Need 8-month plan to hit 10% bodyfat

[wmmk]

Hey, everyone. I've posted similar topics before, and while I've had solid gains and overall athleticism and am in better-looking shape than I was when I first came here, I still want to look better and leaner, and I figure that the second semester of my senior year is a great time to do so.

So, I'm currently 6'2.5", 187 lbs., and my BF% is probably in the mid/upper teens (I can PM a picture to anyone who's good at estimating bf%). I'm respectably fast on the erg (6:50 2k, 22:00 6k), but am relatively untrained with weights. I deadlift about 310 and leg press over 400, but have a weak upper body and core.

My goal is to hit or break 10% bodyfat (at 175-195 lbs., with a proportional distribution of muscle) by the time I leave for college, in a little less than 8 months.

Advice on how to schedule bulks and cuts, as well as specific diet and lifting advice would be really helpful, as those are the areas where I'm least knowledgeable. Ideally, I'd like to put together this plan in a way that can benefit, rather than hurt, my performance in rowing.

Thanks much!
-wmmk

 

[wmmk]

For reference, here's what my workout/meal/sleep schedule look like between now and August:

Now (Jan. 19)-Feb. 28:
-6 days/week of erging (rowing machine) at 4 PM. That'll usually be about three days of high-intensity intervals (15x500m, 6x1km, 21x1', or 24x250m, for all you rowers out there) and three days of slower intervals or steady-state work (60', 40' 20', 4x10', 2x20', etc.).
-I can also work out on my own, either for about 25 min. at 9:30AM, or for as long as I want after crew workouts (at 5:30PM)
-Averaging 6 hrs./night of sleep on weeknights; 10 hrs./night on weekends
-Mealtimes are 7:55 AM, 11AM, and 7PM. I could possibly add another small meal between 12:30 and 2:30

Feb. 28-May 28:
-4 days/week of ~2 hour on-water rowing practice
-2 days/week of conditioning (intense/low-volume erging, long runs, lots of stairs, some high-volume circuits with core work and light compound lifts)
-Same times open for lifting, though I'm usually a little reluctant to lift in season
-Same mealtimes
-Same sleep schedule until May 9, when AP exams are over, all my classes get much less intense, I sleep more 8+ hours every night, and I'm generally less stressed

May 29-August 28:
-3 days/week of casual on-water rowing with club team
-2-5 days/week of sculling on my own
-Free to eat, sleep, lift, run, bike, erg whenever I please

 

[jarude]

sounds like you're getting killed by crew practice. if you want to get low in bodyfat, diet. you can add in weights if you'd like - max 2x a week, lower volume with that kind of rowing work you have right now. considering you have 8 months, there's no need for any kind of drastic dieting measure. find out what your weekly maintenance is, divide by 7, start from there. be consistent with your diet; track it. measure everything. get yourself into good eating habits now so it'll be easier to adjust later.

if i were you, i'd eat just at or slightly below maintenance, and slowly work in lifting - again, 1 or 2 sessions a week tops, depending on your rowing workload.

 

[Kajak]

I was about to say that I was in the exact same (well facing the right way) boat in highschool, since I raced K1. Was lighter than you, but had the BF% you wanted.

Don't have much advice from what I did since I could do 8-10% BF without really thinking about it due to 2xhigh intensity workouts/day, weights 3x a week, swimming and running in the winter, but Jarude is on the right track. Just nudge calories down a little bit. If your at 15%BF, your performance shouldn't really suffer with a slight caloric deficit (we'd lose weight over training camp and be undeniably faster)

 

[AndyMcL]

From personal experience it can be pretty hard to work weights in during a heavy rowing season. You're too wiped to go hard on them on days when you have intervals, and if you do them the day before intervals your legs just feel awful during the workout.

If I were you I would focus on losing fat right now. What's your current diet? During intense winter training if you focus on what you eat it can be easy to drop some pounds. Shouldn't affect your times too much, and it'll only make you faster on the water.

The during the summer you can add some mass. I hadn't been doing a lot of organized lifting before summer after my senior year, but I started lifting a bunch then. Weight went from 160-170, with body fat staying about the same, and I got my squat up to 300lbs and my bench to 225. Then before college starts you can diet for a bit to get more cut.

 

[wmmk]

All right, so 1-2 days/week lifting until crew's over, and eat better. Sounds pretty straightforward.

Concerning diet, though, I admittedly have a lot of bad habits to break.
First of all, I'm accustomed to eating a lot. What foods can I depend on to make me feel full without adding lots of empty calories to my diet? And, aside from the obvious things like junk food and sweets, are there any particularly bad (high in calories, low in nutritional value, not filling) foods to be avoided? Also, how important are macronutrient ratios for someone like me? As long as I'm eating at or just below maintenance in a generally healthy way, will macro ratios have much impact? Finally, are any vitamins/supplements out there going to be particularly helpful for my purposes?

Thanks again,
wmmk

 

[Prada_Ferragamo]

lean protein (chicken breast, turkey breast, and fish) and fibers (broccoli, asparagus, green beans, celery). Drop carbs (potatoes, carrots, white flour, white rice, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, etc) A little bit of fat is fine.

I dropped about 20 pounds over the summer on a carb depletion diet.

