AshwinA7 Member

Richardgravel - Yes, its very challenging since I've never done a hypertrophy program before. I'm not used to isolating muscles and training to failure. It seems from the responses that is enough to gain muscle.

At the end of the day, a deficit of 3500 calories will result in a 1 pound loss in fat (in general). So when you factor in a cheat day into your net caloric intake, it may or may not be the required deficit to lose that pound. Saying that it "revs up your metabolism" is disingenuous and really only applies to people who…

For someone 6' 3", I would think you're cutting calories would be much higher than mine but one of the more reliable TDEE calculators says 1800. So I'll try that for a little while and see what that does. Maybe my bulking calories are not as high as I thought they were which is good because that was way too much food.

Thanks guys. When you say a small deficit, what do you mean? Currently, my maintenance calories are 2300. Would dropping down to 1800 be too much of a cut?

Hey, I'm from Sacramento too! Although I'm trying to gain muscle rather than lose weight. Good luck on your journey!

Thank you!

Thanks for the replies, everyone. What different percentages do people use for fats and carbs?

I am seriously in awe at the numbers I'm seeing. Makes me wonder how long people have been lifting for and if I'm not eating anywhere near enough to see those kinds of gains. These aren't 1RM because I haven't tested for that but these are my highest 5x5 work weights. Bench Press (my weakest): 130 Deadlift: 255 Squat: 195

I also forgot to mention that I used the equation to calculate TDEE but also calculated it by tracking daily calories and weight and seeing what it actually is for me. This was before I was lifting, at around 157-160, and cutting. Then, it was 2000 but my guess is that has increased a little bit.

Oops. Forgot to change that. But yes, I am eating a surplus now.

Thanks for the replies people. I really enjoy lifting heavy but I think my nutrition is out of whack (and I've just started) so part of it is keeping my expectations in check and figuring out exactly how much to eat.

Thanks, that makes sense. I also use the TDEE method to calculate calories. 2000 is TDEE and am now eating at 2300, sometimes going over and under. I don't do much cardio and pretty much stick to strength training (lifting, climbing, yoga) so I don't log any of those calories lost.

Maybe I missed it but what definition of fasting were they operating under? How many calories were the mice eating on an average day? Or was it absolutely no food and water for 2-4 days?

That number seems ridiculously high to be honest. In my experience, I lost fat at a pretty average rate: 1 lb/week if I'm eating at a 20% deficit. My guess is my muscle building capability is similarly average. Eating 3000 calories seems like most of it would turn to fat pretty quickly. I don't think my body has the…

That quote didn't really say anything specific but are you trying to say that I shouldn't be bulking at this point but instead stick to eating at TDEE and lifting since I haven't reached my potential for my weight?

Thanks everyone for the input! @crusadersam - I know I'm not very strong. As I mentioned in my post, I lost a lot of muscle during my very long cut. When I first started StrongLifts I had to start with the bar on all the lifts except deadlift because I was simply too weak. After experimentation, I found that 2000 was my…

@stealthq- Yes, StrongLIfts does the same. Is eating more the solution or just deloading and then training as normal?

Lifting on a caloric deficit will help you keep the muscle you have and target fat for weight loss. You can still gain on your lifts through neuromuscular adaptation (where your muscle fibers become more efficient at lifting but no necessarily bigger). Are you tracking how much weight you're lifting? That can help you…

I've been doing StrongLifts for about 3 months now. Before, I was trying to lift on a caloric deficit but found during my initial long cut ( ~ 9 months) I hadn't lifted at all and lost a lot of muscle. As a result, I plateaued out very quickly even though I started with the bar (45 lbs) on all the lifts except deadlift.…

Hey OP, the next time you need to do research, look into creating a public Google Doc file that everyone can update. That way you won't have to manually input all the information yourself when you're looking for trends (however, you're planning to do that). 1) 24. 2) 160 3) Beautiful, blue California 4) Moderate 5) 3-4…

Thanks all. Waldo - I read a post of yours on your blog (e.g. "Starting guide to bulking). You mention in there that eating a surplus before 6 months of training and it's most likely to be fat. Or did I miss that point? When I first started weight training (with Stronglifts), I was eating at a deficit and thought I would…

Aren't you mainly just losing water weight?

Initially, when I had been on Paxil for only a couple months (years ago), I put on a solid 20 lbs. After that, I was under the assumption that ADs magically put on weight for people. After strictly counting calories while on an AD, I found that I did not put on weight and was able to lose normally. For most people, it…

This is what I'm doing. StrongLifts 5x5 since I've heard its good for starting strength training. I think 2300 calories is a good start. Until I don't see results, I'll just keep it at that and then increase.

You probably have more LBM than I do. I'm coming out of a 1 year long cut out of which only 2 months included weight lifting. Other than that it was all just running and dieting. So I lost a lot of strength, LBM, and my BF% is much higher than optimal. So I think it makes sense to start off at a lower caloric surplus.

Is it true that it's only possible to build 1 lb of muscle every month? (assuming proper eating and 3x a week training)

For a guy at my height 5' 7", my bulking calories are only 2300. 300 g of carbs would put me over that amount by quite a bit.

Are there any studies that have been done on the optimal amount of high GI carbs vs. low GI carbs for muscle building? (i.e. does the quality of the carb matter and is there a point of diminishing returns)

@waldo56 - (or anyone else) What kind of high GI carbs do you find yourself eating in order to eat at your caloric goal?

One thing you might want to consider is lifting heaving and increasing your muscle mass. Initially, you'll gain weight, but in the long run this will boost your metabolism (since maintaining muscle is calorically expensive). I've heard that lifting heavy by itself can increase too, but I"m skeptical since I do the same and…