A little help?

Mongo

How ye?
First off I'm 5'11 and 84kg.

I've been joined a gym for a year now and I've lost a decent bit of body fat and dropped a few sizes in jeans so I'm happy enough but I want to keep going.
I play 5 a side soccer for over an hour 3 times a week and get to the gym about 3 times also where I seperate my time into upper body weight training, core/ab exercises (crunches etc) and squats/leg press.

I mainly want to shed some fat from the torso and chest area. I have a couple of questions some of you knowledgeable people on here could help me with.

1. Should I be taking Whey Protein supplements? The body is usually quite sore the day or two after a heavy session. Is taking the supplements detrimental to weight loss?

2. Should I be doing more cardio and less weight training? Obviously I'd like to be stronger and more muscular but shedding some flab is the main thing right now so should I sacrifice the dumbells for the treadmill (even though it's way more enjoyable)?

3. Is there any exercises in particular I should be doing to tone up the torso and chest??

Thanks a million everyone!

Alf Veedersane

Mongo wrote: »

How ye?
First off I'm 5'11 and 84kg.

I've been joined a gym for a year now and I've lost a decent bit of body fat and dropped a few sizes in jeans so I'm happy enough but I want to keep going.
I play 5 a side soccer for over an hour 3 times a week and get to the gym about 3 times also where I seperate my time into upper body weight training, core/ab exercises (crunches etc) and squats/leg press.

I mainly want to shed some fat from the torso and chest area. I have a couple of questions some of you knowledgeable people on here could help me with.

1. Should I be taking Whey Protein supplements? The body is usually quite sore the day or two after a heavy session. Is taking the supplements detrimental to weight loss?

2. Should I be doing more cardio and less weight training? Obviously I'd like to be stronger and more muscular but shedding some flab is the main thing right now so should I sacrifice the dumbells for the treadmill (even though it's way more enjoyable)?

3. Is there any exercises in particular I should be doing to tone up the torso and chest??

Thanks a million everyone!

Taking whey shouldn't have a big impact on weight loss but it contains calories so just need to take that into account. But whey isn't the only solution to recovery. What's a typical day's food like?

Cardio is usually less effective than weight training for weight loss so keep doing what you're doing.

You can't target specific areas to reduce fat. Drop your overall body fat and the fat will come off your chest and torso in time.

igesio

If you want to lose more fat off your belly and chest, you have to keep doing what you were doing (i. e. lose fat by eating at a calorie deficit).

1. Should I be taking Whey Protein supplements? The body is usually quite sore the day or two after a heavy session. Is taking the supplements detrimental to weight loss?

I don't believe a soccer session is enough to raise your protein 'needs' but if you really are some, you can eat more protein. However, in your case, I recommend you stick to getting your protein from food as you are trying to lose weight. Eating food rather supplements will make you much fuller. Food is healthier as well as it contains vitamins, minerals etc.
Also, protein/supplements are not required at all to lose weight. As I said, eating normal food is preferable when trying to lose weight as it makes you feel more full. The only people that eat very high protein when trying to lose fat are people on a ketosis diet. They only eat fat and protein (eliminate all carbs) which is as fast for losing fat as any other method is but it is optimal for maintaining muscle (when you lose weight, you also lose a bit of muscle).

2. Should I be doing more cardio and less weight training? Obviously I'd like to be stronger and more muscular but shedding some flab is the main thing right now so should I sacrifice the dumbells for the treadmill (even though it's way more enjoyable)?

Cardio is better.
This

Cardio is usually less effective than weight training for weight loss so keep doing what you're doing.

is not exactly true. Cardio burns more calories per time than lifting weights does. People lift weights while cutting to maintain muscle. Should you change your dumbbells for a treadmill? No. You can go for a jog outside or you can just eat less (if you have the willpower). You can obviously lift weights while trying to lose weight, especially if you like doing it, because it still burns calories, although less than cardio. Just make sure you get the required amount of protein in.

3. Is there any exercises in particular I should be doing to tone up the torso and chest??

No. So-called "spot reduction" is a myth (see: www ncbi nlm nih gov/pubmed/17596787 (put dots in the spaces, I'm not allowed to post links because I'm new)). You can't exercise one part of your body to make fat in that part of the body go away; it doesn't work that way. You can only reduce your overall body fat, not make it go away in a specific area.

Alf Veedersane

igesio wrote: »

Cardio is better.
This is not exactly true. Cardio burns more calories per time than lifting weights does.

Weight training raises your metabolism for longer so while you might possibly burn more during the session itself, the weight training has a longer effect.

Mongo

I just have to eat/drink less!