Getting to 8-9% BF, Best Nutrition Approach?

Nutrition
1

Here is my form atm with 92kg @ 182cm. I guess BF is 12-13%?

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My goal is getting 8-9% BF with losing as little muscle as possible. That’s primary and then fat loss. Last few weeks I’ve been on ~2700kcal with 200g+ protein and ~200g carbs when training and as little as possible carbs on days I’m not training (on those days carbs were comming mostly from vegetables, peanuts and other nuts).

Now I’m thinking on doing some kind of carb cycling by maintaining <50g carbs on non training days, ~100g carbs on training days and ~200g twice a week (some kind of carb “load”). Most of those carbs would come from “green” vegetables + ~50g dextrose on training days + potatoes on that “load” day. I told this today to my friend who has read alot of stuff and he said I’m crazy and I shouldn’t go below 200g carbs… that only those on steroids can handle so little amount of carbs.

Since I’ve never actually been on lower then 100g carbs except for several days, I have no experience and don’t know what’s the best approach to get so little (8-9%) body fat and keep as much muscle as possible.
Should I do carb cycling or just keep ~200g carbs on training days and <50g when not training? Should I stay on ~2700kcal when training and 2000-2200 when not?

Here is my picture from last summer on ~86kg, pumped. What was my BF then? ~11%?

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You photo from last summer looks leaner than 11% IMO. A lot leaner than 11%.

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The actual number of your body fat is irrelevant, all you need to know is that you want it “less”

Its really much more simple than you are making it… Just eat less than whatever you are eating now OR do more cardio and you will lose body fat. The approach really doesnt matter all that much (carb cycling, keto, high carb, high fat, etc…)

Are you currently losing body fat? If so just keep doing whatever you are doing and when you stall just drop a few more cals. If you arent losing body fat just drop a few hundred calories or add in a few cardio sessions (walks, runs, HIIT, rowing, treadmill, bike… doesnt matter, all good) and your fat loss will pick up again.

4

BTW, your photo from last Summer shows that you have already done this, So I’m not sure where all the doubt and uncertainty is coming from.

Just do exactly what you did last Summer, and voila… You will be that lean again.

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[quote]Antares1 wrote:

Since I’ve never actually been on lower then 100g carbs except for several days, I have no experience and don’t know what’s the best approach to get so little (8-9%) body fat and keep as much muscle as possible.
Should I do carb cycling or just keep ~200g carbs on training days and <50g when not training? Should I stay on ~2700kcal when training and 2000-2200 when not?
[/quote]

There really is no answer to this - you can ask ten experienced guys who have done it successfully and get ten different answers.

Whatever method you choose, whether or not you get to 8-9% depends more on how willing you are to stick through it for as long as it takes. That’s why I suggest people just pick the approach that seems to be the easiest to execute.

I’ve tried cycling in some very low-carb days and it didn’t seem to do much except mess with my head. I’m back to high carb, all the time (no rest days). As long as calories are at the right level, it has worked and has been easy.

6

Based on your second pic you easily look leaner than 11%. Maybe like 9-10. I would not drop the carbs on training days, and I wouldn’t count carbs from veggies, (IMO). If you want to carb cycle, try going high on your hardest days, mid level carbs on your mid days, and low on an easy day. I dont know your training schedule so I couldn’t give you good numbers, but you can figure it out.

Dropping carbs is a good way to lose gains. Also to realistically sit 8-9 or less for an extended period of time is hard to do, and you can’t really expect to get a lot stronger or bigger trying to sit that low (I understand that isn’t a concern for you). You look good for sure man, keep it up

7

I am not competing, so I don’t measure BF religiously, but I started a new calorie cycling program last month and it is working to reduce BF at a reasonable pace (e.g., navel is smaller, visible progress in the mirror, clothes fit better, lift #s are not dropping, etc.).

I simply do the following:

I eat 200-300 k/cal above maintenance on workout days, and 400-500 k/cal below maintenance on non-workout days (I use “-” because I am not anal about hitting an exact whole number every day).

Protein intake is at 1.5 grams per LB/LBM (workout days) and 1 gram per LB/LBM (non-workout days), with carbs at 1 g/LB LBM on workout days and 0.25 grams per LB/LBM on non-workout days. The remaining calories come from fats.

I have been doing more fasted, morning walking and/or short sprinting a few days per week when I can. I don’t respond well to high carb intakes, even at a 300-500 cal deficit, hence my focusing on lowering carbs as opposed to fat intake - your mileage may vary. You were pretty lean last summer, so obviously something worked then to build and maintain that level of leanness.

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I don’t think I was below 10% last summer… blood vessels on my legs weren’t much visible and there was still some fat on lower part of my back. Anyway… I wan’t to get ripped more then last summer.

