OK so stick with me here cos this might get a bit long-winded. I started boxing like a year ago, 76kg for 1m76, thought I was buff but found out I was really just a fatass. I lost a bit of weight involuntarily by training and stayed around 72 kg for a while, and my trainer was fine with that, said I could fight at middleweight or welterweight. Then about January this year I changed trainers and my new trainer grabs my tummy and says 'this is fat.' I'm like OK, because by this time I'm getting serious about boxing and am willing to train a lot. Now I'm around 65 kg after training, though not dehydrated. I walk around at about 67 kg. My trainer says that if I don't want to fight at lightweight (which I really do not want to do) I can cut back a bit on the running and gain a few kilos. This is all good cos I find myself a little too thin now. I have a brilliant six-pack and pretty good power in my arms, but I'd really like to put on those extra kilos where they are needed and buff up a bit. So my question is, what's the general template for gaining muscle mass while keeping off the extra fat and even possibly shedding some more? I strength train twice a week and eat relatively healthily, never had to diet or anything. So what burns fat and what burns off muscle? What builds fat and what builds muscle? I know this is a pretty broad question so any legitimate help would be appreciated. Cheers.
calories in vs calories out you can't make significant muscle gains without putting on some fat because you need to have a surplus calorie intake to increase muscle mass, unfortunately. unless you do it very gradually. if you're looking to bulk up and put on 3-4 kilos in muscle in a few months then you're going to have to put a little bit of fat on. doesn't mean you can't still be fit, if you keep your running and boxing training up. to avoid putting on extra fat when "bulking" you should try to eat as healthily as possible (lots of lean meat, eggs, vegetables, fruit, good carbohydrates and water)
If you have a "brilliant sixpack" don't worry about fat levels, especially if you want to gain some weight. Easiest thing to do is probably just have some more protein in your day and see how you go after a few weeks. Have another 100grams of carbs and 100 grams of protein a day, every day, and see if your weight goes up in 2 weeks. "Builds fat" "builds muscle", you can get fat off eating a lot or you can get muscular from eating a lot, its down to activity levels for starters and a lot of other things. But don't worry about that ****, yes its a very broad question. Do as I suggest and see how you go, quality weight gain (i.e not bloat weight) takes a bit of time to come on. Keep your activity levels high, you can cut back on your running too if you like, I wouldn't interfere in stuff that would impede your performance though. Just add more quality food, and of course build some muscle with some strength training of some sort, but maybe you are one of these guys that eats **** all anyway and calls it "a lot" and "I can't gain weight", and your body is waiting for you to get some more food in to grow with your current training (65kg at 1,76 I'm sure you have room for growth).
Oh wow thanks for the quick answers. I strength train twice a week pretty intensely. I actually have kinda a 'strength training day' on tuesdays and wednesdays, where I do an hour of leg work (stationary bike, squats, etc.) an hour of upper body work and abs and 15 min. of neck work. Should I vary my food intake from day to day, i.e. eat more on strength training days than when skill/cardio/endurance training? I'm in a third-world country so I eat pretty healthy whether I like it or not, but in any amount I want. Rice, veggies, fruits, beans, eggs, fish, red meat occasionally, etc.
sounds ok then. no keep the extra food in on every day, amounts I recommended. what third world country?
Madagascar. YES LIKE THE PENGUINS. There are endless amounts of penguins living on this tropical island. Aforementioned red meat is actually mostly penguin meat.
So roughly put: Train a lot, eat a lot of healthy food. I train around 2 hrs a day 6 days a week, this should be enough to keep my weight gain healthy, right?
Don't change anything, just eat 100g protein and 100g carbs (sources of your choice) a day, and check your weight only after 2 weeks of steadily doing this, nothing will change much sooner than that. From there ask again. If you aren't putting on weight, probably change your training a little bit, lessen the longer distance running if you are doing it and replace with some intervals, that sort of thing.
I have no idea what makes 100g protein and 100g carbs but it doesn't sound like a lot. I never really had a problem with gaining too much weight though, and I'm already eating a comfortable amount per day so I'll just force in a bit more and see what happens. I'm already going to cut down my running to 10k per week and put in more interval training. I also skip occasionally but not so much since it stopped being difficult.
800 cals extra a day from good sources, should put on some weight with that, if not, eat more half a pound of chicken, 3 tins of tuna, that sort of thing. 100g carbs should be easy, look on the back of stuff. 300g of pasta, 2 cups of it, is 100g carbs. 100 is just a ballpark number to get you started, you might see improvement with less, or need more, just need to do whatever you decide to do consistently and see the results after a couple of weeks, nothing instant.
