Quote (Sonor @ Jan 26 2015 05:38pm)
If his sole purpose was to cut, yes, but he is trying to lean out and has expressed great interest in Krav Maga and being able to spar, neither of which will be enjoyable if he further deteriorates what muscle mass he has.
Have you ever taken Krav Maga? I can assure you that having little to muscle mass is the opposite of what you want, as is he'll be hurting for the first little while.
And how exactly is weight training not assisting his weight loss goals? He's burning calories during the workout, and his muscles are utilizing his macros to the fullest. In addition, just because he's not putting on mass doesn't mean he won't develop strength. At the very least it will assist his stabilizer muscles as well as creating muscle memory so when time comes to put a bulk on, he's already established a muscle / mind connection.
I understand what you're saying, and you're not wrong, but he isn't obsessing over a 6 pack and beach body, he wants to tone up and develop functional strength for physical training, which requires at least some use of weights.
I am just saying that relying on weight training over cardio/diet will yield weight loss slower. If he can shred the weight quicker, he can switch focus to endurance training and cardiovascular training.
He could be pretty lean with maintaining muscle mass at his current height if he just focuses on the weight loss. If he drops roughly 20-25 lbs. of fat, that would put him at 160-165 lbs. with about 10-12% body fat. 165, 10-12%, at 5'7 is still pretty big if you ask me.
Doing something like 2-3 full body workouts a week to still keep the motions, but doing 3-4 cardio days a week and focusing on diet, will allow him to reach that 160-165 marker quicker, then can focus on a slow lean bulk if he wants to from there.
I'm not talking about him getting shredded at like 150, but if he's starting from 20-25% body fat that's just my opinion.