Anyone cutting after a bulk?
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jseams1234 wrote: »Had a national level guy in the gym comment on my leaness and asking when I was competing.
Was a nice compliment but think he’s a
Tad delusional, I’m definitely not at the 7%bf
He thought I was, but he was also under the impression he was 10%bf while appearing 6months pregnant😂
Hah! It's not surprising though. From what I've seen at the gym and even on these forums most guys underestimate their BF% by about 5 points - if not more. I've seen guys who are 25% who think they are 13-15% and that their abs will be popping out any day now.
Definitely agree on the bf assessment.
Was just surprised coming from a decent level competitor, I’d guess he was more 30% than the 10% he was claiming, I also think he clocked me staring at his gut 😂1 -
jseams1234 wrote: »Had a national level guy in the gym comment on my leaness and asking when I was competing.
Was a nice compliment but think he’s a
Tad delusional, I’m definitely not at the 7%bf
He thought I was, but he was also under the impression he was 10%bf while appearing 6months pregnant😂
Hah! It's not surprising though. From what I've seen at the gym and even on these forums most guys underestimate their BF% by about 5 points - if not more. I've seen guys who are 25% who think they are 13-15% and that their abs will be popping out any day now.
Definitely agree on the bf assessment.
Was just surprised coming from a decent level competitor, I’d guess he was more 30% than the 10% he was claiming, I also think he clocked me staring at his gut 😂
Yeah... Calipers for me, are only good to see if you are adding or losing fat...
If I believed calipers, I would claim to be 6%... No way!1 -
I'M DONE BULKING!!! HALLELUJAH! 205.2 lbs this morning. Dropping down to maintenance calories, ~2400, to ease into cutting.11
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Ok...121lbs now, 160cms tall with arms look 15% whilst stomach looks 25+...cutting on 1650 cals. I'm going with how the bottom end of me looks to determine when to stop....it's hard being an older woman who has had children. It's a hypothyroid roll of belly fat, probably a bit insulin resistant too. I don't want scare small children by looking gaunt on a lower bf % eventually..3
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Those turkey carnitas ruined me this week 🙈😂...
I'll get the fluff off by end of next week...
Up about a lb more than I had hoped, waist is up about .25" more than I'd like...
However my my shoulder, chest, thighs are up as well... New prs on the bench, shoulder press, row... Took it easy on the legs this week because they are sore af from last week...
✌🏼2 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »I'M DONE BULKING!!! HALLELUJAH! 205.2 lbs this morning. Dropping down to maintenance calories, ~2400, to ease into cutting.
Friday is official weigh-in day, so I'm officially starting this cut at 204.0. I need to take some pics...
I'm allegedly up 8 pounds of muscle and 13 pounds of fat, per calipers. Now to try to maintain the muscle gain!5 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »I'M DONE BULKING!!! HALLELUJAH! 205.2 lbs this morning. Dropping down to maintenance calories, ~2400, to ease into cutting.
Friday is official weigh-in day, so I'm officially starting this cut at 204.0. I need to take some pics...
I'm allegedly up 8 pounds of muscle and 13 pounds of fat, per calipers. Now to try to maintain the muscle gain!
Woohoo good luck!!!2 -
I weighed myself today and put away my scale!
Which translates to, I'm logging and hitting the calorie goals. I'll weigh in again on Friday.2 -
How is everyone doing? So much sick going around hopefully everyone is recovering or staying healthy!
Things are going well over here. I looked at myself in the mirror this morning and thought - wow I look really lean, almost too lean. Which could possibly mean I am not actually maintaining but losing since physique changes do not happen that fast unless I am in a deficit. Uch. Maybe by some chance I am recomping. According to trend weight I am losing again but I am not giving it enough data points because I keep forgetting . I also need to pick up a measuring tape and actually take measurements soon to help track progress.
Lift wise- I am definitely getting stronger and pushing myself more. The only lift I am struggling with is my squats (barbell-wise I only do Zercher squats) they just feel so heavy the past two sessions and my right quad is just so tight, so I gotta work on those.
Things are mediocre on the diet side. It seems like every time i hit in the 160's i go back up. Again at 172-173 these past few weeks. I am seeing some recomposition but i would much rather get leaner faster. I am noticing that calorie counting is causing me a bit of craziness and always working to max out my budget.
Workout wise, i am doing very well. Overall increases in volume and loading. Been consistent with my 5 day program, except when i am on travel for work. Unfortunately, i have a lot in March.
Oh ya travelling and keeping on program is definitely tricky. Hopefully it's not too crazy for you in the upcoming months.
What are your plans after you lean down and get to goal? Would you hang out there and maintain for a while or run a bulk?
