Are you afraid of entering a “cutting phase” because you are skeptical about losing your precious muscle mass?

No worries, I had the same issue before I dedicated myself to get lean and shredded for my first fitness competition.

When it comes to torching slabs of fat in a short period of time while maintaining your hard earned muscle mass, there are a few key points that you may want to focus on. You see, starving yourself and running on the treadmill 5 times per week might help you lose weight, but a less extreme and more thought out approach will help you burn fat. Did that not make sense? Losing weight and burning fat are two totally different things. Losing weight (muscle, fat, water, etc.) can easily be done by burning more calories than you consume. However, keeping your hard earned muscle for a sharp, toned, fitness model physique is a little more complicated when entering a “cutting phase” (and less draining).

Fat Burning Secrets I used to drop 14% Body-fat in 14 weeks…without losing a pound of muscle

Tip #1 – More Weights, Less Cardio

One huge mistake most people make when trying to burn fat is they decrease the amount of weightlifting and increase the amount of cardio. Although this approach could work given the proper nutrition and balance between the two, increasing the weightlifting and keeping the cardio at a minimum allowed me to keep my hard earned mass, gain new mass while in a deficit, and burn fat around the clock.

As most of you may be aware, for the last 14 weeks I was prepping for my first fitness show. My journey started off at a hard-to-believe 19% body fat and ended at a stage-shredded 5.2%. I managed to burn over 21 pounds of fat and not only maintain my lean mass, but add 3 solid pounds as well. And although I did not win the show, I could not be happier with my efforts and results. The best part of it all was that I did it all without starving myself, taking any illegal supplements, or going to any dangerous extremes.

The reason I am writing this post is simple. You guys have been hearing about as well as seeing my transformation unfold. So I posted a status update on my Facebook Fan Page allowing you all to post your questions about my show prep. Now, I am going to answer all of your questions and give you a better idea of how this all came to be.

Michael Garcia: What did you learn about yourself during the entire transformation/prepping for the show?

I learned a lot about myself. I learned that when it comes to achieving a goal with a deadline, I am capable of pushing myself above and beyond to assure that I accomplish it. I learned that it is not motivation I needed, but simply a commitment to myself. And lastly, I learned that I have an undeniable love for pizza

Jason Valdivia: What chest and triceps workouts did you really emphasize on during this time?

Well, because my chest was already pretty well developed, I stuck to the basics. Bench press, inclined and decline press, dumbbell presses, and cable crossovers. As I got closer to show time, I integrated a lot of drop sets as well as super sets. So for example, at the end of my cable cross overs, I would perform 3-4 drop sets to finish it off. Sometimes I supersetted my bench press with dumbbell flyes or pushups.

As for the triceps, these needed a little more help. I focused a lot on weighted dips, skull crushers, and close grip bench press. These are all big compound lifts that work great for stimulating and activating the triceps. Like my chest training, I also included drop sets, super sets, and even giant sets as the competition came closer.

What is High Intensity Interval Training?

Here’s exactly what you need to know about High Intensity Interval Training (HITT) and what it can do for you. You’ll find out what it is and how it’s practiced, get a look at some unanticipated benefits of a HITT routine, and see how it can save you that most precious asset: time. After knowing what HITT can do for you, you’ll be better prepared to make a decision about how to both build muscle and burn fat.

What is High Intensity Interval Training?

Simply, it’s a type of training that’s designed to tax your muscles and your cardio-vascular system as much as possible in an extremely short time, mostly no longer than 20 minutes. With all durations, high intensity exercise is followed by lower intensity exercise, which is then followed by a cool down phase. Both resistance training power and cardio burst are the main thrust of high intensity interval training and you can expect to have physical benefits after your workout.

You can expect the following benefits from high intensity training:

• Longer exercise peaks at a certain point, while high intensity training is just the right amount for the right goal
• High intensity training strengthens athletic performance by taxing both your endurance and your power
• After your short high-intensity workout, your body continues to build muscle and burn fat, essentially reeling from its short but extremely powerful exertion
• The shorter the workout, the more likely you’ll stick to it in the long run

For most people who don’t have the time to pitch a tent in the gym, the greatest benefit of high intensity interval training is a massive savings in time. With full body workouts capped at 20 minutes and most workouts coming in at less than 15 minutes, this type of training is by far the most efficient way to get and stay fit and healthy, quickly.

