Im from Germany and i read many hours and collected the Most impressive articles from you.
I implent 95%, do whole&gap and Variation after 6 weeks, after deload (Just cardio a little bit).
I also integrated your nutrition, on Training days 2720 and less Carbs and Off days 3000 hclf to load. Im 177 pounds.
So everything is in line, i cannot find anything via Google about minicuts? I Just woundered because Mike israetel says its better in a Bulk, to Not become fat.
Or to get more muscle:fat Ratio in the Long Run?
So Chris, it is the First time i ask for Help. I much appreciate your Work, because you saved me!!! You are the Most impressive Guy in the Internet regarda Bodybuilding .
And i Take your opinion more then Mike israetel.
Wish you all the best & May god be with you and your Family
FYI, Mike says itās better suited in a bulk for a couple reasons, one of which is to help ālengthen the runwayā of bulking (because minicuts do reduce some fat gain), as you mentioned.
More importantly though, I believe Mike mentions that these minicuts allow for a significant ārebound gainsā.
From Renaissance Diet 2.0:
Not taking away from CT in any capacity, just explaining Dr. Israetelās method for scope.
Not in my understanding of it. Itās supposed to have a rebound effect on glycogen stores and training/nutrient responsiveness, with a LOT more sciencey stuff than I what understand. He has a long video on it here (there are shorter ones, but since you are asking detailed questions - I figured more details would be helpful).
The main purpose of mini-cuts is NOT to get lean, moreso to potentiate muscle growth and extending the length of a bulk without getting too fluffy. Something to do with nutrient sensitivity, GH rebound and other factors. Longer and slower, cuts are more effective if the goal is actual fat loss; the minicut isnāt designed to lean you out.
This is a LONG bulk IMO. If you arenāt invested in strength sports/competitions, I donāt know if I would keep pushing a bulk for 6 months while at 18%BF.
NOTE: most guys underestimate their BF% by a good 5+%; this may or may not be the case for you.
Calipers arenāt super definitive (the measurements can change depending how they are taken) and neither is the neck/waist ratio. I had a guy in my unit with a 40-inch waist and 19-inch neck, he made tape every time despite being very fat.
Not calling you fat, just letting you know that whatever BF% you think you are, you probably arenāt. Do what you will with that information.
You can do whatever you want man, BUT a minicut truly isnāt designed at keeping you lean - itās meant to slow down the fat-gain and re-sensitize yourself to training and nutrition. If you want to do a minicut at 3 months, go for it - just know you arenāt going to get lean by doing this.
Define āhealthy/OKā lol. I wouldnāt dream of going on a bulk while north of 15%BF, but thatās mostly a vanity thing. 23% wonāt kill you, itās just more fat to try and lose when it comes time to cutā¦ Training while cutting is pretty unfun, so you might want to pay attention to how long you want to make yourself suffer via cutting post-bulk.
It allows you to stay in a surplus state for longer without adding as much fat. For example doing 12 weeks in a surplus, followed by a 4-5 weeks mini-cut then an 8 weeks in a surplus would be more effective body composition-wise than doing 20 weeks in a surplus then trying to cut.
Trust me, from experience, it is MUCH easier and healthier to only be a deficit for a short period than having to diet down for 12-16 weeks in a row. In a sense, these mini-cuts allows you to avoid excessive fat gain and reduce the need to diet down for a long period of time.
Mike mentions a rebound effect. What is most likely happening are:
a) you are regaining muscle glycogen and water than you lost from constantly being in a deficit. This can easily account for an increase of 3-4lbs and will make you feel a lot bigger and fuller. But itās not muscle. HOWEVER, in the short term, the added glycogen and water can give you better internal leverage and fuel to train harder, and use more weight. Which could lead to more gains.
b) If you diet down, you might cause metablic adaptations. Basically your metabolic rate and caloric expenditure decreases a bit and thus it is easier to have a āsurplusā effect which can leand to higher levels of mTOR, IGF-1 and insulin, which are all anabolic. That was the whole premise behind the old ABCDE diet by Thorborn Akerfeld which alternated 2 weeks in a big deficit and 2 weeks in a big surplus.
c) The mini-cut can increase insulin sensitivity, which can positively affect nutrients partitioning (basically sending more nutrients in the muscle, less in fat cells).
I will mention that most of the rebound effects will last probably one week, maaayyyyyvbe two. So the net muscle gain from that will not be huge, but it might not be insignificant.
12 weeks bulk, then 2 weeks deload (doing nothing)
After the deload ,4 weeks minicut with a bit of HITT and LISS and hard training?