My goal is to get lean enough for abs (probably low 160s) and then slowly build back up to low or mid 170s. I believe the 160s will be too low for my liking.
From a bulk, i may just try to creep up 1/2-1 lb a month), instead of a traditional bulk. But i haven't developed the full plan. And i have also debated if i want to run a TKD bulk or low carb.
Sounds like a great plan. I would love to know how you get along with the low carb/keto bulk. Keep us all posted.
So I might have a slight modification to my plan. Keto doesn't really suit my wife well, so i might bump up to low carb/Mediterranean. Since she doesn't have a gallbladder and had 14" of her colon removed, she needs more veggies. Given i am the cook and my main goal is to support her weight loss and health, it would make a bit of sense. I do enjoy the Keto diet. It has eliminated almost all my cravings and got me into the 160s. So might be moving on to slightly higher carb. I might throw in some Mediterranean keto occasionally.
It will be interesting to see if i get my lifts back. Keto + weight lifting sucks!!! I lost 10-15% on all my lifts and never got them back. I was able to maintain cardio though.
Will keep people posted on progress. I am going to put a greater emphasis on veggies, fatty fish, leaner meats and healthy oils.
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pitbullpuppy wrote: »Hey all,
I am doing a cut. I am following Arnold's plan which is basically 6 days a week, alternating chest and legs, arms, chest and legs, arms...
Would it be detrimental to go backwards in training? By that I mean doing chest one day, legs the next, arms the next and repeat that (basically his level 1)? Would that make me lose more muscle? I'm just not sure if people scale down their work outs when cutting or if you're supposed to maintain the intensity throughout a cut despite lowering your fuel. Thanks
Wouldn’t advise doing Arnold’s routine as he was on steroids and would lead to over training I would have thought0 -
pitbullpuppy wrote: »matthewbland wrote: »pitbullpuppy wrote: »Hey all,
I am doing a cut. I am following Arnold's plan which is basically 6 days a week, alternating chest and legs, arms, chest and legs, arms...
Would it be detrimental to go backwards in training? By that I mean doing chest one day, legs the next, arms the next and repeat that (basically his level 1)? Would that make me lose more muscle? I'm just not sure if people scale down their work outs when cutting or if you're supposed to maintain the intensity throughout a cut despite lowering your fuel. Thanks
Wouldn’t advise doing Arnold’s routine as he was on steroids and would lead to over training I would have thought
The amount of steroids that Arnold did was minimal in comparison to today's athletes. It was also given under his doctor's discretion (different times). Anyway, the book was written in the 90s well after he was out of professional bodybuilding and spent decades researching effective methods and the science behind bodybuilding. Arnold advocates for not doing even nicotine or alcohol, let alone steroids. As such, it is written for athletes who do not use performance enhancers. Regardless, I have absolutely zero intention of switching plans as I am all natural and several months into the plan with wonderful results. I simply want to know if it would be detrimental to muscle maintenance to scale back sets per week on a given body part.
As long as your are hitting adequate volume (which I believe is 10-20 sets per body part), eating adequate protein, don't have an aggressive weight loss goal, than you should be good to cut back on the volume a bit.1 -
pitbullpuppy wrote: »matthewbland wrote: »pitbullpuppy wrote: »Hey all,
I am doing a cut. I am following Arnold's plan which is basically 6 days a week, alternating chest and legs, arms, chest and legs, arms...
Would it be detrimental to go backwards in training? By that I mean doing chest one day, legs the next, arms the next and repeat that (basically his level 1)? Would that make me lose more muscle? I'm just not sure if people scale down their work outs when cutting or if you're supposed to maintain the intensity throughout a cut despite lowering your fuel. Thanks
Wouldn’t advise doing Arnold’s routine as he was on steroids and would lead to over training I would have thought
The amount of steroids that Arnold did was minimal in comparison to today's athletes. It was also given under his doctor's discretion (different times). Anyway, the book was written in the 90s well after he was out of professional bodybuilding and spent decades researching effective methods and the science behind bodybuilding. Arnold advocates for not doing even nicotine or alcohol, let alone steroids. As such, it is written for athletes who do not use performance enhancers. Regardless, I have absolutely zero intention of switching plans as I am all natural and several months into the plan with wonderful results. I simply want to know if it would be detrimental to muscle maintenance to scale back sets per week on a given body part.
As long as your are hitting adequate volume (which I believe is 20-30 sets per body part), eating adequate protein, don't have an aggressive weight loss goal, than you should be good to cut back on the volume a bit.
20-30 sets per body part?
Pretty sure Dr Mike recommendation is under 20 for most body parts with MEV been as low as 6 sets
Personally I’d die before I ever reached that number of sets, 16 sets of hammies over 2 sessions is my MRV and then it’s deload as I’m wrecked
1 -
pitbullpuppy wrote: »matthewbland wrote: »pitbullpuppy wrote: »Hey all,
I am doing a cut. I am following Arnold's plan which is basically 6 days a week, alternating chest and legs, arms, chest and legs, arms...
