Quote:
Originally Posted by Now_Rudi
My main reason for bulking back in August was it seemed like no matter what I did, I couldn't drop past 19% body fat. Considering percentages are based off of two numbers, I thought I would eat more, add some muscle then cut again to offset the numbers. Now that I've finally dropped the fat I gained, it worked....a little. My goal for the next few months was to continue to cut hard and try my damnedest to get to 10%. After cutting for 6 weeks now, I've decided that might be a bit too extreme. I'm going to get to around 14-15% (should happen in the next 6 weeks according to my math). Then I'll add 200 calories/day for a month, in order to try and add 2 pounds of lean muscle, then I'll cut again to try to get down to 13-12%. I'll keep doing this until I get to where I want to be.
Incorporated some creatine to my preworkout on Friday and trained hard Friday and Saturday. I ate really good & clean all last week while offsetting what little bit of calories I went over with cardio after my weight resistance to keep everything at 1350/day. Woke up this morning and couldn't believe my eyes at how my shoulders (front, mid and rear delts), chest and bi-ceps have filled out in a matter of days. Really starting to get excited about the results I'm seeing.
The people at the gym and a handful of friends that I discuss my regimen to, try to tell me I'm doing it backwards; that I should bulk and add as much muscle as I can. They tell me that it's easier to drop body fat when you're bigger. I keep trying to explain that everyone has different goals and that in order to get where I want, it's like rebuliding a home damaged in a fire; I can't just build on top of the damage that was left behind. I have clear everything down to the foundation and rebuild it from there.
I appreciate that and the advice you've given me. I'm actually one the most impatient people on the planet, but this entire process is teaching me a lot. Forcing me to learn patience and being even more meticulous when it comes to what I eat, which is in turn teaching me more self control. Crazy experience all the way around. When I started I just wanted to lose some weight, I wasn't expecting to get quite so submerged into all this. I've learned you can't half-ass do it though, it's all or nothing.
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It's a little more complex than they are making it out to be. Sure...carrying more muscle means that you burn more calories, but if you bulk at a high BF percentage, you aren't setting yourself up properly. At that point your body is used to excess calories...and it will store them as fat as that is far easier than creating new muscle tissue.
When you go to cut, you want your body to be as sensitive to insulin as possible. This is what controls the partitioning effect. When sensitivity is high, you tend to partition extra calories into the muscle and glycogen. But this only goes on for so long. But that's the process for both cutting and bulking.
When you cut for so long...you will eventually hit a wall. Your thyroid output is low, leptin levels drop, and ghrelin levels raise. At that point, you will start losing muscle almost as fast as you can lose body-fat cause your body needs fuel.
Now in the past when I have hit that point...but still wanted to continue cutting, that is where I would start adding strategic re-feeds. It only takes 3-4 days of a small surplus to bring those hormones back into range. In fact...it's a theory you can test for yourself.
I have told people in the past who wanted to get really lean...monitor your body temperature. Take it in the morning at the same time to establish a base temp. As you diet, you will eventually hit that wall...and you will see a drop in your average body temp. That is your metabolism slowing down. Once you see you aren't making progress, add food back in and you will see your base body temp come back up over the course of a few days. Continue eating like that for another 2-3 days, then go back to your cut. 98% of the time...that would be all that was needed for progress to resume.
Or that is where you stop and do what you are planning. You go back to bulking and take advantage of the "rebound" which just means your body is primed for growth. You ride that out until your body goes back to more of a fat storing protocol as it finally sees it's getting an excess of calories...then you go back to cutting and start all over again.
Doing it like that allows you to slowly build muscle, and over time...each phase you go through returns better and better results as the added muscle you put on allows you to diet on less of a calorie deficit...thus delaying the diminished hormone processes I described above.
Eventually you will see both sides of the spectrum expanding. You will find yourself able to bulk longer without what I call "spill-over", but you also find that you don't have to cut as long as you did in the past as your body is carrying more muscle and helps speed this up. This is what they are talking about.
Than you can set a certain goal for yourself. Like with me, I may bulk until I see 12%-13%...then cut until I am at 8%-9%. And I just go back and forth. You may think you aren't making fast enough progress, but I can promise you that even 5lbs-7lbs gained over the course of a year if it is lean muscle will make a huge impact in how you look!
I think you are doing great. The most important thing is that you are learning how your body works....most people never get that far.