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pintoca
New member
OK cutting colleagues...
I have had the luck of enjoying 7 months non-stop of fat-loss Nirvana. It didn't come for free, I did my research and worked hard for it, but the pay off has been great, far exceeding my initial expectations.
Nevertheless, the time has come for the inevitable to happen: For the past 2 weeks I have notice neither my weight or bf% going anywhere, they just sit there... The funny thing is I CAN TELL my upper body is looking leaner (I can see things in my arms/delts I could not see before and somethings are happening in my back also... You can also tell the leg is composed of 2 muscles now, with a separation in the middle) Saying the fat scale is off could be a simple solution, but the thing has worked for 7months, why should go kaputt from one day to the other? (not like is running MS software or anything)
I knew this would happen sooner or later (luckily it happened later) and have been thinking what to do once the moment came, so lets take a look at my options:
1. Check my diet: I believe 100% my problem is adaptation and not starvation: I've been eating in the range of 2000-2200 cals (low carb days, 5x week) and 2500-2700 cals (high carb days, 2x week) for 7 months straight, I took no break in December or anything... so my body most likely learnt how to deal with this amount of cals.
2. Increase cardio:
The option that always come to mind... problem is I am already doing cardio 6x/week at 75-83% MHR for 45 min. I have thought about the possibility of moving my cardio to the morning on an empty stomach, but I am sleeping 4-5 hours tops everynight as it is, so cutting into that is not an option. Cardio will need to remain in the evenings... Could try a combination of HIIT and steady state too, to spice things up
3. take a break: Based on what I observed it happened after taking a 10 days unplanned break, is to up cals to maintenance level, keep lifting and reduce cardio.. then come back with everything I have. Shock Therapy of sorts.
So those are the 3 things I can think of right now. For me it is clear that breaking a plateau is always a matter of being stricter on your diet (cheat less) and training harder (the exception being if you are in starvation or overtrained, neither of which I feel). To break adaptation you need to do things differently.
Right now I think I will stick to the following plan (unless you come up with some good suggestions).
1. Up cals to maintenance (close to 3000 for me) level for 2 weeks, continue with lifting schedule (5x week) and use the surplus carbs to increase working weights. Reduce cardio to twice per week. After the 2 week period, resume diet (2100x5 & 2550x2) and change cardio routine to include a mixture of HIIT and Steady state (avoiding the ellptical, since it has grown too easy after 7 months... I am now an Elliptical Black Belt of sorts)
The ratios I plan to use are: 35% P, 50% carbs, 15% fat (my basic carb up ratios)
So, what do you all think should be my next move?
I have had the luck of enjoying 7 months non-stop of fat-loss Nirvana. It didn't come for free, I did my research and worked hard for it, but the pay off has been great, far exceeding my initial expectations.
Nevertheless, the time has come for the inevitable to happen: For the past 2 weeks I have notice neither my weight or bf% going anywhere, they just sit there... The funny thing is I CAN TELL my upper body is looking leaner (I can see things in my arms/delts I could not see before and somethings are happening in my back also... You can also tell the leg is composed of 2 muscles now, with a separation in the middle) Saying the fat scale is off could be a simple solution, but the thing has worked for 7months, why should go kaputt from one day to the other? (not like is running MS software or anything)
I knew this would happen sooner or later (luckily it happened later) and have been thinking what to do once the moment came, so lets take a look at my options:
1. Check my diet: I believe 100% my problem is adaptation and not starvation: I've been eating in the range of 2000-2200 cals (low carb days, 5x week) and 2500-2700 cals (high carb days, 2x week) for 7 months straight, I took no break in December or anything... so my body most likely learnt how to deal with this amount of cals.
2. Increase cardio:
The option that always come to mind... problem is I am already doing cardio 6x/week at 75-83% MHR for 45 min. I have thought about the possibility of moving my cardio to the morning on an empty stomach, but I am sleeping 4-5 hours tops everynight as it is, so cutting into that is not an option. Cardio will need to remain in the evenings... Could try a combination of HIIT and steady state too, to spice things up3. take a break: Based on what I observed it happened after taking a 10 days unplanned break, is to up cals to maintenance level, keep lifting and reduce cardio.. then come back with everything I have. Shock Therapy of sorts.
So those are the 3 things I can think of right now. For me it is clear that breaking a plateau is always a matter of being stricter on your diet (cheat less) and training harder (the exception being if you are in starvation or overtrained, neither of which I feel). To break adaptation you need to do things differently.
Right now I think I will stick to the following plan (unless you come up with some good suggestions).
1. Up cals to maintenance (close to 3000 for me) level for 2 weeks, continue with lifting schedule (5x week) and use the surplus carbs to increase working weights. Reduce cardio to twice per week. After the 2 week period, resume diet (2100x5 & 2550x2) and change cardio routine to include a mixture of HIIT and Steady state (avoiding the ellptical, since it has grown too easy after 7 months... I am now an Elliptical Black Belt of sorts)
The ratios I plan to use are: 35% P, 50% carbs, 15% fat (my basic carb up ratios)
So, what do you all think should be my next move?
bwahahahahaha!
