I have to go for 2 holidays - one by the beach for a week where I can eat whatever but no access to gym, the second on a mountain trek with minimal food/ no gym for 2 wks:
Holiday 1 - should I still try to eat my standard 4kcala for bulking or should I drop it down?
Holiday 2: Wanted to use as a cutting opportunity - any tips to minamise loss of gains?
Holiday+ abundance of food= anabolism my friend. Do some bodyweight circuits if you intend to take full advantage of the buffet (highly reccomended).
Enjoy.
Responsibly
[quote]Mantra46 wrote:
I have to go for 2 holidays - one by the beach for a week where I can eat whatever but no access to gym, the second on a mountain trek with minimal food/ no gym for 2 wks:
Holiday 1 - should I still try to eat my standard 4kcala for bulking or should I drop it down?
Holiday 2: Wanted to use as a cutting opportunity - any tips to minamise loss of gains?[/quote]
Sounds like a blast! Without having any prior info about your nutrition/training, just some thoughts:
Holiday 1 - 4k a day for a week without workouts will probably add a few pounds. If you’ve been training like an animal leading up to it, it may help some recovery, but even still a week straight of 4k days with no workouts will probably stop having any benefits after 2 or 3 days. If it was me, and I was in a active gaining phase, I’d go down to slightly above maintenance and do some bodyweight work a few times a day if possible, and pick one or two of those days to be a “low day,” (lots of protein and fats, very minimal carbs).
I’d also be sure to enjoy my eating and food, just not go overboard. But, I would want to do that to preserve the muscle I’ve gained and minimize excess fat accumulation. “Bulking” without working out is just “fatting” (adding fat.) But, this mainly depends on your personal preference. If you’re ok with adding some body fat on vacation, go nuts. But just make sure you don’t convince yourself that eating 4k a day with minimal activity is going add any more muscle than eating maintenance or slightly above maintenance.
Holiday 2 - If you want to make this a “cutting” opportunity, going 4k a day with no workouts during holiday 1 seems counterproductive. Why add on extra fat if you’re gonna try to lose it shortly after? Maybe try looking at holiday 1 as a prep for holiday 2. Go to slightly above maintenance calories during holiday 1, do some bodyweight work a couple times a day to keep your metabolism humming along, then when holiday 2 comes around, take advantage of it and try to cut.
To minimize loss of muscle gains, try to bring some servings of MAG-10 in a bag with a shaker cup and pulse throughout the day. Also, making food before hand would be helpful and packing it. Maybe baked oatmeal with lots of protein powder in it, some Metabolic Drive bars, etc. You’ll be active all day so hiking, so you’ll be burning calories all day. You’ll want some carbs for fuel, so don’t be carb-phobic during your “cut” week, then lots of protein to preserve muscle, and good fats for fuel (raw nuts are a great, easy, portable choice.)
Good luck and have fun!
It’s only 2 weeks over the course of a long lifting career, don’t think too much and enjoy your vacation.
This all assuming you don’t compete in anything
I personally would do a little bodyweight work, eat when hungry, get enough protein and not worry about it. Just bust your ass in the weeks leading up to the vacation so your body needs the extra recovery time.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
It’s only 2 weeks over the course of a long lifting career, don’t think too much and enjoy your vacation.
This all assuming you don’t compete in anything[/quote]
exactly, just how much damage do you think 2 weeks is realistically going to do?
Just chill out and enjoy your holiday
My favorite recent reply on the topic of vacations, from Wendler:
"… just train and then take the vacation. When you get back, start training again.
IN GENERAL:
If one trains hard in the weight room, uses AirDyne every day, jumps 3-4 days/week, runs hills/Prowler 3 days week - these “life” vacations are deloads that won’t matter. You come back home and you can immediately jump back on the horse.
The problem is that people rarely take advantage of the time they have at home. Anything less than 100% compliance with ATTENDANCE and EFFORT is not conducive to reaching your goals.
It takes NO TALENT and your GENETICS don’t matter in regard to attendance and effort. Just like it takes NO TALENT/GENETICS to be in-shape and to make yourself stronger than you were before.
So the problem is never about the deload or the vacation.
When I’m on vacation, I’M ON VACATION. I’ve made the “gotta find a place to train” mistake way to many times."
Come to Taiwan.
Me and Nards are going to Texas Road House.
But in all seriousness, enjoy your holiday, keep active, and eat good food. If near by take advantage of any gym, but dont stress too much.
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