I’ve been bulking for over two years now, and I’ve put on a little more than 50lbs of bodyweight without adding too much bodyfat. I know my numbers don’t matter much in a bodybuilding sense, but my PR’s are: bench press - 260x3, full depth squat - 315x5, DL - 480x1 with a trap bar (low handles).
I’m just at a loss as to which way to go from here. I’m leaning toward recomping down to 10-12% and trying to stay fairly lean from now on (or at least for a while). I’m at 17% now according to three-point caliper, but looking at my most recent pic, I’d put myself near 20%.
My long-term goal is to attain a bodyweight of 220-225 with 12% or less body fat. I’ve been trying to maintain my weight around 220 for the past three months, but I’ve ‘accidentally’ gained another few pounds. Weighed in just shy of 225 yesterday.
What I’m considering:
- Go on an all-out fat blast for two months. Get down to 195-205 with 10% bodyfat.
- Go low-carb except for breakfast and para-workout and see how well that works for me. Unfortunately, it may take six months or more to determine how well it’s working.
- Maybe start another full-on bulk again at the end of next year, depending on how things are going.
Any advice?
I would probably go with the low-carb except for breakfast and para workout. It will probably work better than you’d expect. Obviously you’d still want to be in a caloric deficit. Start with a 500 cal deficit per day, so you have room to work with once progress stalls.
If you do this approach, you’ll probably lose a couple pounds a week for about a month due to slightly lower glycogen levels and not holding as much water.
I’d go for option #2. Slow and steady usually allows for better muscle retention in my experience.
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
I’d go for option #2. Slow and steady usually allows for better muscle retention in my experience.
S[/quote]
I was really hoping to hear from you, Stu. Thanks for responding.
It was more like a series of steps, but you’d seriously skip the quick recomp and just start with step #2? Maybe add some conditioning work?
Sometimes when you’ve been just ‘winging in’, once you lock down some sort of plan, you can be surprised at the results that occur. The first time I ever did a planned cut, once I did all my calculations, I just tried to make sure I was getting 3300 - 3400 cals every day (not just approximating like most people do). Chances are that I was probably getting more on some days, and less on others, but because of the random nature of things (and the random macros that accompanied the total cals), my body wasn’t responding as well as it might have had there been some degree of nutrient timing involved. Anyway, once my body acclimated to the steady intake (and focus on certain nutrients at specific times of the day), I looked quite a bit different,… and all it took was a little planning, and adherence to ensuring I was eating enough EVERY DAY. No cardio, no carb cycling, nothing especially complicated. Sure I eventually moved into a cyclical full prep, but that was after 2-3 months of my body basically recomping itself.
Take simple steps first. What I usually say about contest dieting is to not fire all your guns at once. Make little changes, and see what happens first. This is also a better way to hold onto more LBM in the process.
S
[quote]JayPierce wrote:
I’ve been bulking for over two years now, and I’ve put on a little more than 50lbs of bodyweight without adding too much bodyfat. I know my numbers don’t matter much in a bodybuilding sense, but my PR’s are: bench press - 260x3, full depth squat - 315x5, DL - 480x1 with a trap bar (low handles).
I’m just at a loss as to which way to go from here. I’m leaning toward recomping down to 10-12% and trying to stay fairly lean from now on (or at least for a while). I’m at 17% now according to three-point caliper, but looking at my most recent pic, I’d put myself near 20%.
My long-term goal is to attain a bodyweight of 220-225 with 12% or less body fat. I’ve been trying to maintain my weight around 220 for the past three months, but I’ve ‘accidentally’ gained another few pounds. Weighed in just shy of 225 yesterday.
What I’m considering:
- Go on an all-out fat blast for two months. Get down to 195-205 with 10% bodyfat.
- Go low-carb except for breakfast and para-workout and see how well that works for me. Unfortunately, it may take six months or more to determine how well it’s working.
- Maybe start another full-on bulk again at the end of next year, depending on how things are going.
Any advice?[/quote]
I’m pretty much in the same place as you are. Been lifting 2 years, gained 50 lbs and was about 240 lbs at 6 ft tall. By 240 I was a little fatter than I’m comfortable with and my arms were still only 17" (they’re tough to grow for me). I was contemplating pushing to 260 vs cutting down to 210. I chose cutting down to 210. I’m at 225 now. I lost the weight and maintained strength by limiting my self to about 200 carbs a day (a little more on a heavy day). By doing this, I didn’t have to count calories. Keeping my carbs lower took care of it. I used to take in about 400 carbs and 350 protein. Now it’s more like 200 carbs and 275-300 protein.