Then start again with bulk training after a week of lighter training?
Thanks with your free available Material, i have everything what i Need to know for growth. I hope i can lengthen the Bulk a little bit. But 6 months seems to be unrealistic.
I guess my gains are very good now (whole Body Split) + gap. I do thinks that helps me to squat more and Safer. I thought wow Yesterday, because i had more Reps then i thought.
And i Love to be strong also.
Edit
I will go up until 20% , than minicut. Is it OK? Or should i shed fat longer?!
I donāt have a set schedule. PERSONALLY I have a level of āfatnessā that I do not want to exceed. When I reach it, I do a mini-cut for a few weeks. Can be anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks.
Yeah, but muscles covered by a layer of fat donāt look very good.
You remind me of when I was a kid playing (American) football. I was 185lbs (84kg) and felt like I needed to be 97-100kg to be good. I spent 6 months bulking like crazy and did get up to a sloppy 100kg. But in my mind I looked strong and muscularā¦ until I saw a shirtless pic and realised that I just looked fat with some muscle.
Plus, I got super slow on the field.
To look āgoodā and muscular youāll likely need to be around a TRUE 10%.
NOTE: most people GROSSLY underestimate how much fat they haveā¦ normally they just estimate how fat they are and from experience, most people are a good 5% fatter than they think they are. So if you think that you are 15% you likely already are at 20%.
Even body fat calipers are off by at least 3% most of the time.
Now, you hate to cut? Well, the more fat you allow yourself to gain, the longer youāll have to spend cutting. Most people will need 14-20 weeks to go from 20 down to 10%. It can be done faster if you are more aggressive but it increases the chances of losing muscle and also feeling like crap and rebounding.
Purely out of interest and if youāre willing to share, what are the visual cues that give you the impression that itās time to cut for you and/or body comp clients?
Iām also asking because well yeah, it can be a tool for a coach to decide when it is time for a client to stop gaining muscle and focus on body recomp or minicut.
Especially because fat distribution is different based on the individual. I mean, if I can no longer see my abs (not shredded look, vague expression of abdominals is still OK imo) or bicep vein, obviously I would stop gaining and start cutting.
Iām talking about less obvious cases, for example people who have a more evenly spread out distribution.
So in other words minicuts make sense When bf is not to high Like my estimated %
Here is the Thing: i learn to integrate your teachings which takes time e.g. Variation (Like slow exzentric /rpt ) after Serval weeks etc.
Sure i could do it in a Cut?! But i am afraid When ppl Look at me and say you have to eat Something, you are too Thin David.
Its authem / Winter. Thats good. Okay Chris:
I will Check my calorie expenditure, that takes 2-3 weeks. And then i think about a Clever cutting strategy (Not so aggressive) for 12 weeks. After that WE will See, 20 are ok, If its healthy and i do feel fine. Why Not. With 38yo old you learn to be Patient.
But tomorrow i will Check my Body as good as i can. Navy / caliper/ Take Photos, Body Inches. Etc. I know i will underestimate, but i Need an orientation.
Can i shoot for 500 Grams/week? I dont Like aggressive Cuts, i lƶst my whole muscle in the past and i am suuuper sensitive about my muscles left I had a really good physique. But nowā¦ It Breaks my Heart to See old Pictures.
Now i have you, you saved me. I believe i can Comeback. Harder and more muscular.
I can give you the ones I use for myself. Because for each client itās different as they all have different visual goals and tolerance levels to getting fatter.
People also vary on their capacity to diet down. If someone is good at sticking to a fat loss plan and lose fat, they can afford to get āfatterā than someone who has trouble sticking to the plan for more than 2 weeks.
For ME itās mostly abs and lower back. The moment these get too fluffy, I diet down. But understand that Iām past the time of significant muscle gains anyway. So long bulking makes zero sense in my case.
You make a great point by saying that. I guess, as a coach, Iām too used to clients seeking my approval and feedback about their physical appearance. I use feedback forms (weight, body measurements, sleep quality, stress levels etc) to track and make the appropriate adjustments to their training/diet/sleep etc. But you are right, not everyone follows the standards of their coach, if they even have a coach at all. I shouldāve realised that.
100%, I also use that strategy for clients/friends who have the discipline to stick to their diet.
What if cortisol masks your true appearance? I know you donāt have a lot of stress in your life but what if your client does have stress? Would that change things for you? Itās an annoying question, I know.
I had a really good physique. But nowā¦ It Breaks my Heart to See old Pictures.