After Reading A Lot, Need Specific Help

Nutrition
1

Hi guys, been reading article after article and thread after thread looking for a good diet/routine to move on from my current one but it’s all left my head fried!

I’ve been lifting for 4 years and built up size and strength nicely, but never had the shredded look, so about 7 weeks ago began the low carb diet that worked pretty well for the first couple weeks and I’m down to 11% BF, my goal is to get to between 8-9% at the end of 16 weeks but I’m worried I may be including things in my diet that are hampering progress or it may need changing…

A basic breakdown is…

Breakfast, 4-5 eggs (2-3 yolk) with 3 rashers grilled bacon
Snacks during the day - either a couple of protein bars or a chicken salad, light chicken strips (Those Matteson fridge raiders ones)
Post workout - 1 scoop Promax with BCAA powder and 2 tbsp flax seed
Dinner - Meat (chicken, turkey, steak, tuna) with leafy veg and mayo

My carb intake for the day is between 40g-50g, fats/cal I don’t know and protein about 180g.

Everyday I take lots of BCAA’s, Cod Liver Oil, Vitamins tablets etc. and ZMA before bed.

Sundays are Cheat Days, and sometimes mid-week I’ll add brown rice or wholewheat pasta to dinner for a re-feed.

I feel like I may be hitting a plataeu as I most of the fat around my face, chest, arms is all dissapearing, just the stubborn belly fat stopping the abs from showing is what isn’t shifting much now. I’ve added 2-3 days of 45 min incline walks for cardio and for weights I’m mostly doing heavy supersets with 30-45 sec rest between pairings.

Any specific help you guys can give would be great as there’s so much on the site I don’t know what’s what lol.

Thanks.

2

… :slight_smile:

3

Just a couple of things…

Your diet needs some damn improvement, when I was competing in nationals for jiu jitsu I kept below 70kg and I had sub 6% bodyfat, granted I wasn’t big but damn I ate a lot more fucking food than what you are!!!

Eat some steak and chicken throughout the day, I prefer carb-cycling, it works like a damn bomb, so get some rice and sweet potato’s in your diet, throw a litre of milk in for starters!

And train HEAVY! Superset ffs! Get stronger and you will hold muscle as you “diet”, do sprints or prowler work if you can for cardio and get on starting strength to learn the basics of deadlifting, squatting and benching.

Whats your weight anyways? And your lifts?
There is a ton of information on this site, but everyday keep reading and favourite things to come back too.
The basics stay the same… progressively get stronger, keep eating like a man (lotta food, good food though) and getting abzzzzz is not the be all of training dude.

4

what protein bars do you use? most of them are candy bars in disguise, though this is admittedly not the biggest of issues

5

[quote]Diluted56 wrote:
Just a couple of things…

Your diet needs some damn improvement, when I was competing in nationals for jiu jitsu I kept below 70kg and I had sub 6% bodyfat, granted I wasn’t big but damn I ate a lot more fucking food than what you are!!!

Eat some steak and chicken throughout the day, I prefer carb-cycling, it works like a damn bomb, so get some rice and sweet potato’s in your diet, throw a litre of milk in for starters!

And train HEAVY! Superset ffs! Get stronger and you will hold muscle as you “diet”, do sprints or prowler work if you can for cardio and get on starting strength to learn the basics of deadlifting, squatting and benching.

Whats your weight anyways? And your lifts?
There is a ton of information on this site, but everyday keep reading and favourite things to come back too.
The basics stay the same… progressively get stronger, keep eating like a man (lotta food, good food though) and getting abzzzzz is not the be all of training dude.[/quote]

Cheers dude, the supersets are generally with heavy weights although obviously not up to 5-6 RM’s. I was thinking of moving onto the Max OT routine for a few weeks from Monday funny enough.
My weight is about 182lbs, I’m 5’11. Bench 1RPM - 290 lbs, Shoulders - 230, Squats - 350.

In the last few weeks I’ve dropped to about 60-70% of those weights.

Abs aren’t the be all end all, but yesterday my BF came in at 8.1% and no abs showing, meaning either loose skin or all 8% decided to park in my mid section lol.

If I moved up from 40-50g carbs to 100g per day would it begin to put BF back on or is it still low enough?

For Cardio I’m gonna stick to the long hill walks, get 1 HIIT session per week and I also currently do 1 kettlebell circuit at the end of each week.

BTW for the other comment, the protein bars are Maxi Promax’s. Any other recommendations?

6

Well I mean if you have been going low carb for a while then you might see “fat gain” but it would more than likely be bloat as you are unaccustomed to eating higher amounts of carbs. You gotta do what works for you, I do not see the benefits of low carbing as eventually everything just stalls and your weights suffer as you try find new ways of lowering your bf%. If you are at 8% which is unlikely to be a “true” 8% then you gotta start thinking long term.

If I were you, I would stop focussing on low carb ‘dieting’ and focus on sustained lifestyle nutrition, which basically means think of how you would like to eat for the rest of your life type thing. Sticking to the basics of clean healthy carbs, eating a lot of protein, some fat in the diet and having days where you lower your carbs and days where you increase them throughout the week.

I believe if you have been so strict and regimented on your lower carb diet which would of entailed you being precise, then carb cycling will be a breeze for you and when it starts stalling, increase your baseline of carbs up a few %. I truelly believe that focussing on heavier weights with basically eating a ton of clean food as often as possible makes life so much simpler.

7

^^^^ This. For the most part of the last 4 years I’ve focused on heavier weights, really it’s only for the last 6 weeks I’ve dropped when starting low-carb. If I’m honest I’m enjoying the low carb way, no cravings, energy is fine, workouts in the gym haven’t suffered at all, those odd treats taste a lot better etc. it pretty much will be a lifestyle change for me, keep it low during the week (with work etc it’s easier too as I can bring only what I want with me and won’t be tempted to grab a sandwich at a store etc) and have a good re-feed at the end of the week with the odd treat and potato’s, brown rice.

As for the training I think I am gonna drop down to 4-6 reps for everything, try keep the rest period around 90 secs and bang out heavier again. While my chest looks better defined, shoulders and arms have suffered in terms of definition and size.

One thing I’ve always wondered though, while supersets do increase heart rate, can the same be said for lifting heavy considering the intensity despite the longer rest period?