Hey Guys,
I am at the end of a long cutting Journey and fatigue did accumulated in the past. I feel worse.
My Idea would be to maintain muscle Mass for a while to handle this fatigue (1 month) and then Switch to Bulk.
Would be a full Body twice a Week be OK? Just do 5 exercises and only 1 hardset. In this month i would do carb Cycling…
Thanks
Why “bulk”? I mean, you know you are susceptible to chronic fatigue and that losing fat (or the things you need to do to lose fat) make things worse.
Why would you put yourself in a position to have to eventually go through a fat loss phase again, which would likely have the same effect?
Maybe you just mean going into a muscle gain phase but used the term “bulk” instead.
Let’s be clear on what “bulking” is. Bulking refers to using an aggressive caloric surplus (as in a large to very large surplus) so that you have a rapid and significant weight gain, in hope to build more muscle. But in doing so, you also gain a significant amount of fat.
You can still be in a muscle-building phase without “bulking”. You can use a more moderate surplus (250-500kcals/day surplus). If protein intake is sufficient that is enough to get muscle growth at a near maximal level. It doesn’t seem as effective as “bulking” because with bulking you do gain more overall size… but a lot of it is water and fat (but most people convince themselves that it’s all muscle).
If that’s what you mean by “bulking” and you indeed plan to consume a large to very large surplus, then I would recommend against that. At least in your situation.
Sorry. I used the wrong word. I use a very small + (200-300) and do minicuts every 3 months. That put me in a position to make shorter cuts and to prevent hormonal Breakdown. Long fatloss phases do kill me and i did this Cut For 16 weeks now…
I dont want to do IT again. So I am absolutely in Line with you 
For short Period of time (1 week-10 days) i can handle every stressor (Like a Protein modified fast, for minicut.
That means -2% bodyfat). Thats my experience. Of course Low Volume , high intensity full Body and not too much cardio.
I will move in this direction.
I know my calories. With a very small surplus ~2700. But im afraid to go higher at the beginning, because my Body will respond best.
500 vs. 200. But actually it will shorten my minicut frequency to under 12 weeks. I dont know really…
Abs are visible. Caliper is below 10, but i allready learned to be sceptical. Its definitly 10-12. Not 8%. But i have No (mental) Energy to Cut longer.
That’s for your transition month? Yeah, that’s fine.
Start at 200. Here’s why. You’ve been on a pretty significant caloric restriction for a pretty long time. And evidenced by the fact that you are feeling like crap and can’t keep going, you likely had metabolic adaptations.
Metabolic adaptations are a survival mechanism. When you are reducing food intake by a lot and for a pretty long period of time, your body adjust by reducing how much energy it uses every day (to try to conserve energy).
The main way your body does that is by “slowing down” your metabolic rate. For example, chronic cortisol elevation (which will happen when you are in a caloric/food restriction state) inhibits the conversion of the T4 thyroid hormone into the T3 thyroid hormone. T3 is the active form, the one that plays a big role in increasing metabolic rate. Less T3 = less energy expenditure.
You’ll also notice that you are colder: your body also reduces metabolic rate by reducing heat production.
This means that you will be starting your new phase with a slower metabolic rate than it was before your diet.
You mention that 2700kcals is a small surplus for you (normally). So we will assume that your maintenance level normally is at around 2500kcals/day.
But now, at the end of your diet, your maintenance level is probably closer to 2200kcals. Maybe less (depending on how severe the food reduction was).
So 2700 would be something like a 500kcals surplus rather than the 200kcal you believe.
It would be better to spend the month at around 2200-2300 then bump it up to 2700 in a month when you start focusing on muscle growth.
If you start right away with. 500kcals/day surplus, it might actually not be a 700-900 surplus, which could lead to too much fat gain.
One month of maintenance (the post-diet maintenance level) will allow you to bring your metabolic rate to normal levels and start your muscle growth phase from there.
This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.