Hey everyone
I am in about the 8th week of my cuttin cycle right now which is a modified CKD. I have made progress, but I did not have much fat to begin with, but i am really striving to get down to about 5-6% bodyfat. Things have been moving along but getting very slow as of the last two weeks now that I am gettin quite lean. I am having a carb up every weekend now so that my leptin levels are good for my dieting during the week. AS some of you may know I am 15 years old. This question pertains to my age, At my age i should have no trouble with this last little bit of fat,because i have good insulin sensitivity and I am very active, and my diet is all most always clean. So it seems a bit odd to me that my body is holding on to this last bit of fat predominately in my obliques, lowers abs and lower back. I know these are typical spots becasue of the abundance of A2 receptors but I should still not be having this much trouble. I have heard about guys who come of a AS cycle using clomid or nolvadex to inhibit aromization, and a lot say this helps get rid of the annoying fat that does not go away. It was occuring to me today that maybe the reason my body is being so stubborn with holding on with this lower body fat is because at my age I have an abundance of testosterone that has a percentage of it being converted to estrogen. I know patience is key, I am in no hurry, but it is just seemin a little odd to me that I am not shedding this last little bit. Everything is is pretty shredded, my arms, my chest, even my quads. Would it be helpful for me to use something like “M” to help with the estrogen, assuming that is the culprit? This is just a theory I am having, so any insight would be helpful. If tweaking my training is what is necessary I am willing to do that as well.
Alex, I know this isn’t answering your question, but why do you need to be 5-6% bodyfat? Where is your bodyfat now? You said it wasn’t too high anyway, and 5-6% is REALLY low. I am no doctor or expert, but at your age, I would think it would be best to focus on slowly gaining mass and trying to minimize fat gains for health reasons if nothing else (I wonder if dieting too strictly at your age could inhibit your development in any way???).
SBET- My bodyfat % at this time is right around 9-10% I am guessing. I am 5’11 and 190 lbs, I came off a semi-bulking cycle this winter. My reasons for getting to that bodyfat percentage is mostly a personal feeling of accomplishing something that not everyone else has. It is partly superficial and more mentally pleasing then anything else. I have nice overall musculature, always have and now it is time for me to really bring it out! This goal may seem as a foolish childlike thing, but to me accomplishing this is important. As for dieting at my age and growth, you have to consider what a diet is. This is not diet, a diet is a regimen for any period of time. This is my way of life. Also I make sure that I do this properly. I am not losing much muscle and I make sure i get adequate protein and fat. A calorie is definitely not a calorie. Quality of food is way more important then how much. We not fuckin cars or steam engines. A simple fuel formula like calories in calories out can not be applied to something so complex as a human body. I have studied much about paleolithic eating in the last year or so. It makes more sense to me then anything else to thrive on the foods that our original hunter gatherer ancestors did for millenia before the advent of the agricultural revolution and the domestication of grains. I get more then enough calories, I even go past maintainance calories sometimes. What wrong could be said about eating quality organic meats, fish, green vegatables, and antioxidant rich fruits and nuts. We did it for two million years and look at the tribes studied by weston price from africa who were more then 7 feet tall for a large part of the population. I just dont see white brea and doritos and soda, the average fat ass kid food, as a necessity for proper growth. So you really cant use the word diet for what I am doing, because this is how I will eat even when I maintain my desired bodyfat, just adding in more fruits and veagatbels for their antioxidant purposes. Now i understand completely that this limited amount of carbs is not very efficient for huge anabolic gains,but then regarding paleolithic eating, I am not sure if their were any Ronnie Colemans roaming around the Savvana. When i want to make gains as i did this winter I will incoporate more carbs for their need in being in an anabolic state for muscle growth, but as I see now, as long as I am getting the QUALITY foods my body need, and quality fats necessary for proper hormone production and functioning I dont see where my growth would be inhibited, but the thought has crossed my mind many times, and if someone has some info for me, I would love to hear it. Just some thoughts. Sorry for running on so long.
Bigbear-Alex
And also, at your age, you’re still growing - so I would expect a certain amount of “baby fat”. I would say being at the level of bodyfat % that you are at is quite a accomplishment. I am also thinking that by maintaining a really low-fat caloric intake that you are doing your body a disservice -so it will store fat instead. Just some thoughts.
Bigbear you sound more intelligent than the average 15 year, and if you’re really 190 at 9% bf then your chronological age is probably not that good an indicator of your physical maturity, so I don’t see any problem with you wanting to get down to 6% BF. Although I don’t think you should go too low on calories to do this. Two suggestions. 1 - if estrogen is indeed the problem, you could try using M. I don’t think M is a supplement that would cause you any problems even if it doesn’t work for your intended purposes. 2 - you may want to post this in the “steriods and other drugs” sectioin if you want a good answer to your questions about clomid and nolvadex. Good luck!
Hey energy,
Thanks for the compliment. I am 15 years old in age, but I have never like actually been just my age. My body has alwyas matured faster then my mind, but now my mind is catching up with the body. There is nothing more rewarding to me then sitting down with a book or article and learning. I can’t get enough. Anyways, just to make it clear, my calories are not hypocaloric. I am eating at my maintainance calories at arond 2500 kcal. I include my 5x5 training and morning cardio plus like I said about eating quality protein, EFA’s and vegatables, so I creat a deficit for fat loss and my insulin and energy is stable. It is just a little disheartening to me that I am young and that I have to work this hard. I know everything worth achieving is going to need work, but things are getting slow. So i might consider the M, but I am really goin to just be patient. Thanks again
One thing you may want to keep in mind is that the lower your bodyfat the more frequent your carb ups may need to be keep leptin levels high. At least this is what I gather so far from the reading I’ve done on leptin.