Hi everybody,
I am starting my Meltdown cycle with a gol of leaning out and hopefully gaining some muscle while doing it. I know, that it is hard, but this is what the article is promising, isn’t it?
Ok, so, i am currently 85 Kg (85*2.2 = 187lbs), 195 centimeters tall and at about 14-15% of BF. The goal again is to hit 10% of BF and to gain some muscle in between.
Why Meltdown? Well, because it is aerobically challenging and it requires weight-lifting. I like such stuff. I am not new to the gym, although i had a pause in lifting for about 2-3 years and i was doing swimming and kick-boxing during that time. So, i like stuff which requires a lot of endurance.
My plan is to go through Meltdown and then shift to Poliquin’s programs - Maximal Weights, GVT (or CT’s OVT maybe), 1-6 principle. But there are some things i am confused about:
1 - I am totally confused about my calorie needs. I did several calculations using different formulas and they say i need something like 2700 as a maintenance. But now i did Berardi’s formula which he presented in his “Winning Formula” and i counted ~3400 as a maintenance level. Holy cow! I’ve been undereating for such a long time!
No wonder why i am feeling like shit. Currently what i do is i do 2 days on 2400 cals and then one day on 2700 cals. However, according to Berardi it seems like i have to do 2 days on 2900 and then one day of ~3400. How would you recommend to transition to such a regime? Would increasing daily calorie intake by 100 cals be ok?
P.S. - I am eating very lean! I ingest only whole foods, no empty cals, adhere to Berardi’s 7 habits and yes i count calories (btw, i use FitDay’s software, not a website - a great tool!). My average macro-breakdown is P-42%, F-22, C-36%.
2 - Berardi’s formula doesn’t take exercise into consideration. Activity factor i chose was “light activity” and it is definitely not what Meltdown is about! Should i increase Berardi’s recommendations or should i increase my calories even more?
3 - Is it a good idea to add some shoulder work after i am done with meltdown routine? I am thinking about doing Poliquin’s triset-s for medial deltoid on each 5th day and maybe some rotator-cuff work in between. What you think?
4 - I am not currently sure on how often should i do meltdown, given that i am not going to do any other exercises during this time. Which is better: doing it every other day (while changing between day1 and day2) or doing Day1-Day2-Day Off-Repeat?
5 - Should i try to progress with weights i use on each workout? I was even thinking about creating some small weight increments myself 
I would really appreciate your recommendations! Thanks in advance.