Would it be detrimental to go backwards in training? By that I mean doing chest one day, legs the next, arms the next and repeat that (basically his level 1)? Would that make me lose more muscle? I'm just not sure if people scale down their work outs when cutting or if you're supposed to maintain the intensity throughout a cut despite lowering your fuel. Thanks
Wouldn’t advise doing Arnold’s routine as he was on steroids and would lead to over training I would have thought
The amount of steroids that Arnold did was minimal in comparison to today's athletes. It was also given under his doctor's discretion (different times). Anyway, the book was written in the 90s well after he was out of professional bodybuilding and spent decades researching effective methods and the science behind bodybuilding. Arnold advocates for not doing even nicotine or alcohol, let alone steroids. As such, it is written for athletes who do not use performance enhancers. Regardless, I have absolutely zero intention of switching plans as I am all natural and several months into the plan with wonderful results. I simply want to know if it would be detrimental to muscle maintenance to scale back sets per week on a given body part.
As long as your are hitting adequate volume (which I believe is 20-30 sets per body part), eating adequate protein, don't have an aggressive weight loss goal, than you should be good to cut back on the volume a bit.
20-30 sets per body part?
Pretty sure Dr Mike recommendation is under 20 for most body parts with MEV been as low as 6 sets
Personally I’d die before I ever reached that number of sets, 16 sets of hammies over 2 sessions is my MRV and then it’s deload as I’m wrecked
Wow, that was a big typo. It's 10-20 lol. I will update my previous post.
Although, that might even be too generic because I believe newbies can get benefit from less. And there is also an intensity component too.2 -
pitbullpuppy wrote: »matthewbland wrote: »pitbullpuppy wrote: »Hey all,
I am doing a cut. I am following Arnold's plan which is basically 6 days a week, alternating chest and legs, arms, chest and legs, arms...
Would it be detrimental to go backwards in training? By that I mean doing chest one day, legs the next, arms the next and repeat that (basically his level 1)? Would that make me lose more muscle? I'm just not sure if people scale down their work outs when cutting or if you're supposed to maintain the intensity throughout a cut despite lowering your fuel. Thanks
Wouldn’t advise doing Arnold’s routine as he was on steroids and would lead to over training I would have thought
The amount of steroids that Arnold did was minimal in comparison to today's athletes. It was also given under his doctor's discretion (different times). Anyway, the book was written in the 90s well after he was out of professional bodybuilding and spent decades researching effective methods and the science behind bodybuilding. Arnold advocates for not doing even nicotine or alcohol, let alone steroids. As such, it is written for athletes who do not use performance enhancers. Regardless, I have absolutely zero intention of switching plans as I am all natural and several months into the plan with wonderful results. I simply want to know if it would be detrimental to muscle maintenance to scale back sets per week on a given body part.
It might have been minimal compared to a current Mr. O but it's was still a ton more than any natural.
Anyhow, the current idea that seems to work (works for me) is to keep intensity intact. Lower volume as you get deeper into your cut and then lower frequency if needed. Do not lower intensity (weight on the bar).pitbullpuppy wrote: »matthewbland wrote: »pitbullpuppy wrote: »Hey all,
I am doing a cut. I am following Arnold's plan which is basically 6 days a week, alternating chest and legs, arms, chest and legs, arms...
Would it be detrimental to go backwards in training? By that I mean doing chest one day, legs the next, arms the next and repeat that (basically his level 1)? Would that make me lose more muscle? I'm just not sure if people scale down their work outs when cutting or if you're supposed to maintain the intensity throughout a cut despite lowering your fuel. Thanks
Wouldn’t advise doing Arnold’s routine as he was on steroids and would lead to over training I would have thought
The amount of steroids that Arnold did was minimal in comparison to today's athletes. It was also given under his doctor's discretion (different times). Anyway, the book was written in the 90s well after he was out of professional bodybuilding and spent decades researching effective methods and the science behind bodybuilding. Arnold advocates for not doing even nicotine or alcohol, let alone steroids. As such, it is written for athletes who do not use performance enhancers. Regardless, I have absolutely zero intention of switching plans as I am all natural and several months into the plan with wonderful results. I simply want to know if it would be detrimental to muscle maintenance to scale back sets per week on a given body part.
As long as your are hitting adequate volume (which I believe is 20-30 sets per body part), eating adequate protein, don't have an aggressive weight loss goal, than you should be good to cut back on the volume a bit.
20-30 sets per body part?