 

[indesertum]

supplement that is most helpful: omega 3s, BCAAs preworkout
supplements that can be helpful: beta alanine/creatine for muscle/strength gains, ECG stack (ephederine, caffeine, green tea extract) for extra fat loss/fat partitioning, multivitamins, 5HTP if you have issues with carb cravings, maybe vitamin D and calcium supplements


macronutrients ratio not so important.

however on a diet make sure you

00. do your best to measure or at least give a good estimate to how much you're eating. make sure you dont lie to yourself
0. eat caloric deficit in general (500 calories under daily is max)
1. eat 1 to 1.2 g protein/lb lean mass
2. eat healthy carbs (ie veggies, not brown rice) on non workout days and eat starchy carbs after workout


don't sweat the details on how to do 0-2. just make sure you do them. some people like doing 16 hour fasts (leangains) some people like 20 hour fasts (warrior diet) some people eat 6 meals a day. doesnt matter how you do it. just make sure you find something that works for you. i personally do something between 16 and 20 hour fasts as I find no matter how hard I try on a 16+ hour fast I can't go above maintenance levels. there's also some decent research showing benefits for fasted training (increased V02 max for endurance training, increased muscle glycogen storage for weight training).

if you get hungry in the morning until 5pm drink some coffee or take some caffeine. after 5 drink BCAAs to keep hunger away if you're already at daily intake. otherwise protein and healthy carbs will you keep full (although I find it doesn't really take hunger away)

two things not to do

1.drink liquid carbs (juice, soda) unless post workout and even then i would prefer solid carbs.
2. eat trail mix or any assorted dried fruit and nut combo as a snack. eat jerky instead or if you really like trail mix eat it post workout.

if you have intense junk food cravings something that might help is designating one junk food day a week or a junk food meal a week and then fasting the next day. i've been doing junk food meals with no fasting the next day, but some people like the whole junk food day and then fasting next day.

junk food meals/days/refeeds/whatever you call them are pretty important. don't think of it as cheating, but as part of your diet. it'll help with diet adherence and increase metabolism.

something that also might help is taking your temperature in the morning. decreased temperature is a good indication of decreased metabolism and if it stays that way for too long you should increase caloric intake on refeeds.

also i'd say around to 1.5, 2 month mark you should take a week or two off from the diet and have a deload week for weights

 

[Kajak]

Another thing to do if you're taking Temp in the morning, take your Basal Heart Rate, if it goes up you're not rested, starting to get sick, etc.

 

[indesertum]

you again?

why do you keep coming back?

 

[AndyMcL]

Real good post by Indesertum.

Like he said, macronutrients aren't that important in this case. Just make sure you're getting plenty of protein and refueling on carbs after workouts. I'm not a big proponent of low carb diets for endurance athletes, because you'll simply be burning too many of them. However, aside from during and after workouts it's good to focus on having your carbs be whole grain and low in glycemic load. Lot's of protein should be good in helping you feel full, it's a lot more satiating than carbohydrates and won't have as many calories as a similar sized portion of fat. Protein will also help maintain muscle while you lose weight.

 

[wmmk]

Wow, some really detailed advice there. Thanks much to all you guys for helping me out. I'll report back on how this is going in a few months.

 

[acridsheep]

Lean proteins, a range of veggies and fruits, and healthy fats. Lean proteins build muscle, veggies and fruits provide nutrients, and healthy fats are good for your brain, and making you feel full.

Here's my morning smoothie that I've had for breakfast for two years. It is a pain in the a$$ to make, but it is delicious, filling and very nutritious:

All fruits are frozen:

1) 3-4 strawberries;
2) 3-4 pieces of pineapple chunks;
3) 3-4 pieces of mango chunks;
4) 3-4 banana chunks (about 1/2 to 3/4 of a banana);
5) spoonfull of peanut butter;
6) spoonfull of vanilla yogurt;
7) spoonfull of flax oil;
8) half a spoonfull of spirulina;
9) water

I use a magic bullet to make mine, and it comes out slightly green, and delicious.

 

[rjmaiorano]

Also, vomiting after a good row keeps the calories down

 

[skyman]

Originally Posted by wmmk

All right, so 1-2 days/week lifting until crew's over, and eat better. Sounds pretty straightforward.

Concerning diet, though, I admittedly have a lot of bad habits to break.
First of all, I'm accustomed to eating a lot. What foods can I depend on to make me feel full without adding lots of empty calories to my diet? And, aside from the obvious things like junk food and sweets, are there any particularly bad (high in calories, low in nutritional value, not filling) foods to be avoided? Also, how important are macronutrient ratios for someone like me? As long as I'm eating at or just below maintenance in a generally healthy way, will macro ratios have much impact? Finally, are any vitamins/supplements out there going to be particularly helpful for my purposes?

Thanks again,
wmmk


Problem solved. Eat well, five a day, no processed food, no refined wheat (white rice/bread) make evrything whole meal fast food. No soda/beer, only water/milk. You don't need suplements, you'll get plenty from a healthy diet, also your not bulking so no need for protein. Cut your meal sizes. NO FAST FOOD whatsoever, also limit yourself with going out for meals, restaurant food is often laced with salt etc. With the amount of exercise your doing your body fat should drop right down.