High Intensity Interval Training Routines:

Treadmill HIIT: Alternate 60 second jogs with 30 second runs. If you want to crank it up a notch, performing these at an incline is a killer. The 2:1 ratio of intensity will vary depending on what phase of the program you are in.

Most guys (like myself) who where naturally skinny for most of their life and fought hard to finally put on some weight, it is safe to say that we all have a common fear. The fear of losing the muscle that we never thought we could build in the first place. We also all make the same mistake. We step on the scale every week and get excited when the needle moves a little higher. Although gaining weight is a huge accomplishment for most of us, it really is not the goal. The goal is really to build muscle mass…however, we just assume that since we are gaining weight, we are getting bigger, and this is a result of new muscle. In most cases, rapid weight gain is NOT all muscle…and had you taken regular measurements of your waistline, you would have realized that.

So if you have fallen victim to this common mistake and are afraid to “cut” because you are afraid of losing the muscle it took you so long or you trained so hard to achieve, here is the solution.

First off, let me start by saying that if your body fat percentage is over 4-6%, you have absolutely NOTHING to worry about in terms of losing muscle. The only time your body will use muscle for energy is when your body is demanding more than it can supply.

The Muscle Killer
The above statement is true to a certain extent. You see, if you are performing endless hours of running on a treadmill for miles and miles, your body will naturally want to find a way to make this easier for you. The best way the body can do this is by stripping away all of that heavy muscle that is making these long runs that much more strenuous. I mean, have you ever seen a big buff long distance runner? On the other hand, you probably have seen some pretty muscular sprinters.

Today I am going to share with you 7 techniques for burning fat without losing your muscle mass and without a single bit of “the muscle killer”.

1. Calculate Your Intake: When most people want to drop weight, they eliminate fats or they eliminate carbs. In our case, we will eliminate neither. We will continue to consume a balanced diet with healthy fats, complex carbs, and high quality proteins. The reason is simple…like my buddy Mitch said “The goal is not to lose weight, the goal is to burn fat”.

How Many Calories to Burn Fat
Your bodyweight in lbs (x) 14 = Daily Caloric Intake
For Example: 185 lbs (x) 14 = 2590 Calories Per day

These calories should be broken down into 40-45% Protein, 40-45% Carbs, and 10-20% Fats.

I am very excited to announce that I am currently getting ready for my first fitness competition and it is just a little over 3 months away. I know that there is plenty of time ahead of me, but I am going to take the safe approach (for once) and start leaning out now. My main focus will be to burn fat around the clock while maintaining and even building new muscle mass. Now, as a former skinny guy who found it almost impossible to build muscle, I have always been a little afraid of “cutting”. I always had that fear that I might end up back where I started…however I have come to terms with the fact that this is not likely to happen…at all.

You see, losing muscle mass is close to impossible for anyone regularly lifting weights and over 4-6% body fat.
“The only time your body will use muscle for energy is when your body is demanding more than it can supply.”

 
Today I wanted to go ahead and share an example of what my daily meals and supplements look like at the moment. This diet and supplementation regimen is allowing me to burn fat without sacrificing muscle AND without having to do ANY steady state cardio. That is right, I plan to get ripped without cardio! I am doing two days of 15-20 minutes HIIT and THAT’S IT! Not to mention, despite being in a calorie deficit, my energy levels are much higher and stress levels have even decreased drastically.

Calculating YOUR Simple Six Pack Diet
The calculation for calories is very simple. Take your bodyweight and multiply it by 14. The number you get will be the amount of calories you will consume on a daily basis. Pick one day out of the week and make that your “weigh in day”. On that day (weigh in day) you will take your weight and recalculate your calorie intake.

For example:
183 pounds x 14 = 2,562 calories per day
Divide your daily caloric intake into 6 meals.
2,562 calories per day = 427 Calories per meal