I’d also like to end up 220-230 with 10ish bodyfat. Going to start another bulk in late October and hopefully get about to a leaner than last time 240 lbs and solid 18" arms by the summer. Then, I won’t feel so bad about moving up to 260.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Sometimes when you’ve been just ‘winging in’, once you lock down some sort of plan, you can be surprised at the results that occur. The first time I ever did a planned cut, once I did all my calculations, I just tried to make sure I was getting 3300 - 3400 cals every day (not just approximating like most people do). Chances are that I was probably getting more on some days, and less on others, but because of the random nature of things (and the random macros that accompanied the total cals), my body wasn’t responding as well as it might have had there been some degree of nutrient timing involved. Anyway, once my body acclimated to the steady intake (and focus on certain nutrients at specific times of the day), I looked quite a bit different,… and all it took was a little planning, and adherence to ensuring I was eating enough EVERY DAY. No cardio, no carb cycling, nothing especially complicated. Sure I eventually moved into a cyclical full prep, but that was after 2-3 months of my body basically recomping itself.
Take simple steps first. What I usually say about contest dieting is to not fire all your guns at once. Make little changes, and see what happens first. This is also a better way to hold onto more LBM in the process.
S[/quote]
I’m worlds away from being ready for a complete cut. I need to gain at least 2" almost everywhere. I was really just thinking I’d try gaining my next ten pounds of muscle without going much over 12%.
Is there really that much risk of losing a bunch of muscle on the way to 10%?
More importantly, should I even bother? The other option I’m considering is to just do a recomp and then keep pushing upward. That’s what I did earlier this year and it worked pretty well. Is this a better option since I still have so far to go?
[quote]sam_sneed wrote:
I’m pretty much in the same place as you are. Been lifting 2 years, gained 50 lbs and was about 240 lbs at 6 ft tall. By 240 I was a little fatter than I’m comfortable with and my arms were still only 17" (they’re tough to grow for me). I was contemplating pushing to 260 vs cutting down to 210. I chose cutting down to 210. I’m at 225 now. I lost the weight and maintained strength by limiting my self to about 200 carbs a day (a little more on a heavy day). By doing this, I didn’t have to count calories. Keeping my carbs lower took care of it. I used to take in about 400 carbs and 350 protein. Now it’s more like 200 carbs and 275-300 protein.
I’d also like to end up 220-230 with 10ish bodyfat. Going to start another bulk in late October and hopefully get about to a leaner than last time 240 lbs and solid 18" arms by the summer. Then, I won’t feel so bad about moving up to 260.
[/quote]
Arms are tough to grow for me, too. Still about 1/4" from 17", cold and flexed. Triceps grow much faster than biceps, which kinda sucks but is kinda cool at the same time. I’d consider my tri’s one of my best parts and my bi’s are definitely one of my worst. Just started a new strategy, going with one heavy day and one pump day per week for bi’s.
Like you, I’d feel more comfortable pushing up toward 250 if I was approaching 18" arms instead of 17".
I certainly wasn’t suggesting a full blown cut, but as you mentioned trying low carb except for breakfast and peri-workout, I threw out the notion of keeping track of what’s going on (you mentioned 6 months to tell if it’s working). Most people ‘eyeball’ their numbers, and then complain that they’re not getting results.
I agree with option #2, BUT I think you need to write things down. If done correctly, I think you’ll be able to tell if it’s working in as little as a few weeks (my personal story was just to show that simply by keeping tabs, I made progress without even trying to ‘diet’).
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
I certainly wasn’t suggesting a full blown cut, but as you mentioned trying low carb except for breakfast and peri-workout, I threw out the notion of keeping track of what’s going on (you mentioned 6 months to tell if it’s working). Most people ‘eyeball’ their numbers, and then complain that they’re not getting results.
I agree with option #2, BUT I think you need to write things down. If done correctly, I think you’ll be able to tell if it’s working in as little as a few weeks (my personal story was just to show that simply by keeping tabs, I made progress without even trying to ‘diet’).
S[/quote]
Gotcha. Yeah, I bought a food scale a few weeks ago in preparation for the next stage of getting my act together. Carbs will be easy enough for me to keep track of, and protein is also fairly easy, but I’m going to have to do some studying on the fat content of the foods I eat. Need to figure out what foods to adjust, if any, to get my fat content where it needs to be.
