General Discussions

Ok well I feel wierd asking random strangers on the interwebs this but....

How do I lose weight and bulk up?

I need to know this because I am a football goalie (or soccer as some damned people call it) and I need to put on some muscle *insert burly arm flexing here* and slim down.

Yup...

Easy answer is you don't do both.

Losing weight AND bulking up is impossible, muscle mass is denser then fat and muscle weighs more.

If you're serious about bulking up, PUT WEIGHT on which you THEN turn into muscle (used to be a female bodybuilder) with a fairly high calory diet but make sure your fats/saturates arent too high.

An excellent way of getting to a target weight is set up a DailyBurn account (google them, they have an iphone app for scanning food barcodes)

So yeah, first bulk up, by putting on body mass (i.e. fatty tissue) then work out and tone that fat into muscle. Being super skinny and building muscle from nothing is a rediculously hard task, it's a common myth that bulking up makes you lose weight, in actual fact you weigh more but you get thinner because it all gets toned and condensed.

Hope this helps you hun.

I never understood why you needed to be huge to play soccer. In good shape yes, but not massive. Anyway, take branched chain amino acids, even or protein powder. There's a ****load of supplements out there. Just go to a health store. That would make you bulk up, not lose weight.

Yep, like Firefly said if you want to put on muscle, sure you will definitely shed fat, but since muscle weighs more than fat, you won't lose weight. The best you can do is shed the fat and build a little/tone your muscles.

I would highly recommend doing some research before you start a workout...there are a lot of little things to know such as spacing your workout, working on certain muscle groups at a time, how many sets and how many reps per set you should do, and much more. Secondly, although there are a lot of people out there who can give you great advice and tell you how fantastic their workout is for them...everyone is different so once again, do some research! Its important.

Link - Menshealth.com has a lot of information which might cover everything you need to know in that site if you look hard enough and depending on what you are looking for.

A few tips that I can think of off the top of my head are:

1) Cardio is important. Do some research to find out whether or not you should do it before or after your workout. Personally I do it before, but that's just me and you might be different.

2) Warm up with light weights before you lift heavier weights.

3) Don't go too far too fast. Experiment at first if you're new to working out, learn your limits. And if this is your first time working out then expect to be very sore for a while until your muscles heal and get used to this, but don't worry, if you keep it up you won't be sore anymore...well...usually...

So yeah...feel free to PM me if you have anymore questions.

As for the protein supplements as suggested by planbskater...I personally stay away from those and go for natural sources of protein. Meat being your primary source but you can also snack on things such as yogurt and peanut butter which are high in protein.

[Edited by moderator Darkish, 10/1/2010 10:49:49 PM]

Some sound advice here, also sign up for www.bodybuilding.com, great forum with lots of friendly people who can give you all the help you want.

Well Basically I did mean lose body fat. Since yea I would be gaining weight.

I'm a 6 year plus active body builder, and a almost quilified Personal Trainer. I have to say what FireflyPoi said was wrong, turning fat into muscle is a bogus idea has to be one of the oldest and most incorrect beliefs in the history of bodybuilding. You can't turn fat into muscle! You never could, and you never will. Fat and muscle are two completely different body tissues. Fat simply can't turn into muscle, just like water can't turn into petrol.


For fat - If you trying to lose weight, never eat more then 30grams of fat per day and even that pushing it.

For Protein - Have about 1gr for every KG you weigh on non training days, on the days you workout/Train try and get 1.5gm/KG of body weigh. Particularly straight after exercise Protein is good as it helps the muscle repair after the workout.

Carbs - Carbs are OK, just avoid the simple Carbs like sugar.

Fiber - Try and get 30gm's or more a day, its really good for the digestive system, which will help you out.


Got any questions I'm more then happy to help.

I've done this kind of task recently. I'm a rugby player playing at the top league that is open to me at this point (regional, one rank before international) Being a pretty small guy for my sport at 5ft8 and was only just over 9 stone (60kg) obviously I needed to put alot of weight in a short amount of time (over the summer period) and muscle, not fat!

I have taken tips from older people I know who are alot more built up than me. I never had a real good diet, and I hate doing weights, they just bore me so much. The put on fat and then turn it into muscle, and the don't put on any fat ideas are both ineffective, for me atleast.

Assuming your not a fully grown adult then fats are your friend, in a reasonable amount. I would suggest you loose the extra weight you don't want to carry and get in the best shape you possibly can cardio wise. I've never trained as a goalie but in game time outfield players are move active unless your team sucks and you have to do all the work. You should do the same, if not more training than those outfield players to slim down, and be in good shape before you start your bulking up period.

Being very active, in the gym, or jogging for hours and hours a day doesn't have to be done. And if your like me and weights bore you there are lots of different work outs you can do that doesn't involve sitting in a gym just lifting stuff. Things that I do involve circuits, including flipping tyres, sprinting with weights attached to a harness, having a large rope around a post and shaking them making waves in them. These are killer work outs that everybody I know has confirmed are way more effective, harder and fun less boring than lifting weights for hours.

Your diet plays an important role in this, the harder you work, the more protein you need, and supplements are a great way to get this protein when you can't get it into your body by your meats or simply just lack of time to eat what you need to.

There are websites out there designed to help you manage your diet, and going through the top level of rugby I often have classes on your diet, workout and rest. You want to be athletically fit, not a body builder!

Get your carbs an hour or two before your main workout, have your main meal of the day with your proteins after your work out, or have your protein shakes after training. I personally drink alot of milk, mainly full fat because if your not a fully grown adult then thats the type of stuff you need. Personal trainers, websites, body builders, mens health, sports websites, and other sources usually focus on adults. Forgetting the fact that as you age, you bulk up naturally.

Feel free to PM me with any questions