Summer, increased cardio and future goals
Vigilance88
Posts: 95 Member
Learned a lot on these forums, just have a couple questions now that I'm close to goal-weight. Sorry for the wall of text, bolded the questions.
It's finally getting sunnier here and I love cycling in the sun. I can easily go for a 2+ hour ride every other day. And it's not a casual ride, average heart rate is usually 150+ and max 180. Rough roads, hills, wind, let's just say my legs hurt going uphill :laugh:
I want to emphasize I do it because I enjoy it, not to create a bigger deficit.
My first question is about eating back those calories. Last few months I've been using the MFP method of eating back exercise calories. I chose it because I'm sedentary outside of exercise. Between university and home I'm basically sitting constantly. That's why I set MFP goal to 1750 (bmr is ~1670) and log all extra activities (groceries, cardio, strength, etc) and ate at least 50% of those calories back. I've been losing an average of 0.5 kg so I was fine with that.
Last week I hit 69.5 kg and realized I should be slowing down since I'm getting very close to goal. I'm eating at least 90% of exercise calories now. With 2 hour rides I can easily burn 1000-1500 calories, which means with my current method I eat 3000 calories on those days, and ~1800 on other days. Is this ok, or should I spread it out more aka using TDEE method? Does it even matter? Do those 2 hour rides hurt my lean mass while in a deficit? I'm eating plenty of protein and I lift heavy 3-4 times a week (beginner) and like I mentioned my rides are not flat out steady cardio it includes hills.
I have been in a deficit since July 2013, with maybe a few days at maintenance during holidays. I didn't read about diet breaks till a few weeks ago, so obviously I should take a break soon. With summer coming up I wanted to cut a little more though. Then my goal is to find maintenance and take a break for 4+ weeks. Then go to a small surplus to increase mass.
Is it ok to cut more? I've noticed my (fore)arms, chest, shoulders, collarbones have been leaning out the last 1-2 months. My problem areas are thighs, calves and abdomen and they have gone down in cm, but are not quite there yet (link to progress graphs below).
Parents (who don't see me more than once every few months) are still in the mindset of BMI and overprotective saying “I'm at a good weight”. I know I'm right in the middle of healthy weight, I just want my problem areas to be leaner. My bf% according to calculators and very bad skin fold measurements is between 18-21%. I can add some pics to your bf% estimate thread if needed later.
Sorry for the long post :drinker: any suggestions appreciated.
Stats:
male, 25 y/o
height: 175 cm (5'9”)
sw (July 2013): 97 kg (214 pounds)
cw: 69.5 kg (153 pounds)
gw: depends on mirror
waist: 78 cm (30.7 inches)
hips (abdomen/belly button): 84 cm (33 inches)
thigh: 54.5 cm (21.5 inches)
chest: 95 cm (37.4 inches)
neck: ~37 cm (14.5 inches)
wrist: ~16 cm (6.3 inches)
weight graph: http://i.imgur.com/QCFGihY.png
measurements: http://i.imgur.com/OFcwWz9.png
It's finally getting sunnier here and I love cycling in the sun. I can easily go for a 2+ hour ride every other day. And it's not a casual ride, average heart rate is usually 150+ and max 180. Rough roads, hills, wind, let's just say my legs hurt going uphill :laugh:
I want to emphasize I do it because I enjoy it, not to create a bigger deficit.
My first question is about eating back those calories. Last few months I've been using the MFP method of eating back exercise calories. I chose it because I'm sedentary outside of exercise. Between university and home I'm basically sitting constantly. That's why I set MFP goal to 1750 (bmr is ~1670) and log all extra activities (groceries, cardio, strength, etc) and ate at least 50% of those calories back. I've been losing an average of 0.5 kg so I was fine with that.
Last week I hit 69.5 kg and realized I should be slowing down since I'm getting very close to goal. I'm eating at least 90% of exercise calories now. With 2 hour rides I can easily burn 1000-1500 calories, which means with my current method I eat 3000 calories on those days, and ~1800 on other days. Is this ok, or should I spread it out more aka using TDEE method? Does it even matter? Do those 2 hour rides hurt my lean mass while in a deficit? I'm eating plenty of protein and I lift heavy 3-4 times a week (beginner) and like I mentioned my rides are not flat out steady cardio it includes hills.
I have been in a deficit since July 2013, with maybe a few days at maintenance during holidays. I didn't read about diet breaks till a few weeks ago, so obviously I should take a break soon. With summer coming up I wanted to cut a little more though. Then my goal is to find maintenance and take a break for 4+ weeks. Then go to a small surplus to increase mass.
Is it ok to cut more? I've noticed my (fore)arms, chest, shoulders, collarbones have been leaning out the last 1-2 months. My problem areas are thighs, calves and abdomen and they have gone down in cm, but are not quite there yet (link to progress graphs below).
Parents (who don't see me more than once every few months) are still in the mindset of BMI and overprotective saying “I'm at a good weight”. I know I'm right in the middle of healthy weight, I just want my problem areas to be leaner. My bf% according to calculators and very bad skin fold measurements is between 18-21%. I can add some pics to your bf% estimate thread if needed later.
Sorry for the long post :drinker: any suggestions appreciated.
Stats:
male, 25 y/o
height: 175 cm (5'9”)
sw (July 2013): 97 kg (214 pounds)
cw: 69.5 kg (153 pounds)
gw: depends on mirror
waist: 78 cm (30.7 inches)
hips (abdomen/belly button): 84 cm (33 inches)
thigh: 54.5 cm (21.5 inches)
chest: 95 cm (37.4 inches)
neck: ~37 cm (14.5 inches)
wrist: ~16 cm (6.3 inches)
weight graph: http://i.imgur.com/QCFGihY.png
measurements: http://i.imgur.com/OFcwWz9.png
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Replies
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Tagging and apologies for the delay0
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1) Is it ok to cycle calories such that I eat much more in training days and less on rest days?
Yes, provided that personal preferences and performance needs are being met. One example of "doing this wrong" would be someone eating X on rest days and Y on training days and they have crap training sessions because X is too low. Eating more on very intense days isn't a bad idea at all in that context.
2) Will those 2 hour rides hurt my lean mass?
I can't answer this directly. I would say that doing very high amounts of endurance training in a calorie deficit could potentially make LBM retention more challenging in some contexts but I wouldn't know how to quantify this nor would I necessarily advocate that someone stop doing an enjoyable form of cardio unless they have specific physique goals that are more important than the endurance training.
Context likely matters here a great deal as well. Could an overweight beginner on a modest deficit, engage in endurance training as part of their program and not compromise LBM? I'd certainly assume so.
Could a contest prep bodybuilder near the end of prep and at a steep deficit, retain LBM while doing several hours of cardio? Not likely.
Beyond presenting you with example of endpoints like the above, I can't specifically tell you whether the volume of cardio you're doing is preventing you from maintaining muscle mass. Proper nutrient intake around the training bout may help to mitigate that risk. It does sound like 2 hours every other day is pushing it in terms of approaching a high volume of cardio, but once again consider your enjoyment of it within the context of your goals before deciding whether or not to make any changes in that regard.
As far as cutting more is concerned -- if you submit pics to the bf% assessment thread we would possibly be able to give you a more realistic answer to that.0
