Well the bulk continues to move along nicely! I’ve never done a gaining phase as calculated as a cut with weighing food and everything, so this is a new experience and I’m very happy with the progress.
Yesterday’s check in weight was 163.0, compared to the previous week of 162.9. Since I didn’t really gain anything we bumped up macros again.
So since I started the reverse diet 4 weeks ago, I’m up 5 pounds. I feel confident a decent portion of that is muscle, there was an initial burst from 158-162 within the first week, obviously most of that was water and glycogen, since then it’s slightly fluctuated but right now as objectively as I can say I’m looking just as tight as I was when I started the reverse diet, still have veins in my abs and quads and strength continues to go up. I think the thing that’s really helping is keeping the macro ratios dialed in. New macros are:
350c, 240p, 70f
Before I started my cut I was at 176, and I was gaining weight for a little while but I was eating a LOT more fats, definitely too many, and I was also snacking a lot. Healthy stuff but still snacking on lots of cashews and cheese and other healthy but fat focused foods. Keeping fats minimal and focusing on protein and carbs has been very helpful for me.
My protein intake is higher than some folks might recommend, but I also do have a slower metabolism, and genetically very poor insulin resistance. So if I were to keep calories the same but lower protein and raise carbs more, I don’t think that would be good for my health. Here’s my new food plan:
I did make the call to remove intra workout carbs, I just don’t need them now. I have more than enough glycogen in my system, my workouts last about an hour and I’d rather allot those carbs to food than a workout drink.
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Quick shot between sets, good pump going today, chest and delts.
Today’s weight was 164.3, 5 weeks since starting the reverse diet, up 6.3 pounds. This is for sure the slowest and steadiest gaining phase I’ve ever had after a hard cut, taking more discipline but it’s absolutely worth it. Hunger is finally starting to subside a little bit, it’s still there all the time, but starting to be more manageable.
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Training log from today’s workout, I keep track in a Google sheet now and just plug in each set on my phone. This is a 8 day rotation hitting each muscle group twice. Round 1 is blank because technically I started this training plan on the second workout, based on my training cycle of coming off of my prep into this new plan, strength is continuing to go up.
“LA” and “LT” stand for “LA Fitness” and “Life Time”, I have two gym memberships so depending on the day, my logistics, my schedule, and what exercises are needed I alternate. I keep track of where I’m at because sometimes I might need to use a different machine so it helps me keep track of the weights on that specific machine.
I definitely want to grow everywhere, but we do have a hard focus on bringing up my arms, so I was instructed that arms are the only muscle group I go to complete failure on on the last set of every exercise. All other exercises I leave a couple reps in the tank, but get close to failure.
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Jeez, dude. You’re still looking great!
Your efforts are paying off for sure.
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Just finished arms, they feel like they’re about to pop!
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Been super busy but reverse diet gaining phase still going strong. Weight today was 169, in the past 8 weeks of reverse diet gained 12 lbs.
Current macros are up to 400c, 235p, 74f
Also started a new training plan, still focused on bringing up arms, there’s a lot more heavy work in this one. Snap shot of today’s workout.
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Holy Reverse Diet Batman!
That is freakin wild!
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Thank you, brother, I think it also really helps that I started super lean, seems like the best time to do it for a variety of reasons!
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Oh yeah, totally. As your muscle regains volume it just pops like mad!
I don’t know the physiology behind it, but you seem to be regaining volume in muscle way ahead of any fat storage.
They must have been hungry!
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Yeah, I’m real happy with the results and the apparent ratio of muscle to fat. For sure I’ve gained some fat which is necessary and I’m finally feeling a lot better mentally, sleep is still a little rough but it’s improving. We’ll see how long we can keep this going!
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