simple carb cycling. Carbs on lift days to fuel hard training sessions and PWO to keep cortisol and AMPK down to maximize MPS.
On the off days do some cardio, fast for 14-16 hours, light stretching, eat your protein and veggies.
The âpost workout anabolic windowâ is mostly bullshit, but fasting for 6 hours after working out is a super, super inefficient way to gain muscle. Plus, I donât see the point of the nuts youâre eating, and thereâs no reason for 4 slices of bread. This usually comes down to a poor workout plan with no intensity, and/or a bad diet.
25/10/2019-83.7kgs
28/10/2019-84.2kgs
30/10/2019-83.5kgs(20 min cardio-walking)
01/11/2019-83.6kgs(20 min cardio-walking)
03/11/2019-83.5kgs(20 min cardio-walking)
05/11/2019-83.5kgs(20 min cardio-walking)
07/11/2019-83.7kgs
09/11/2019-83.5kgs(20 min cardio-walking)
11/11/2019-84.3kgs(consumed maintanence calories the day before)
13/11/2019-84.4kgs(20 min cardio-walking)
This is after starting 20min cardio
Any more changes to make ? Like dropping more calories or increasing cardio ?
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I think the trend looks good so far. Are you doing maintenance calories for all of it?
Your goal of gaining muscle without getting fat is going to slow down your overall weight gain, so Iâd give it till December or Jan 25th and see how it looks. But youâre not going to put on any mass if youâre barely eating at maintenance and doing cardio on top of that
200 calories less than maintanence is what i am having everyday
I guess inaccurate calculation could be an issue
So if my theoretical maintenance is calculated wrong , how do i find my actual maintenance , is there any accurate method of calculating it ?
Well if youâre gaining weight on your current calorie intake, then assuming you are tracking calories accurately, then you have a number that counts as a surplus. Remove some calories and track for another week, if youâre still gaining weight then you are still in a surplus. If you maintain your weight, youâve found your maintenance calorie intake.
There is no way to accurately calculate your âmaintenanceâ calories on any calculator, not least because it isnt a fixed number. It will move depending on a hundred different variables, and will decrease as you lose weight invariably, all other things being equal.
You have to take a reactive and dynamic approach, you cant just say âwell I guess Im a 2500 guyâ.
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Even if you weigh your foods to the gram itâs still an estimate. It looks like, depending on your specific gut bacterial make up, that the amount of energy a person gets from food can vary +/- 6-10%, so you eat what is 2,000 calories on the box, and different people will actually âtakeâ say 1800 - 2,200
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Okay point noted , so i think i ll stick to 2400 cals till the end of december or start of jan to see whatever i can build because i decided on doing SL5x5 till then
After that i ll start lowering my calories from 2400 and check my progress as i will start cutting then and hopefully should drop weight but not strength
Again let me remind you:
So why are you going at a deficit on top of cardio?
It seems to me that your sudden weight gain after maintenance calorie was probably your glycogen stores being replenished after two days of feeding yourself right
Even if youâre fat or skinny fat, I donât recommend cutting as a beginner because you donât have the prerequisite knowledge of how to maintain or gain muscle. So odds are you may end up getting even smaller
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So do you suggest i stop the cardio now and eat around 2600 calories till i finish 14-16 weeks on SL 5x5 ? Or do i just edit out the cardio and still stay at 2400 calories?
Figure out your maintenance first. Itâs a case by case. Why are you so set on either cardio or keeping calories low?
The 20 minute walks wonât make a big difference overall, but monitor your weight.
If you weight yourself daily for a week, and again next week - see the difference in weight.
1lb is generally 3500 calories. If you gain 1lb, you had a weekly surplus of 3500. If you lose 1lb, you had a weekly deficit of 3500. Calculate this accordingly to what happens and what not
Okay , i am so set on cardio and keeping calories low is because i am in two minds about SL5x5
I really like the program , my strength is increasing, and its pretty simple to do the workout as well
My only and only issue is my sides (the love handles) , they are overflowing with fat 
and it makes me feel ugly
I want to lose them while staying on SL5x5 and gaining strength
You should prolly post a pic so we can get idea of how bad this issue is.
Odds are, youâre probably in your head, especially if you just started lifting and youâre only 84kg
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Thats my current state
If you watch my training log , the side fat wants to escape out of the gap between my tracks and my lifting belt
Yeah, its def in your head. You wonât even notice them once you build some lats and chest
As far as the gap in the belt, I think we all have that to some extent. Thatâs either belt design or belt placement
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Okay cool
So now i ll remove the cardio and up my calories to 2500 ?
Keep the cardio unless itâs interfering with your gains. Eat more than youâre already eating, and then try cutting weight later (Try moving up to 2800 calories).
Okay sure