BF%. When do my pants get looser at the waist?

[Corey]

Mark,

In SSBBT 2nd Ed. You wrote and I?m going by memory since I don?t have the book with me at work, that a program of this nature can result in a drop in body fat% for those that need it and for those that need an increase in mass it can do that also. I f I remember correctly you say that it will tend to allow an athlete to achieve their ideal body composition or ideal weight.

In my case, I am at about 18-20% bf. I have been training hard on the program for about one month. My lifts have all gone up and I am adding poundage to the bar on a weekly basis.

I realize that the scales may not indicate much if any difference, but by this point should my waist, abdominal area be losing some bf? Or am I just too darn early into the program.

Best Regards,
Corey

[Mark Rippetoe]

A month is a little early, but a tighter diet should have resulted in a waist reduction by now.

[Tiburon]

I realize that the scales may not indicate much if any difference, but by this point should my waist, abdominal area be losing some bf?

You can start measuring your waist circumference in addition to your body weight. Just make sure you measure it at the same location each time (perhaps at the umbilicus, with the tape measure parallel to the ground).

[Billy Franklin]

A month is a little early, but a tighter diet should have resulted in a waist reduction by now.

Coach, can you elaborate on diet guidelines for fatties?

I hear snippets around the internet that leave me confused. Things like:

"Muscle mass is determined by diet."

"You have to eat as much as you can to fuel growth."

"Caloric excess is needed for recovery."

"First bulk, then cut."

are tossed about loosely on various message boards.

I understand they may have greater meaning to a scrawny teen than a middle-aged lump, but can you offer any advice on how one should eat to maintain a linear progression on the lifts while cutting the fat?

Or are there any authors on the subject you trust enough to recommend?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Lyle at www.bodyrecomposition.com is your man. Your diet, just like your training, has to fit your particular situation. He can help with that.

[Peter_k]

Just in case you're not sure where to go, go to this link for his forum:

http://forums.lylemcdonald.com/

I'd advise buying "Flexible Dieting" and asking him specific questions vis-a-vis training on a diet on the forum. While he's the "diet guy" he also has some very good insight into sports and training.

By the way, from my own experience I know this: you can do SS eating at maintenance or even below, but the jumps have to be smaller and won't come as easily.

Anyway, it's very unlikely Lyle will recommend anything more complicated than a 10%-20% reduction in calories (or perhaps an even simpler reduction of starches), keeping intensity high in the gym, getting lots of protein, and making increases whenever you can.

[Corey]

Merci beaucoup y'all.