Pretty sure Dr Mike recommendation is under 20 for most body parts with MEV been as low as 6 sets
Personally I’d die before I ever reached that number of sets, 16 sets of hammies over 2 sessions is my MRV and then it’s deload as I’m wrecked
I had to learn this the hard way. It's of course easier if your frequency is high and can spread those sets out over multiple days during the week - but for anybody running any bro-split variant, getting in 20-30 high quality sets and then RECOVERING from that gets tough. People tell me that "well, you get 7-10 days to recover" but then I ask them how many of those days they think protein synthesis is actually happening? It might take you a week to fully recover but you sure aren't building muscle for all those days... which genrally means if you accumulate too much damage/stress during that session you aren't going to be able to repair all of it.1 -
Had a bit of a discouraging moment over the weekend. I have a few functions coming up, and I didn't expect to fit/look good in all my old dresses, but, arggg, it's so frustrating having your fave clothes not fit. Shopping is not an option right now, so it might just be the same 2-3 meh ones I keep wearing over and over. I am so tempted to run a small cut and scrap this recomp for a bit... someone please talk me out of it!!6
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Had a bit of a discouraging moment over the weekend. I have a few functions coming up, and I didn't expect to fit/look good in all my old dresses, but, arggg, it's so frustrating having your fave clothes not fit. Shopping is not an option right now, so it might just be the same 2-3 meh ones I keep wearing over and over. I am so tempted to run a small cut and scrap this recomp for a bit... someone please talk me out of it!!
Same. I wear business clothing through the week, and my dress pants are all too tight. Dress pants are expensive! But now I'm cutting, so I'm not the right one to talk you out of it.1 -
Had a bit of a discouraging moment over the weekend. I have a few functions coming up, and I didn't expect to fit/look good in all my old dresses, but, arggg, it's so frustrating having your fave clothes not fit. Shopping is not an option right now, so it might just be the same 2-3 meh ones I keep wearing over and over. I am so tempted to run a small cut and scrap this recomp for a bit... someone please talk me out of it!!
I know you know but you gotta be patient if you are intent on recomping. It’s like watching paint dry.
I feel ya with the shopping though. I’m mainly hanging out in stretchy leggings. Lycra is my friend.0 -
quiksylver296 wrote: »I'M DONE BULKING!!! HALLELUJAH! 205.2 lbs this morning. Dropping down to maintenance calories, ~2400, to ease into cutting.
I've been cutting 5 whole days and I'm only down one pound! What am I doing wrong?!? :laugh:
Truthfully though, this is tough. A person gets used to basically eating whatever they want.2 -
Had a bit of a discouraging moment over the weekend. I have a few functions coming up, and I didn't expect to fit/look good in all my old dresses, but, arggg, it's so frustrating having your fave clothes not fit. Shopping is not an option right now, so it might just be the same 2-3 meh ones I keep wearing over and over. I am so tempted to run a small cut and scrap this recomp for a bit... someone please talk me out of it!!
Are you familiar with the phrase, "You'd look good in a gunny sack", or am I just that old?
I had to pull out belts for pants that used to fit, I'm getting effing old so I'm basically looking like Skeletor as I lose weight and I've pretty much been constantly hungry for the last month. Stick with recomp!0 -
pitbullpuppy wrote: »matthewbland wrote: »pitbullpuppy wrote: »Hey all,
I am doing a cut. I am following Arnold's plan which is basically 6 days a week, alternating chest and legs, arms, chest and legs, arms...
Would it be detrimental to go backwards in training? By that I mean doing chest one day, legs the next, arms the next and repeat that (basically his level 1)? Would that make me lose more muscle? I'm just not sure if people scale down their work outs when cutting or if you're supposed to maintain the intensity throughout a cut despite lowering your fuel. Thanks
Wouldn’t advise doing Arnold’s routine as he was on steroids and would lead to over training I would have thought
The amount of steroids that Arnold did was minimal in comparison to today's athletes. It was also given under his doctor's discretion (different times). Anyway, the book was written in the 90s well after he was out of professional bodybuilding and spent decades researching effective methods and the science behind bodybuilding. Arnold advocates for not doing even nicotine or alcohol, let alone steroids. As such, it is written for athletes who do not use performance enhancers. Regardless, I have absolutely zero intention of switching plans as I am all natural and several months into the plan with wonderful results. I simply want to know if it would be detrimental to muscle maintenance to scale back sets per week on a given body part.
Don't lower intensity. That removes the stimulus indication for the body to hold onto the muscle you've already built. But you will naturally have to reduce volume. That's fine.
Intensity here is weight on the bar. Previously doing 3 x 5 for 200 on Squat/Bench/Dead: 1 x 5 as a top set should work fine. You can then add metabolic volume work for glycogen depletion if you're interested.
Hope that helps!3
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