I think a loooooooot of the traditional advice on things like that comes from people who eat steroids for breakfast. They can stay in that anabolic state, that is what the drugs are for. The rest of us get tired, weak and small.
I know the people over at Renaissance Periodization prefer that approach. You can speculate however you want on their staff’s drug history, but they gear most of their content toward Average Joes.
Tell me about it…
Coach Thib has pointed out before that increasing volume when cutting is not the way to go, the reasoning being that the increase in cortisol is particularly hazardous for your gains when in a reduced calorie phase. He recommends fewer sets, pushing each set closer to failure (see below). If I were to do my cutting phase again I would probably use lower volume. I got through it but only because it was the holidays and I could take naps throughout the day and be lazy…
This may be of interest to you
Lucky for me I’m not on drugs and don’t have much muscle to begin with. I appreciate the share, but I’m very aware of everything he describes and never once felt like I lost muscle in a caloric deficit.
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Returned from vacation Wednesday evening. I wish it were longer but was long enough to be relaxing. I knew I needed it – didn’t know I needed it that badly. To just think about nothing. Work became a lot, but I did not realize that I was even losing interest in my hobbies. Though most of the trip was solo, I was able to see a couple friends I had not seen in 1.5-2 years, one of whom was great company. That helped. I still think I’m in a bit of a mental funk, though getting back into routine should help.
Funnily enough, my room number was 531. I didn’t think hardly at all about training while I was there. The workout I did last Wednesday gifted me several day DOMS. On top of that, with the exception of one 20k day, I ended up walking 25k+ steps every day. With lots of stairs. My joints were not a fan. I went to a calisthenics park one day, and while the upper body work was fine, I actually had to stop BW squatting early because my right knee bothered me during them so much. Weird because I’d never had knee pain before. Then on my last full day rode a bike for the first time in four years. My lower back killed during the entire trip from being on my feet all day long. The funny thing is that I didn’t have much appetite from all of this. I doubt I even ate at maintenance. I had two meals out that were not too indulgent (see photos) and did my fair share of supporting local cafes for tea.
Though deficits usually kill my sleep, which is already the case now that I’m home, I passed out every night there easily… even though the mattress sucked. Miss that feeling.
6/27
50 pull ups
90 dips
45 inverted rows
165 squats
6/29
2.5 hour bike ride
Not sure how far but probably around 30 miles. My quads definitely felt this. Honestly, this made me rethink my decision to not own a bike a little bit… I don’t live in a super biker-friendly area though, unfortunately.
7/2
50 pull ups
90x3x8 front squats
165x3x8 deadlifts
75 band pull aparts
3 mile run 24:07
Deadlifting for the first time in, like, a month was interesting. My legs felt heavy afterwards, yet the run was easier than expected. There were a couple of stops at crosswalks, but I think I could have gone without them and pushed the pace if I wanted. While lifting always feels trash after a week off or deload, my conditioning benefits.
One downside of not thinking much about training on vacation is that I’m doing random stuff for now. I don’t want to say I should have meticulously planned something, because it feels good mentally to just do whatever for a bit, especially as I want to continue trudging through the deficit for 1-2 more weeks. Maybe I’m avoiding a much-needed weight gain phase at this point, maybe I’m still a bit in vacation mode. Whatever. Just trying to get back into the swing of things first
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Welcome back!
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I’ve stayed out of your log because it brings me no joy to read about your diet, and it’s not really my business. Still, this one time I will simply say please be careful. Do not flip that disordered eating switch. If it’s becoming easier to not eat than eat, I think you are on a dangerous path.
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I didn’t realize I gave that impression – not my intention. I guess I’m a rambler, and training isn’t all that interesting in this situation, so I ramble about that side of things. I dealt with disordered eating in late high school/early college and know what to avoid (e.g. obsessing over food, tolerating amenorrhea, etc.) Now I never jeopardize my health in caloric deficits and for several years have eaten mostly at maintenance.
I appreciate your looking out for me, but I’m not not eating if that’s what you thought. I promise I’m ending the diet in a couple weeks or less. Very temporary.
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Press 50x3x8
Curl 50x3x10
30 pushups
Front raise/lateral raise superset thing
100 band pull aparts
A bit lazy but better than nothing.
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Ok. I became concerned because I thought the diet was in anticipation of your vacation. I expected you to eat and be merry while on vacation and return not on a diet.
I think (without knowing) that because you have engaged in disordered eating in the past you might be more susceptible to relapsing there. That is my experience anyway. Having a healthy relationship with food and my body has been a lifelong struggle and continues to be. I want to be omats—the person in my log who always eats enough and who cares more about performance than appearance. But I am only trying to be that person. When I look back on my life. I regret the energy I spent trying to be a size smaller or 5 lbs less. But that energy has already been spent.
I wish you only the best in your journey and I hope you reach your goals.
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Not at all. The vacation was mostly solo, and even then, I do this (and the rest of my hobbies) for myself – not to impress anyone else. I’m only dieting so I have room to grow and really push my performance the rest of the year.
I can sympathize with what you are saying – it can be a slippery slope for many, especially women. But I assure you I don’t view food as an enemy or something emotional. I only eliminate foods that make me objectively feel bad (i.e. physically). Again, in the past few years I’ve only dieted twice, never longer than 2-3 months at a time, and I did not sacrifice health markers in those pursuits. I’m not perpetually losing weight, I remain at a healthy bodyweight, and I’m not obsessed with a specific pant size.
I appreciate the concern as well as your opening up on these issues, and I imagine more people here can relate to your experiences than you or I suspect. I won’t claim to be perfect in this regard – I should probably “allow” myself to gain weight more often than I have in recent years – but I am very far from relapsing, and at worst I spin my wheels more often than I’d like.
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I planned to rest today, but the weather was finally not scorching or super humid that it felt almost criminal to not do a little outdoor conditioning.
Did some jumps at the track followed by 6x200m, each run a little under 40s.
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Pullups +3kgx5x4
SSB squat 110x4x6
SA KB press top half of shell + 2kgx4x8
50 band pull aparts
Feeling and looking blah, but this is the home stretch. I spent most of the year on the 7th hole of my belt, and now I’m between the 8th and 9th. I’m getting a better idea of what to do next training-wise – starting to look forward to more structure after weeks of Easy Strength, vacation, and my current goofing around.
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Pullups 5x7
Bench 85x4x6
SA BB row +50x2x8
2x8 pushups
100 band pull aparts
Tabata assault bike 40 cal
Haven’t benched in a little while but figured it would not be terrible to practice the movement again because I will bench a little bit again in the upcoming cycle.
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Front squat 85x10 100x2x5
Standing ab wheel progression 2x5
3 mile run 24:07
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Heh, your running is putting mine to shame right now!
I spent probably more years of my life than not doing a lot of running around, so I suspect that’s a big reason why my run times aren’t bad haha
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Deadlift work up to 195x3
SA KB press top half of shell+3kgx4x6
75 band pull aparts
Struggle bus deadlifts
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Those were super smooth!
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nice DL.
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