Introduction-
As we all know leanmaxing is one of the very few softmax methods that will significantly raise your psl but there's way too much inaccuracy and misinformation on this site and others about how to do this optimally whilst ensuring you don't ruin your metabolism, lose lean tissue and waste valuable time that could be spent looksmaxing on fad diets that end up becoming a looksmin. In this guide I will outline the fundamentals of fat loss, the science behind the small details as well as other little methods that will help you to optimally leanmax after you get to the golden range of 12-10%. Being high body fat 25%+ is a complete looksmin that lowers testosterone levels, causes skin issues like acne and hides your potential bone structure. Remember if you're not leanmaxing you're not looksmaxing.
CICO (Calories in calories out)-
This is the base rule of fat loss, calories in, calories out. Your body requires a certain number of calories (maintenance calories) to maintain its current weight, if you eat significantly more/less calories than your maintenance calories you will gain/lose weight. This number is comprised of your BMR (basal metabolic rate) (the calories your body burns doing nothing) multiplied by your activity multiplier (the calories your body burns while active). As a general rule of thumb you want to subtract 500 calories from your maintenance calories. This is because there are 3500 calories in 1lb/0.5kg of fat, therefore consuming 500 calories below your maintenance calories ensures you lose at least 1lb/0.5kg per week from solely dieting (500x7=3500). You can increase or decrease this deficit depending on how fast you want to lose weight and what your current weight is as well as doing exercise. To find out your maintenance calories you can use this online calculator to estimate your maintenance calories. Maintenance Calculator (you may have to +/- calories as its not an exact science)
Preserving Lean Tissue-
CICO essentially means that you can eat whatever you want as long as it is below your maintenance calories and still lose weight but not all of it is just fat if you do this. Which is how people use this method and then become fat again from eating low volume high calorie foods (fast food) or extremely skinny because they don't get enough protein and micronutrients and end up looking like this by losing all their muscle mass/lean tissue.
In order to preserve lean tissue, clinical data provided by Eric Helms et al shows that losing more than 1% of your weight significantly increases your risk of losing muscle. For example a 200lbs/91kg male should not lose more than 2lbs/1kg per week in order to retain lean tissue optimally likewise a 300lbs/136kg male should aim to lose a maximum of 3lbs/1.3kg. That being said the higher in body fat you are the less risk there is of losing muscle when dieting aggressively and vice versa with people with lower levels of body fat which is why you should slow down when reaching 20% body fat. Dieting with high deficits however like 800cals or above is a one way stop to ruining your metabolism and in conjunction your leanmaxing journey. The metabolism eventually adjusts to a point where the calories you're eating to lose weight become the calories needed to maintain your weight which is why once you stop losing weight on those calories you decrease them per usual. However if you decrease your calories significantly each time what ends up happening is you'll have to diet on 1200 calories (example) just to lose weight while the person who kept their deficit at a modest 500 calories and slowly decreased is dieting and losing weight on double that. There is one brutal truth to metabolism that depends on genetics which is that the metabolism of some people is higher than others due to genetics and other factors. So one person could be eating 3000 calories and still lose the same amount of weight as someone on 2200 calories or lower. Welcome to the Blackpill.
The next step to ensure muscle retention is to eat adequate protein. Protein comes in many forms as seen on this list however the amount you need depends on both your current bodyweight and your body fat. The general consensus is 1g per pound of bodyweight or 2.2g per kilo of bodyweight, data once again provided by Eric Helms et al shows that eating more protein than this creates an effect of "diminishing returns" in terms of preserving muscle however an increase may improve satiety.
But an overdose of protein can be harmful to your kidney health so use adequately. Consuming protein like this must also be done consistently to ensure results, there's little point in adhering strictly in the week to blow it all off and eat junk on the weekend and then rinse and repeat. Protein is king when it comes to preserving muscle mass and carbs and fats whilst important play second fiddle to protein. The priority when setting your nutrient ratios and distributing your calories should be Protein>Fats>Carbs. Protein first to preserve muscle and provide energy, fats second to regulate hormones and t-levels and carbs last to provide glycogen and energy to the muscles. A typical ratio is 25% protein, 25% fat and 50% carbs or you can switch carbs and fat percentages depending on your preference and anecdotal results. That being said there is a problem I've found with the above equation which is that its not suitable if you are especially overweight at 270lbs/122kg+. Eating 270g of protein overtime is a surefire way to be left with one kidney, To correct this simply follow this equation by first finding out your body fat percentage-navy body fat calculator. For example if you were a 270lbs male at 35% body fat this method makes you eat the same amount of protein as the weight of your lean tissue. 270lbs x 1= 270g 270 x 0.35= 94.5. 270-94.5= 175.5g of protein.
