5x5 + 4x2 - calories = ???

[silver_shadow]

a few years ago, one of my friends was bugging me to drink with him. at that point i was on gear (he didn't know) and obviously didn't want to. so he asks me why i'm avoiding booze - it's calories afterall and i should be happy getting more cals while bulking

 

[anotherbutters]

simple carbs - perfect for post workout

 

[silver_shadow]

simple carbs - perfect for post workout

yep, a good replacement for gatorade during an intense workout too

 

[BiggT]

AB.....you're at 180lbs now? How tall are you? I remember from your vids, you look pretty lean and trim.....unless you want to get to sub-10% bodyfat (unless doing a BB show, I don't know why on Earth you would), dieting doesn't have to be a progress-wrecking thing.....if you feel you could be leaner, you can just trim the edges and restrict cals a little by doing things like stop eating after your post-workout meal (so long as u work out in the evening, lol), if not then just stop after dinner........really though, you look like the kind of guy who even if you were in a pinch (date at the beach with a girl next weekend) you could get as lean as you'll ever need to with a good week of watching cals, don't make it so uncomfortable on yourself.

And, if for whatever reason you want to keep dropping weight, then don't be hard on yourself and look at it how it is....not too many guys over 5' 10" who weigh less then 170-some pounds are gonna be really strong, there's no way around being human.

Good luck though, I hope you come back rested up and ready to go.

 

[anotherbutters]

Yes, I'm 180lbs now, 5'10". I'm 39.5" around the belly button, which is why I thought I could do with dropping a few pounds. I guess I hide it well, lol. I agree, I don't need to get down to 10% and I'm not bothered about abs for now, but I'd be happier if I got down to around 34" before bulking again. Long term, I want to keep bulking, but I feel like I'll just add to the flab if I carry on at present.

The Korte did me well in terms of muscle, so I'm thinking of going high volume again for 4 weeks whilst cutting.

 

[BiggT]

What you can do is hold calories constant to stay at 180, and increase your lifts, which will build muscle and improve metabolism and body comp......at 5'10, I think you can be more than lean and easily have a 33-34 waist at 180.....I just don't want to see you get frustrated, go crazy cutting calories, destroy all the muscle you worked hard to build, and weigh 160 with the same body comp as now because you burned off all that muscle in the process......

 

[anotherbutters]

That makes sense, and I agree - I certainly don't want to end up back where I started. Jeez, I change my mind so much, but maybe I should hold my weight

 

[BiggT]

AB....you're nowhere remotely near obese, lol....and 180 at 5'10 at any age is nowhere remotely near a health concern.....I can see if you were at an unhealthy weight or had a ton of fat to lose.....I agree, it'd be nice to get that 39.5 measurement down closer to 34......the thing is that I have seen so many guys who AREN'T fat try to get down in weight by drastically cutting cals, their workouts suffer a lot, and because they are using less weight, they lose muscle and end up dropping 20lbs and have roughly the same body comp. from when they were heavier due to all the lost muscle.......If I were you, I wouldn't think in terms of "cutting" and "bulking"....try to eat what keeps you around 180ish (a weight you know you can make consistent weight rom progress at) and just make more lifestyle choices (cut off cals in the evening after training, get a baked potato instead of fries, skip dessert) if you don't want to add too many cals and keep gaining.....as you add to your lifts, you'll grow more calorically expensive muscle and your body comp will improve and waist size should decrease......then, really you'd be no more than a good week away of super strict dieting to be as lean as you'd possibly need/want to be.

 

[SgtSlaughter]

I just want to add on to what BiggT said about food..

If your going to make food choice changes.. .and if you've never eaten very clean for a few weeks before you'll be surpirzed at the sheer amount of food you can consume just to met your caloric needs

You may even gain strength... I know alot of you guys say calories are calories... but IMHO the quality of those calories have a huge impact on what goes on in our bodies. Ex: When i cut... i ate quality food all day, no shit whatsoever... gained LBM lost BF... the changes coinsided with training change as well... but hey, you can do it too

lol... sounded like a John Basdow infomercial

 

[Cynical Simian]

Have you considered adding a bit of the dreaded cardio into your schedule as well? Some intervals (sprint, rower, whatever) with appropriate pre-workout nutrition, not some inane jkurz1 fasted marathon, could be quite helpful for recomping and improving conditioning.