If it really doesn’t matter if my calories come from fat or carbs, I will keep doing this carb cycling for next 2-3 weeks and see how I feel and then decide should I still keep doing it or just move back to ~200 carbs when training.

9

swap the dextrose for cyclic dextrin/karbolyn or waxy maize, otherwise your plan looks fine and by the look of you pics you seem to know how to get in shape

10

I am going back to ~200g carbs on training days and as little as possible (<70g) on non-training. Althought I did lose some more fat and 1kg in last few days, I just don’t feel well when training. I kinda miss motivation, having long stares in some direction… overall not concentrated enough and feel tired. I guess that’s because too low carbs… or maybe too low calories hmm.

11

You look great in that last pic. Any leaner than that and I think you will find it hard to maintain.
If I was you I would maybe try a slow bulk for a few months and then try get down to a similar % you were in the last pic, although it sounds like you want to lean down for the summer?

May I ask what program you are on and what a typical day’s diet consists of?

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Thnx!

I think I got that form(bf) from last picture…

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So same bf but 4kg+ (althought I can’t really tell that difference is that obvius… I mean 4kg of muscle should look much bigger then where I am atm)! But I can’t see my back in the mirror :). Back is my most advanced muscle group.
Yeah I won’t be bulking for the next 5 months probobly because summer and gymnastic exercises which are easier with less bodyweight.

I will be on this deficit diet for the next several weeks and then decide will I just maintain my form or do some more deficit.
I think as long as I don’t start to junk often I will easily maintain my form since I’m training ~5 times a week.

I actually don’t have program. I’m training by “feeling”… I am training 4 years already and I feel most motivated when I’m doing what I want and not what programs says me to do. I do alot of BP (althought I had 2 injuries which slowed me down alot because I couldn’t do bench for months), alot of pullups and other stuff on the bar (atm training alot of 1 arm pullups and front/back lever exercises…), push press, squats, (was doing alot of deadlifts but stoped).

So I’m mostly doing some “compund” exercies, shoulder exercises and usually at the end of the training I make 1 or 2 exercises for 2 muscle groups which I mix every 2-3 days. Those groups are (biceps, triceps, hams, calves and abs).

I will probobly concentrate my training on more “gymnastics”/street workout exercises in the future because my main goal is planche which I will start to train when I will be able to hold front and back lever for 10+ sec.

Atm my diet looks like this (Trying to be at ~250g P, ~200g carbs, ~100g Fat):

Training day: Whey + ~60g frozen berries (If I eat eggs that day then I put yolks in the blender also), green vegies + (potato maybe) + chicken or egg whites, preworkout whey+5g leucine+~10g dextrose, PWM whey 2x+5g leucine+vitamin c ~500mg+dextrose 40g, 1h after I eat potato ~100g + chicken, 3h later I eat chicken + vegies but alot smaller meal, before sleep whey+1/2 casine (I’m lactose intolerant and cant handle alot of casine).
I also take fish/krill oils but I will keep only krill oil when I finish this last bottle of fish oil. I’m taking atleast 3 table spoons of olive oil per day. I take creatine for 5-6 weeks when I feel like taking it with 5 days x 25g loading…

Non-training day: Similiar but berries and green vegies are my only carbs… and some nuts…

So I’m usually taking ~125g whey per day, 100g chicken (sometimes sardine (which I don’t like but I force myself…) or pork loin). I wish I would eat some other meat but I only like chicken and pork loin :(.

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[quote]Antares1 wrote:

My goal is getting 8-9% BF with losing as little muscle as possible. That’s primary and then fat loss. [/quote]

Unfortunately you are asking this the end of April, the answer to your question is not what you want to hear.

Slow and steady wins the race. Getting down to 8-9% BF is easy; the not so easy part is not losing a ton of muscle in the process. I find that I need to start in January or February and start dropping .5/lbs. a week. This is not easy to do when you are in the dieting mode. After doing this wrong for years and years, I found that the slower you lose the less muscle you lose.

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[quote]burndaddy0 wrote:

[quote]Antares1 wrote:

My goal is getting 8-9% BF with losing as little muscle as possible. That’s primary and then fat loss. [/quote]

Unfortunately you are asking this the end of April, the answer to your question is not what you want to hear.

Slow and steady wins the race. Getting down to 8-9% BF is easy; the not so easy part is not losing a ton of muscle in the process. I find that I need to start in January or February and start dropping .5/lbs. a week. This is not easy to do when you are in the dieting mode. After doing this wrong for years and years, I found that the slower you lose the less muscle you lose.
[/quote]

That’s a given, but the obvious is not always so obvious :smiley: