I’m 6 months post surgery for shoulder slap tear and bicep tenodesis. Although I was on TRT at 200mg per week, I’ve had some reasonable muscle wastage and obvious strength loss.
I’ve been lifting light weights for around 8 weeks and feel confident to start lifting heavy again which is great for me as I have a high pressure job and it’s a good mental release.
3 weeks ago I increased test from 200 to 400 per week and last week I introduced Anavar for the first time at 40mg every day. My weight has gone from 92kg to 98kg in less than 3 weeks . My calories have been around 2,500 to 3,000 per day with a macro split of roughly 40/30/30. I don’t track calories precisely as I’ve got a reasonable gauge having been on a deficit for 3 years going from 130kg to 84kg where I had a lot of loose skin. Worth noting that at 140kg I was bench pressing 180kg for reps, deadlifting and squatting over 250kg.
90kg feels about the right weight for me which fills out the loose skin quite well but I want to be around 12% body fat (that’s the dream). I’m 35 and don’t plan on entering into any bodybuilding comps.
I find it impossible to work out what my calorie intake should be each day to recomp or even to cut. I seen a nutritionist that said my maintenance is 3,200 based on light weights 4 times per week (45 mins per workout mainly using machines at the moment) and daily average step count of 8,000. I work behind a desk all day. At 3,200 cals weight increases on me so quickly.
Online calculators tell me my BMR is 1998 cals and therefore maintenance is around 2,500. 2,500 feels quite light for the cycle I’m running but I want to maintain or rebuild muscle while burning fat. I understand I need to trust the process but the rapid weight gain obviously has me panicking a bit.
I intend to lift Anavar to 60mg ED from next week for 6 weeks. I take Adex as needed.
What do you guys recommend for calorie intake conscious of my recomp target and my activity levels?
This is an easy one. First find your BMR, using a formula
Or having it checked (more accurate). Places that do the water test for BF % will usually have the machine to do this. Then, use a tracker or calculate your NEAT, for me that’s usually about 300-400 calories daily with a mostly-desk job. Then do the same for exercise, either using a tracker or a MET calculator online. Be honest about your level of exertion. Then, add them all up. That’s your TDEE, total calories expended during the day. Now eat less than that
Wow you were quite heavy for being on the short side, 140kg? I’m same height and roughly same activity level. I target 2200cals for a moderate cut and 2500-2700 for maintenance at roughly 190-195 lbs. I would target 2700 or so with you activity level and being on gear. I think you should have waited to jump on but that ship has sailed. Might as well make good use of it.
Blood work (trough TT, fT, SHBG)?
I see 140 kg weight and 67" height above? What’s your waist circumference?
You are asking for too much at one time.
You are trying to hit the gas and brake at same time. Very Hard to do and messes with your head. Ever thought about removing the bodyfat (try to minimize the muscle loss) then build the muscle to where you want your FFMI to be.
I’m curious what your blood results are on 200 mg/week (did you break that up into multiple shots per week)?
Here’s more info on a simple way to track your progress (hard to cheat) and better than BMI:
I will look into this. Will measure mine in the morning because now it looks like i am considered fat as shit(if i breathe out and let my guts fall all over the place).
I should clarify that IMO this is achievable but not easy. I cut since January and my waist is still .5” greater than half my height. It’s kind of a “target” thing but certainly not a gold standard.
Yea, mine is also exactly 5" more than half my height but i had breakfast and i did drink about 1 liter of liquid while at the gym… i will measure mine again in the morning, will see how it seems then…i guess its the best time to measure, right?
Its a cool way to look at it… just like - to keep in check or whatnot…
Wow, you guys are fat as hell! J/K but it’s a good quick check besides whether you can still fit in your pants.
Check in morning and don’t suck it in. Of course if you are really fat sucking it in ain’t going to help anyway.
Everyone asks what’s my BF like you can’t tell just by standing in the mirror…just measure your waist and know your height unless you are one of those genetic freaks who hide their bodyfat uniformly all over. For me, to get 10% BF (even the slightest vein on lower ab on my waist I have no BF on my chest and arms.
On a related note, here’s a great primer on venous access for cardiovascular procedures. Good info in there you should become familiar with before AAS hobby and you learn the correct name for some of your veins…
Are you sure that you are measuring waist? Because 107 sounds a bit much to me. Im pretty fat right now like 17% BF I think and I’m at half pretty much. 180 cm and 90 cm at navel. True Waist is even slimmer.
At @blshaw s height I get it, because in my opinion it is not a completely linear relationship. The waist does not get linearly thinner when the overall height is lower.
Tried to verify but couldn’t. Does someone know if height and waist sizes on average are proportional?
Though I couldn’t find what I was looking for, I stumbled upon this gem out of a paper:
Height was overestimated in both sexes while weight, waist, hip, and consequently, BMI and WHR were underestimated. Being male, shorter, heavier, older, and having no educational qualifications and manual occupation were independently associated with overreporting of height, and underreporting of weight was associated independently with being female, shorter, heavier, younger age, and higher education level and social class.
Males overstate their height while females underreport their weight. Mother biology at work again. Females on average like height and men on average like in shape females, one of the never changing facts about intersexual relations
. My calories have been around 2,500 to 3,000 per day with a macro split of roughly 40/30/30. I don’t track calories precisely as I’ve got a reasonable gauge having been on a deficit for 3 years going from 130kg to 84kg where I had a lot of loose skin. Worth noting that at 140kg I was bench pressing 180kg for reps, deadlifting and squatting over 250kg.