It doesn’t look like I’ll have much to change, really. Just leaving the carb sources out of most of my meals should put me right where I need to be, calorically. I’m getting about 50g of carbs for breakfast, 100g (maltodextrin) pre-workout, and 50g (maltodextrin) post-workout. For protein, I get 120g from shakes and I eat roughly 2.5lbs of meat per day. So I need to dial my fat content in to right around 100g per day.
When I said it would take me six months to see if it was working, I was talking about scale measurements vs. caliper measurements to see if I was still gaining muscle. How would I be able to tell in just a few weeks if I was succeeding? Just going by fat loss vs. strength gain/loss?
[quote]JayPierce wrote:
How would I be able to tell in just a few weeks if I was succeeding? Just going by fat loss vs. strength gain/loss?[/quote]
Strength levels, and your reflection in the mirror will usually tell you if you’re on the right track, no matter what scales and calipers may say.
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
[quote]JayPierce wrote:
How would I be able to tell in just a few weeks if I was succeeding? Just going by fat loss vs. strength gain/loss?[/quote]
Strength levels, and your reflection in the mirror will usually tell you if you’re on the right track, no matter what scales and calipers may say.
S[/quote]
Yeesh… I’m terrible when it comes to judging progress by the mirror. I think I’ll take monthly pics instead.
Thanks a million for your input, Stu. Knowing that you’ve been there and done it instills a ton of confidence in your advice, and your willingness to share is much appreciated.
Take bi weekly or monthly pics. You’ll probably be surprised how fast the changes will come just from lowering the carbs a bit. Weigh once a week, but wait at least two weeks after the start of your diet to see if you need to make any changes. I wouldnt worry too much about weighing your food yet. Eyeball your meat, get plenty of veggies in. Get some oatmeal and protein in for breakfast. Meat and veggies in for every other meal, and it will definitely make a difference. Drink plenty of water. Get your peri workout nutrition in. That should pretty much plan out your diet for the for the first month.
Like Stu said, take little steps at first. If you try to take a big jump it usually leads to failure.
[quote]JayPierce wrote:
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
I certainly wasn’t suggesting a full blown cut, but as you mentioned trying low carb except for breakfast and peri-workout, I threw out the notion of keeping track of what’s going on (you mentioned 6 months to tell if it’s working). Most people ‘eyeball’ their numbers, and then complain that they’re not getting results.
I agree with option #2, BUT I think you need to write things down. If done correctly, I think you’ll be able to tell if it’s working in as little as a few weeks (my personal story was just to show that simply by keeping tabs, I made progress without even trying to ‘diet’).
S[/quote]
Gotcha. Yeah, I bought a food scale a few weeks ago in preparation for the next stage of getting my act together. Carbs will be easy enough for me to keep track of, and protein is also fairly easy, but I’m going to have to do some studying on the fat content of the foods I eat. Need to figure out what foods to adjust, if any, to get my fat content where it needs to be.
It doesn’t look like I’ll have much to change, really. Just leaving the carb sources out of most of my meals should put me right where I need to be, calorically. I’m getting about 50g of carbs for breakfast, 100g (maltodextrin) pre-workout, and 50g (maltodextrin) post-workout. For protein, I get 120g from shakes and I eat roughly 2.5lbs of meat per day. So I need to dial my fat content in to right around 100g per day.
When I said it would take me six months to see if it was working, I was talking about scale measurements vs. caliper measurements to see if I was still gaining muscle. How would I be able to tell in just a few weeks if I was succeeding? Just going by fat loss vs. strength gain/loss?[/quote]
What food tracker do you use? I’ve been using Cron-o-meter ( CRON-O-Meter ) and it’s great, i need to get a food scale. Tracking my food has made a big impact for me so far, been doing it for around 3 weeks making sure i’m getting in enough calories and macros (macro’s are the big thing to track IMO)
[quote]K-Man32 wrote:
What food tracker do you use? I’ve been using Cron-o-meter ( CRON-O-Meter ) and it’s great, i need to get a food scale. Tracking my food has made a big impact for me so far, been doing it for around 3 weeks making sure i’m getting in enough calories and macros (macro’s are the big thing to track IMO)
[/quote]
Not really tracking, although they have a tracker, but this site rocks for nutrition information. You can even search for foods that match your macro breakdown, and it not only gives you regular food, but food from restaurants as well!
http://nutritiondata.self.com/