Jordan, much respect - I’m ending Wk 5 of Bridge 1.1 (first time using RPE) and it’s a great change from LP, making huge strides for the first time in years and absolutely flown past my old PRs, going to achieve my much-coveted 600 lb squat before the end of the year (maybe before end of summer). I spoke to you numerous times under another handle on the SS forums and you were of immense help to me getting my nutrition on track and ultimately helping me spread your expertise to other people in a meaningful way.
Question pertains to a friend I have, stats are 217# @ ~13% BF at 6’2" height - he’s dieted and done brosplit hypertrophy programming 7 days/week down to 195 in the past but has been stalled at this 215 range for about the last 1.5 years and stalled or regressed on all his lifts. It’s a no-brainer he needs to increase his macros, disrupt his lowered metabolism/NEAT. He and I are on the same page at this point but wanted to ask two quick questions for my own edification.
My explanations are long for sake of completeness but I intend the actual questions to be quick to answer:
Q1: How did he stop losing weight?
His past diet consisted of 1640 kcal a day, and I know him to be meticulous and disciplined, logs everything in MFP so the potential for him to misreport is exceptionally low. A quick BMR calc suggests 2220 kcal - which he was nearly 600 kcal under. Wouldn’t he be wasting? Even with a reduction in NEAT, I would think his training regimen would be enough to drive down his bodyweight.
I’m convinced he’s incorrect about something he’s reporting. I see no way he wouldn’t be losing weight, let alone maintaining his 7x/wk brosplit workouts without greater intake. He was not on gear, has no metabolic issues or disease states afaik, and no unusual symptoms other than being significantly stressed (work, personal life issues). Additionally, he eats clean and prepares his own meals, nothing prepackaged (I’m aware FDA allows up to a 25% variance in what’s reported on labels/for fast food nutrition info), and weighs it all with scales/scoops etc.
Q2: Is 220p/65f/250c enough for this trainee doing The Bridge 1.1?
Due to my success with RPE, I convinced him to try it. We discussed nutrition and he agreed to change his diet and do the program as written without changes or the addition of superfluous accessory work that would impact his training/recovery - aside from introducing HIIT training 2x/wk from the get-go due to his cardio capacity.
We increased his goals for protein over 200g and settled on a reasonable compromise of putting his energy substrate intake 65f/250c with the clear expectation that he would increase as needed dependent on his workout performance (i.e. if he stalls, we will increase his macros gradually). Also making sure he’s not eating more than 20g fat per meal, and keeping 30-40% of his carbs buffered around his workouts.
I think these macros are a little low, but the guy’s in good shape and is very physique-driven. His focus has shifted to building strength at this point, but I know that his motivation will flag if we up his kcal intake too much and he packs on the pudge too quick. It’d be easier for him to deal with a stall in his lifts and titrate his caloric intake upwards, than it would be for him to get too fat too quickly and have to deal with the prospect of dieting down in the future. I think Ideally he will end up something more like 286p, 102f, 360c based on his long-term goal of 225# @ 12%BF - maybe decreasing some of that protein and increasing some of the carbs as needed for performance.
I’m not looking for an exhaustive review because that would be more suited to paying you for actual coaching - just a quick yes/no if I’m on the right track and demonstrating proper understanding and correctly prioritizing this trainee’s goals without (too much) expense to his training performance.
Thanks for your time! I hope I kept everything succinct enough to be respectful of your time but still give appropriate information.