tone down

shels4ever

Hi all,
I used to be an avid runner abd had a running build very slim with nothing much in the upper body, i gave up running a few years back but have startd back.I was about 4 stone over weight ad have lost about 1 stone so far.

My diet is now very good but as i've started to lose weight i've developed boobs..

i'm not doing a huge amount of weights but looking for advise on how to lose these, is more reps with less weight the way to go , i'm doing about 5-6 days cardio now.

Thanks

M

Al_Fernz

Im not too sure what you mean by "tone down"?

To rid yourself off the moobs you need to put on muscle and decrease body fat.

The most efficient way of doing this is through resistance training and good diet.

IMO 5-6 days cardio is too much for someone looking to increase muscle mass. Sure it will help with the weight loss but it is unlikely to provide enough stimulus to encourage muscle growth.

Weight training will definitely provide you with the stimulus to encourage muscle growth. High reps low weight is definitely not the way to go. For muscle growth I would recommend that an individual does an exercise anywhere below 12 reps. If you can comfortably do the exercise for more than 12 reps the weight is too light, go heavier. Make sure that you are doing a routine that provides stimulus to all the major muscle groups. Compound exercises rule.

Also re-evaluate your diet and make sure you are getting enough healthy fats in and not drinking too much alcohol. Healthy fats will keep your hormones in balance and make sure you are producing enough testosterone. Alcohol increases estrogen AFAIK which is not what you want if you looking to get rid of any moobies.

If this is still a problem after a while I've heard that ZMA is good for moob reduction purposes.

Fair play on the progress so far mate.

shels4ever

Thanks well i do have a lot of fat to lose, diet seems to be ok at the moment, but i've also a but of muscle that i would like to lose, main focus is on running now, and i was looking for the best way to keep upper boday power but lsoe some muscle also. I've not been able to balance this and lost muscle from my upper body but seemed to have kept the fat.

As for the 6 days cardio, this is what i need as i'm focusing on running these days , so will have 5-6 runs a week then a weight and a circut session.

Thanks for the info, been off alcohol for the past 4 weeks too.

rubadub

By your 1st post you still reckon you are 3 stone overweight. I presume you are on a calorie deficit so you would find it hard to put on more muscle, the weight training you are doing will just really maintain the muscle you have. I thinking aiming to lose muscle is a bad idea. Having and maintaining your muscle uses up calories, making losing the fat easier. When you are thin you could then give up the weights to lose the muscle, but I doubt you will have that much.

Also unless you are very serious about competing at running I do not really see why you would want to lose muscle. Each to their own I suppose. I am 5'11'' 12 stone and do not run for fear of doing my knees in, almost every mate I know involved in sports with running, or who just did running has some leg injury due to it, if I was 3stone overweight I would worry about joints even more. I do resistance training to have a little muscle and stay relatively thin even though I drink like a fish and eat junkfood. If you found yourself 4 stone overweight I presume you are fond of the food and/or booze, packing on muscle will raise your metabolism so you can get away with taking in more calories.

Building up the pectorals under moobs makes them appear a little better too, just looks more like a big chest.

shels4ever

Thanks, well i used to compete at a highish level in running but thatwas years ago, I jsut have an aim to get back to a level where i an compete at a decient level , at that time i was jsut over 13 stone and doing mayb 7-10 trainign session a week. Once i gave up i neve adjusted my diet and as you say I like food.

But since i've started back, the late night snacking is gone, diet has improved to no end, I had far far too much carb's and not enoguh prot . Weight loss is in strange areas , From your reply i think your advise seem to be sound I will keep my session as they are for now andtry to keep the muscle i have,

The target of 3 stone loss maybe a bit much but the main aim is to be able to compete and enjoy my training again. I'm on a calorie deficit diet and its take about 4 weeks to get used to it in conjunction with training.

But on the plus side i'm taking mins of my running times