Exercise-
Exercise is a tool to supplement your diet and increase your energy expenditure thus decreasing your bodyweight. I recommend lifting weights with a balance of hypertrophy and strength to initially increase your deficit and then once you get to lower levels of body fat you can introduce cardio. Too much cardio can be metabolic (muscle loss) and lead to the aforementioned problem regarding metabolism so use wisely and sparingly. A weight lifting routine I'd recommend for beginners is the Starting Strength 5x5 full body routine by Mark Rippetoe where you hit the major muscle groups of your body 3x a week by using compound lifts such as the bench press, squat and deadlift. Compound lifts hit multiple muscles of the same group, for example the bench press works the chest, shoulders, triceps and lats whilst the deadlift works the major back muscles, biceps and legs. This routine is superior for beginners because frequency of training is key at the start as opposed to volume or intensity. Furthermore in a full body routine you work your muscles 3x a week as opposed to a body part split that only works your muscles once a week or push pull legs split which only works your muscles 2x a week. A generic full body routine looks like this-
There are many different forms of cardio like boxing or sprinting or other outdoor activities however when using strictly gym equipment there are two main types of cardio forms that can be used on machines like the treadmill or the elliptical. These are LISS (low intensity steady state cardio) and HIIT (high intensity interval training). If you are 25% body fat or higher I would recommend LISS cardio, this is because it is easier on your joints and will not tax your nervous system as highly as HIIT training would. To perform LISS cardio set your treadmill speed at a slow/medium walking pace and increase the incline highly, to burn a decent amount of calories via this method you'd want to keep at it for a longer period of time depending on your level of fitness. If you are 20% body fat or below I would recommend HIIT cardio not only because your level of fitness should be able to handle it but also because its less time consuming and more effective at burning calories than LISS. As well as this HIIT burns calories even after you have finished doing it due to the elongated elevated heart rate as opposed to LISS which only burns calories during the session and a small window afterwards. To do HIIT training, switch between a walking pace and sprinting pace at 3-1 minute intervals. Ideally you'd want to reach a fitness level capable of switching from LISS to HIIT as soon as you are able as its more effective in achieving your goals.
Daily steps is also another underrated way to increase the calories you burn, personally my goal is to complete 7500 steps daily however I scaled up from 2500 steps. By doing this I burnt more calories and used it eat more calories which makes the process easier. For example to lose body fat you could eat 3000 calories at this point in time however had if you're not doing daily steps you would only eat 2700/2800 calories. These can easily be tracked by your smartphone or a fitness watch, the calories you burn by doing so can also be estimated using this chart.
Fasting, Intermittent Fasting, Ketogenic Diet
The dieting methods listed above are not fads but are sometimes portrayed as this holy grail of weight loss that will solve all your problems, you've probably seen them scattered across this site and others with people claiming absurd things. These diets are simply manipulations of CICO and have their benefits and disadvantages, for example intermittent fasting is great at regulating insulin sensitivity which is directly correlated with your fat cells however if you're eating more than your maintenance calories within that window you will gain weight not lose weight. Another example is the ketogenic diet which I only recommend for mini-cuts and even then its not a favourite of mine. Carbs are vital to how you perform when you exercise and so by taking away that energy source you are taking away from hypertrophy/strength feats you could be achieving. Remember these methods supplement CICO not the other way around.
The Golden %
Once you reach what I believe is the optimal body fat percentage for facial/body aesthetics (12/10%) the law of diminishing returns also appears here. This is because at this point you have reaped the benefits of losing body fat and anything lower starts to reach those levels of gauntness that isn't desirable and the risk of losing muscle is too high if you go any lower (if natural). There is very little you can do at this point and if you are at this point then you have truly reached your max potential as a a natural softmaxer at least in terms of leanmaxxing. I would advise you to keep hydrated and regulate your sodium levels to avoid facial bloat and eat volume foods and foods high in fibre to keep satiated in order to maintain this level of body fat because it is by no means easy but that is the cost of leanmaxxing.
This is my first post so if there are any mistakes or things you'd like to add lmk and if you found this insightful or helpful by any means then leave a reaction or feedback. I will make more posts like this in other areas because I'm trying to get to 100 reputation to see what's in the best of the best section so help me out if you can and keep a lookout.
