If you’re fat…

Now if you’re fat, and we’re talking about 25%+ body fat, you can actually reduce calories and still make significant strength and muscle gains when your first start training because, well, you’ve got a lot of energy stores to work with.

You shouldn’t eat like a rabbit or else your performance is going to suffer. You want to consume about 250 calories less than what you usually eat to maintain your current weight. Consider doing a Paleo-type diet in which you reduce or eliminate carbs completely and go heavy on protein and good fats (like you find in coconut oil, nuts, and avocados). If you’re dropping about a half inch around your waist each week while maintaining your body weight (because you’re increasing muscle mass), and you’re not noticing any decrease in performance (i.e., you can complete each of your workouts), you’re on the right track.

Follow a barbell training regimen like Starting Strength’s novice linear progression program. Nothing packs on muscle and adds strength like doing compound barbell lifts. At the end of each workout, do 10-15 minutes of HIIT cardio. Airdyne sprints, prowler pushes, and kettlebell circuits are all great exercises for HIIT.

You’re not going to notice dramatic changes in your body. In fact, you may gain some weight and your clothes may fit around your chest a bit tighter due to increased muscle mass. But keep measuring that waist. If that keeps going down, you’re good.

Once you get below 20% body fat, you can start upping the calories a bit to put the muscle gains in overdrive.

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