Hey Jordan,
Stats:
• Male
• 33 years old
• ~185lbs
• 34” waist
• ~16% body fat (3- and 7-site caliper methods, as well as the Navy method)
Long term goals are to get strong, jacked, and fairly lean (I know, unique, right?!). Maybe ~200lbs and ~12% body fat w/ an ~32” waist. As I see it I’ve got two options nutrition-wise and I’m wondering if not having access to barbells would influence the decision here.
Option 1: Maintain weight until I regain access to barbells for normal training, at which time I’d move to a deficit to try and shed some body fat before eventually going back into a slow gaining phase (after a few weeks of maintenance).
Option 2: Take this time away from barbells to go into a deficit, since strength development in the barbell lifts isn’t an immediate priority and I am continuing to “train,” adapting the At Home template and then Hypertrophy II template to the limited equipment I have available (a multi-attachment pulley machine). Once I get access to barbells I would go back into a slow gaining phase.
Personally I like option 2, but my only concern is the loss of additional lean body mass due to not having access to barbells. I’ve been doing this so far, as I really like the idea of having the cutting out of the way once I get a barbell in my hands again.
Any reason why option 1 would be “better”? Put another way: if you were in my situation, what would you do?
Much appreciated!