I’ve been reading a lot (on this site and off) about flexible dieting lately, and–after checking out @robstein’s prep log–I’ve been thinking about the benefits of creating a deficit on specific days instead of spreading it evenly throughout the week. I’ve been dieting for a while now, slowly moving in this direction–most recently, hitting maybe 200 calories under maintenance on training days and six hundred under on non-training days–and I’ve found that I have better training sessions and better general motivation throughout the week.
I’m currenty sitting at maintenance for two weeks to reset, but after that I’m going to try staying at maintenance on training days and dropping down into about an 800 calorie deficit on my two non-lifting days. This would put me at about a half-pound of weight loss per week. Basically I’m looking at a less extreme version of the 5/2 diet. Which (finally) leads me to my question: has anyone else tried eating this way vs. a more traditional cut, and how has it gone for them?
@buttwink I hope all is well man, sorry I missed this! Your plan seems well thought out, give it a go for a few weeks and see how it works for you. It you’re going with maintenance 5 days a week, and a big drop on low days, I would guess you should see some slow and steady improvement. What is your training/cardio like on the 2 off days?
My current method on my prep isn’t traditional, but it’s working very well for me. Experimenting, trial/error on your body, is key for long term health and success with your physique. Make sure to keep us updated with your observations!
Thanks! So far I haven’t added any “real” cardio on the off days, just walking–I’m trying to save the HIIT for later on down the line after hitting more of a plateau. I’m digging things so far, I feel pretty awesome on training days and the low days only come around twice a week, so they’re quite manageable. Overall it doesn’t even really feel like I’m in a deficit, and I think considering my current state of training–recently switching to a strict hypertrophy focus–this slow, steady strategy is the best way for me to lean out while potentially even adding a little muscle to my weak points.
I saw your post about HIIT on the elliptical in your training log, and I’m planning on giving that a go on my low days starting in late February or March!
Very solid all the way around man! Ya never want to “fire all your bullets” at once, on a long cut it’s important to always have something left in your bag of tricks to implement. Sounds like you’ve really thought this all out, good work!
Nice! Interested to see how you like it. Everyone who has asked me about it, including my clients, are all hesitant at first, but love it once they get the groove.
