey lee,
what is the difference in shirt body building, and raw body building?
Peter Inells
its Thanksgiving here in th US and im thankful for you and your show. Ive learned alot from you thanks. I had a big cheat day today. is cardio the best thing to do to make up for it. should i do extra hard cardio tomorrow. thanks Peter in Wyoming
Barry
Hey Lee,
With bad knees, I am wary of doing lower body exercises. What do you recommend that won’t hurt themM
chris
Lee, what is your opinion on the supplement NanoVapor, do you recommend it.
Ray Pak
Is it possible to bulk and cut at the same time? I was thinking that maybe I could consume a lot of carbs on lifting days and then go “low-carb” on cardio days. I would do cardio around 3 days a week. I would also lift heavy and take a lot of protein to maximize muscle gain
Mark
Hi Lee
Just checking you got the link to the blog I am making for the 21 day program.
Regards
Mark
Michele
Ciao Lee,
What is your opinion on Hany Rambod’s FST-7? Could I use this tecnique during my off season? I am cm191 (6’3”) tall and my weight is about 72kg, so I need to gain serious muscle mass, don’t you think?
Greetings from Italy!
Michele
Rashid
Hey!lee
This is your fan from middle east, I have few things to ask
I am 33 and being working out like for 2-3 years ,I m a hard gainer but finally got some good results, anyway I weight 86 kgs and my body fat mass is 20 and I think it’s all around my belly, for me flat belly and six packs is still a dream, now once again I have started my cutting phase with 6 days workout plan with 1 hour aerobics that includes 150-200 crunches and 10-13 km on stationery bike that burns me like 250-280 calories everyday and tring to eat lean and clean, tell me what I am missing and also can I use 100% skimmed milk with my when protien cause I hate it with water, and how much time is enough to follow this regime if I want to trim down to 6-8 % fat mass.