As we all know leanmaxing is one of the very few softmax methods that will significantly raise your psl but there's way too much inaccuracy and misinformation on this site and others about how to do this optimally whilst ensuring you don't ruin your metabolism, lose lean tissue and waste valuable time that could be spent looksmaxing on fad diets that end up becoming a looksmin. In this guide I will outline the fundamentals of fat loss, the science behind the small details as well as other little methods that will help you to optimally leanmax after you get to the golden range of 12-10%. Being high body fat 25%+ is a complete looksmin that lowers testosterone levels, causes skin issues like acne and hides your potential bone structure. Remember if you're not leanmaxing you're not looksmaxing.
CICO (Calories in calories out)-
This is the base rule of fat loss, calories in, calories out. Your body requires a certain number of calories (maintenance calories) to maintain its current weight, if you eat significantly more/less calories than your maintenance calories you will gain/lose weight. This number is comprised of your BMR (basal metabolic rate) (the calories your body burns doing nothing) multiplied by your activity multiplier (the calories your body burns while active). As a general rule of thumb you want to subtract 500 calories from your maintenance calories. This is because there are 3500 calories in 1lb/0.5kg of fat, therefore consuming 500 calories below your maintenance calories ensures you lose at least 1lb/0.5kg per week from solely dieting (500x7=3500). You can increase or decrease this deficit depending on how fast you want to lose weight and what your current weight is as well as doing exercise. To find out your maintenance calories you can use this online calculator to estimate your maintenance calories. Maintenance Calculator (you may have to +/- calories as its not an exact science)
Preserving Lean Tissue-
CICO essentially means that you can eat whatever you want as long as it is below your maintenance calories and still lose weight but not all of it is just fat if you do this. Which is how people use this method and then become fat again from eating low volume high calorie foods (fast food) or extremely skinny because they don't get enough protein and micronutrients and end up looking like this by losing all their muscle mass/lean tissue.
In order to preserve lean tissue, clinical data provided by Eric Helms et al shows that losing more than 1% of your weight significantly increases your risk of losing muscle. For example a 200lbs/91kg male should not lose more than 2lbs/1kg per week in order to retain lean tissue optimally likewise a 300lbs/136kg male should aim to lose a maximum of 3lbs/1.3kg. That being said the higher in body fat you are the less risk there is of losing muscle when dieting aggressively and vice versa with people with lower levels of body fat which is why you should slow down when reaching 20% body fat. Dieting with high deficits however like 800cals or above is a one way stop to ruining your metabolism and in conjunction your leanmaxing journey. The metabolism eventually adjusts to a point where the calories you're eating to lose weight become the calories needed to maintain your weight which is why once you stop losing weight on those calories you decrease them per usual. However if you decrease your calories significantly each time what ends up happening is you'll have to diet on 1200 calories (example) just to lose weight while the person who kept their deficit at a modest 500 calories and slowly decreased is dieting and losing weight on double that. There is one brutal truth to metabolism that depends on genetics which is that the metabolism of some people is higher than others due to genetics and other factors. So one person could be eating 3000 calories and still lose the same amount of weight as someone on 2200 calories or lower. Welcome to the Blackpill.
The next step to ensure muscle retention is to eat adequate protein. Protein comes in many forms as seen on this list however the amount you need depends on both your current bodyweight and your body fat. The general consensus is 1g per pound of bodyweight or 2.2g per kilo of bodyweight, data once again provided by Eric Helms et al shows that eating more protein than this creates an effect of "diminishing returns" in terms of preserving muscle however an increase may improve satiety.
But an overdose of protein can be harmful to your kidney health so use adequately. Consuming protein like this must also be done consistently to ensure results, there's little point in adhering strictly in the week to blow it all off and eat junk on the weekend and then rinse and repeat. Protein is king when it comes to preserving muscle mass and carbs and fats whilst important play second fiddle to protein. The priority when setting your nutrient ratios and distributing your calories should be Protein>Fats>Carbs. Protein first to preserve muscle and provide energy, fats second to regulate hormones and t-levels and carbs last to provide glycogen and energy to the muscles. A typical ratio is 25% protein, 25% fat and 50% carbs or you can switch carbs and fat percentages depending on your preference and anecdotal results. That being said there is a problem I've found with the above equation which is that its not suitable if you are especially overweight at 270lbs/122kg+. Eating 270g of protein overtime is a surefire way to be left with one kidney, To correct this simply follow this equation by first finding out your body fat percentage-navy body fat calculator. For example if you were a 270lbs male at 35% body fat this method makes you eat the same amount of protein as the weight of your lean tissue. 270lbs x 1= 270g 270 x 0.35= 94.5. 270-94.5= 175.5g of protein.
