2nd Cycle down.

Hi gbglifter. I'm 6 weeks into my 3rd cycle but still don't feel I'm progressing hypertrohpy wise. I am happy with my strenth gains which continue to shoot up.

I will be doing 1 more week of this cycle starting tomorrow trying to push for new 5 rep maxes and then I will have to do another cut due to the fat I have put on. I'm not really happy about cutting at this stage as I really want to get some muscle gains. I'll be posting a thread about cutting with hst later.

Thanks for asking

Cheers
 
Pretty sure you need to follow Rihad's advice and cut down even leaner before you bulk up again. The reason you think you aren't gaining any size is because you have too much fat hiding your gains.
 
HST_Rihad said:
charr, you will want to lean down to an acceptable level first before attempting to build muscle, because anabolic resistance will route more of the incoming calories to fat stores the fatter you are, with insulin resistance preventing the muscles from soaking the energy up. Also we shouldn't forget that more fat stores "aromatase" more of the available testosterone (by converting it to estrogen) and less T remains to do what we as people interested in building new muscle want it to do. In short: try to get rid of the extra fat if you have any, consider getting down to 10% or below first.
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Rihad,

I didn't know this article about Anabolic Resistance. That's very good stuff. I have reasons to believe I reached "too far" in my bulk, because I've been bulking for 7 months and the last two my gains slowed down noticeably. I'm also getting some continuous aches in my joints that reinforce my impression. Anyway I already planned that this would be my last cycle before a cut.

About the aromatisation of test has happened a funny thing to me two months ago. I got a little gyno. It started in one side and these last weeks I noticed also in the other side. It very small but perceptible and this point you mentioned can be a possible explanation. I don't use gear so there isn't many other reasons left.
 
Totentanz said:
Pretty sure you need to follow Rihad's advice and cut down even leaner before you bulk up again. The reason you think you aren't gaining any size is because you have too much fat hiding your gains.
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I don't really want to get caught up in long cutting cycles where I lose strength and stop losing fat this time. I'm planning doing strict 8 week cuts and then switching to a few bulk cycles. Hopefully I become a bit bigger and a bit leaner every time. Hopefully it will work that way.
 
@charr I think the comments are to do with despite all the advice the most experienced lifters etc have given you through this feed and one of your others you seem to continue with the way you train, eat etc despite in your own words all you gain is fat when bulking.

I assume that you have not bought any calipers, this will be the best way to determine fat gains / losses based on skinfold measurements, at least with calipers you will be able to estimate your current % level of fat and you can make an informed decision on whether it's time for another cut or to continue with your bulk. I would suggest if your % is over 15% then cut down to 10 or 12 then bulk back to 15 and so on.

What is your current body weight?
 
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Hi Mick. I don't have calipers yet. My current weight is about 14 stone 9 pounds so I have put on 16 to 18 pounds since April. However I am really out shape now. Outgrown 1 pair of jeans and nearly outgrown my bigger pair. I don't understand this eating to gain muscle thing as it's not working despite doing everything right.

I am at the point where I need to cut though so regarding my message above I don't want it to end up like last time where I did a long cut lost alot of strength and wasn't losing fat towards the end of it.

I figured it would be better to stick to a cutting schedule say 8 weeks and then switch to a gaining phase after that even if i'm not totally lean. I thought if I do it like that I will get leaner each time without sacrificing strength and muscle due to long cutting.

Thats why I couldn't understand Totentanz reply.
 
Chris

Seriously get some calipers and use the JP3 three site measure to gauge approximate body fat levels maybe download apps like 'bodytracker' and 'myfitnesspal' so you can monitor calorie intake and bf levels, then start cutting and follow what gbglifter recently advised

gbglifter said:
I usually dont let it go 8 weeks before I refeed properly. Ive been cutting since christmas but have been taking it in chunks. Ill refeed every week then every few weeks Ill eat more for a good few days. What Ive put on in those few days dusappears aftet a few days and the fat loss continues. I just bulked far too much. I wanted to weigh three figures(100kg) once in my life.y future bulks will be much less extravagant :)
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but not for 18 months this time.
 
charr said:
My current weight is about 14 stone 9 pounds so I have put on 16 to 18 pounds since April. However I am really out shape now. Outgrown 1 pair of jeans and nearly outgrown my bigger pair. I don't understand this eating to gain muscle thing as it's not working despite doing everything.
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Do you know your daily macros?
 
Hi Mick. They are my macros for gaining which I have been doing since April. Do you mean my cutting macros? I finish my 3rd HST cycle tomorrow so will be going back to cutting on Monday. From what I remember my cutting macros where 150g/c 192g/p 70g/f. I haven't tried carb back loading and i'm not sure what that is. I did try reducing my carbs further though the last time I was dieting
 
charr said:
Hi Mick. I don't have calipers yet. My current weight is about 14 stone 9 pounds so I have put on 16 to 18 pounds since April. However I am really out shape now. Outgrown 1 pair of jeans and nearly outgrown my bigger pair. I don't understand this eating to gain muscle thing as it's not working despite doing everything right.

I am at the point where I need to cut though so regarding my message above I don't want it to end up like last time where I did a long cut lost alot of strength and wasn't losing fat towards the end of it.

I figured it would be better to stick to a cutting schedule say 8 weeks and then switch to a gaining phase after that even if i'm not totally lean. I thought if I do it like that I will get leaner each time without sacrificing strength and muscle due to long cutting.

Thats why I couldn't understand Totentanz reply.
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You are clearing over-eating.
 
charr said:
Hi Mick. They are my macros for gaining which I have been doing since April. Do you mean my cutting macros? I finish my 3rd HST cycle tomorrow so will be going back to cutting on Monday. From what I remember my cutting macros where 150g/c 192g/p 70g/f. I haven't tried carb back loading and i'm not sure what that is. I did try reducing my carbs further though the last time I was dieting
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Carb backloading is basically keeping carb intake to as close to zero during the day and assuming you train early evening and eating all your carbs after training.

In respect of protein intake during cutting I would increase to 1.5g per lb of body weight, also your fat intake is close to 30% and eat at maintenance for at least a week before starting your cut unless you have been already.
 
Jester said:
You are clearing over-eating.
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What should I aim for? What is the maximum amount of lean muscle I can gain in a month?

This is what I don't understand when it comes to calories. I spoke with someone in the gym yesterday who is my height, lean, trains 3 times a week and eats 3700 calories just to maintain.

Also I gained 14 pounds in my first 2 cycles but about 3 - 4 pounds in my last cycle despite keeping the calories the same.
 
mickc1965 said:
Carb backloading is basically keeping carb intake to as close to zero during the day and assuming you train early evening and eating all your carbs after training.

I haven't tried that but I do intermittent fasting so I usually don't comsume my carbs until after training or until 4 - 5pm
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