Back To Hst After 6 Years. Previous Gains. New Goals And Concerns

From what I've read, Rihad is a beast when it comes to cutting... He must of been doing something right.
While I was on my CBL "maintenance", I actually didn't lose strength and went up on all my lifts while losing fat. Even if I was in a deficit, the strength gains can't be ignored...
Well, they can....lol. By you guys :)
I upped my calories to 3000 the last 3 days now, to do a proper bulk, and the scales have me down again...I'm hoping the weight should show this week!
 
What's your maintenance Wungun? I can bulk at 2700 pretty easily and I'm like 30lbs heavier than you.
 
Prior to this week, I was eating 2500 calories (up from 2100-2200) and was still losing weight. Starting this past weekend, I'm up to 3000.
I lost weight over the last 3 days, but I think it's too soon to make a judgement. I gotta be close! I've been trying to put on 1lbs per week now.
 
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800 more a day is going to put you at about 1.5lbs gain per week. Like you mentioned though you are still losing weight so maybe do 3k until weight gain starts then bring it down to where your are at about 1lb a week (or even a slight bit less for you depending on how comfortable you are putting on some fat).
 

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I hear ya... Curious to see where I am in the morning. I suspect I should see a gain...
I'm actually almost 45 years old and workout 6 days a week. ;)
 
wungun said:
From what I've read, Rihad is a beast when it comes to cutting... He must of been doing something right.
While I was on my CBL "maintenance", I actually didn't lose strength and went up on all my lifts while losing fat. Even if I was in a deficit, the strength gains can't be ignored...
Well, they can....lol. By you guys :)
I upped my calories to 3000 the last 3 days now, to do a proper bulk, and the scales have me down again...I'm hoping the weight should show this week!
Click to expand...

While Rihad certainly has gotten lean, getting cut once does not an expert make. Also, worth noting that he accomplished what he did by basically doing exactly what we all recommended, despite all his theoretical wanking about stuff.

On the other hand, I've cut probably a dozen times and several other people here have as well, so we've got a pretty good grasp on what to do. I've used a variety of diets myself, among those are UD2.0, IF, just basic counting calories, RFL and my own tweaking of RFL. Point isn't to basically wave my cock around, just saying that there is a lot of experience here. The main reason I even still post here is just to try to share my experiences, since I've experimented with a lot of different setups. For what it is worth, it is harder to cut without losing significant lean mass when you have more lean mass. So... clearly if something works well for someone like me, or someone else with a lot of lean mass on them such as Jester, then it will likely work well for someone who is still a bit earlier in their development.

With regards to your maintenance, what formula are you using? Also, what is your day job? If we assume a high activity level, then you've got the following:
155 lbs = ~70.5kg
70.5kg * 24hours = ~1700 kcal (your BMR)
1700 * 1.4 (high activity) = ~2400 kcal to maintain

I'm approximating for ease of calculation, but that's fine since calorie formulas are an approximation anyway. So in that scenario, you'd need roughly 2900 to bulk, and of course that would go up as you grow larger. Part of the reason why I recommend you only lift 3-4 days a week to keep that activity multiplier down. So 2900 would be safe as long as you really are that active. If slightly less, then drop that 1.4 a bit.
 
I guess, having lots of lean mass is "expensive" for the body to carry around, in terms of energy. I can see how it would be harder to maintain during a cut.

I've used a couple of online formulas and some apps...
I wouldn't consider myself high activity. I'm not working but going to school full time. Apart from lifting, my dog gets 2 walks a day... 15 to 25 minutes each.
Let's give it a week at 3000...if I suddenly end up 5lbs heavier in a few more days, then I'll be able to dial it in a little better.
 
Well, if you ended up 5 lbs heavier then first off, it would mostly be water weight but also, once you got heavier, then your calorie needs would increase and then 3000 would probably be the right amount to keep gaining.

You have to remember to keep ratcheting the calories upward as you gain more weight.

I would recommend getting comfortable with calculating your calorie needs yourself instead of relying on apps or online calculators, so you are in control of every variable. Using the formula I did above is pretty easy to do in your head. Just take your weight in kilograms, multiple by 24 then multiply by your activity factor: x1 for sedentary, 1.1-1.2 for mildly active, 1.3-1.4 for highly active. Add 500 for bulking or subtract 500 for cutting. If you don't already know kilograms easily, then just take your weight in lbs and divide by 2.2.

Have you considered getting a pedometer to see just how active you are? I don't consider myself highly active but I started wearing a pedometer about a year ago and I easily walk 15,000 steps a day, which for my stride is several miles. You might be surprised at how much you walk.
 
Thanks... I'm still downing at least 3l of water a day... Should I expect still water weight gain?
Okay, if I jump up 4 or 5lbs,i won't freak out, seeing as my intake is a constantly moving (upwards) target. I'm a Canadian and a tradesman,... I'm fully aware of imperial conversion ;)
I think I have a pedometer around somewhere... Or if not, an app on my phone. Kinda curious now!
 
wungun said:
From what I've read, Rihad is a beast when it comes to cutting... He must of been doing something right.
While I was on my CBL "maintenance", I actually didn't lose strength and went up on all my lifts while losing fat. Even if I was in a deficit, the strength gains can't be ignored...
Well, they can....lol. By you guys :)
I upped my calories to 3000 the last 3 days now, to do a proper bulk, and the scales have me down again...I'm hoping the weight should show this week!
Click to expand...

Cutting? Yes. Putting on muscle? No.

Anyone can cut down to how big they were at 14-15yrs old. If you're interested in muscle - frikkin' hypertrophy FFS - then cutting endlessly and being a tiny guy with an 8-pack will probably lead you to different places than HST will.
 
Not at all. He's incredibly good at getting ripped, he's not good at getting big or strong. Nothing wrong with that, it suits his goals.
 
Rihad did not cut. He merely got skinnier but he never lost that skinny-fat (softish) look overall. However, he is a young grasshopper and extremely smart and will get it right eventually. He has a tenacity that most most people lack.
 
mickc1965 said:
I thought I was anal with logging food, hopefully you now have an app like MyFitnessPal to log food etc.
Click to expand...
I stopped weightlifting after 2009 so I stopped keeping track of calories altogether. MyFitnessPal would have saved me so much time back then, but smart phones were very new. If I ever decide to count calories again, that app is awesome. It pretty much does everything that I did but so much easier.
 
I tried it.... Didn't like it. Mostly because I've been using Lose it! For a long time now. MFP has better database though!
 
Old and Grey said:
Rihad did not cut. He merely got skinnier but he never lost that skinny-fat (softish) look overall. However, he is a young grasshopper and extremely smart and will get it right eventually. He has a tenacity that most most people lack.
Click to expand...

I think he certainly did cut. His most recent photos exhibit quite a low bf %. There may be excess skin that won't tighten up without some anabolics or GH thrown in (I think he's now 32). Getting skinnier/losing bf is how we use the term, 'cutting'.

I agree that he probably won't ever look shredded at an appreciable size without TRT, given his age.
 
Jester said:
I think he certainly did cut. His most recent photos exhibit quite a low bf %. There may be excess skin that won't tighten up without some anabolics or GH thrown in (I think he's now 32). Getting skinnier/losing bf is how we use the term, 'cutting'.

I agree that he probably won't ever look shredded at an appreciable size without TRT, given his age.
Click to expand...

So you basically knocked me down. If Rihad at 32 yrs old can't shredd at a big size what could I say about me, arriving at 39?

I STILL have a dream. To get 209 lbs of LBM AND BF around 9%...
 
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