Exercise-
Exercise is a tool to supplement your diet and increase your energy expenditure thus decreasing your bodyweight. I recommend lifting weights with a balance of hypertrophy and strength to initially increase your deficit and then once you get to lower levels of body fat you can introduce cardio. Too much cardio can be metabolic (muscle loss) and lead to the aforementioned problem regarding metabolism so use wisely and sparingly. A weight lifting routine I'd recommend for beginners is the Starting Strength 5x5 full body routine by Mark Rippetoe where you hit the major muscle groups of your body 3x a week by using compound lifts such as the bench press, squat and deadlift. Compound lifts hit multiple muscles of the same group, for example the bench press works the chest, shoulders, triceps and lats whilst the deadlift works the major back muscles, biceps and legs. This routine is superior for beginners because frequency of training is key at the start as opposed to volume or intensity. Furthermore in a full body routine you work your muscles 3x a week as opposed to a body part split that only works your muscles once a week or push pull legs split which only works your muscles 2x a week. A generic full body routine looks like this-
There are many different forms of cardio like boxing or sprinting or other outdoor activities however when using strictly gym equipment there are two main types of cardio forms that can be used on machines like the treadmill or the elliptical. These are LISS (low intensity steady state cardio) and HIIT (high intensity interval training). If you are 25% body fat or higher I would recommend LISS cardio, this is because it is easier on your joints and will not tax your nervous system as highly as HIIT training would. To perform LISS cardio set your treadmill speed at a slow/medium walking pace and increase the incline highly, to burn a decent amount of calories via this method you'd want to keep at it for a longer period of time depending on your level of fitness. If you are 20% body fat or below I would recommend HIIT cardio not only because your level of fitness should be able to handle it but also because its less time consuming and more effective at burning calories than LISS. As well as this HIIT burns calories even after you have finished doing it due to the elongated elevated heart rate as opposed to LISS which only burns calories during the session and a small window afterwards. To do HIIT training, switch between a walking pace and sprinting pace at 3-1 minute intervals. Ideally you'd want to reach a fitness level capable of switching from LISS to HIIT as soon as you are able as its more effective in achieving your goals.
Daily steps is also another underrated way to increase the calories you burn, personally my goal is to complete 7500 steps daily however I scaled up from 2500 steps. By doing this I burnt more calories and used it eat more calories which makes the process easier. For example to lose body fat you could eat 3000 calories at this point in time however had if you're not doing daily steps you would only eat 2700/2800 calories. These can easily be tracked by your smartphone or a fitness watch, the calories you burn by doing so can also be estimated using this chart.
Fasting, Intermittent Fasting, Ketogenic Diet
The dieting methods listed above are not fads but are sometimes portrayed as this holy grail of weight loss that will solve all your problems, you've probably seen them scattered across this site and others with people claiming absurd things. These diets are simply manipulations of CICO and have their benefits and disadvantages, for example intermittent fasting is great at regulating insulin sensitivity which is directly correlated with your fat cells however if you're eating more than your maintenance calories within that window you will gain weight not lose weight. Another example is the ketogenic diet which I only recommend for mini-cuts and even then its not a favourite of mine. Carbs are vital to how you perform when you exercise and so by taking away that energy source you are taking away from hypertrophy/strength feats you could be achieving. Remember these methods supplement CICO not the other way around.
The Golden %
Once you reach what I believe is the optimal body fat percentage for facial/body aesthetics (12/10%) the law of diminishing returns also appears here. This is because at this point you have reaped the benefits of losing body fat and anything lower starts to reach those levels of gauntness that isn't desirable and the risk of losing muscle is too high if you go any lower (if natural). There is very little you can do at this point and if you are at this point then you have truly reached your max potential as a a natural softmaxer at least in terms of leanmaxxing. I would advise you to keep hydrated and regulate your sodium levels to avoid facial bloat and eat volume foods and foods high in fibre to keep satiated in order to maintain this level of body fat because it is by no means easy but that is the cost of leanmaxxing.
This is my first post so if there are any mistakes or things you'd like to add lmk and if you found this insightful or helpful by any means then leave a reaction or feedback. I will make more posts like this in other areas because I'm trying to get to 100 reputation to see what's in the best of the best section so help me out if you can and keep a lookout.
