to my fellow bodybuilders......

[The_Rig]

do i have to worry about my gains shrinking as soon as i stop eating big? my goal is to bulk up, then trim down. after that i just want go to the gym for maintenance. and eat normal mostly.

[Michael569]

Essential to keep a decent intake of branch-chain amino acid: leucine, valine and isoleucine. These will prevent your body using up muscle protein when in caloric deficient and will instead use the ones from diet to feed the urea cycle. 

You should probably work very slowly on the caloric restriction and rather than starving yourself, add a bit more of anaerobic training such as HIIT or jogg. If you go too big on caloric restriction you will start sending starvation signals to your body which slows down your fatty acid oxidation, your thyroid T3 conversion and increases your levels of cortisol. 

So maybe start by reducing your caloric intake by 100 kcal a week until you get to around 500-600kcal reduction comparing to where you are now. That's where I would draw the line and carry on until you see your weight platoing which is where there is time to change the direction.

You can than consider a shock approach such as increasing your caloric intake for a couple days to reassure your body that it is not being starved, this will probably slow down your reduction and may even pack back a little but once you get back on the reduction process, it will once again get you a bit further. 

Sustain a high intake of dietary antioxidants (not from supplements) because weight loss especially fat loss produces a lot of free radicals so you want to mop those up as fast as possible. 

Along the whole process, you could consider taking L-carnitine as that helps the fatty acids to get through mitochondria to be burned, it is also being made in your body as long as your diet is well balanced so no need to if that doesn't sound appealing.  You will also need good supply of all B-vitamins especially B1, B2, B3, B5 and magnesium as you will be burning a lot of energy. You can get these from focusing on enriched foods or from a supplement. 

And finally maybe a herbal tonic such as rhodiola tincture or siberian ginseng to support nervous system, balance stress (weight loss is a percieved stressor to the body) and physical performance. 

Good luck! Let us know how it goes in couple weeks

Edited February 26, 2020 by Michael569

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

Unless you are competing for an actual bodybuilding competition, which takes an extremely rigorous lifestyle, this "bulking and cutting" cycle idea is nonsense for the average person who just wants to gain muscle and lose fat. Not only is it unnecessary from attaining an attractive physique, its unhealthy and puts a a ton of unnecessary stress on your body. Its an outdated idea that 99% of "gym noobs"  are indoctrinated with and I fell into that trap myself years ago. I learned first hand that real gains in strength/muscle/physique take immense patience and you aren't going to get there with a couple years of bulking and cutting. 

It doesn't work in the way you think, you aren't going to go bulk/cut, then ditch that and do maintenance. You are never going to be satisfied with your body that way. 

Also: You are indoctrinated by the fitness industry which only cares about selling you phony supplements and a phony lifestyle that once you stop "eating big" you will lose your gains. This is extremely false. They try and say if you go longer than 8 hours without eating (or some similar number) you will start becoming "catabolic". 

The truth is, it takes waaaayy way longer for your body to start becoming catabolic and using its own muscle tissue for fuel, you would have to really undernourish yourself. All this eat, eat, eat propaganda is just making you gain excess fat (you might put on a little more muscle tissue, but at the expense of excess fat and sub-optimal health and hormone profiles)

Hormonally speaking, your gut is more primed absorb nutrients when you give it daily breaks from digestion (aka fasting) for males optimally 12-16 hour fasts per day. This will also boost your blood serum testosterone a lot. 

Same thing with the "post workout eating window" myth. The reality is, you want to give your body around 2 hours before taking in solid, substantial food that is hard to digest, this is where hormonally you get the best response for food after a workout. It also takes much longer for your nervous system to shift from sympathetic (intense workout) to parasympathetic (rest and digest) to really calm itself and take the blood back to your inner organs so it can properly absorb nutrients. 

Edited February 26, 2020 by TrynaBeTurquoise

[LfcCharlie4]

@TrynaBeTurquoise

This is the approach I'm trying to go down, currently shedding excess fat from a few years of Bulking/ Cutting as I used to be incredibly skinny. 

So, now do you just Train with the aim of improving strength and then keep your calories/ amount you eat the same all year to maintain a low BF and steadily build muscle? 

