Getting discouraged. Lean bulk or cut? What should I do?
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Yeah, I guess I'll revisit the issue down the road. It seems like a lot of the advice seems geared toward people who are already much smaller than I am or people who can eat to grow. I just wish there were better advice for people coming down from a higher weight. You see all the hype advice like "do Stronglifts, you'll squat 400lbs." OK, well why can't I then? I did the same program. Why do I get weaker every week? Why does my bench max out at 185? No one ever explains stuff like this.
I can only add that when I was bulking my lifts went up pretty much every week. During my cut, however, I stalled out and had to deload like crazy. I'm bulking again and lifts are going back up. More calories = more fuel. Cutting took a toll on my lifts and energy all around. Hopefully someone with some actual facts will chime in.
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What are you cutting to? Little muscle mass, bones, and organs. Eat at a slight caloric surplus with adequate protein and make ACTUAL strength and hypertrophy gains. Don't listen to the "recomp" advice. It's a surefire way to spin your wheels. Once you've made sizable gains, you'll actually have something to cut down to. I've been in your shoes. Trust me.0
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It's hard to serve to masters at the same time, so you kind of have to choose what you want to do. One one hand, it's winter time and even here in Vegas it's too cold to swim so it's a good time to work on bulking. You can try eating 500 calories above maintenance on training days and eat at maintenance or slightly below maintenance on non-training days to help manage body-fat. Train high-volume through like March 31st and then start working on a cut again.0
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What are you cutting to? Little muscle mass, bones, and organs. Eat at a slight caloric surplus with adequate protein and make ACTUAL strength and hypertrophy gains. Don't listen to the "recomp" advice. It's a surefire way to spin your wheels. Once you've made sizable gains, you'll actually have something to cut down to. I've been in your shoes. Trust me.
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What are you cutting to? Little muscle mass, bones, and organs. Eat at a slight caloric surplus with adequate protein and make ACTUAL strength and hypertrophy gains. Don't listen to the "recomp" advice. It's a surefire way to spin your wheels. Once you've made sizable gains, you'll actually have something to cut down to. I've been in your shoes. Trust me.
OP already said he's finishing cut and will transition into a lean controlled bulk.
Also, what does the bolded section even mean?
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LolBroScience wrote: »
Also, what does the bolded section even mean?
It don't matter, it's all about dem gainzzz brah!!!!
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And not one ounce of proof was seen on this day.
Oh jeez...pics of my rear to be taken when I get home from work.0 -
In for pics!0
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LolBroScience wrote: »What are you cutting to? Little muscle mass, bones, and organs. Eat at a slight caloric surplus with adequate protein and make ACTUAL strength and hypertrophy gains. Don't listen to the "recomp" advice. It's a surefire way to spin your wheels. Once you've made sizable gains, you'll actually have something to cut down to. I've been in your shoes. Trust me.
OP already said he's finishing cut and will transition into a lean controlled bulk.
Also, what does the bolded section even mean?
I'm actually still continuing on my cut though. I don't think I'm lean enough to comfortably bulk0 -
LolBroScience wrote: »What are you cutting to? Little muscle mass, bones, and organs. Eat at a slight caloric surplus with adequate protein and make ACTUAL strength and hypertrophy gains. Don't listen to the "recomp" advice. It's a surefire way to spin your wheels. Once you've made sizable gains, you'll actually have something to cut down to. I've been in your shoes. Trust me.
OP already said he's finishing cut and will transition into a lean controlled bulk.
Also, what does the bolded section even mean?
I'm actually still continuing on my cut though. I don't think I'm lean enough to comfortably bulk
I know, my apologies. What I meant was you were continuing until you reach a desired leaniness per the first comment on the page 5.0 -
Man when I saw this thread was 6 pages I avoided it thinking it was another argument thread. So glad I decided to check it out.
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The gym is now becoming a place I dread. Maybe it was just a bad workout, but my lifts fell quite a bit tonight. It's hard to see so many people make so much progress yet here I am 3 years later with nothing to really show. I will continue on, and forgive me for venting. I need to cut this fat, but I feel like I'm getting weaker.
Is it normal to be s little weaker/more tired on a cut? I have heard so many people make gains while cutting. Why can't I for once just make progress?0 -
The gym is now becoming a place I dread. Maybe it was just a bad workout, but my lifts fell quite a bit tonight. It's hard to see so many people make so much progress yet here I am 3 years later with nothing to really show. I will continue on, and forgive me for venting. I need to cut this fat, but I feel like I'm getting weaker.
Is it normal to be s little weaker/more tired on a cut? I have heard so many people make gains while cutting. Why can't I for once just make progress?
My lifts drop a bit towards the end of my cutting. They bounce back quickly when you start your bulk.0 -
The gym is now becoming a place I dread. Maybe it was just a bad workout, but my lifts fell quite a bit tonight. It's hard to see so many people make so much progress yet here I am 3 years later with nothing to really show. I will continue on, and forgive me for venting. I need to cut this fat, but I feel like I'm getting weaker.
Is it normal to be s little weaker/more tired on a cut? I have heard so many people make gains while cutting. Why can't I for once just make progress?
My lifts drop a bit towards the end of my cutting. They bounce back quickly when you start your bulk.
This exactly. Don't get discouraged, just keep at it!0 -
The gym is now becoming a place I dread. Maybe it was just a bad workout, but my lifts fell quite a bit tonight. It's hard to see so many people make so much progress yet here I am 3 years later with nothing to really show. I will continue on, and forgive me for venting. I need to cut this fat, but I feel like I'm getting weaker.
Is it normal to be s little weaker/more tired on a cut? I have heard so many people make gains while cutting. Why can't I for once just make progress?
My lifts drop a bit towards the end of my cutting. They bounce back quickly when you start your bulk.
This exactly. Don't get discouraged, just keep at it!
Yes, entirely normal. Do the best you can to keep intensity high. Are you following the programming as is or still modifying it?0 -
LolBroScience wrote: »The gym is now becoming a place I dread. Maybe it was just a bad workout, but my lifts fell quite a bit tonight. It's hard to see so many people make so much progress yet here I am 3 years later with nothing to really show. I will continue on, and forgive me for venting. I need to cut this fat, but I feel like I'm getting weaker.
Is it normal to be s little weaker/more tired on a cut? I have heard so many people make gains while cutting. Why can't I for once just make progress?
My lifts drop a bit towards the end of my cutting. They bounce back quickly when you start your bulk.
This exactly. Don't get discouraged, just keep at it!
Yes, entirely normal. Do the best you can to keep intensity high. Are you following the programming as is or still modifying it?
I've been following the program as I've done it. Should I switch over? Even in the middle of a cut?
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Earlier in the thread, didn't you mention you were playing around with the reps and sets? Or am I making that up?0
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