jimmiepop's Journal, 02 May 2016

Feedback welcome, particularly if you have data! My cumulative fat loss rr for this cut has been 2.03/week; 1.91/week for the last 2 weigh ins. Like the idea of setting my RR assumption and progress milestones so I KNOW I can outperform... 

If your BF% numbers are good you can simply do the math. Your bone mass and organ mass shouldn't have changed much. The only real "unpredictable variable" is water, but you should still be able to get a decent lean mass number comparison. all you can do to remedy muscle loss is build it back up when the cut is over, otherwise just continue to lift heavy and often, best you can do until then. 

@C88 Using Bodymetrix (ultrasound) for BF, so I am as good as I am going to get short of an immersion tank in the basement. I dry out (7-10) days at the start of every cut to get a read on starting "dry lean mass." That clocked at ~159. Lean has run 160-163 since, but I carb cycle eod, so that's water. So I think that looks OK. I guess the money question is - What about strength? My squat is plateauing at ~70% of last up cycle (5X245 v 8x265). Press/DL/Bench still progressing SLOWLY. Thoughts? 

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Sorry bud, I didn't log on at all after work yesterday. Strength is tough on a heavy deficit. The body wants to adapt to the stimulus of heavy training, but if the energy just isn't there, it'll start to fight back. Even cutting on ~1800-2000 cals I still started to lose strength after about 12 weeks. That is the main reason why I decided to recomp. Ive been eating 2800-3000 cals for 4 weeks now and I gained ~3 lbs. after the first week which a good majority of was water. Ive sat at 183 for the past 2 weeks, and my strength has nearly recovered. Last night I did 5x5 @ 85% of my old max, and it was easy. I'm not suggesting that you recomp, but perhaps if youre getting worried about strength, maybe up your fat intake a bit? I wouldn't suggest more carbs, because that will definitely delay your fat loss, but healthy fats have been shown to be beneficial for strength gains/retention. It would probably be a safe bet, though upping your calorie intake at all (no matter what the source) will always slow your fat loss. So its up to you. You can always work on your strength again once you're done cutting. It's pretty easy to bounce back. 

I should also add that when I added on all those calories I also added on 400Cals on the elliptical every morning to minimize fat gains. I also do a bit of IF on the weekends to help with the "weekend eating habits". 

Heard. Thx. I think its just this simple - cut until you either cannot take it anymore, or hit your number, whichever comes first. Strength is a temporary casualty. I am going to give myself 5 misses (vs. 3) on my squat before I deload, and I am not going to sweat the deload, if that's what it comes to... I wasn't (quite) happy at 13%, so I am targeting 11%, which I can deliver by 7/4; right on schedule for my summer "leanbulk."  

Sounds good bud!