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

@LfcCharlie4 I usually do a couple days a week focused on strength/power with things like barbell lifts/olympic lifting, a couple days where I do conditioning, primarily with kettlebells and bodyweight, and a couple days where the intensity is dialed back and I do some bodybuilding with dumbells where I take the reps higher with lower weight, slow the tempo and focus on movement quality keeping in some functional movements. Mobility is also a huge thing I work on every day. 

My eating is all intuitive (Paul Chek has a good podcast episode on intuitive eating), just sticking to clean foods listening to my body, when the workout intensity is high I take in bigger portions and go higher carbs, when its lower, especially earlier in the day I go keto and try to keep my body in a fat burning mode with low glycemic variability. Basically what Ben Greenfield proposes, I have found that works for me as well. When I workout later in the day after some meals prior, I do more hypertrophy, glycogen depleting style workouts (functional bodybuilding) and early morning workouts where I just put some fat in my coffee and go, my body doesn't have a lot of glycogen so thats when I do strength/power, heavier weight with low reps, quick intense bursts. This formula has been working well for me in gaining strength/muscle improving body comp. 

 

[LfcCharlie4]

@TrynaBeTurquoise  Awesome man, thanks for the detailed reply. I think I remember checking out the podcast on Intuitive eating you linked a while back. Sounds awesome, I feel the transition for purely training for gains, to overall health and wellbeing is a huge step as it really makes you go down the rabbit hole. 

Ben greenfield is fucking shredded for his age as well, that reminds me I need to get my Tabatas in today!

 

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

1 minute ago, LfcCharlie4 said:

@TrynaBeTurquoise  Awesome man, thanks for the detailed reply. I think I remember checking out the podcast on Intuitive eating you linked a while back. Sounds awesome, I feel the transition for purely training for gains, to overall health and wellbeing is a huge step as it really makes you go down the rabbit hole. 

Ben greenfield is fucking shredded for his age as well, that reminds me I need to get my Tabatas in today!

 

Yes, I have found training for gains purely makes you neurotic and unhappy. Doesn't matter how much muscle you have really, you are always unsatisfied.

When you take a primarily health oriented approach with exploring movement (developing a wide range of skills) and challenging your body/mind to become stronger you get more fulfillment. 

Theres always that part of you that wants to look good naked, of course, but thats just a partial slice of the pie. When it comes to attracting women it really doesn't matter all that much in the big picture. Can't put all your eggs in that basket. 

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

@LfcCharlie4 BTW Yeah Ben Greenfield is shredded, if only we all could inject stem cells regularly . 

Edited February 27, 2020 by TrynaBeTurquoise

[LfcCharlie4]

@TrynaBeTurquoise Yep I'll happily admit I still want to look good- 'OMG EGO!!' I think it's natural to do so, but like you said a lot of women don't even like the bodybuilding look, so if you're in it for that, go learn conscious game and social skills!

And, taking a more holistic approach improves many other areas of your health and fitness, and focusing on exercise you enjoy = way more fulfilment. Like if I stopped enjoying weight training, I'd find something else because that's not sustainable at all. Enjoyment is such a big piece of the pie many forget, and talk about the grind/hustle etc, but training is meant to be fun in my eyes. 

And looool, if you have a second look at his latest smoothie video, shit you not there's like 20+ ingredients in there, he said all in all per smoothie you're looking at like $8-10 but is open about it. Obviously ridiculously healthy though.

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

@LfcCharlie4

The best quote to live by I have discovered that keeps you in check to make sure your training intensity/frequency is in the normal range is:

"Training should feel like sex"

This is always accurate in my experience. Sometimes you go heavy/intense, it feels amazing, like sex. That is the feedback that your body can handle it. When you are going at that same intensity and it feels like death, you are starting to swim in dangerous waters for your nervous system and increasing the likelihood of injury or dysfunction. If thats the case lower the intensity, do lighter weights, get a pump with a lot of blood flow to your extremities and that should "feel like sex". 

This is some wisdom many people seriously into fitness haven't discovered yet. 

[Moreira]

Caloric restriction is one of the main pillars for longevity. Make a decision, do yo want to be big, or live 100 years?