2nd cycle cut or gain?

T

timbo

New Member
I am about to finish my first HST cycle and I've had some really good results. I had let myself get really out of shape. I was 5'7" 176 lbs with about 25% BF. Since I was so out of shape I cut this first cycle. After 7 weeks I am down to about 158 lbs with about 17% BF.

For my second cycle I can't decide if I should do another cut or go on a very slow gain (aim for .5 to 1 lb per week). When I first started my goal was to get down to 10% BF before I went on a gain, but since I don't have much LBM to begin with I think it might be very hard to get that low. What advice does anyone have? Should I keep trying to cut or do a gain?
 
If I were you, I would continue to drop by bodyfat until I got below 15% before I would consider bulking. JMO
 
i have a question..
they say adding HIIT in your cycle will keep fat at bay?
what does "keeping fat at bay" mean anyway? keeping your fat percentage consistent throughout the cycle? or is there any chance that your bodyfat will lower (even 1%) while you are bulking with added HIIT on non-wo days?
 
Yeah, I would keep cutting if I were you. At 17%, you should be feeling pretty good. If your measurements were correct, that means you lost very little lean body mass, so you're doing pretty good so far. Nice work.

I think you should run another cutting cycle, see if you can get down under 15%, then do like you said and run a slow bulk. Go for 1 lb a week and you should be fine.

skinnyman: I would think it would be more likely that your bodyfat percentage would remain the same if you were bulking and were lucky. Which of course would mean that you did gain a small amount of fat. But I suppose it would be possible, with a perfect diet and flawless routine, to keep your actual amount of bodyfat the same during a bulk, which would result in a lower bodyfat % if you gain a lot of LBM.
 
skinnyman,

Adding cardio, or just more exercise in general, will improve nutrient partitioning. Thus, more calories are put into the muscles, less into the fat.

I don't think it'll make miracles happen on a bulk, but i do believe it will help cut down the fat increase a bit.

I personally don't do much cardio. Even when cutting, i tend to just lower the calories until i start losing fat at a reasonable pace.

And with my new full time job, 8 hours of physical work, i can't imagine doing cardio and lifting. I kinda just assume the 8 hour days are all low intensity cardio.
 
I am starting the 5s today on my first HST cycle. I have been cutting and lost about 6 lbs in the 4 weeks that I have been cutting. I started around 191lbs and am now down to 185lbs and am starting to see the second row of abs starting to peak through.

I am very happy with HST as I have lost little to no strength, something I have never been able to do on a cutting cycle. However, the lower glycogen and overall lack of carbs is getting to me and I want the fuller look back in my arms and chest. I want to look good for a beach trip I have in late july, so I am thinking about doing 2 more weeks of cutting with the 5s, followed by 7 days of SD. Then starting a new slow bulk cycle which ends perfectly at 6 weeks, just in time to use my vacation for my sd.

any comments or advice on the plan? I am not sure I can take cutting much longer, I get so discouraged when I'm not gaining.
 
Thanks for everyones advice.  I'm going to follow it and do another cutting cycle.  Its going to be tough though because I've been having some really big strength gains and I'm getting really anxious to see what's going to happen when I use HST on a gaining cycle.
 
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